As the 2015-2016 school year wrapped up, so did my time as student director of my campus’ Women’s Resource Center (WRC) student agency. The past year has been a journey to say the least and it’s been a period of progressive growth through learning and through many, many mistakes.
The simple act of applying for and accepting the position within the WRC was so much more than completing the online application and interviewing with advisors. It was the first step. The first step towards transformation. An evolution that continues to this day and, I hope, will continue long after I’m gone from the campus. The first step towards laying the groundwork for successful and sustainable programming and initiatives for years to come. The first step that I took into becoming a more aware and conscious me.
When I became the student director, I was tasked with the challenge (or, as I saw it, given the unparalleled opportunity) to start almost entirely from scratch. There were no returning board members or students who had been involved in the past. The WRC had a new agency advisor and a newly supportive relationship with UNO’s Gender & Sexuality Resource Center. I was essentially handed this organization that I had never been a part of and had barely even known existed on campus. And I didn’t deserve it. I still don’t think I deserved the experiences that I got, but I am ever so grateful for it. It was the most empowering, terrifying, and overwhelming feeling to know that the work that I contributed to would be the foundation of the organization for the next few years.
When I started with the WRC, the agency office was a dingy, poorly-lit office tucked away in the labyrinth of student center offices. Today, we’ve got a whole new look and prime space in the newly-renovated Student Center. It’s a transformation that I had absolutely nothing to do with, but still take a ridiculous amount of pride in. Hundreds of people pass by our (currently cluttered) but shiny new space and gape at the Take Back the Night posters conveying powerful and provoking messages. Some agree wholeheartedly with the message that we are fighting for. Some disagree and make their dissent or distaste known. Others may pass by without sparing us a second glance. Whatever the case, there is a discourse now on campus that didn’t exist before. There are conversations (some more argumentative than others) that are happening because of what our student agency stands for. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Stop by the main atrium of the Student Center and you’ll see. Better yet, poke your head into the Office of Multicultural Affairs and acquaint yourself with what all is available.
The WRC gave me mentors and friendships. Advisors and other board members that I looked up to for the work that they did and the drive that they possessed. I found myself in an entirely new community of women who weren’t happy with the way that some things were and who didn’t stand for inequality. They empowered me and strengthened me. I found myself constantly learning from the ideas and experiences of the board members and being inspired by both their contributions and their sheer willingness to contribute.
I can not even begin to express my pride for what the WRC student agency was able to accomplish last year. Organizing a Take Back the Night march and rally in collaboration with area schools and organizations. Contributing to a larger presence on campus through The Big O campaign in collaboration with the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center and UNO’s Queer and Trans Services student agency. Connecting through meaningful discourse with Sustained Dialogue and growing into a bigger, more recognized force on campus. And it doesn’t stop there.
If anything that you read struck a chord with you, I can not encourage you enough to consider getting involved. Yes, you’ll be asked to contribute your time and your energy but I can guarantee that the WRC will offer you something in return. For me, it was the confidence to stand up for myself and others in a way that I had never thought I would. It was the ability to connect with collegiate women student leaders from across the nation at a conference this past summer in Washington D.C. It was the discovery that women can stand united and we can make these very necessary and long overdue waves of change on campus and in the community. There’s still a lot of work to be done, so won’t you join us?
Board applications are accepted on the WRC’s MavSync page or email unowrc@unomaha.edu for more.
