AU will expand its resources for students by opening a women’s center in fall 2010 and an online veterans’ network launching this January.
The Women’s Resource Center will have a variety of components, such as a library of books relating to women’s issues and a counseling center, according to Student Government President Andy MacCracken.
The veterans’ network will provide veterans who are new to AU with resources and support from other veterans.
The SG has been working on getting a women’s resource center since early 2006, according to MacCracken. He said the resource center is guaranteed at least one staff member and will most likely have office space on the second floor of the Mary Graydon Center in the same hallway as the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Resource Center and the Disabilities Support Center.
Sarah Brown, the director of Women’s Initiative, said that she is overjoyed at the prospect of a women’s resource center.
“I am incredibly excited for the opening of the Women’s Resource Center,” Brown said. “I was a freshman when this idea really gained momentum and it will be great to see all of the hard work of my peers and myself materialize into something tangible that will benefit the entire AU community.”
Brown said that while the members of Women’s Initiative provide a great deal of support to women at AU, it is imperative that there be a staff office addressing women’s issues so the AU community can have a “full-time advocate for issues affecting women on campus.”
Brown also stressed that a women’s resource center would provide more extensive women’s counseling services than the student-run Women’s Initiative.
“Just having a space for students to go and feel welcomed and comfortable is extremely important,” Brown said. “While the Women’s Initiative office provides this as best as we can with the space the Student Government provides for us, we do share an office and some important issues are more easily discussed in a safe space where you can close the door if need be.”
Gail Hanson, AU’s vice president of Campus Life, worked with the AU administration on planning and acquiring finances for the Women’s Resource Center. Hanson said the Women’s Resource Center would focus more on bringing together women’s resources already available to students than on creating new resources and services.
Hanson is also helping to establish an online veterans’ network at AU. The Veterans’ Network will be a “group of people to be a principal resource to the over 100 veterans on campus.” The network will have information for current and prospective veteran students, as well as important links and online resources.
MacCracken said a veterans’ network could help student veterans learn about AU and adjust to college life.
“A student veteran’s experience is much different than the life experiences of the average AU student,” MacCracken said. “Many veterans are older than the average freshman, and the veterans are coming from a very different environment.”
MacCracken said a physical Veterans’ Resource Center could be a possibility in the future but for now, the SG is focusing on short-term ways that they can build support for AU veterans.
MacCracken is working with the administration to have a veterans’ reception on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The Kennedy Political Union may collaborate with the SG for the event to bring in a speaker, according to MacCracken.
He said he would make it a priority to address the needs of the growing AU veterans community.
“We’ll be working on identifying what resources can be offered and when we can make these resources available,” MacCracken said. “I’ll be working with AU veterans throughout the rest of my term and promoting awareness of veterans’ issues.”
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
