Photo (left to right): WNMU students Enrique Soto Ruiz, Maria Montanez, Fabiola Barba and Marilynn Grijalva; professors Dr. Emma Bailey and Dr. Lydia Huerta.
Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University has a new initiative called The Center For Gender Equity. It is the first center focusing on all genders on a college campus in New Mexico and its opening marks another step in making the WNMU campus an open and diverse community for students.
The new Center will have a ribbon cutting and open house on Thursday, October 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Located on 1211 Mississippi Street, The Center will be the home of programs and initiatives celebrating gender and sexual identity diversity and inclusion for students at WNMU.
"We are focused on students having a safe area to do work and study without them feeling like they are judged for anything," said Marilynn Grijalva, a junior from Douglas, Arizona.
Grijalva is one of five students working for The Center and developing programs such as the National Coming Out Day that took place on October 9.
"I think a lot of students will open up their minds," said Grijalva. "They are sometimes not exposed to this diversity and other ways of thinking so we are here talking about gender identity, gender expression and how all of this makes you who you are as a person."
Faculty and administration have been preparing for The Center's opening with renovations to the building and training for The Center's student staff.
"The center serves as a place where students and the surrounding community can participate in transformative programming and advocacy on issues for gender equity and feminism," said Dr. Lydia Huerta, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Cultural Studies.
The center is directed by two faculty including Huerta and Dr. Emma Bailey, Professor of Sociology. For at least a decade, it has been the dream of Bailey to have a facility open on campus that focused on issues related to gender equity.
"Nearly every university in the country has a Women's Center or a Gender Center," explained Bailey. "I have been here at WNMU for 10 years and for 10 years I have been wanting to do this."
The open house event on October 30 will mark the ending of Diversity and Disability Awareness Month at WNMU which has been commemorated with several events including a National Coming Out Day celebration organized by many of the students who are planning The Center's opening.
"The Center will show future students how accepting we are and that there is a space here for everyone," said Grijalva. "Hopefully our generation will become more tolerable."
Recently, WNMU became the only university in the state to offer a minor in Women and Gender Studies.
For more information, contact 575.538.6824.
Western New Mexico University has served the people of the state of New Mexico and its surrounding areas as a comprehensive, regional, rural, public coeducational university since 1893 and serves a student body diverse in age, culture, language and ethnic background.