Dear Esteemed Bloggers,
I am writing to inform you (assuming you have not already heard) that Brigham Young University is dissolving its Women’s Rearch Institute after 31 years. This news was made semi-public on October 29, 2009. The sorry excuse for a public press release was first sent via email to the faculty and students involved in the program.
The Institute has been a central location for all aspects of academia at Brigham Young University that related to women. Its main accomplishments have been:
1) educating female students regarding gender-related personal challenges,
2) providing women throughout the Church with opportunities to learn about and discuss women’s issues particularly as they pertain to spiritual development,
3) improving the professional life for female faculty members at Brigham Young University, and
4) promoting the scholarly study of women’s development and contributions to families, communities, and societies.
Within the last twenty years of record-keeping, no other university in the country has eliminated its center of research concerning women.
This is a BIG deal.
We, as students at Brigham Young University are speaking out for those who cannot or will not speak for themselves. This is our legacy. We have already begun speaking up and reaching out to those involved in the decision-making process. We want answers from the people responsible, and we would like you to help by spreading the word, as well.
We implore you to make this a topic on your blogs within the next few days- time is of the essence!
Please add the following links to the official press release, our Facebook group, the WRI blog, and MOST IMPORTANT, ask your readers to inform themselves and SIGN THE PETITION!!!! Or sign the petition yourself if you have not yet done so.
http://supportwri.blogspot.com/
This is the official website of our movement and has a copy of the petition to electronically sign.
It also includes addresses where people can send letters and links to other sites with more information.
WRI’s offical site–http://wri.byu.edu/index.php
BYU’s official press release–http://news.byu.edu/archive09-Oct-womens.aspx
A slightly different view of the whole thing–http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleWRIFarewell.html
our facebook group page–http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=169442383235&ref=ts
KEEP IN MIND: This is not an action AGAINST the LDS Church or its Leaders. This a human issue affecting those who are involved in the research of the WRI and those who would benefit from that research.
Thank you so much for your help! Your voice is an invaluable assett to the cause.
Kind Regards,
Cassandra Scheerer
Katie Vaggalis
Sara Vranes
I really appreciate all of your efforts to save the WRI. I do have some concerns about signing the petition though. The petition is not actually in support of saving the existing WRI. It concedes the dissolution of the WRI and proposes the creation of a new women’s research council. Can you share any information or recent conversations you may have had with decisionmakers that led to your decision to concede the dissolution of the WRI? I don’t believe the creation of new council will fill the WRI void or create the same kind of institutional structure for women’s research.
I am a bit off put by the picture that goes with this. I realize the point, its defensive, which is automatically going to rile up feathers on some people. I think the approach needs to be centered on education, not feminism.
Bree, I honestly don’t know that much about this new council they are proposing. I’ll email the leaders of the group and see if we can get them to explain more.
anon, I chose to put that picture up, it was in no way connected to the letter we received from the leaders of the “Save the WRI” movement. If you have a problem with the picture then you’re problem is with me, not the organization. Please don’t withdraw your support from them just because you don’t like my conflation of feminism with this movement.