While many students decry the dearth of minority leadership at the University, some have pinpointed specific campus institutions as being particularly problematic.
Trinity junior Stacy Ebron is among several women of color who have pointed a finger at the Women's Center as a place where the concerns of minorities are being shuffled to the side.
Ebron recently resigned as the center's women-of-color programming chair, citing little administrative support and an overall lack of concern for issues facing women of color.
"The Women's Center has resources that should be available for all students," Ebron said. "It's clear to me from the programming that has happened and the way things are advertised, that women of color have not been a priority."
Ellen Plummer, director of the center, said she regretted that people hold these perceptions and that a lack of communication has fueled negative impressions and fostered distrust.
"It makes me sad and upset that we have a group of student women who feel that their interests are not our interests," she said. "I feel I could have done a better job communicating that the Women's Center cannot be everything that even I want it to be. I would love for us to deliberately and thoughtfully speak for every woman on campus. But that is not a reality."
Some students, however, say that the center is not a place where women of color are made to feel safe. "I feel like the programming [at the center] could be a lot more diverse. I feel like it's good, but not good enough," said Shirley Collado, a first-year graduate student in clinical psychology. "It's a women's center for white women." Collado is a member of the Women of Color Advisory Board, a group founded by Ebron to address the needs of women of color on campus. The board has since broken away from the Women's Center, again citing an unsupportive environment, and is currently under the purview of Maureen Cullins, dean of campus community development.
"I think a lot of the problems that happened stemmed from the lack of clarity about [the role of the board]," said Elaine Allen, the staff programmer for the Women's Center. "It's very painful to me... that there are the problems there seem to be [with the board] now. The concerns they are working on are concerns I feel passionately about."
Plummer pointed to problems implicit in the American women's movement, citing the traditional problem it has had in incorporating the voices of all constituencies. An ongoing link with white feminism, said Trinity senior and staff member Anjali Enjeti, has posed problems for women of color. "The Women's Center has to look at its overall mission statement," Enjeti said.
Members of the advisory board question how much of a concern the top leadership at the Women's Center actually have for issues facing women of color. While board members and Women's Center staff members alike say that board-sponsored programs have been very well-received by the University community, several students pointed out that Plummer has never attended an advisory board meeting or an advisory board-sponsored event. Plummer would not comment on the specifics of such claims.
"What I am disappointed about," said Moon Tran, a second-year graduate student in public policy, "is that these women have not reached beyond their own comfort zones to address women-of-color issues." Tran emphasized that one need not be a woman of color to deal with such concerns, and that Plummer should be making these issues more of a visible priority.
Several Women's Center staff members defended Plummer and the center. "We were trying to move in the direction [Ebron] wanted to go," said Trinity junior Noushin Jahanian, coordinator of the BASES program, which is under the auspices of the center. Jahanian said that staff members paid much attention to Ebron and the concerns of women of color. She specifically pointed to a number of Women's Center staff meetings that were almost entirely devoted to Ebron's concerns.
Plummer also contended that she does take such issues seriously, and that as a result of recent feedback, the Women's Center has changed some of its staffing patterns and the way in which staff members are asked to create relationships within and outside of the center. Of the 10 undergraduates currently on staff, five are women of color.
Ebron, however, said that the problem lies in the fact that minority women have no say in the making of major decisions. "It makes a real difference to have people of color in administrative positions where they're involved in the decision-making process," Ebron said.
"Although I was programming coordinator for women of color I was a student... I was not given any input in terms of policies of the Women's Center and the tones that were set," she said.
Others said that more resources need to be devoted to such issues. "The position that Stacy [had] and the time commitment needed should be [done by] an administrator, who has the time to commit fully to these events," said Trinity sophomore Inhi Cho, a member of the advisory board.
Allen said she agreed. "I think there is certainly a need for more attention to the issues [facing] women of color." She pointed out, however, that the need is one confronting the entire University, and that currently, the Women's Center does not have the resources to hire a full-time staffer to address such concerns. Ebron, who when hired was asked to work 10 hours each week dealing with these issues, said she sometimes worked 40 hours, but Allen said that Ebron was not expected to put in that amount of time.
Despite statements to the contrary by several students, Allen added that many women of color have had a very rewarding experience with the Women's Center.
Said Trinity junior Zeba Ali, a staff programmer at the center: "I've had a very positive experience at the Women's Center... I do think they address the concerns of an array of people."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.