Adding More Women’s Voices at the State with the Worst Wage Gap

Students from the University of Wyoming got an exciting chance to speak with Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) about the importance of young women running for office.

On February 10^th, the University of Wyoming held its second Elect Her training for approximately 40 students.  Students had the incredible opportunity to meet Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis, an alumna from their school who co-chairs the Congressional Women’s Caucus. At twenty-four, she was the youngest woman to have been elected to the Wyoming House, so she serves as a perfect role model to students about the importance of running early in life.

Congresswoman Lummis emphasized that since among all the states, Wyoming ranks worst in the pay gap, more women need to run for office to address this problem. In Wyoming, women earn 65 cents for every dollar men earn, while nationally, the figure is 73 cents. Congresswoman Lummis suggested that a great way to start your path to elected office is to become a legislative staffer.  Some of her former interns from the University of Wyoming were part of the audience and shared what a positive internship experience they had with her office in DC.

Students also met with Chicory Bechtel, Project Coordinator for the Multicultural Resource Center, who shared the need to incorporate diverse voices into the legislative decision making process.   With only 4.5% of Congress Members being women of color, this does not represent the reality of the population demographics in the United States.  Since the Multicultural Resource Center was a partner in planning this Elect Her, many international students participated in the training.

Participants learned from their peers who currently served in the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming (ASUW).  Chief of Staff Bryan Dugas emphasized the amazing personal and professional opportunities that come from serving in student government.  For example, in Wyoming, students in ASUW have the incredibly rare opportunity to meet with the Governor each year in a small dinner setting.  ASUW President Megan Degenfelder shared that her best strategy for winning her campaign was meeting as many students as possible face to face during her campaign.

Congratulations to Jaymie Sheehan for winning the campaign simulation. Jaymie attributes her success to going to a place on campus where a student group was meeting.  She was able to quickly meet many students in a short amount of time and get their vote!

This post was written by Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) Executive Director Pamela O’Leary.