People can be inspired by any number of deeds and actions, butit was the absence of action that inspired Teresa Diener to startthe Women's Consciousness Raising Coalition, a new group oncampus.
Diener, a transfer student from Middle Tennessee StateUniversity, was astonished with the lack of activities andinvolvement regarding National Women's History Month at the U of Mlast March.
"I went online and was surprised to see that there wasn'tanything going on," said Diener, a senior gender studies major atThe University. "Being such a big school, I was really shocked thatonly one lecture was offered here at Memphis."
Diener, 25, contacted the Center for Research on Women andWomen's Studies departments and shared her concerns.
"I was offered a ton of encouragement," Diener said. With thatencouragement Diener decided to start a student women'sorganization at The U of M, which she did Sept. 9.
"It's important for women's issues to have representation," saidDiener. "It's about getting women's voices heard and gettingeveryone more aware."
The WCRC seeks to be the first organization mindful of femalestudent issues in recent years.
"As far as I know, there has never been an organization likethis before on (The U of M) campus," said Rebecca Terrell,community relations coordinator for the Center for Research onWomen. "It's really important that the WCRC has been formed. Therehas been a lack of opportunity for serious involvement in women'sissues on campus."
To assist the passage toward a more involved student body, WCRCwill be receiving assistance from an eager cast.
"We (CROW) will be helping them coordinate activities withstudents," Terrell said. "We're all looking forward to workingalongside WCRC."
The WCRC welcomes all students -- women and men -- who areconcerned with humanitarian issues and have at least a 2.0 gradepoint average.
"The organization isn't just about women," said Diener. "Itsabout stimulating understanding."
While WCRC may have just been founded recently, members'intentions for the future are well mapped out and quite lofty.
Along with setting up a faculty lecture series and bringing inoutside speakers to address areas of concern from women's issues tosocial injustice, WCRC will also be co-sponsoring an appearance byThe Guerrilla Girls theater group during National Women's HistoryMonth this March.
"We are co-sponsoring the event with the Center for Research onWomen and the Women's Studies department," said Diener. "Thatshould be pretty exciting."
Diener encourages students interested in WCRC to e-mail her attdiener@memphis.edu.
"Together we can raise awareness for a common purpose," Dienersaid.
