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By Taffy Geith
On Saturday, January 28, at 9:30 AM, the South East Inter-Branch Council of AAUW joined together once again at the Habitat for Humanity, 2180 Iowa Ave in Riverside. There was time for coffee and savory, sweet rolls for members to enjoy before the program began.
Jo Turner, President of the South East Inter-Branch Council (SEIBC), warmly greeted everyone attending and apprised members how our organization of 130 years has been improving the lives of women and girls. She cited the current status of our four focus areas. Education: AAUW provided 3.7 million dollars in grants to women in graduate school; Legal Advocacy: Our Fund is supporting two class action suits concerning women working for WalMart who are under-paid and under-promoted; Research: AAUW funded a study on the reason so few girls enter into STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and a more recent study on sexual harassment in school, “Crossing the Line”, which found that 48 percent of girls experienced sexual harassment during the school year; Public Policy: AAUW has a lobby corps in Washington and Sacramento working for laws that benefit women and girls.
Jo introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Timothy White, Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. He is a naturalized citizen, originally from Argentina, with an impressive academic history. He has held various positions at three Universities, the last one as President of the University of Idaho from 2004 to 2008. He gained international recognition for his work in muscle plasticity, injury and aging. He became Chancellor at Riverside in 2008.
Dr. White began by saying that we are in a different era now –yet women and girls still have to fight, but it is getting better. He said that he has a passion for inclusion and opportunity for everyone. UCR has the same ethos and he stated, it is the same as that of AAUW. He read the AAUW Mission Statement –scoring points with members for this sensitivity.
UCR is one of the most diverse Universities in America –racially, ethnically, economically and in sexual-identity. He is proud of this. We are the emergent society, so purposeful in our state and nation. Fifty-two percent of UCR women are in the under-graduate program. Forty-five percent of all graduates are women. Last year’s Freshmen Class was fifty-three percent women –so UCR is pushing up the numbers. Considering the faculty, the UCR campus has a greater percentage of women earning more than male faculty members. UCR is doing things right. Dr. white stated that “on average,” women faculty members advance at a slower pace than men. Women are more stressed than men, so there is still gender discrimination. UCR is working on equality of the faculty.
Why are STEM subjects so important –because they affect us globally! UCR received six-hundred thousand dollars to recruit faculty for STEM subjects. (In the UC system about l.l percent of the STEM field faculty are women. UCR has nine percent of women faculty in the STEM fields). It is important to get girls interested when they ‘re young –before middle school. He mentioned Pam Klute at UCR and her success at getting girls to relate to math.
UCR wants to increase women faculty in all fields. There is a slump in hiring right now, but UCR is a growth campus, and it is important that hiring must be diverse. Revenue is a problem –a nine million dollar hit this year and possibly, a two million dollar hit next year.
Enrollment has grown even with a tuition increase. There is a worry for society that young men and women at UCR, et al., take out loans and end up one-hundred thousand dollars in debt for a four year degree. If their first job income is not high, they can’t repay their loans. That means they won’t be public education teachers, for example, –they’ll have to work at IBM or some other corporation at a highly lucrative job. They can’t go into public education. This is important for our community –where will we be in our world order, if we can’t create a better educated society –a future legacy for those who are not here yet?
Dr. White spoke briefly about the UCR Medical School, that is not yet accredited. We were well informed by our previous session with Dr. Richard Olds. Dr. White stated that the UCR Medical School is a national model, but yet has no funding from the State. We need to get students early in cities such as Hemet, Coachella, Riverside, etc., so if they’re trained here, they will stay here. Too, a Medical School here in Riverside is good for Riverside’s economy. Presently, patients get their ten-thousand dollar medical analysis in Riverside, but go into LA for their one-hundred fifty thousand dollar medical treatment. Dr. White believes that Riverside is hemorrhaging millions of dollars in medical treatment.
In closing, Dr. White thanked us for inviting him, and was pleased that AAUW is in the process of having a student AAUW affiliate group on campus. He took time for questions, and some “sharing” from members who informed him of our Tech Trek Program.
Members of AAUW realize anew how fortunate we and our community are to have a University with a Chancellor such as Dr. White. He is so knowledgeable, aware and so able to share truths and realities about equality for women and girls and the ways that this equality impacts the whole of our society.