• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Welcoming Wellesley’s Green Class of 2025
      Welcoming Wellesley’s Green Class of 2025
    • 2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
      2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
    • Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
      Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • No image
      You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage
    • No image
      Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other bathrooms
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
      “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
    • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
      Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
    • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
      Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
      COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Kily Wong Features, News and FeaturesFebruary 11, 2015

Trustees solicit student opinion on gender

What it means to be a women’s institution in the 21st century

Between all the snow days and class cancellations, students and select members of Wellesley College’s faculty and administration found time to congregate to discuss the issue of gender and the implications of what it means to be a women’s college in the 21st century. Yet there still seemed to be a disparity between viewpoints of how the institution versus the student body believed the College should move forward.

A dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 3 provided a unique opportunity for students to speak directly to members of the Board of Trustees and appointed representatives of the President’s Advisory Committee on Gender at Wellesley (PACGW).The forum that night was primarily a space for listening.

Charlotte Benishek ’16 described how it was different from the more charged town hall meeting that was held after the publication of a provocative article in the New York Times about the implications of the transgender movement at women’s institutions.

“It was warm, safe, respectful — I was really pleased by it,” Benishek said. “While there were many differing opinions, it still felt respectful and promising.”

The event began with a presentation by student representatives from the advisory committee, but people quickly broke into small tables for smaller discussions facilitated by a trustee or member from the committee. The students completed a variety of exercises including comparing different admission and graduation policies from other women’s colleges and writing down their comments to give  feedback.

“I think we were mostly there to learn, more than anything, and the students on the Committee wanted to share what they do and disseminate that information,”  attendee Melanie Chen ’16 said. “It was helpful to see the wide spectrum of policies that exist.”

Although neither Benishek nor Chen had a chance to talk to trustees firsthand, they both felt heard. Aside from providing an overview of the process that the committee and institution was taking, the students also discussed hypothetical scenarios and assessed current policy within their groups.

At Benishek’s table, Director of Residential and Campus Life Kris Niendorf pointed out how the institution uses language in its communications with students in its catalogue and on its website. Niendorf drew attention to the use of female gender pronouns and addresses such as “your daughter,” and  pressed students to think about the impact such language might have on students.

“[Niendorf] says that in all her communication to students, she intentionally makes them gender neutral,” described Benishek. “And then we went around the table, and like of course we’ve all received things from her, and the person at the table who didn’t identify as female was like, ‘Yeah, I noticed that and I appreciated that,’ and then the people who identified as female were like, ‘I didn’t notice that.’”

Overall, the event provoked students to consider arguments and perspectives that they had never previously considered. While it did not seem to sway people’s opinions and stances, it certainly provided an opportunity to learn more from one another, practice articulating beliefs and separating opinions that are backed by reasoning from pure feelings and emotions. 

“The intention of the meeting was to gather opinions and thoughts from as many students as possible on the issues that our PACGW has been working on over the past couple of months,” Niendorf explained. “It was also an opportunity for trustees and committee members to hear directly from students.”

The committee intends on reviewing the data it has received from students and alumnae so that the trustees can be informed in their decision making. Niendorf was pleased with the success of this event and added that there is likely to be a final document with all the comments from the evening posted on their website.

“The trustees always enjoy their time with students. At this meeting, they met jointly with the PACGW to review both groups work thus far,” Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Assistant Vice President Marianne Cooley added. “Both committees’ conversations are productive and outgoing.” She also confirmed that as work continues over the next month, any updates from the PACGW will be available on their website.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleAlpha Kappa Chi: Mixing the old and the new
Next articleWellesley student wins prestigious journalism fellowship

You may also like

Welcoming Wellesley’s Green Class of 2025

2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored

Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other b...
  • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
  • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
  • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations fo...
  • You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top