Networks link to improve climate at Xavier U.

Women undergraduates first gained admission to the all-male Xavier University OH 35 years ago. They created Breen Lodge, a Women's Center that included a lending library, career center, women's health and assertiveness programs and even a weekly radio show.

Breen Lodge closed in 1980. "It was felt that there was no longer a need to focus on women's issues because women had integrated throughout campus," said Dr. M. Christine Anderson, professor of history and co-director of the gender studies minor. In fact, women are a majority on campus but Xavier has no Women's Center.

Anderson and Dr. Nancy Bertaux, professor of human resources and economics and chair of the faculty committee, plus student leaders Sarah Short and Kristin Reitz, spoke of women's issues at Xavier. They were at the National Association of Women in Catholic Higher Education conference (NAWCHE) held in Rhode Island in June.

A series of interlocking networks

A campus group calling itself WORTH (Women Organize for Rights, Truth, Happiness) demonstrated a continued need to address women's issues on campus. Although disbanded, it was the genesis for a series interlocking women's networks that ensure women's voices are heard.

The networks address a range of issues including sexual violence, hiring and women's and gender studies. Some are student-led and run, while others include faculty or staff.

As students, Short and Reitz headed Take Back the Night, helping organize 200 Xavier students to march for rape awareness. They broadened the group's mission, and it hosted the play The Vagina Monologues on campus. Working with Anderson and Bertaux, they overturned the administration's refusal to allow the play under Xavier sponsorship. The shows went on after students pointed out that the play dealt with the Catholic and Jesuit missions of the dignity of the human person.