Minutes

Minutes from all Fem Alliance meetings will be here as well as on the main page.

Jump to:

• 4/17/12
• 4/3/12
• 3/27/12
• 3/20/12
• 2/28/12
• 2/21/12
• 2/14/12
• 2/7/12
• 1/31/12
• 1/24/12
• 12/13/11

Minutes 4/17/12

• Introductions
• Elections
• Only vote “no” if you have a serious problem with the candidate & include an alternative when candidate is unopposed
• Candidates
• President: Faren Tang, 2013
• Treasurer: Kaylee Knowles, 2013
• Designated Person: Zoey Peresman, 2013
• Web Person: Robyn Yzelman, 2015
• Winners will be announced ASAP
• Vassar Mission Statement
• What’s going on? Rumor that Vassar Mission Statement is being updated; might be removing piece about Vassar having history as a women’s college.
• Faren talked to VP for operations who is on revising committee
• Mission statement is still in drafts; current draft doesn’t include history as women’s college. Very different from current mission statement (much shorter).
• We should push for history of Vassar as an institution for the higher education of women specifically to be included
• Fem Alliance/others may have to write a statement explaining why that inclusion is important; contact Faren/Rachel if you want to be on an email list that will be contacted if it does end up being necessary
• Bookstore is moving out of current space; what will that space look like?
• Perhaps new Women’s Center? Since Women’s Center is currently a little lacking
• Upcoming Events
• Pauline Park TOMORROW!
• 7:00PM in Rocky 300; lecture on issues that relate to Asian-American communities, people of color, trans communities, and more
• Tomorrow @ 5PM: VPI Screening film about incarcerated women with panel to follow
• Dean Spade is giving a lecture on critical trans-politics
• Friday at SUNY New Paltz
• Radical politics: trickle-up social justice
• Email Sheila Stukes if you want a seat on the van, van will probably be leaving around 1pm and returning around 4pm
• South Asian Students Alliance doing
• Comedy show about the difficulties of being an Indian comedian
• Saturday @ 6pm in Rocky 300
• Reproductive Rights Teach-In
• Friday May 4^th, 1-3:30PM in Rocky 300
• Planning meeting: next Tuesday @ 10PM in the Faculty Commons
• Muses Update
• All-Female Variety Show
• Put off for this semester because we’re not allowed to have events during study week
• We might use that funding to
• have an un-official get-together with food
• buy fem alliance t-shirts/merch: have to be designed and ordered quickly
• buy fem alliance tassles/or something to wear at graduation
• buy fem alliance stickers, temporary tattoos, etc
• roar mugs
• ideas for images to put on merch: cartoon of a woman with a large hammer: “if I had a hammer, I’d smash the patriarchy” and then “I found it” with hammer that says “feminism” on it
• items that show support for commemorating vassar’s history as a women’s college
• swiss army knives? Keychains, lanyards, pens, things that can be handed out indiscriminately
• we will hammer it out next week!

Steering Committee

• Election tallying
• More discussion of rest of semester

Minutes 4/3/12

• Introductions
• Discussion Time
• Meeting with Dean Roelke
• Baseball team sexist poster incident thing: Faren, Rachel, and Tristan wrote a piece for the misc
• Strong: had kitchen updated over winter break!
• Thanks for hiring SAVP coordinator!
• Gender Resources position for Women’s Center: taking applications, hiring process is started – students will be involved
• Bookstore is moving: what to do with that space? Maybe make shiny new women’s center there, or have a small part of it be women’s center space. Having a centrally located women’s center would send symbolic message.
• Elections
• Filing is closed but you can talk to Faren or Rachel if you still want to apply
• Right now there is only one candidate for each position; if you want to vote “no,” suggest another person
• Voting will be 2 weeks from tonight: April 17th
• Candidates
• President: Faren Tang
• Web Person: Robyn Yzelman
• DP: Zoey Perezman
• Treasurer: Kaylee Knowles
• Upcoming Events
• Lecture with LGBTQ Center
• 5:00PM on Tuesday, April 10^th in Taylor 203
• Rutgers professor (Women’s studies, Asian American Studies), author of “Terrorist Assemblages,” “Sexuality and Space”
• Lecture: “Homonationalism Gone Viral”
• Women, Art, Revolution
• FLACC screening, discussion facilited by Fem Alliance, free food & discussion about women and art
• Tuesday April 10th: 7:30PM in Taylor 203
• Sexual Assault Awareness Week
• 2^nd week of April: Next week!
• CARES daily programming & nightly event
• Monday night: Speak-out at the Mug, 7-9pm
• Tuesday: temporary tat Tuesday, night: Film screening (30min) “The Spinning Games”, short discussion to follow
• Wednesday: Miriam Perez speaking, co-sponsored by Fem Alliance: Using Social Justice to Combat Sexual Violence
• Thursday: art show in the Faculty Commons
• Friday: Self-care day
• Act Out’s Pride Week
• 2^nd week of April: Next week!
• Rainbow flags everywhere & tabling – more updates to come
• Pauline Park
• Asian-American trans feminist coming to speak
• Wednesday, April 18^th
• Need poster: let Faren and/or Rachel know if you would be willing to design one
• All-Female Variety Show
• May 5^th, 2PMish, hopefully somewhere outside
• “Muses: An All-Female Variety Show”
• Need performers
• Planned Parenthood Teach-in
• May 4^th 12-4PM Rocky 300
• Meet: this Friday @ 3PM in the Faculty Commons
• If you want to be on the email list, email aldeane@vassar.edu
• Orientation
• “Transformations at Vassar”: committee wants fem alliance to perform a skit about the WMST department being founded? Do we want to do this? Can we modify this request in some way?
• This Saturday, 6 or 7PM (look for email)
• Isa Rey, “Awkward Black Girl” on YouTube is a Vassar alum, coming to campus

Steering Committee

• Annual Budgeting Meeting Scheduling

Minutes 3/27/12

• Introductions
• Discussion Time: Campus Climate
• Upcoming Events
• Miss Representation
• THIS Thursday, 7pm, Blodgett Auditorium
• Thank you for fliering!
• Representation of women/girls in the media
• Reception for Fem Alliance/misc members preceding screening: 5:30PM in Faculty Parlor with food
• Panel to follow
• Women, Art, Revolution
• FLACC screening
• Two weeks from today Tuesday April 10th: 6PM in Taylor 203
• Sexual Assault Awareness Week
• 2^nd week of April
• CARES programming: Fem Alliance is co-sponsoring speak-out on Monday, film screening on Tuesday, Miriam Perez (feministing.com editor, “Radical Dula”) speaking on Wednesday, art show on Thursday, tabling in the CC all week
• Look at website for more info
• Act Out’s Pride Week
• 2^nd week of April
• Friday: Queer Ladies Social (Fem Alliance might decline supporting because it’s happening at the same time as SAAW)
• Find info on website
• VPI Event
• Film screening/panel about domestic violence
• At the same time as Miriam Perez: potentially will change the time to accommodate SAAW
• South Asian Students Alliance Collaboration: This Friday
• Pauline Park
• Asian-American trans feminist coming to speak Wednesday, April 18th
• All-Female Variety Show
• May 5th
• Name brainstorming
• Meeting Weds 3/28, Retreat @ 9PM
• Planned Parenthood Teach-in
• May 4^th 12-4PM
• First organizing meeting: this Friday @ 2PM in the Rose Parlor
• Need ideas for speakers!
• If you want to be on the email list, email aldeane@vassar.edu
• Upcoming meeting with Dean Roellke in his office next Tuesday at 3pm
• Email Faren/Rachel if you want to go
• Elections filing
• Look for email tonight/tomorrow with form to fill out if you’re interested in being treasurer, web person, DP
• If you have questions about positions, email Rachel or Faren or Julia Ding or come talk to them

Minutes March 20, 2012)

• Introductions
• Constitution:
• Discussion/edits
• Add to mission statement: intersectionality, commitedness to striving to end all forms of oppression
• Add clause allowing people to revisit/review meeting structure
• ROAR: Tweak language to include queer/trans people who feel comfortable in an all-female identified space
• Add clause to review constitution within a month of each academic year
• Vote to ratify by 2/3^rd majority
• Unanimously in favor!
• Reminder about upcoming elections
• Next week Fem Alliance is opening filing for next year’s positions
• Either 1 president or 2 co-presidents (if you want to be co-presidents with somebody, start talking about that/figuring it out now)
• Designated Person: see job description on constitution
• Treasurer: handles finances
• Web person: responsible for updating the website
• See constitution for clarifying information about doubling up on positions, etc
• Feel free to talk to Faren and/or Rachel about president position, Julia about DP/treasurer
• Two weeks from now: announce candidates
• Three weeks from now: vote
• Misc Opinion Columns
• Violence Against Women Act in danger of not getting passed
• Does anyone want to write an opinion piece for the misc about it?
• Email opinions editor Hannah Blume: hablume@vassar.edu
• Upcoming events:
• All-female variety show
• Sydney: SAAW is having an art show, maybe we could use the pieces for the variety show event
• Tentative date: April 21^st
• Earth Week
• Busy week for Fem Alliance – Pauline Park & Variety Show
• Does someone want to take on doing something for Earth Week? Email Faren or Rachel or talk to one/both of them
• Sexual Assault Awareness Week
• 2^nd week in April (the whole month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month)
• CARES: daytime programming, different every day
• Speakout
• Speaker: Miriam Perez (feministing blogger)
• Film screening – need ideas for films! Contact Julia
• Art show – in the Leob?
• If you want to help organize this/flyer etc, email Julia
• FLLAC: Screening of Women Art Revolution
• Check Fem Alliance Upcoming Events page
• Screening of Miss Representation
• Next Thursday @ 7PM in Blodgett
• Deals with problematic portrayals of women in the media
• Panel afterwards
• Flyers later this week
• South Asian Women
• South Asian Students Alliance: 3-part series on South Asian Women in various professions
• They want to put Fem Alliance’s name on the poster
• Funding: $50.00 from Fem Alliance
• Pauline Park
• Asian-American transfeminist coming to speak here in April
• April 18^th, Wednesday evening
• Lecture/discussion
• Teach-in about Attacks on Planned Parenthood
• Friday, May 4^th 12-4PM in the Villard Room
• Collaboration with Vassar Democrats
• Email aldeane@vassar.edu if you want to get involved
• CLRG: Conversation Dinner
• Tuesday, April 17^th
• Fruit Salad
• Tomorrow in the LGBTQ Center at 12pm
• Discussion around family relationships/how they change after coming to Vassar
• New SAVP Coordinator
• Successful campaign for restored SAVP Coordinator Position
• Elizabeth: starts this summer, will be here for the fall semester

Minutes (Feb 28, 2012)

General Body Minutes 1/24/11

Feminist Alliance Collaborative Events

The Vagina Monologues– Feb. 9-11

• From the early 90s—would like to date it in its time to address and discuss some of the problematic elements
• Talkbacks after the show
• Film screening and panel discussion 2/15

All female music festival General Body 1/24/11

• Will be metting sometime in the next week
• Brought up idea about the name?
• Alex will keep us posted—e-mail aldeane@vassar.edu

GAAP Conference February 3rd  starting at 3pm

• Series of intersectional workshops
• To get all of the activists on campus talking to each other—calendar, etc.
• E-mail aldeane@vassar.edu for more info

QCVC sponsoring Goddess Party

• “Female positive” party
• Some concern about QCVC parties in the past—lack of awareness about issues including consent and sexualization
• Concerns: “Goddess” isn’t respectful of pagan cultures, Implying that women’s route to empowerment is as “Goddessess,” Rules and regs related to having a party at which there may be substances, Sexuality and sexual assault at parties—consent blurb?
• We will move forward with the conversations with QCVC

Committees
CLRG (Campus Life Resource Group)– committee of administrators, faculty, and students 3-4:30 on Tuesdays

• Puts on conversation dinners
• Plans All-College Day
• E-mail fatang@vassar.edu if you’re interested

Spectrum—meeting of reps from LGBTQIA meetings 7:00 on Tuesday

• Angela, Zoe

Notetaking

• Alex, Angela

Feminist Alliance Events
roar meets on Sundays in Faculty Parlor at 10:00

• An all female-identified safe space for discussion

f to emBody http://www.ftoembody.com

• A performance and education duo with an emphasis on trans* issues
• Would cost more money than we have in our budget
• Interest expressed in doing it if we could do it with funding from other sources
• But members expressing a desire to have the bulk of our budget/programming should be more Vassar-oriented events
• Could collab with ViCe, TransMission, bring it up with other Spectrum orgs
• We will find out how much money we can get from other places and make a decision from there

Contacted by a woman who does domestic violence/sexual assault workshops

• Concern about bringing in someone if we don’t know how good it’s going to be
• Attendance?
• No follow-up needed—if we want to do a sexual assault or domestic violence workshop we will talk about it more later on!

Feminist hang-out time

• Jessica and Jessi (women’s center’s interns) could have their office hours in the evenings and make the Women’s Center a feminist space
• Could also be a place for conversation about academic feminism
• People are interested in it
• Space for a forum—Could make a place for discussion on the website, Facebok chat through the the Facebook group
• We will follow up with the Women’s Center

Upcoming Events

Phoenix Rising– a support group run by Metcalf for survivors of sexual trauma

• E-mail mecase@vassar.edu for a pre-group meeting

Women, Social Justice, and Documentary conference

• At Smith March 31st-April 1st
• If you want to go let us know and we may be able to find some funding

Feminist Alliance Business
Capital Budgeting—things that we could use for 3 years or more

• We would like a tea carafe
• Also a pole for the Break the Silence Display
• Let us know if there is anything else you are interested in?

The DP—you can find the description here

• Let us know if you are qualified, willing and able

Steering Committee

• Handles fund applications, paperwork, reserving spaces, logistical support for subcommittees, and org finances
• Meets directly after General Body meeting
• An open committee—let us know if you want to be on the e-mail list!

Constitution

• We will be writing a new one
• Let us know if you want to be on the e-mail list

Meeting Structure
Meetings tend to be very focused on activism and event planning (which frequently takes up a full hour)
Expressed interest in more space for discussion of feminist issues, particularly on campus

• The women’s studies program/major’s committee may be willing to sponsoring those kinds of conversations

Some proposals:

• Two meetings a week: one for event planning and one for discussion
• Alternating meetings for event planning and discussion
• Have one meeting with twenty minutes at the beginning of feminist discussion, followed by activist/event planning meeting, followed by steering committee
• Keep things mostly the way they are and turn the conversations over to the women’s studies program or a monthly type of event

Interest in the alternating meeting format
Interest in fostering a community within Feminist Alliance

• A fun thing at the beginning or middle of meetings?
• Some concern about the icebreaker format—it’s awkward!

Concern with the alternating week format

• Could have to sacrifice either efficiency of operation or the non-hierarchical/democratic/transparent elements of running things by the group
• If we did this could Steering Committee make more decisions without consulting the entire group?

Suggestion for Freedom-School style discussions (with rotating facilitators) at the beginnings of meetings
Expressed belief in the importance of consensus building—especially since people often don’t read e-mails (or minutes—did you get this far?)
Format of a week of lag time between the proposal of an idea and agreeing on doing it—so that anybody who couldn’t make it could still have input

• Alternating weeks would mean a significant delay

More alternative programming/social time could make people more comfortable bringing ideas up
Expressed idea that Faren and Rachel were chosen by the group to make decisions—could filter out a greater portion of input before bringing it to the group

• Response to last semester’s concern about unilateral decision making
• More concern about decision making once projects have been decided on rather than bringing proposals to the group in the first place
• Could Faren and Rachel send out a laundry list to Steering Committee to decide what should be brought to group?
• Would not be strictly non-hierarchical
• However, steering committee is an open group
• Will need to strive to keep steering committee feel as open as possible and publicizing meeting times and agendas; having them in neutral locations

Conclusions:

• Faren and Rachel can filter information a little more thoroughly
• Will bring filtered list to Steering Committee to decide what to bring to General Body
• We’ll try it for now and see how it works!
• This would make the business portion of meeting a little shorter, so:
• Will try the split-meeting format for now
• Look more into the Freedom School format—meant for facilitating discussion/education in large groups
• Discussion times could be jumping off points; also opening up other forms of conversation—hang out times in the Women’s Center and conversations with the Women’s Studies program

Rotating Facilitators suggested at the end of last semester

• We could have a rotating facilitator for just the discussion session portion, but Faren or Rachel will facilitate the business portion of the meeting
• Facilitators for discussion sessions open to whoever wants them
• Sort of like keeping stack, but slower
• We could also have periodic open discussion sessions
• May be easier if there is at least some kind of introduction to a topic

Next week could just be a continuation of elections, introductory stuff, and preparation for this semester and the following week we’ll start discussion sessions the following week

• Tristan will do the first week on trans* inclusion in women’s spaces
• Jess will do the next one on feminist art history’s foundations at Vassar
• For future sessions, people can e-mail fatang@vassar.edu, we’ll run it by the steering committee, and put you on stack!

Subcommittees:

• Anyone can propose an event/topic/thing and we will pass around an e-mail list, the subcommittee can have a point person, and steering committee will be available as a resource
• But primary responsibility rests with the person who decided to spearhead the project
• Steering committee is a resource, and a point person should come to steering committee every week for the duration of their event/subcommittee

General Body Meeting Tuesday, December 13, 2011

• Faren Tang and Rachel Ritter are co-presidents for spring semester. Faren’s name is VSA official, and she’ll be point-person for all communications. Unless otherwise stated, always e-mail fatang@vassar.edu
• Will be working on website over winter break; If anyone knows WordPress or is otherwise interested, contact Rachel, who is point person for this project (raritter@vassar.edu)
• Will also be working on a new Constitution over winter break
• Constitution will lay out purpose, structure of leadership, bylaws, etc.
• Will be going up in a GoogleDoc sometime over winter break
• Work will be ongoing into spring semester
• If you want to be involved (or know things about VSA constitutions!) e-mail fatang@vassar.edu
• The Vagina Monologues want us to collaborate
• A Philalatheis special event, but they need more money
• We could contribute a small sum and help them apply to the collaboration fund
• This year’s directors want to fundraise and donate to Battered Women’s Services– this is an angle we could possible help with
• Some troubling monologue/situations
• Directors working hard to situate this year’s production at its historical moment (early 90s) and NOT convey
• Eve Ensler has super-strict guidelines so the actual content can’t really be altered
• We could help structure/facilitate talkbacks afterwards
• We could also write pamphlets/program notes about some of the problematic things
• Consensus: we would like to collaborate as long as we can work with them on talkbacks/pamphlets/keep this something everyone feels comfortable with everyone. Will contact directors and let them know.
• Second meeting to follow immediately after about possible a new leadership role– Designated Person (DP)
• Channel to discuss concerns and issues with leadership, etc.
• To be coupled with anonymous comment submission on website
• WVKR + ViCE hosting an all-female music festival
• Meeting this Thursday, Alex D will be there
• Called Va-Jammin
• Concerning! Biologically essentailizing, many members expressing discomfort
• Would like to talk with them about the name, but otherwise interested in possible collaboration
• Should see how this could work with/overlap with all-female variety show
• AD will let them know Fem Alliance is interested in possibly collaborating, but would like to talk about the name– can e-mail Faren

Leadership/Structure Meeting

• Faren and Rachel
• Consensus on calling them co-presidents
• Will work to communicate everything they discuss to GB
• Consensus on the following regarding the Designated Person (DP)
• Will be one person (could change later on in the semester if necessary, but we will start with one person)
• Should have some kind of fairly extensive counseling training– could include CARES, Crime Victims Assistance Program, Battered Women’s Services, Student Fellow– exactly what training to be discussed further
• Must make serious commitment to coming to as many meetings as possible, including all GB and Steering Committee meetings
• DP to be elected by voting at first or second GB meeting of next semester
• The selection of somebody willing, able and prepared and with whom the group is comfortable, not a competition
• DP’s role to be discussed further over break/beginning of next semester (via a GoogleDoc, link to be sent out once it’s started) but as a starting point:
• Handle interpersonal conflicts within the group
• Field concerns about structure or leadership
• Line of communication for anyone uncomfortable with leadership