Feminist Events Calendar

December:
-10: International Human Rights Day

January:
-3-22: Freedom Winter '06
-16: Martin Luther King Day
-22: Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

March: Women's History Month
-8: International Women's Day
-10: National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers

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

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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!

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Young Americans went to Mississippi in 1964 in droves for Freedom Summer to register African Americans to vote. Young Americans marched by the millions to protest the Vietnam War in the 1970s.

This is a call to action for you to make history.

The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and the National Organization for Women (NOW) invite you to join Freedom Winter '06 because the future of civil rights and women's equality are on the line.

On January 9, 2006, Judge Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation hearings to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor begin. Alito's Nomination Can AND Must Be Stopped! Judge Alito has been very clear in his writings that he does not support “racial and ethnic quotas” which is code language for being against affirmative action. His disdain for Americans' constitutional right to privacy extends even to allowing the strip search of a 10-year old girl. Not only will he be the decisive vote to reverse Roe v. Wade, his vote will roll back sex and race discrimination law and the undermine important legislation such as the Family and Medical Leave Act.

We are recruiting emergency activists to come to Washington DC from January 3, 2006 to January 20, 2006, or anytime in between.

Be a part of history and join Freedom Activists from around the country for Freedom Winter '06!

End of Semester Briefings
If you haven't already, please remember to schedule an appointment before you leave for Winter Vacation to talk to your Campus Organizer about activities and programs from this past semester and plans for the upcoming semester.

To schedule an appointment with your Campus Organizer call one of our offices toll free: 1-866-444-FMLA (East Coast), 1-866-471-FMLA (West Coast) or email campusteam@feminist.org.

Regional Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conferences
Thanks to all of you, the Feminist Majority Foundation's Regional Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conferences were a resounding success! Over 700 activists attended the four conferences from 111 campuses in 23 states with great energy and commitment to making a difference worldwide.

Print out FMF's Five Things You Can Do Global Action Kit and Media Strategy, then start organizing. We must work to build a national constituency for positive US foreign policy!

Shop the Feminist Online Store this holiday season!
For feminist gifts for friends and family, try the Feminist Online Store. Sweatshop-free shirts, products to benefit Afghan and South African women, books, music and more. Enter the code EZ115 for 10% off your order!

Boston University
This week, FMF affiliate Boston University Women's Center is holding “Women Rock,” an annual benefit concert. Last year's event was a huge success, with about $450 raised and split between MADRE's Tsunami Center Women's Fund and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC). This year, the concert promises to be even bigger, with three well-known bands set to perform. Proceeds will go to BARCC, the second oldest rape crisis center in the U.S., with over 135 volunteers providing hotline crisis counseling, adolescent and family services, support groups, medical advocacy, and legal advocacy. The organization also offers violence prevention education workshops for schools, community groups, teen centers, and business throughout the greater Boston area.

University of Arizona
Affiliate group, Network of Feminist Student Activists sponsored a protest after a rape victim was denied EC on campus. Check out the article on the front page of the school newspaper!

Feminist Spotlight: Outstanding Groups
We would like to thank all of the FMLAs and affiliate groups around the country for all the great work they did this semester, and for participating in all of the Regional Global Women's and Human Rights Conferences. We would also like to recognize the following outstanding students, groups, and faculty members for their activism and efforts this semester:

The FMLA's condom education campaign logo, using the Meredith College mascot, the angel.

Meredith College (NC)
This semester, the Meredith College FMLA accomplished one of its founding goals by successfully lobbying school administrators to make condoms available on campus. They launched an education campaign to increase student awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, and concluded their campaign by conducting a survey that found that 70.9% of students wanted the school to make condoms available in the campus health center and in residence halls. The College then granted their request, and is currently developing a plan to make condoms permanently available on campus. The FMLA now plans to launch a campaign to make emergency contraception available to students through the campus health center.

Northern Arizona University
Affiliate group Associated Students for Women's Issues, put on their annual “Purple Ribbon Campaign” for sexual assault awareness month, and raised money with a benefit concert during which they also gave out information about emergency contraception. The group also had several other events this semester including a domestic violence vigil, and a panel discussion on feminism entitled “The F-Word.” They also brought a delegation of 11 to the Western Regional Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference. One of the group's goals for the future is starting an EC Scholarship program to fund advance EC prescriptions and ensure access to EC for economically disadvantaged women.

Wayne State University (MI)
The Wayne State FMLA became a group in October of this fall semester. Although they were unable to host any events this year becausue of their very recent creation, they had an amazing start with recruitment. By tabling and attending University functions they recruited 100 people to their listserv and already have 15 active members and a full executive board with 8 officers. In addition, 5 of their members attended to the Midwest Regional Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference. Great start Wayne State FMLA!  

University of California Los Angeles
As a founding member of a coalition of student groups called the UCLA Darfur Action Committee, The UCLA FMLA is helping to organize UC students and groups in asking the University of California to divest (taken out investments) from companies that support the Khartoum regime in Sudan and help end the genocide. Recently, the FMLA helped to organize a massive mobilization of hundreds of students as UC Regents met on the UCLA campus. The Regents at this meeting decided unanimously to recommend divestment to the full board of UC Regents. This is a major step forward for this campaign, and the Feminist Majority Foundation wants to congratulate the FMLA for the leadership role they have played. FMLA member Karina Garcia says, “This is something that can be done on all campuses and we as feminists can lead. We cannot let women in Darfur have to continue to make this decision when trying to get firewood to cook food: ‘If I send my son to get firewood he will surely be killed, if I send my daughter she will only be raped.’
If you are a Californian you can sign an online petition of support at www.ucdivestsudan.com, where you can also find more information on divestment as well as on the crisis. You are also invited to contact Karina if you are interested.

The UCLA FMLA also worked tirelessly to help defeat California ballot initiative Prop 73 (which would have banned abortion for women under age 18 unless their parents were notified). They held a week of activities leading up to California's Special Election on November 8th, which included tabling every day in four different locations around campus and phone banking, as well as hosting a poster making party, a potluck fundraiser to raise money for a group that pays for poor women's abortions, and a speak-out and rally. The day before the election they screened Abortion Denied, a video about the devastating effects of mandatory parental notification laws, followed by a panel discussion featuring doctors from Physicians for Reproductive Choice, the President of California NOW, and the co-founder of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. While helping defeat Prop 73, the UCLA FMLA succeeded in bringing together a new, broad coalition of student groups to form the UCLA Reproductive Rights Committee.

New FMLAs!
We would like to welcome affiliate group Women's Student Union at SUNY-Fredonia (NY) to the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance community!

Supreme Court Hears Campus Military Recruitment Case
December 6, 2005--The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that pits law schools' anti-discrimination policies against the military's anti-gay policies and on-campus recruitment efforts. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR) v. Rumsfeld addresses the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, passed in 1994, which requires universities to give the military the same access to on-campus recruiting as given to other employers, or risk losing public funding. More

Young Women Have Highest Risk of HIV/AIDS
December 6, 2005--A new report from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa reports that 16.9 percent of young women in 2005 were infected with HIV/AIDS, a jump from a rate of 12 percent in 2002. Women between the ages of 15 and 24 are four times more likely than men of the same age to contract HIV/AIDS, despite an overall drop in prevalence of the disease. More

IL: Walgreen Suspends Pharmacists for Refusing EC Prescriptions
December 5, 2005--Walgreen suspended four pharmacists without pay last week for their refusal to fill emergency contraception (EC) prescriptions, in violation of Illinois law. They are the first to be disciplined under the rule, which requires that any pharmacy selling FDA-approved contraceptives, including EC, must fill all contraceptive prescriptions. In the event that the pharmacy does not have a particular contraceptive in stock, the pharmacy must offer another contraceptive or transfer the prescription to another pharmacy. More

Supreme Court Preview: Scheidler v. NOW, Operation Rescue v. NOW
November 28, 2005--The Supreme Court will hear two related cases on Wednesday involving violence against women's health clinics and access to abortion services. The cases, Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (NOW), et. al. and Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women, et. al., stem from a case initiated in 1986 by Eleanor Smeal as president of the National Organization for Women (Smeal is currently president of the Feminist Majority Foundation). This is the third time the Supreme Court will be considering this class action case on behalf of all women who could potentially be patients of women’s health care clinics and virtually all women’s health care providers. More

More Feminist News

First Women Elected in Saudi Arabia
December 7, 2005--Lama Al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher have become the first Saudi women to be elected, winning seats on the board of the Jiddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Arab News quotes Al-Sulaiman as declaring, "I'm excited and exhausted...I'm still in shock. I worked hard and went for a win..." This is the first time women have been on a ballot in Saudi Arabia. More

South African Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
December 1, 2005--Today, the highest court in South Africa ruled that the parliament must amend marriage laws to include same-sex couples within the next year. If parliament does not act, the laws will be automatically changed to give marriage rights to same-sex couples. In the ruling, Justice Albie Sachs wrote, “The exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and responsibilities of marriage… signifies that their capacity for love, commitment and accepting responsibility is by definition less worthy of regard that that of heterosexual couples,” reports Reuters. More

AIDS Funding to be Subject to Global Gag Rule
November 30, 2005--The Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) has charged the Bush Administration with secretly undermining the effort to fight HIV/AIDS by subjecting US AIDS funding to the Global Gag Rule. Organizations applying for grant funding would be required to agree to the "Mexico City Policy," as the Global Gag Rule is also known, according to revisions to eligibility criteria. According to CHANGE, the restrictions were included in a request for applications for HIV/AIDS work in Kenya, a move meant to attract little attention. More

More Global Feminist News

Now that so many of you have attended the Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conferences and have learned so much about the interconnectedness of women's rights and so many other social justice issues, plan to raise awareness about these issues by organizing a program or event dealing with global women's rights issues for next semester!

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!

Work or Intern for FMF!

• Looking to learn more about the feminist movement? Intern for a summer or semester at our DC or LA office. Learn more!
• Graduating in December? Looking for a feminist job? Come to DC! The Feminist Majority Foundation is looking for a creative web developer with IT experience who has a commitment to feminist and pro-choice issues to join the Web Team. The motivated feminist applying for this job will have strong computer skills and a passion for the online world. This position consists of website maintenance, light office IT support and application design and maintenance.
  Learn more!