{"70919":{"#nid":"70919","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Women\u0027s Resource Center celebrates 10 years of community","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInitially only a shared vision of a place where women at Tech would be able to have resources and a sense of community on campus, the Women\u0027s Resource Center (WRC) celebrates its 10th anniversary in October.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe idea began as the Women\u0027s Student Union, proposed by two students. With the support of the then-recently named Associate Dean of Students Stephanie Ray, the WRC opened, operating under the auspices of that office, just prior to the end of spring quarter 1998.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the first two years, a graduate student oversaw WRC\u0027s operations. In January 2000, Assistant Dean of Students Yvette Upton was hired as the center\u0027s first full-time staff member. She was named director of the center in 2002. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When I first came to campus, I was told by some students that they were uncomfortable having programs to help them-they didn\u0027t want to be perceived as being different,\u0022 Upton said. \u0022After 2000, the Institute climate changed a lot.\u0022 As evidenced by the 1,800 people subscribing to the WRC weekly e-mail, Upton says that women on campus are more open to having a place and support opportunities. \u0022I see women being involved and having support groups as a Tech student.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWRC programs offer support for both the academic performance and the personal development of women at the Institute, as well as promote understanding and dialogue among Tech\u0027s diverse community. \u0022We work with all kinds of issues that might keep these students from academic success-family issues, relationship issues,\u0022 Upton said. We want to be sure that women who want to be at Tech have the resources they need to succeed.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nExamples of the programs sponsored by the WRC include:\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWomen\u0027s Awareness Month-During March, the WRC presents events and programming to help raise awareness of women\u0027s issues and create a community for women at Tech. Started as a week, the event expanded to a month in 2002. During last year\u0027s Take Back the Night, an annual event to bring awareness to and end sexual violence, turnout was rather large. \u0022This year, we estimate we\u0027ll have nearly 800 people,\u0022 Upton said. \u0022We hold it more as an educational event. We still have survivor\u0027s stories, but we also focus on the concepts of sexual violence and consent.\u0022 Women\u0027s Awareness Month is organized by a student committee advised by the WRC, Upton said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWomen\u0027s Leadership Conference-This annual two-day conference, chaired by a 15-member student organizing committee, develops leadership skills of current students and alumnae.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWomen in the Wilderness-A partnership with Outdoor Recreation at Georgia Tech (ORGT), women learn empowerment in a non-competitive, supportive outdoor environment, such as camping and rafting. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe WRC also serves as a link for students and Institute academic programs, such as the National Science Foundation\u0027s ADVANCE, the Society of Women Engineers, Women at the College of Computing, Women in Engineering, Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Women, Science and Technology. A number of programs at the WRC are targeted toward graduate students, Upton said, helping give advice and tips on moving into an academic career.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the WRC concentrates on the Institute as a whole, Upton says the center is also looking into programs offered on the departmental level. \u0022We work to raise awareness for women based on what their needs may be,\u0022 Upton said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring its first year, the WRC occupied a small physical space, holding its programs in different areas of campus. In 2004, the Women\u0027s Resource Center moved into a permanent suite of offices in the Student Services building, which Upton says offers the best of both worlds: accessibility and privacy. \u0022We\u0027re in a central part of campus, but we\u0027re not in a high-traffic area.\u0022 Offices are located at the end of a hallway filled with photos and images of women\u0027s experiences at Tech in the 2003 exhibit \u002250 Years of Women at Georgia Tech.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Students helped paint the space themselves,\u0022 she said, explaining the varied colors and d\u0027cor throughout the WRC that differs from most other Institute administrative offices. \u0022Graduate students in the math program, for their first women\u0027s group outing, came and helped us paint.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Upton, women comprise roughly 27 percent of the student population. \u0022For the last two years the freshman classes have trended 30 percent women,\u0022 she said. \u0022It\u0027s not necessarily a 50-50 goal. We just need to create an environment where women who can be successful at Tech choose to come here and stay.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd something that may be surprising to an observer-but not to Upton-is that on several occasions members of Tech\u0027s male student population have gotten involved with the WRC. \u0022We focus on women, but we work with all students,\u0022 she said. \u0022I think it\u0027s important for a women\u0027s organization on campus to include men in the discussion.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We worked a lot with men on the campus to help understand what it means to have consent,\u0022 Upton said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022To make changes, you really have to involve everyone.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the WRC has worked with the Department of Health Promotion since 2002 to implement VOICE, a campus-wide initiative to end sexual violence on campus. Goals included developing a men\u0027s program and continuing training for peers to help fellow students who have experienced violence. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWRC Program Coordinator Colleen Riggle was hired in June 2006 to focus on these efforts. She works one-on-one with victims and conducts Ally, Safe Sisters and Advocate trainings on campus. The Safe Sisters program trains sorority members to help sorority sisters who are victims of assault. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022More than 1,600 students, faculty and staff have been through our various training sessions,\u0022 Riggle said. \u0022Sexual violence advocacy and education is such an important issue on any college campus. We will continue to work on these initiatives until sexual violence is eradicated on campus. We are grateful for the many men and women who have been allies to our office and supportive of this work.\u0022 Riggle also advises the Women\u0027s Awareness Month committee.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you\u0027re doing this kind of work-significant societal change-it\u0027s difficult,\u0022 Upton said. \u0022You want to see immediate results, but it just doesn\u0027t work that way. We\u0027ve had students who have experienced something so negative that they chose to leave. Those are really bad situations. But, when you look back over the last 10 or 15 years, you see there has been change.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd she has seen that change first-hand. \u0022I consistently have students come back after or as they are graduating, and they tell me they stayed at Tech because of something we did to support them,\u0022 Upton said. \u0022It makes it much easier to do this job.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think all of us on campus are making an impact, but few of us get confirmation,\u0022 she said. \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Initially only a shared vision of a place where women at Tech would be able to have resources and a sense of community on campus, the Women\u0027s Resource Center celebrates its 10th anniversary in October.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s WRC looks back on its first decade."}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2008-09-30 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-09-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-09-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70920":{"id":"70920","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"}},"media_ids":["70920"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.womenscenter.gatech.edu\/","title":"Women\\\u0027s Resource Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of the Dean of Students"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtwlc.com\/","title":"Women\\\u0027s Leadership Conference"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"714","name":"ADVANCE"},{"id":"170800","name":"Safe Sisters"},{"id":"1979","name":"Take Back the Night"},{"id":"4783","name":"Women\u0027s Awareness Month"},{"id":"4476","name":"Women\u0027s Leadership Conference"},{"id":"4786","name":"women\u0027s resource center"},{"id":"1978","name":"WRC"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EYvette Upton\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDirector, Women\\\u0027s Resource Center\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:yvette.upton@vpss.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Yvette Upton\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1563\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["yvette.upton@vpss.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}