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facebook event

We call on all students to:

-Send letters to the Quad (quadoped@wcupa.edu) and the Daily Local in support of the Women's Center Club

-Send letters, e-mails, and phone calls to Dr. Matthew Bricketto at the demand that he allows the Women's Center Club to fund the event:
238 Sykes Student Union
610.436.3301
610.436.2480
mbricketto@wcupa.edu

-Join us on Thursday February 25th at 3 PM as we meet on the steps of Sykes Student Union to show your support and solidarity with the Women's Center Club.

This is far more than an act of censorship. This is a feminist, women's issue.

From The Executive Board of the Women's Center Club:

Dear Feminist and Activist Friends, Faculty, Staff, Professors, and Allies:

The Women's Center Club has recently experienced an act of censorship by certain administrative officials that necessitates your attention.

Recently, the Women's Center Club invited a local group to our campus titled, "Pussies, Pens, and Politics". This group is a spoken word performance duo composed of two feminist queer women of color. You can find an example of their work here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kaeepfw79lg We were co-sponsoring this event with the Women's Studies Program and LGBTQ Services.

We have been advertising this event through our calendar, which has been distributed to a variety of residence halls, offices, and departments since the beginning of the semester, without a single complaint. When we put through a request to have a check made to pay these artists, we were denied because of the name of their performance, specifically the word "pussies", could potentially be offensive to women. We have explained to this administrative official that while, yes, in some contexts the word "pussy" is offensive; however, many branches of feminist movements have reclaimed the word, similar to the LGBT movement reclaiming the word "queer", which was also previously deemed as offensive.

We were offered a variety of options:

1. Present to the Student Government Association our program, and ask for permission to use the funds allotted to us each year to pay these performers.
2. Call a special Campus Climate Intervention Team meeting. CCIT is a body on campus composed of a variety of officials to keep track of acts of intolerance on campus.
3. Ask the performers to change their name.

We, the executive board of the Women's Center Club, have refused to do option number one, because we feel that it is unfair to be expected to ask for permission to use the funds that were allotted to us for a performance that raises awareness of a variety of minority groups on campus. Furthermore, we do not feel it is fair to be expected to present in front of approximately over a hundred of our peers and classmates with the possibility of being humiliated with a vote of "no". Finally, we do not feel it is necessary to go through a litmus test of sorts to plan and organize programs based on our mission statement.

We, the executive board of the Women's Center Club, have refused to do option number two. The advisor to our organization sits on the Campus Climate Intervention Team, and much of the uncomfortableness we would experience by going in front of SGA, she would experience if forced to go in front of Campus Climate Intervention Team to defend this program. Furthermore, it is her job as an advisor to determine whether or not a program we propose is acceptable to our campus, and since she has already given us the "okay", we see no need for her to defend her decision to an other body on campus.

We, the executive board of the Women's Center Club, have refused to ask the performers to change their name. As victims of oppression, they have reclaimed this word for a reason: because it empowers them. To ask them to remove this word from their performance is sexist and disempowering to these young women. Moreover, every performance chooses a name for a reason. Clearly, these women chose this word with a particular motive in mind.

Therefore, the executive board of the Women's Center Club has been left with only one option: cancel the performance. Unfortunately, we have voted to take this action at tonight's executive board meeting.

I am informing you of this action because I feel that it would of interest to you, your students, your organization, or other affiliations. Please feel free to distribute this message. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at this email address. I will be more than happy to explain the situation in greater detail if necessary.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
The Executive Board of the Women's Center Club