Women’s club finds a home

The students who run the Boston University Women’s Center said they had been fighting for a physical presence on campus for more than 30 years, meeting wherever they could while they waited for a space.
The group’s efforts finally paid off Saturday with the grand opening of the BU Women’s Resource Center on Saturday at a reception attended by both men and women. Center officials spoke to about 75 attendees in a new facility in the basement of the George Sherman Union.
‘We found a complete absence of the celebration of women at BU,’ Center Co-Director Carrie Chiusano said.
The student group, which also goes by a new name, Every Person Counts, has held events, handed out flyers and promoted awareness regarding the need group space since it started in the 1970s. The group submitted a detailed proposal to the Office of the Dean of Students last year, which then allocated space for it in the GSU.
‘ Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said the Center fits in perfectly with the GSU because it is a ‘place to celebrate students.’
‘It should be a place of controversy and, I hope, of understanding,’ Elmore said. ‘We can use this for a group of students with, if you will, a pretty large clientele.’
About 61 percent of first-year students are women, according to the College Board website.
Overall, the Center ‘didn’t take much’ to accomplish, Elmore said. The space, which had been used for storage, was cleaned, painted and carpeted. Student Health Services provided the same resources, but the new facility makes them more visible and accessible to the female community, he said.
The Center centralizes information regarding sexual assault, eating disorders, anxiety and depression. The group also seeks to empower women at BU through lecture series, book clubs and workshops.
‘The issues we discuss primarily affect women, but do not solely affect women,’ Chiusano, a College of Communication senior, said. ‘It’s important that men come and join in the discussion.”
Chiusano spoke to the audience, delivering a speech that brought many audience members to tears.
‘Tonight, I am proud to be a student at BU,’ Chiusano said, herself crying at the podium.
Women’s Studies Program interim Director Deborah Belle also spoke at the opening. Belle, a psychology professor, said the Center ‘will provide comfort, community and support to generations of women at BU.’
The Center cannot provide a Rape Crisis Center because it is student-run, but its volunteers are required to undergo training by the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center to enable them to respond to any crisis situation that may arise. Two therapists will also hold office hours at the center, Center Co-President Liz Metzger said.
The Center space itself encourages ‘a better group dynamic’ with colorful couches, a conference room that seats 20 people and a lending library, Metzger, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior, said.
The Center is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and other groups are also welcome to sign out the space.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Sandy Soohoo said she is glad there is a place other than health clinics for women to talk to professionals without feeling awkward.
‘There’s Student Health Services,’ she said. ‘But I wouldn’t really feel comfortable going there.’