The Boise State Women’s Center is the recipient of a $5,000 m.powerment grant through the Avon Foundation for Women to fund the Healthy Relationships Peer Educator Program. This is the second time Boise State has received a grant from the Avon Foundation.
SIDEBAR: Why We Still Need Women’s Centers Although women are now making up more than 50% of enrolled college students, women still lag behind men in earning doctoral and professional degrees. We hear anecdotally that female students typically get less attention, praise, criticism, and encouragement from teachers than male students get. Only a few women are studying math and science (receiving, for example, only 18% of undergraduate engineering degrees and 12% of doctoral engineering degrees) due in large part to the hostile environment many face in these fields (The MARGARET Fund, 2005). Some more startling facts about women in higher education: - See more at: http://womenscenter.boisestate.edu/women/#sthash.ffSRCM5m.dpuf
Healthy Relationship Peer Educators, with support from Women’s Center staff, will use the funds to create innovative programming to support the development of healthy relationships. The program offers interactive workshops, trainings and outreach, focusing on preventive education about dating abuse and violence, sexual assault, stalking, consent and communication. It also provides information about local resources and makes referrals for community-based domestic violence experts.
“We are proud that the Avon Foundation for Women shares our mission and supports our program,” said Jess Caldwell-O’Keefe, director of the Women’s Center. “Engaging student leaders is the most beneficial way of developing a community that better understands the dynamics of gender-based violence. With these funds we’ll be able to reach more students on our campus by allowing our team to create more diverse programming.”
Caldwell-O’Keefe and Adriane Bang, violence prevention and support coordinator, co-wrote the grant. The Women’s Center was one of 25 successful applicants from 170 submissions nationwide to receive the m.powerment grant from the beauty and fashion boutique known as “mark.,” which is managed by the Avon Foundation through its Speak Out Against Domestic Violence initiative.
Through the end of 2012, the Avon Foundation for Women has donated $33 million in the United States to support domestic violence programs, services and education. Globally, Avon supports efforts to end violence against women in nearly 50 countries.
For more information, call the Women’s Center at (208) 426-4259 or visit www.avonfoundation.org and www.meetmark.com/mpowerment. Like Michael Strickland, Publishing Consultant, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youpublish