The Women’s Empowerment Alliance (WEA) will be hosting its first Women in Politics Panel 7 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 21 in the Bridge of Learning.
At this event, all political organizations on campus will be discussing topics of interest to women as it relates to different political views and legislation. Questions will cover four topics: reproductive rights, Title IX, the Violence Against Women Act, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
WEA invited representatives from campus’s four political organizations: the Campus Democrats, College Republicans, Student Socialist Union (SSU), and Young Americans for Liberty (YAL).
All delegates will talk about the issues from their political perspectives, field questions based on the responses they give, and answer any additional questions audience members may have.
Many organization members expressed excitement for the upcoming panel and having a chance to share their party’s views on different women’s rights issues.
President of the Campus Democrats, Abby Wosinski, said, “The National Democratic Party has a history of supporting and fighting for women’s issues in politics and continues that trend today. Our group on campus embraces these democratic ideals.”
Nick Bochenek, representative of SSU said, “SSU generally feels that not enough is being done to address the rampant sexism in our society and culture and how it affects our views of sex and gender … In order to bring about true and equal representation for women in government, we must address the foundational issues that prevent such a state of affairs. SSU also stresses the importance of intersectionality in this effort, as the triumph of white women alone is but an illusion of real justice.”
Aaron Kraft, treasurer of College Republicans, said, “I think [this panel] will be a learning experience for every organization involved. I personally always enjoy hearing different perspectives on a variety of issues. My organization plans on answering the four questions based off of prior research and voting results on the topics being discussed.”
Garrett Kehr, acting president for YAL, said, “Individual liberty is central to our core beliefs as a group and something we strive to express on campus. In regards to the women’s movement, there are many overlaps between our agenda and theirs. Both philosophies champion the liberation of the individual and the protection of the politically disenfranchised. In many ways the liberty movement seeks to take the points of the women’s rights agenda and expand these concepts to all of society.”
Junior Cassidy Teminsky, who is a member of WEA, talked about the importance of understanding the views that each of the political parties holds, especially around election time.
Teminsky said she considers this panel important because it “get[s] people asking those big picture questions and letting people … debate it out amongst themselves [to] see where they fall.”
Anyone can attend the panel, and admission is free. Buttons will be handed out as door prizes.
Students can come to WEA meetings at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday in Battelle Hall, room 115. Contact WEA Secretary Sarah Durham (sdurham@capital.edu) with any questions.
