Women’s Resource Center Celebrates 25 Years of Serving the BMCC Community

The BMCC Women’s Resource Center (WRC) celebrated its 25^th Anniversary on March 29. Activities co-sponsored by the WRC and the Gender and Women’s Studies Program included four workshops led by BMCC alumni: a phone photos workshop led by Heidi Avila; a laughing yoga workshop led by Michelle Payne; asalsa workshop led by Amanda Rios and a henna painting workshop led by Varsha Jagjit.

Also, the WRC held an open house all day on March 29, and guests were invited to tour its spaces and exhibits.

1983: The WRC begins

For the last 17 years, the WRC has been led by its Director, Deborah Parker, and supported by BMCC staff, students and faculty including Olivia Cousins, BMCC Professor of Health Education.

A co-founder of the WRC, Professor Cousins says it began with an invitation from BMCC President Augusta Kappner. Faculty, staff and students, coordinated by Audrey Hutchinson, “came together with a mandate to develop a program that would address the needs of the BMCC women’s community,” she says. “We wanted a designated safe space where we all could come together to address what we felt were the important issues that all of us shared.”

Over time, those first steps led to the creation of the Sister to Sister mentoring program, Leadership Development Programs, Inspirational Annual Women’s Retreat, Annual Women’s Herstory Conference, Women’s Herstory Month, presentations on Domestic Violence and How to Develop Healthy Relationships, and other programs.

The WRC evolves

Over the years, says Aimee Record—a lecturer in the BMCC English Department who has mentored students through the Women’s Resource Center and helped organize its events—”I have noticed that more women (and people) have used the resource center as a means of support. The programs the Center has created for LGBT, Domestic Abuse and Leadership have brought students and faculty together to strengthen women’s and all human’s rights.”

“The Women’s Resource Center offers important programming for students, both women and men, regarding issues of health and well-being, social activism, leadership development, gender identity and domestic violence, to name a few,” says Precious Sellars-Mulhern, Counseling Psychologist in the BMCC Counseling Office.

Among other roles, Counselor Sellars-Mulhern has participated in WRC activities including the annual Women Student’s Leadership Conference and Retreat.

“This three-day program gives students an opportunity to receive leadership training in a rural camping environment,” she says. “Many of the young women who attend this program have never before left their families and neighborhoods to spend a weekend out in nature. This experience gives them a new psychological perspective and broadens their worldview.”

The WRC looks ahead

Vice President of Student Affairs Marva Craig has a perspective on the WRC that goes back earlier than its creation and takes into account how it has adapted to serve the college as it changed over the years.

“BMCC has a majority female student population today, about 58 percent,” says VP Craig. “Our Women’s Resource Center has served as a key contributor to our college community by providing special programs, services and workshops that are extremely valuable; not only in advancing the health and well-being of our female students, but in educating the entire college community on topics such as domestic violence and gender identity. Over the years, the center has changed its menu of offerings to meet the changing needs of students. We are proud that the Women’s Resource Center has remained relevant on its 25^th anniversary, and continues to provide highly valuable services to the BMCC community.”

Patricia Matthews, Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies in the Center for Ethnic Studies and a long-time friend of the WRC, also has a perspective that extends over time. “The Women’s Resource Center has grown and become stronger over the years,” she says. “It has expanded in its reach to students, faculty and staff and become a hub of various forms of engagement and support.”

As for what has helped the WRC be successful over the years, “It’s the commitment and hard work of its staff,” says Professor Matthews. “The passion of its Director Debbie Parker is contagious and a model for how staff can work with faculty to build meaningful projects. Also, faculty who have engaged in WRC initiatives have put a lot of their passion and extra hours into the Center, sharing positive energy with all.”

For more information on the BMCC Women’s Resource Center, call (212) 220-8165.