The California Community College’s Women’s Caucus invited all female students and professors in community colleges to join their first meeting. The meeting was held over a webinar on Nov. 17 and over 100 women were in attendance.
The event started with Dr. Pamila Fisher informing all of the members about the history of the Women’s Caucus. She brought up another organization, by the name Women’s Leadership Development Program, and how it is similar to the Women’s Caucus.
The Women’s Leadership Development Program started back in 1984. Dr. Fisher also mentioned that this would be their first social gathering since the start of the Women’s Caucus.
Throughout the meeting, many women who were a part of the Caucus were introduced. Pam Haynes, Adrienne Grey, Chancellor Constance Carroll, and many more. While discussing her position in the Women’s Caucus, Haynes talked about the word power and described her feelings towards the word.
“For years I was uncomfortable with that word [power] because it was such a male word that, for me, had such negative connotations,” Haynes said. Pamela Haynes was also newly elected president for the women’s caucus and was the first-ever African American to serve the role. Haynes ended her statement by saying, “It is important to use our voice for the benefit of those values we care about. We need to do it respectfully, but we need to do it. The work we are doing is critically important at this very moment.”
Adrienne Grey also gave her insights about the Women’s Caucus and why it is needed. Grey mentioned a video that had a majority of male presence and the lack of women mentioned in the video.
“That’s a history we should have, a herstory, and that should be available to everyone in the community college system,” Grey said. “For many years we’ve been told that the way women should express power is to try to be like men. We don’t have to do that. We can be like us.”
Many of the attendees agreed with her by typing many positive comments in the chatbox.
Many more women were introduced and talked about many important milestones women have reached such as Kamala Harris becoming the first-ever woman to serve as Vice President in the United States. The last woman to talk to was the Vice President of the student senate, Katherine Squire.
“I think it is amazing to see a group of women who help push each other and inspire each other and claim our place in the system. Not just in education, but in the workforce as well. Katherine also stated that she became Vice President for her mother so she can use her voice to help her mother thrive,” Squire said.
There will be another Women’s Caucus meeting held on Dec. 7 from 12:30 p.m. till 1:30 p.m. for members only. To become a member, you can pay $25 to become an individual member and visit their website www.cccwomenscaucus.org.