Women to Win at UNCW

By: Olivia Cunningham | Staff Writer

Posted: 2/24/10

Out of the 535 seats in the United States House of Representatives and the 100 seats of our Senate, women only make up 17 percent. Here at UNCW, women make up under one third of the legislative positions in the Student Government Association. So why are women so underrepresented?

UNCW has been chosen as one of 10 Campaign College locations for 2010. This award includes a day-long workshop that teaches college students, specifically women, how to apply, run and win a student government campaign. Other schools chosen include the University of Connecticut, Northern Michigan University and the University of Texas at Arlington.

Campaign College has teamed up with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the Women and Politics Institute of American University, and Running Start. These organizations have been working with the UNCW community to develop the "Women to Win" workshop.

The workshop is free, and although it focuses on women it is open to both male and female undergraduate UNCW students. Michelle Scatton-Tessier, the Women's Studies and Resource Center (WSRC) director at UNCW, believes that this program will help students get involved not only on campus, but later in life as well.

"I truly believe that the more engaged you are, the more involved in the community, the more we have invested in community, the better citizens we are," said Scatton-Tessier. "I'd like to see young women step up and take on more responsibility and leadership opportunities, not just for this generation but for generations to come."

Though the workshop is designed specifically towards student government campaigns, Scatton-Tessier believes it will also "prepare [students] to run for local, state and federal offices as well."

Campaign College is the only program in the country that encourages and trains young women to run for student government. After their first year, they helped to boost female representation by 43 percent.

"This experience will also prepare them for other positions of leadership in their communities and in their professional lives," said Scatton-Tessier. "A lot of it [the workshop] really does try to shed the light on information that students may not want to ask about."

The first half of the workshop includes discussions about women running for office, what students can do after student government and how to run for an SGA office. The second half of the program will incorporate campaign simulations. The workshop will end with a networking reception. The workshop's keynote speaker will be North Carolina Senator and UNCW alumnus Julia Boseman.

"We've invited local supporters of the WSRC who run non-profit [organizations] to meet with students," said Scatton-Tessier. She hopes that this will help students become more involved with the community.

"I want to see the shift from volunteerism to leadership positions-not just in women's organizations, like sororities or women's clubs, but in the mixed clubs," said Scatton-Tessier. "I'd like to see more women in leadership roles, not just the 'traditional' supporting roles."

"I think this will help women who are going into careers that are mainly dominated by men," said UNCW senior Monique Cuff. "Women will learn to be assertive, how to get that dream job or leadership position."

"I'm proud to say we're giving students the opportunity to carve out their own voices and to feel more comfortable in elections," said Scatton-Tessier. "We're also going to have a follow-up workshop in the fall."

AAUW will be hosting the "$mart $tart" negotiating workshop in conjunction with the WSRC.

"It's a four-hour workshop that teaches women how to negotiate for their first job, for wages and for promotions," said Scatton-Tessier. This workshop is geared to help the wage gap between men and women, which is an average of 20 cents less for women.

"We're doing all this in order to bring the community, the university and students together," said Scatton-Tessier. "If we can do more, we certainly will."

The "Women to Win" workshop will be held in the Madeline Suite Saturday, Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is open to all undergraduate majors.