Lehigh’s Women’s Center to mark 25-year milestone

Although undergraduate women began attending Lehigh more than 40 years ago, a center dedicated to their interests and needs wasn’t founded until 1991 and was primarily a response to a need for child care. Since then, the Women’s Center has evolved into a well-established component of the Lehigh culture and a source for information, support and engaging programming.

On Tuesday, March 29, the Women’s Center will celebrate its 25-year milestone with events that will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Williams Hall Global Commons, the Mezzanine and the Greenhouse. A ceremony will take place at 12:10 p.m. and will include brief reflections from students, staff, faculty and Lehigh senior officers. The ceremony will also include recognition of 25 women who are changing Lehigh through their work, activism and engagement.

The women were selected from a list of nominees from across the university, and reflect contributions that are grounded in academics, activism, administration and programming.

Rita Jones, director of the Women’s Center for the past eight years, said she hopes the celebration “shines the light of recognition on the tremendous work over the past 25 years by students, faculty, staff, and alums to build what the Women's Center is today.” She also said the event is an opportunity for all Lehigh constituencies to see “where and how we can all be involved in building an inclusive Lehigh.

“This celebration,” she added, “is not simply about celebrating who we are; it's about imagining who we can become and creating spaces for the community to be a part of that imagining and, importantly, the action.”

The Center’s work is far from over, she said. While the women who will be honored stand as testament to the progress made at Lehigh, they also represent promise for the future.

“The 25 Women Who Are Changing Lehigh puts this hope into action,” she said. “Certainly these women have demonstrated they can achieve changes toward making Lehigh more inclusive and they are demonstrating they have more plans and ideas to put into place.  It's that latter portion—we're not done, we have ideas about what and how to do them. That’s what we’re really trying to capture in this celebration. As a firmly-rooted, well-established space, we want to take this opportunity to consider where and how the Women’s Center will grow.”

Jones was aided in the planning of this event by Sarah Heidebrink-Bruno, a second-year Ph.D. student in English who works in the Women’s Center as a grad assistant. She first became involved with the center in 2011, during the first year of her masters studies at Lehigh.

“At the time,” Heidebrink-Bruno said, “I was on fellowship and not teaching, so I wanted to find a way to engage with students in a non-traditional learning and activist space. I worked as the editor-in-chief for Origyns, our former feminist literary publication, for one year. Now I have a new role helping staff to plan and promote events and expanding the Women's Center's impact on campus and in the community.”

Additional support comes from Emily Ryan ’18, who is studying chemical engineering and working as a staff member in the center.

To read about the 25 Women Who Are Changing Lehigh, please go to the Women’s Center’s Facebook page. In the days leading up to the March 29 celebration, each of the women selected will be featured.