The Brown & White

Under the leadership of Rita Jones, who was named director earlier this year, the Women's Center is on a mission to increase outreach and become more integrated into the campus community.

Rita Jones started working at Lehigh's Women's Center this January.

"In my last position I missed the activism part," Jones said. "I got to do a lot of the theory work with my classes but I really missed being able to work with students, faculty and staff to make those theoretical foundations happen."

The students and staff at the Women's Center are working with Jones to become more interactive with other clubs, activities, organizations and different segments of the Lehigh community to make the Women's Center "more than a room," said Elizabeth Vogtsberger, a graduate student intern for the center.

"Rita is really committed to new kinds of programming that can bring new kinds of people to the center," Vogtsberger said. "She seems to be trying to make connections with a lot of different people and groups on campus."

Jones said she is confident that with time change will come. She said the key to reaching out will be "dialogue" and going where other groups are.

Becoming more invested in what benefits the community and building bridges will help the Women's Center, Jones said.

"Building collaborative relationships all throughout the community is the way that we are going to make a positive difference and strengthen women's and men's lives," Jones said.

Women's Center staff member Dianna Hank, '09, said on a campus where women are "underrepresented," because of the unbalanced male to female ratio, initiatives that bring the community together while shedding light on women's affairs are extremely important.

Jones and Hank said the Take Back the Night March this Thursday is one initiative that can unify different people and groups under the common concern of ending violence in the community.

Jones said it is important to make the Women's Center a place where everyone feels welcome and a place where everyone can learn about each other's differences and the importance of understanding and accepting those differences.

"Throughout my life I've been concerned with making sure we recognize the interdependent relationship of humans, that no one can do it alone and that we all rely upon each other," Jones said. "We all interact with women regardless of our gender. It's nice for them to have an understanding of that role and the social construction of that role."

In addition to Thursday's Take Back the Night March, a march to end sexual violence, the Women's Center sponsored The Clothesline Project this week. The Clothesline Project is a display of T-shirts with messages of hope and strength created by survivors of sexual violence.