Feminist Events Calendar

February: Black History Month
-14-21: National Condom Week of Action

March: Women's History Month
-1: International Women of Color Day
-8: International Women's Day
-10: National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers
-22: Back Up Your Birth Control Day

April: Sexual Assault Awareness Month
-13: National Crisis Pregnancy Centers Protest Day
-22: Earth Day

May: Women's Health Care Month
-4th: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day
-8th-14th: National Women's Health Week   

Contact Us!

Call us toll free at either the East coast office (1-866-444-FMLA) or the West coast office (1-866-471-FMLA). You can also email us at campusteam@feminist.org. We are always happy to hear from you and answer any questions or concerns!

What do you think?

This is your E-zine, and we are always updating and changing to fit your needs, so please let us know what you think of our new format! Email campusteam@feminist.org with any suggestions, ideas, or comments.

Freedom Winter '06
Thank you to all of the student activists who came to Washington, DC and participated in Freedom Winter! With your help we really made a difference in the debate about Alito's confirmation.

Remember, the vote is not done yet, so continue to call your Senators every day and demand that they stand up for women's rights and civil rights by filibustering Alito's nomination!

We couldn't have done it without you!
FMLA/Affiliates represented in DC for Freedom Winter:
- Allegheny College
- Arizona State University
- Bryn Mawr College
- College of William and Mary
- CSU Chico
- CSU Northridge
- Duke University
- Eastern Michigan University
- George Mason University
- Mercer University
- Michigan State University
- Occidental College
- Prescott College
- Scripps College
- Skidmore College
- Swarthmore College
- UCLA
- University of Delaware
- Vanderbilt University
- Vassar College
- West Virginia University

Penn State University
PSU FMLA worked in coalition with Campus Progress on an Anti-Alito petition drive and also organized a phone bank where they asked FMF supporters to contact their senators and demand a filibuster of Alito's nomination.

Cerritos College FMLA
The Cerritos College FMLA worked with their campus MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán--Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán) on a Day of the Dead celebration in November. The FMLA constructed an altar dedicated to the women who have died from back alley abortions. The altar was part of the FMLA's campaign to mobilize students to vote against Prop 73, a ballot initiative which would have restricted abortion for women under age 18 unless their parents were notified. The altar was decorated with facts, stories, and pictures, and during the celebration FMLA member stood by the altar passing out information and remembrance ribbons to remind people that keeping abortion safe, legal, and accessible saves women's lives.

Claremont McKenna College
The Women's Forum, the affiliate group at Claremont McKenna College, held a week of activities in honor of the International Day of Recognition of Violence against Women. These included a table tent campaign in the college cafeterias to educate students about violence against women and to advertise their events. They invited a speaker who talked about her personal experience with domestic violence. The group also hosted a talk by Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends of the UNFPA (The United Nations Population Fund). The UNFPA is the largest source of international funding for reproductive and women's health care services (the U.S. is currently withholding it's funding for the UNFPA, learn more on FeministCampus.org). In her talk Ms. Roberts made the important point that withholding U.S. funding is violence against women as it causes innumerable easily preventable deaths and injuries from unattended childbirth, unsafe abortion, obstetric fistula, and other pregnancy and childbirth related causes. The event raised money to help fund the UNFPA's work. The week of activities culminated with a screening of the movie In the Time of the Butterflies, a film about two women activists from the Dominican Republic who were part of the inspiration for the International Day of Recognition of Violence Against Women.

George Washington University
This week the GWU FMLA screened the movie Jane: Abortion and the Underground. The writer, Paula Kamen, was there for a discussion and Q-and-A after the show.

Oregon State University
The OSU FMLA organized a “Rock for Choice” fund and awareness raiser. The group got bands to play for free, educated people on EC and comprehensive sex education, and got local businesses to donate prizes for a raffle that raised over $700.

New FMLAs!
We would like to welcome the Mira Costa College (CA) FMLA and new affiliate group FOCUS at Wichita State University (KS) to the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance community!

Sexual Harassment Prevalent on College Campuses
January 26, 2006--Nearly two-thirds of college students in the US have experienced some form of sexual harassment, according to a new report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The report, Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus analyzed the results of a spring 2005 survey of undergraduate students, and found that the majority had experienced verbal or physical sexual harassment, with nearly one-third experiencing a form of physical harassment. While both men and women students reported sexual harassment, women were more likely to feel negative repercussions to their self-confidence. LGBT students were both more likely to be the targets of sexual harassment and more likely to be embarrassed, afraid, or disappointed in their college experiences because of it. More

High School Girl Allowed to Return to Weightlifting Class
January 26, 2006--A female star athlete at a Tennessee high school has been allowed to return to a weightlifting class, after being pulled from the class because she was the only girl. School officials said their decision to remove the student, Ambrea Phillips, from the class was based on a "safety issue." "If it were my daughter, I wouldn't want her in a class of 50 boys," principal Bob McCracken told reporters, according to GenderPAC, a DC group that works to end gender-based violence and discrimination. Instead, the student, senior Ambrea Phillips, was given a job in the school office. More

Judiciary Democrats Vote Solidly 'No' on Alito
January 24, 2006--In a straight party-line vote (10-8), the Senate Judiciary Committee voted this morning to approve Alito's confirmation, sending the debate to the Senate floor. "The strong statements from Democrats on the Judiciary Committee demonstrate that the confirmation of Judge Alito is too risky for a nation divided in a time of crisis," said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. More

Women's Law Project Examines Title IX in Pennsylvania
January 24, 2006--Colleges and universities in Pennsylvania are failing to provide adequate athletic opportunities for women students, according to a recent report from the Pennsylvania-based Women's Law Project (WLP). The report studied 112 schools in Pennsylvania for three years, and found that while women were over 53 percent of the student body, they received only 43 percent of athletic opportunities, thus failing the proportionality test of Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs, including athletics. The report did not examine the two other criteria by which schools can comply with Title IX athletics requirements. More

More Feminist News

Anti-HIV Gel May Empower Women in the Fight Against AIDS
January 20, 2006--The FDA has put an anti-HIV vaginal gel called VivaGel on the fast track for approval. Women can apply the gel vaginally in the hours before intercourse to prevent HIV and genital herpes. If trials go smoothly, VivaGel may be commercially available as early as 2008, making it the first anti-HIV microbicide on the market. More

New Law in Norway Requires Women to be 40 Percent of Corporate Boards
January 20, 2006--Publicly traded private companies in Norway are now obliged to have 40 percent of corporate boards to be comprised of women and have been given two years to meet the requirement. Karita Bekkemellem, Minister of Children and Equality, has threatened to dissolve any company that does not do so, reports the New York Times. More

First Woman President of Chile Committed to Women's Rights
January 19, 2006--Michelle Bachelet was elected the first woman president of Chile this Sunday, beating out right-wing opponent Sebastian Pinera by a handy 7 percent. The vote was a runoff between Bachelet and Pinera after Bachelet won only 46 percent in the multiple-candidate December 11 election, failing to get the 50 percent necessary for victory. More

More Global Feminist News

Million Voices for Darfur
On January 12, 2006 (the 55th anniversary of International Genocide Prevention Day), the Save Darfur Coalition and over one hundred advocacy, humanitarian aid, and faith-based organizations have launched the Million Voices for Darfur Campaign to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur and to demand that Congress and the Bush Administration take action to halt the atrocities. The Coalition and its partners are calling for 1,000,000 postcards, phone calls, and electronic signatures calling for the U.S. government to support a larger, stronger, multinational force to protect the civilians of Darfur. On April 30th, the Coalition will deliver these messages to Capitol Hill and the White House. Get involved and encourage others to raise their voices to help stop the genocide and hold President Bush to the words that he wrote in the margins of a briefing memo on the Rwandan genocide: "Not On My Watch." Send a message to help Darfur!

March is Women's History Month!
Focus this month on educating your campus on the social, economic and political barriers to reproductive healthcare. Campus Organizers are available to speak at events beginning in March 2006, and would love to help you organize an event about global women's and human rights issues. Call your Campus Organizer any time for event ideas or other questions. Also, make sure to download and circulate the new Restore Funding For UNFPA and Lift the Global Gag Rule petition!

Spend a summer working in a U.S. Embassy in one of 90 locations throughout the world!
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's International Internship Program is a PAID internship program and is in need of applicants!
As of this week, the program has only received 3 applications nationwide! DUE TO THIS LOW NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH
15TH!

The Foreign Agricultural Service's International Internship Program provides college students the opportunity to live and work in a paid internship at an American Embassy overseas. Through work assignments participants learn various aspects of international trade, trade policy, international relations, diplomacy, regional and cultural considerations, etc. Positions are available in Western Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The internship is offered every semester and summer for graduate students and upperclassmen (juniors and seniors).

Please see the application for more details.
Email Lillian Gorman with any questions.

• Did you know that the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) is changing in October 2006? Prepare early to apply to graduate school.