A new women's action group hopes to jump-start the involvement of women in politics on campus.
The University's chapter of FeM, a national college group sponsored by the Feminist Majority, aims to increase the number of women in student leadership positions and alter negative perceptions of feminism, said Trinity junior Nadya Haider, its founder.
"More people than you think are feminists," Haider said. "The dictionary definition of feminism is just a belief in equal rights."
A handful of FeM chapters have started up this fall across the nation by Haider and other college women who interned at the Feminist Majority this summer. Duke, Northwestern University, the University of California at Santa Cruz and Williams College now have active chapters.
In contrast to the Women's Coalition, FeM will be a more politically and nationally focused group, Haider said. For example, in response to recent reports stating that girls' self-esteem plummets during junior high, members of FeM plan to hold workshops with girls from Durham public schools. Haider said she hopes to get women who are members of the Durham city council, along with female professors at the University, to attend the workshops.
"There are lots of programs for boys to keep them off the streets, but there's nothing for girls," Haider said.
FeM's long-term goals include seeing a woman win the Duke Student Government presidential election and more closely pinpointing problems women face on campus.
"There's a sense that there's just some unhappiness among women on campus, and DSG and the administration and no one else is doing anything about it," Haider said.
The last female student government president held office in 1991-92.
Members of FeM and the Women's Coalition said they believe the two groups can successfully coexist and collaborate on various projects and issues.
"The Women's Coalition is more of a discussion-type forum, while FeM is more proactive," said Trinity junior Noushin Jahanian, an officer of the Women's Coalition. "We will probably overlap a lot in our memberships, so I'm sure we'll collaborate a lot."
Ellen Plummer, director of the Women's Center, said she hopes to work with the group as well. She hopes to use her association to cull information about women leaders on campus, she said.
Plummer expressed concern that the group may face problems with students who do not agree with its mission.
"I'm curious to see how [Haider will] market the group and what the reactions from students will be," she said.
Many of those students who do support FeM's ideals said that the group's plans appeared to be well-focused on concerns facing women both at and beyond the University, and said they hoped the group would not be hindered by negative criticism.
"Women at Duke seem to be active in groups but not as leaders," said Trinity freshman Sebrina Wiggins. "If more women take on leadership positions, then the freshmen women will also have good role models coming in."
Many students approved of the junior high workshop program as well.
"I don't think that helping girls of that age is a dire need, but I think it will be very useful and that [the group] will be providing a great service," said Trinity sophomore Ranier Simons.
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