On Women's Studies

By Carrie Dagenhard

There is a shabby little cinderblock building on South Lumpkin Street. The building, which once functioned as both a bakery and a print shop in its thirty-plus years of existence, is now covered in asbestos. Termites have infested the outer layers and black mold has seeped into the dark corners and closets within. Rats have crawled through the holes in the aging foundation and chewed through the wires of the heating system. Rationally, the building should have been condemned and demolished years ago.

This is the home of the University of Georgia’s Institute for Women’s Studies, and it has been since 1999.

In addition to five small offices, the building has a library about the size of my apartment’s living room—which doubles as both a seminar space and kitchen—and a cramped reception area. The bathroom has one stall and there is only one classroom that holds about 32 students.

“Nine of our faculty members had to find offices in other places,” Director Dr. Chris Cuomo said. “We don’t have enough room for them here.”

Although the space is small, the program is highly functional. The combo library-kitchen offers students a work area complete with computers and an abundance of reference material - or as much material as the tiny room can hold.

“This is our student lounge,” said Public Relations Coordinator Molly Moreland Meyers, pointing to a small loveseat in the reception area.

While UGA is funding a $52 million expansion to the Tate Center, the women’s studies program is working away in their postage stamp-sized building.

But it’s not the lack of bells and whistles that bothers Cuomo.

“We just want to have a place where there is a sense of community, like within a department. Here, there is no gathering place for students and faculty to come together.”

So at a school the size of the UGA, and with as much funding as the school has, why haven’t changes been made? It definitely isn’t for lack of trying. Cuomo approached the University with fundraising plans and ideas to renovate the building, only to be told that the building was completely unsalvageable. In fact, as Business Manager Cicely Robinson-Jones points out, in addition to the various other problems the building also has no ventilation and dangerous air quality.

“We are not very happy with the administration’s response,” Cuomo said. “They just keep telling us ‘it’s on the agenda.’”

Meanwhile, the black mold continues to grow and the air quality diminishes.

“Those of us that work here 40 hours a week are really concerned about the health risks,” Meyers said. “Mold and no ventilation—what are the long term effects of that? I don’t think the University cares.”

Meyers has reason to believe that UGA doesn’t care. Especially since a safe building isn’t the only thing lacking for the institute.

For several years, the faculty and students alike have been pushing for a women’s center on campus. While the institute focuses on teaching and research, a women’s center would offer volunteer opportunities, educational programs, and support groups. It would give women a place to go for help and information, which Cuomo notes is very necessary on a campus where a bulldog and a beer can are the most important symbols.

There are over 400 academic based women’s centers nationwide. In Georgia, UGA is one of the only institutions of higher education that doesn’t have its own women’s center. Cuomo, Meyers, and Robinson-Jones all agree that this is more than a dereliction; this is an embarrassment to UGA. Especially since the women’s studies institute is one of the most active in campus outreach and community service. Cuomo points out that building a women’s center would speak volumes about how UGA feels about women’s studies and women in general.

“When you are born of struggle, the patriarchal institution knows that,” Cuomo said. “But we are prepared to do whatever we have to do.”

Cuomo, Meyers, and Robinson-Jones all agree that change will only come about through student activism. As Cuomo points out, the University generally responds better to the requests of their students, and future alumni, above anything else. The more students that speak up, the more likely it is that change will finally come about.