Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Inside UMass’ Women of Color Leadership Network

Upon walking into 202 Wilder Hall located on the University of Massachusetts campus one is instantly hit with a cozy, safe atmosphere.

The room is complete with pictures on the walls, computers for schoolwork and couches to hang out and relax on. There are cookies, brownies, tea and hot chocolate in the corner. This is the home of the Women of Color Leadership Network (WOCLN).

The WOCLN is not only a group housed on the UMass campus, but also provides a place for women of color to meet, teach and learn from and about one another.

The WOCLN celebrates and supports the accomplishments of a variety of racial and ethnic women not only at the University but throughout the Five College area. The program functions as an independent body in addition to working closely with the campus through collaborations with many other university services such as the Everywoman’s Center, the Stonewall Center, the Graduate Women’s Network, Residential Life as well as Legal and Health Services.

The group is in alliance of international women, known originally as the Women of Color. The group was created in order to re-instate funds and resources to support women at the University that may have otherwise been lost in the fiscal crisis of the late 1980’s. The group receives state funding, as opposed to the University funding given to registered student organizations on campus.

The WOCLN program was dissolved in 1997 and renamed to reflect all members and participants. While the “Women of Color” title implies that the group only serves African American women, WOCLN better reflects that its members come from a variety of different races ranging from African American, Latina, South American, Asian, Native American, Arab, Middle Eastern as well as biracial and multiracial women.

Since it’s founding in 1993, the WOCLN has underwent some changes to its home and structure. In 2005, it broke away from the Everywoman’s Center to reside within the Center for Student Development. A year later, it became a part of the Office of Programs and Services for ALANA Students. Last December, it moved back to its former home within the Everywoman’s Center.

The program has fallen under direction of Hind Mari since 2006 and the main services that the group provides advocacy, mentoring and training as well as connecting students to internships that typically focus on social justice work, outreach, economic and health issues.  

According to Mari, the goals for the WOCLN include making the group as “open and welcoming as possible.” This sentiment has been reinforced by the women who work within the group who agree that these goals have been a success.

Letisha Harris, a sophomore psychology major and the WOCLN’s Body Politics coordinator, got involved with the program as a freshman. Harris said that being a part of WOCLN has given her direction and a place where she can feel at home.

“I came into college knowing that I would be a psychology major, but now I’m more open to different minors,” Harris said. “I’m also now involved with many activities and do a lot of social justice work.”

Importantly, the group also provides tutoring to encourage academic success, as well as a place to build friendships and teach leadership skills to be successful after graduation.

According to Mari one of the most important issues that she focuses on is the student’s academics.

 “The way that the skills that the women learn here translate into academics is amazing” Mari said.

According to the group’s web site, the core beliefs and philosophy of the WOCLN include providing the tools for women of color to foster self-awareness and personal development, to apply leadership skills and to enhance personal qualities. Among these are practicality, resourcefulness, initiative, innovation and self-directed motivation. 

“Women are able to come and go as they please, there are always new faces that appear and old faces are always welcomed back” said senior and communications major Jenny Otero.

The group puts on a variety of workshops and events to raise awareness surrounding issues of social identities, self-care, and self-expression.

According to Mari, the WOCLN takes pride in putting on events such as Dorm Dialogues, a collaborative event with the ResLife staff that addresses topics such as public health, social life, relationships and politics.

In the past the WOCLN has set up panels to discuss healthy relationships, teen motherhood, disease, among others, as well as holding poetry readings and social hours. Dorm Dialogues are presented by groups of two or three women to discuss any one of the aforementioned issues.

Each woman is required to write a proposal for the workshop and then work as a team to make it happen. The first Wednesday of every month from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m., the WOCLN also hosts a social hour that is open to any woman who wants to join in the conversations about every day situations.

Every year around Valentine’s Day, WOCLN collaborates with other groups in order to put on “What is Love 101?,” a discussion based forum in which three or four couples of different ages and sexualities discuss their relationships and answer questions from the audience.

One of the main reasons for the various collaborations is to encourage participation from all different members of the student community.

The most prominent event, according to Mari, is Body Politics. It is a multi-generational and transnational women’s project that dramatically expresses women of color, who they are and what they stand for through prose, song, speech, poetry and other forms.

The program is open to any women who identifies as a woman of color who wants to participate, and this is the first year that the program coordinators had to turn people away because of the amount of applications.

The main idea, as the name implies, is how external or political factors influence, impose, characterize, or stereotype who these women of color really are, as well as to incorporate as many diversities and identifications from the women themselves.

The goals of Body Politics is to raise awareness and encourage exploration of women of color and their respective identities for the audience as well as the cast members, to build community and solidarity among participants, promote agency and voice with the participants as well as sharing original stories which are true representations of real life experiences of the participants.

Body Politics was named the winner of the 2009 Voice of Inclusion Medallion Award and toured the other colleges in the Five-College area last December.

Body Politics 2010 will be held in Bowker Auditorium on April 16 and 17 at 7 p.m.

Of the program, Mari said, “We want to provide a space for these women to talk about anything that may be bothering them or to get help on their homework. We want to provide a safe place for all women. I am proud to have everyone here on my staff. We focus on the importance of the individual but also work strongly as a team. It is truly amazing to see the transformation of each woman not only within the program, but within the university. This is an extremely rewarding experience.”

Ashley Berger can be reached at [email protected].

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