Women & Staff Rendezvous | Photo by Elayna Storts | The Wright State Guardian
What began in the 1990s is now reimagined for women faculty and staff to have a safe space to express gender identity on campus.
The rendezvous – past & present
Bobbie Szabo, the assistant director of the women’s center, along with Peggy Kelly, the faculty fellow for inclusive excellence, put on the event together.
While moving locations of the Identity Centers over the summer, Szabo stumbled across a lot of older files and paperwork, including flyers from the original rendezvous in the 1990s.
After finding these flyers, Szabo became intrigued and wanted to know more. Through talking with faculty who were a part of the original rendezvous, Szabo was able to learn that the original rendezvous was specifically for helping women faculty obtain tenure, and different faculty would host events at their homes for this networking.
Importance
Szabo expressed the importance of having this group on campus again for the women faculty and staff.
“No matter what we do, we can’t win. There are always people out here who are criticizing us, giving us negative feedback, just because of our gender identity. The fact is it is really hard to tear down systems of inequity,” Szabo said. “So, we find the best way to fight back until those systems are dismantled is by finding community, finding support and focusing on community care.”
Szabo and Kelly want this rendezvous group to be whatever women faculty and staff need it to be. During the first meeting on Sept. 15, everyone came together to brainstorm ideas on what would be most helpful.
For more information on the next rendezvous, which is scheduled for Oct. 5, contact bobbie.sazbo@wright.edu.
