About Us

The Women’s Center serves as a catalyst for the University to achieve equity for women.

Toward that end, the Women’s Center connects individuals and organizations with resources, offers leadership development and educational programs, and advocates for systemic policy, structure and climate change. A unit of the Office for Equity and Diversity, the Women’s Center primarily supports University students, staff, faculty, but also alumni and community members. Listed below is a sampling of our programs and services.

Connecting Women with Resources

• Awards, Grants and Scholarships
• Bufandas By Yolanda Intergenerational Knitting Group
• College Student Personnel Psychology and Master of Social Work interns
• Feisty Femmes blog
• Website for information referral
• Study lounge for women students
• Women’s Weekly E-News

Offering Leadership and Educational programs

• Ada Comstock Distinguished Women’s Scholar Lectures
• Celebrating University Women Awards
• Co-sponsored programs e.g. Hmong Women’s Support Group, International Women’s Day event, Vagina Monologues, Women’s History Month
• Discover Exceptional Women event
• U Leadership Circles (staff & faculty)
• Volunteer and intern opportunities (students)
• Women in Leadership Development (students)
• Women R.E.A.D. - formerly Leading From Where You Are (CSBU Women)
• Women’s Leadership Institute (staff & faculty)
• Women on Wednesdays brown bags
• Women’s Organizations Networking for Equity (students)
• Women's Organization of Graduate and Professional Students (students)

Advocating for Change

• Advocate for institutional change in collaboration with others
• Convene the University Women’s Consortium
• Convene Annual Summit for Women’s Centers of Minnesota
• Deliver customized workshops for departments, classes, and organizations
• Serve on CSBU Women’s Action Network, P & A Women’s Council, University Women of Color, Women’s Faculty Cabinet, and a variety of other committees

History

The University of Minnesota’s Women Center was founded in 1960 as the Minnesota Plan for the Continuing Education of Women. The plan was created in order to address the needs of women whose education had been interrupted by marriage and motherhood. It became the first women’s center on a university campus and continues to serve as an example for college women’s centers across the country. The center has undergone several name changes, the most recent being the Women’s Center.

Throughout its rich, nearly 50-year history the Women’s Center has established many women’s initiatives that have emerged as their own entities, created grants and awards for women students, and has consistently responded to the dynamic needs of its diverse constituency. A catalyst for women’s equity, the Women’s Center supports the University community in its efforts to create a healthy climate in which women flourish and reach their full potential in both the University of Minnesota and the surrounding community.