11 colleges had students come up with creative ways to tackle racism and sexism in campus. Pantene sponsored a grant for each school to fund their spring semester projects with an AAUW Campus Action Project grant from the 2014-15 AAUW Campus.
I challenge you to leave the room inspired! Remember that you can apply to CAP grants for yourself. Learn how.
1. Fighting Harmful Labels Applied to Women of Color
It is amazing to see what Cheyney University’s semester of work accomplished. The problem they identified was unique to Cheyney University. Cheyney College is a historically-black college in Pennsylvania. Students often face stereotypes at their school. Cheyney women of colour were particularly targeted by the team. This is a huge understatement.
Many of these projects focused on women who wanted to redefine themselves and reject the labels they were given. A video was made by the team in which students created a label using lipstick and then crossed it out for a label that they had created. One woman wrote “proud” instead of “conceited” or “stuck up” and crossed out “conceited” from the video. A poster campaign was launched to perform a similar relabeling. It included the context of mini-bios and featured prominent women from history.
A gender attitude survey was also done by the team. Several events were held that included men and women from local communities of color who are interested in non-traditional careers. The team conducted a speaker program and workshops on self-esteem to encourage students to consider male-dominated career paths. They hosted an all-male panel discussion about media’s perceptions of black women. There was also a complimentary all-women panel on the same topic. This panel focused on reality TV, and how media promotes hatred in women. Some of the stereotypes that they mentioned were the beauty standards that favour lighter skins, the notions that single mothers live on welfare and that black men are only interested in being rappers. The team also hosted a conference on women empowerment as if all this amazing work weren’t enough. After a long semester of hard work, it’s good to see the Cheyney Team getting some sleep this summer.
2. Finding Inspiration, Vision, And Equality
The Murray State University team came from Kentucky and covered many topics about women’s leadership. Running Start spoke to them about the importance of women students taking advantage of campus leadership opportunities. They also discussed Lean In in a book group, made a poster about the accomplishments and celebrated women’s equity.
3. West Virginia Wesleyan’s Leaning into Activism
The West Virginia Wesleyan College team created programming that appeals to all students. They wanted to explore issues around gender in job aspirations and hiring practices, pay, family leave, and pay. A discussion on LeanIn for Graduates was held; Miss Representation was shown; there was a panel about women in science, technology engineering, and mathematics and a salary negotiation.
4. Dubuque: Melting Gender Roles
The University of Dubuque team was motivated by occupational segregation and held a huge event to remove the barriers that lead men and women to cluster in fields that are “traditionally” their gender. A “tunnel for oppression” was set up at the entrance of the Melting Gender Rolls, Stirring Up Awareness event to illustrate interactively the experiences of sexism. Students from various student organizations presented booths on sexism and marketing. A photo booth allowed people to test out different costumes and snack options that represented melting gender roles. The women’s team put men in weightlifting challenges to stop the expression “like a girl.” To raise awareness about the shortage in women in aviation, the department constructed paper planes and spoke to professionals about nontraditional jobs such as being a judge or a stay-at home dad.
Students loved the event. The team wants to establish an AAUW student club on campus.
5. Students from Milwaukee show that fighting sexual assault is a community affair
Youtube video
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students were shocked at the level of sexual assault that is prevalent. Students are also less likely to report being harmed than other victims. They sought to dispel myths and stereotypes about sexual assault on campus. So they surveyed students in the student union and residence halls for their views about sexual assault. The results were used to create a promotion campaign that spreads messages like alcohol is never an excuse to assault, silence does not equal consent, and assault is never the victim’s fault.
Together with a student artist, the team created an amazing visual campaign of statistics on sexual assault. It was made with the support and help of students from film school. Even their chancellor joined in. They also organized events to discuss ways to be an ally to survivors. Students were asked for their consent to help them in dangerous situations.
They are currently working with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault on how to continue their campaign.
6. Moving girls forward in STEM
Napa Valley Community College’s Campus Action Project team performed original research in order to identify ways to close gender gaps in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at two important points in education: middle school, college, and high school. They studied the numbers of women in STEM fields at their college. Then they went on to survey 7-9th grades about their STEM interests and perceptions. They were right to expect the results: Most STEM-related jobs are occupied by men. Younger students reported that STEM interests are not encouraged and that girls don’t want to study STEM.
The team did not stop there. They put their research to work with the help of their local AAUW Napa Valley Branch and created two incredible events for students. SciTech for girls featured interactive workshops and speakers on robotics and brains as well as computer coding. The support group formed by the team included women who are studying STEM at Napa Valley Community College. They met often to visit local engineering firms and also visited local universities.
7. From A to Z, Sexism
Sierra College, California’s tight-knit group put together a display of gender stereotypes. The team sought out diverse groups of people to collect meaningful words about gender equality for each letter in the alphabet. The team wrote descriptions of the meanings and possible actions for each word. Passersby could then see the posters on the quad.
Their entry to A was apathy. This, they stated, led to inaction. “We must act to stop sexism. S was sextrafficking, which was particularly prevalent in Sacramento. They described some troubling reactions from campus passersby, particularly men who claimed that the project was racist towards white men. However, the team was left feeling deeply bonded by the experience. The 26 entries were collected and put in a booklet.
8. Gender Equity Revolution
New York College at Brockport students made a video about gender pay gaps. Breakout sessions were held on topics such as leadership, salary, and career. Students were asked to sign a pledge against stereotyping and the group hosted screenings of Miss Representation and Crash with panel discussions by professors about how these films address racism and sexualism.
9. Students Tearing it Up Literally
The Campus Action Project at Pacific Lutheran University was in Tacoma, Washington. It featured many athletes, students and faculty tearing down stereotypes and words. Participants were asked to identify and quote the words, then they were photographed tearing down the words. The posters that resulted are stunning and touching and can be found online. Dark Matter, a poetry group that focuses on transgender, queer, or people of color activism, was also part of the team. They performed on campus.
10. In their own words, Women of Color
A poster campaign featuring women of color facing the offensive comments they hear every day was launched by students at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Students claimed that they were not.
The outside is not white, it can be illegal, submissive or exotic. Participants were able, through self-expression techniques, to identify themselves rather than being defined by stereotypes.
11. Technology and Work Wisdom
Clemson University wanted STEM experts on campus to discuss the challenges women face in reaching their goals. After finding a diverse group of speakers, they had to devise a budget-friendly way to get experts from across the country. They settled on a series if web-based panels which brought together the top speakers and students to discuss issues. Students could either log into the internet or go to the classroom to view the live stream and ask questions. It was an incredible series of interactive, well-attended speaker sessions that covered topics such as how to balance work and family life. The team hopes to publish the sessions online so that everyone can enjoy them.
