Help Save the USF Women's Studies Department!
So I've been M.I.A. from Feminists to the Rescue for a while. I've been a little busy with putting on the Vagina Monologues and counter-protesting the Genocide Awareness Project and now, trying to save my major's department from being the victim of state budget cuts.
Apparently, the state of Florida has cut the funding for education very severely, and this has had a huge impact on the University of South Florida. Due to these budget cuts, some university bigwigs decided that the Women's Studies Department here at USF no longer deserved to be an autonomous entity, despite the fact that it is the second oldest women's studies department in the nation, having just celebrated it's 35th birthday. They also propose cutting out the Africana Studies department as well, or possibly merging the two disciplines to create what those who oppose the idea lovingly call "The Office of Marginalized Studies" .
Apparently, the provost is going to be making the final decision as far as the budget and the fate of the Women's and Africana Studies departments are concerned. His website is here. The information regarding the budget as well as his contact information is all there.
It would be great to get some e-mails sent to the provost in support of Women's Studies and Africana Studies. We have a petition circling around, but it's a printed document. If we get an online version, I will post it here for others to sign. We are trying to get as many signatures and as much support as possible, of course. Gloria Steinem was actually the first to sign our petition, and Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards also added their names to the list. So please, send an e-mail of support for the USF Women's Studies Department.
1 comment:
"It's one of the few organizations that confronts the culture," he said. "At one time Americans believed that society couldn't function without slavery. Now slavery is unthinkable. Most people, if offered a slave, wouldn't accept one. That's what we're trying to do with abortion. You have to change society's opinion to change legislation," he said.
I thought this was interesting. What this person doesn't seem to realize is that you're never going to change a woman's mind if she doesn't want to be pregnant. She may reluctantly carry a pregnancy to term if abortion becomes illegal or damn near impossible to get, but no one will ever change her opinion about being forced to do it. Again, anti-choicers take the pregnant woman out of the equation and only focus on Average Joe Voter. And the only this guy wants to change is the law. Everyone knows that making abortion illegal doesn't make it rare, it just makes it less safe. What is he doing to decrease the rate of unintended pregnancies? Nothing.
That really sucks about your Women's Studies and Africana Studies programs. I'll give whoever is in charge a piece of my mind!
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