From the Director:As I write this note, we are in the middle of (another) heat wave. Yet, the hot temperatures did not diminish the enthusiasm of those who recognized Women’s Equality Day earlier in the week. This is the day each year when we recognize the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. On Monday, August 26, the Women’s Center, in partnership with the Division of Government and Community Relations and student organizations Vandy Votes, the Voting Rights and Advocacy Society, Women in Government, and Vanderbilt Student Government, held a voter registration drive on Rand Wall. If you missed the drive and are interested in registering to vote or learning how to acquire an absentee ballot, there are resources on the Vanderbilt, Let’s Vote website, including Turbo Vote, to help with the process. There will be other events this semester related to voting, so please be on the lookout for them.
This collaboration early in the semester reminded me that our efforts have greater impact when we work together. I wanted to draw your attention to an initiative the Women’s Center helped with last year: in April, the Campus Life committee of Vanderbilt Student Government and Generation Action for Planned Parenthood launched a wellness vending machine near the Branscomb Munchie Mart. The machine includes many health and wellness supplies, including pregnancy tests and emergency contraception. The students involved with this project worked tirelessly to make this idea a reality. The vending machine aligns with the Women’s Center’s work; our resource card highlights some of the supplies and services we provide.
The staff at the Women’s Center has been gearing up for a year full of programming, mentoring, and education. We are looking forward to training the new interns in Vandy Sex Ed, the Women’s Center Ambassadores, and The Bold Space in a couple of weeks. Our standing programs, including the Parenting Group, Work–Life Workshops, Women in the Academy, and Inclusive Book Group, will begin this month. If you’d like to be added to the listserv for any of these programs, you can sign up here. And if you are interested in having someone from the Women’s Center deliver a workshop on feminism, sexuality education, salary negotiation, body image, or the history of women at Vanderbilt, please read more here.
I will end with some exciting news. For its annual Cuninggim Lecture this fall, the Women’s Center is hosting Sonya Renee Taylor. A poet and activist, Taylor is the author of seven books, including the best-selling The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love. Taylor’s work in racial justice, body liberation, and radical self-love has helped people to rethink questions of identity and healing. Sonya Renee Taylor will speak at Vanderbilt on October 22. We hope that you will join us; we will share details in our next newsletter and on social media.
We are looking forward to the start of an engaging and productive year. I hope to see you at our programs and events this fall, and I encourage you to vote!
Sending my best wishes,
Rory
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The Ins and Outs of Voting: A Troubleshooting Workshop
Monday, September 9, 12:00–1:30 p.m., Women's Center
Free pizza will be provided!
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Shanice Martin, MA, Doctoral Intern
Nora McNulty, MA, Doctoral Intern
Sarah Jordan Welch-Moore, LMSW, DSW
Wednesday, September 11, 12:00 p.m., Zoom
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Thursday, September 12, 12:00 p.m., Zoom
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Friday, September 13, 12:00– 2:00 p.m., Women's Center
Join us to learn about our work and enjoy some treats!
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Maria Maria Castillo, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations, Graduate Women of Color
Amelia Cephas, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Graduate Student Council
Tor Nasci, Postdoctoral researcher, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Vanderbilt Postdoc Association
Antiana Richardson, PhD candidate, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Organization of Black Graduate and Professional Students
Tuesday, September 17, 12:00 p.m., Alumni Hall 206
Lunch provided on a first-come basis.
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The ABCs of Book Banning
Tiffeni Fontno, Ed.D., Director, Peabody Library
Emily Pendergrass, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Practice of Literacy, Peabody College
Kathleen Seabolt, Ed.D., Executive Director, Vanderbilt Child and Family Center
Monday, September 23, 2:30–3:45 p.m., Rand 308
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Thursday, September 26, 12:00 p.m., Buttrick 123
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Save the Date! A Mental (Un)Load Workshop
Haley Swenson, Ph.D., Work Life Everything
Wednesday, October 2, 5:00 p.m., Zoom
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Save the Date! 2024 Cuninggim Lecture
Sonya Renee Taylor, activist and author of My Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love
Tuesday, October 22, 5:00 p.m., Community Room, Central Library
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Women in Business Resume Workshop
Thursday, September 5, 6:00–7:00 p.m., Buttrick 201
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Marlee Liss, Somatic Educator and Restorative Justice Advocate
Wednesday, September 11, 12:00–1:30 p.m., Kissam C216
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Wednesday, September 11, 5:30–7:00 p.m., K.C. Potter Center
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Dr. Mark Chin, Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Inequality, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Tuesday, September 17, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
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Thursday, September 19, 6:00–7:30 p.m., K.C. Potter Center
Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff are welcome to join us at the K.C. Potter Center for our inaugural Community Dinner night.
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Wednesday, September 25, 4:00–5:30 p.m., Divinity Library, Room 211
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Thursday, September 26, 6:30–8:00 p.m., Alumni Hall, Room 202
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Friday, September 27, 7:00 p.m., Alumni Lawn
Proceeds from this concert benefit the Mary Parrish Center, a local organization supporting survivors of interpersonal violence.
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Tennessee voter registration ends October 7. Find more information about registering to vote here.
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Health and Wellness Vending Machine
A health and wellness vending machine has been installed in Branscomb. The vending machine has emergency contraception, pregnancy tests, and condoms, among other items.
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Applications are due September 3. Please apply here.
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Rory Dicker, Director
ReAnna Roby, Assistant Director
Kate Korasick, Graduate Assistant
Rose Mary Muirhead, Administrative Assistant
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