Cornelius Hocker
senior from Greenville, Ky.
In a perfect world, you could ask any person at Murray State University where the Women’s Center is and they could direct you to the Oakley Applied Science Building. Unfortunately, our world is not perfect. I asked 10 students, five males and five females, where I could find the Women’s Center and they had not the slightest idea in which direction to point me.
“The Murray State University Women’s Center opened its doors in 1992 as a place for all women and those interested in issues relevant to women. With such programs as Crazy in Love and Room with a View, the Center hopes to educate Murray State students on some of the issues facing women today. The Women’s Center is aimed at creating a strong voice for change for the students and people of Murray.”
That statement is taken directly from the Women’s Center webpage on the Murray State website. With the Center being older than most of the new freshmen, you would think more people were aware of the services and the purpose it served on our campus.
The lack of care, or knowledge, of the Women’s Center stems from something greater. Our society places little value on women and the important role they have played in history. In America, I feel that every woman should know the year women received the right to vote. However, before writing this article, I randomly asked six girls what year women received the right to vote.
Needless to say, I got answers ranging from 1905 to 1964. Now these girls are not idiots, but society does not drill that year and information into their heads, the year being 1919, and it actually coming into effect in 1920.
I do not want this to come off as a rant. As I sit through the Women’s Center meetings, I feel that hundreds, if not thousands of Murray State women, and men, are missing out on important information. There was a recent program titled “Rape as Weapon of War.” It was held in the Curris Center Theater.
As starting time approached, more students showed up. At least 80 people eventually showed up, which was quite refreshing to see, but it would have been amazing if 100, 200, or even 300 people had turned out for the event.
This event tackled an issue which most of the society likes to act like does not happen: rape. It has recently been said that women and children are the most vulnerable during war time.
If you go back to the year 2004, American soldiers were ousted for photographing themselves doing degrading things to prisoners of war.
Rape, although not shown in the released photographs, has been alleged to have happened.
The worst part about all of this is that some Americans actually said this was fine and it was what the Iraqi people deserved for the 9/11 attacks.
News flash, the people of Iraq did not fly planes into the WTC and every year more women die of domestic abuse violence than the amount of women that died in the 9/11 attacks.
Every year, we set aside 9/11 to remember the lives lost in those attacks, but who is going to remember the lives lost through domestic disputes? This is where the Women’s Center comes in.
The Women’s Center is here to educate everyone. It is here to give a voice to the voiceless and help all people. Jane Etheridge is the director of the Women’s Center and shows genuine passion when it comes to particular problems that women face.
At every meeting, she points out that these issues affect every person the affected comes in contact with.
Whether it is an eating disorder, the rape of a friend, the rape of a family member, or rape involving you, the Women’s Center can help. The Women’s Center is located on the first floor of Oakley Applied Science-C103, across from Carr Health and Waterfield Library.
I highly encourage everyone on this campus to drop by and check it out.
You do not have to be a woman to get help from the Women’s Center.