Women’s center continues to look for a new director. PHOTO CREDIT: uri.edu
Staffed by a team of four undergraduate students, the University of Rhode Island’s Women’s Center hopes to grow as a campus resource for inclusivity and empowerment.
The Center’s staff, made up of fourth-year Emma Newell, fourth-year Libby Ware, second-year Dayanara Monzon and first-year Lily Mueller, has been working together to rebuild the Center as a place that emphasizes safety, comfort and equality.
Prior to Fall 2022, the Women’s Center was located on Upper College Road until shutting down in person due to declines in funding and staff. Then, from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 to Fall 2021, the Center existed solely online — staying in contact with students through online book clubs, trivia events and informational Zoom sessions.
Today, the Center occupies its own building known as the Gateway House and is located at 7 Quarry Road between Barlow and Weldin Residence Halls. However, the Center has been without a director for over a year.
“Our goal is to, depending on what the situation is, make students feel comfortable,” Newell said. “If they just sometimes need to talk, and that’s all they want, that’s fine. But I can also give them the resources to help.”
Despite being housed in a small, tucked-away building, the staff hopes to make the Center a resource for “people who have nowhere else to go,” according to Monzon. This includes providing the necessities, as well as hanging up paintings and flags to make the space more welcoming.
Monzon, who is a double major in criminology and criminal justice and women’s studies, as well as a facilitator of Feminists at URI, started working at the Women’s Center because she wants to pursue human trafficking prevention as a career. By working to understand topics such as domestic abuse and sexual assault in the classroom, she hopes to better help the people that come to the Center.
The Women’s Center leverages existing resources within the URI community. For example, individuals seeking emergency temporary housing are referred to Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services (VPAS), reachable at 401.874.9131 or [email protected].
Mueller explained that there were more beneficial resources offered at the Women’s Center than their high school, and that they hope to encourage discussion about abuse and domestic violence situations at URI.
While Mueller’s small public high school did talk about wellness, it neglected discussion about consent and sex.
“[People] need to know about these things,” Mueller said. “Here, it’s nice to be able to not only use my knowledge on these things, but actually have people standing behind [me].”
The Women’s Center also advocates for social justice regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and race through their Instagram infographics and in-person discussions.
The Women’s Center also acts as a bridge between the student body and more official resources like the Gender and Sexuality Center, Health Services and Counseling Center, according to Newell. Students can walk into the Women’s Center, talk about the reason they visited and choose to either get further support or just continue to talk.
The Center also has connections with the Multicultural Student Services Center, South Asian Students’ Association, Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services and the Psychological Consultation Center, according to the Center’s website.
“Sometimes people don’t want to take what they think is an extreme step, like getting help or anything related, so talking is important,” Newell said. “I feel like that’s what we utilize here.”
“We want to make sure that students can come here no matter what,” Newell said. “You don’t have to be a woman, you just need to be a person who needs our resources.”
The Center’s Fall 2022 semester staff consisted of Stefanie Argus, a fourth-year doctoral student in the University’s education program, as well as second-year Liz Macinnis. Argus still works as the graduate assistant for the Women’s Center but is not on site.
With a larger staff and more active Instagram, the Women’s Center hopes to host more events and encourage student involvement by collaborating with other Kingston Campus organizations, according to Newell.
“We’re working from the ground up,” Mueller said. “We have space, we have resources, and… It’s wonderful. I’m excited to see where everything goes.”