The College of Charleston's Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) department announced that their eighth annual Yes! I'm a Feminist fundraising event will be completely virtual. With COVID-19 as a deciding factor, The WGS Program and the WGS Community Advisory Board instead launched a celebratory video (see below) that they say “encapsulates the culmination of our hard-fought past, acknowledges our present-day reality, and looks onward to a brighter, more feminist future.”
“We are, if nothing more, celebrating the mere fact that we've survived one of the most arduous years in recent memory, while preparing for the vital work ahead,” Kris DeWelde, WGS program director, said.
This is the eighth year the Yes! I'm a Feminist fundraiser will support WGS students through scholarships, travel grants for conferences, and expanded research and study abroad opportunities. The event is also a fundraiser for the Alison Piepmeier Scholarship, awarded annually to a full-time Women's and Gender Studies major or minor at the College of Charleston (CofC) who is a campus-community activist and leader. The endowed scholarship has been awarded to five students to date and is in honor of the late Piepmeier, who founded Yes! I'm a Feminist while Director of the program.
“As a graduate of the CofC, I cannot stress enough the importance of the WGS program in our current world and climate – not just to the College but to the communities our students represent worldwide,” Callie Shell ('83), Chair of the Community Advisory Board, said. “Now is the time for CofC and the alum community to support diversity, acceptance, and inclusion. Your support is everyone's future.”
The WGS Community Advisory Board said their goals for the 2020-2021 Academic Year include:
- Produce the 8th Annual Yes, I Am A Feminist! event, raising a minimum of $25,000 to directly support the WGS mission and programs.
- Deepen existing community relationships and procure new strategic partnerships across the Lowcountry, state of South Carolina and the region.
- Expand recruiting, programming and advocacy efforts continuing to offer a leading-edge curriculum and high-impact experiential learning for students and opportunities for community engagement.
- Increase Student Opportunities Fund to $25,000, assisting students who need financial support to participate in study abroad, unpaid internships, research and creative activities, and advocacy or activism in projects that advance social justice.
Donations can be made online at give.cofc.edu/WGS and can also be made by check and mailed to: Women's & Gender Studies, College of Charleston, 66 George St, Charleston, SC 29424.
