“I always ask students to find out what their passion is and then develop a program that can serve the purpose of that passion. My passion, for example, is to help women. It gets me going to see a woman transform from insecure or confused into independent and self-sufficient,” said Pat Gordon about working at The Women’s Center on the Alexandria campus.

The Women’s Center strives to develop a sense of community at a community college. It provides a place for students to connect with other students and develop friendships so that they have some support, a life at college beyond the classrooms. The center organizes activities and programs to enhance classroom education.

Earlier this semester, a one-credit class-seminar called Women Voices was held at the Women’s Center and conducted by Beth Harrison with the attendance of 20 students, a major increase from last semester’s 11 attendees. This gave Gordon the opportunity to show me around the Center and some of the projects they’re working on.

Gordon and Harrison are the co-chairs of the advisory committee for the Women’s Center. Harrison is mostly faculty and Gordon focuses on administrative coordination.

Gordon commented that the reason she suggests students who contact her to get involved with the Women’s Center find their passion is because when someone is passionate about something they will work better and have more dedication and creativity. Volunteering for something one is not passionate about will feel like a burden and great results will not come from it.

“As a result,” Gordon continued, “we have a lot of civic-minded students here who see the Women’s Center and see an opportunity to do some kind of community service on campus.”

Some students who get involved with the Women’s Center are passionate about the environment, and they prepare activities to develop awareness in the matter. Others volunteer to work in programs to help the homeless, on relationship issues, equal pay and the like.

The Women’s Center, as its name suggests, is not exclusively a women’s group. There are male faculty members who contribute to the enrichment and development of the group, and male students often respond to activities organized by the Women’s Center, which are always open to both men and women. As Harrison put it, “The Women’s Center does not have a specific agenda.” Their priority is to help fulfill the various needs that are unique to women, but the Women’s Center is aware that men, too, may go through the same situations. It’s just that statistically many more women than men endure those hardships.

Harrison explained that the Women’s Center’s creation was suggested by a group of faculty members, who saw reflected in the works of their students that there was a need for support to women in all kinds of situations. Those situations vary, such as from being kicked out of home, being in an abusive relationship, being a single mom with no parenting skills, just needing a place to rest or put themselves together after an upsetting situation. The center also offers the opportunity for gaining awareness on women’s issues in society, as well as gender studies and intellectual enrichment. Many subjects like gender disparities require male and female participation and education.

The Women’s Center is a space for students who want to get involved in a cause. It provides support and space for those students to do so, and anyone who has an idea for the program is welcome to share it.

When asked about budget and funding Harrison promptly responded, “We have no budget. We have no funding. We have no money. We have no staff. What we do have is the support of the college in terms of space and permitting us to do this. All we have are volunteers. We have an advisory board of 30 people including faculty, students and staff. All volunteering, everything you see has been donated — the space, the sofas, the chairs, the table, the library — and more importantly, the time put by faculty and students.”

On the other hand, Gordon spoke about the effort the Women’s Center makes to help with more scholarship money for women, like auctions and fundraisings, and leadership training for students.

“We sent three students last spring to The American Association of University Women annual conference for college-age student leaders, which is all women from across the country,” she said.

Additionally, the Center nominates someone to the City of Alexandria Award for the Outstanding Alexandria Campus Woman category, which is a great recognition and an opportunity for that person to start networking with leaders in the city.

Every year the center sends students to the Annandale campus to meet with admission officers of the Mount Holyoke and Smith College. These are sister colleges that provide opportunities for women going back to school who are not the traditional age of college students.

“They have housing, they have money and they come down here every year trying to recruit the right type of person that’s willing to relocate to Massachusetts,” explained Gordon.

“Ultimately,” said Harrison, “what we want to do is support our students and let them know that people care about their success academically, about them being able to fulfill the dreams they can have. If we can help them, we would like to give them academic support, financial support and any kind of support we can to the women students we have here.”

Written By: Seferina Liriano

By: Contributing Author

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