Pounding the Pavement for AAUW

I have the unique and pleasurable distinction of being the first student at Regis University in Denver to spread the word about AAUW.

Regis is a new AAUW college/university partner member, thanks to the hard work of AAUW Lakewood (CO) Branch member Stormy McDonald. She teamed up with Wendy Strauss, one of my professors, to get the ball rolling to create the AAUW and Regis University partnership.

This fall, I was selected as one of 10 AAUW National Student Advisory Council members for this academic year. One of my SAC goals is for AAUW to have a presence on my campus. To start, I founded an AAUW student organization and now I’m working to recruit members.

This past Tuesday, which was a very cold day in Denver, I had an outreach table set up right outside our Ranger Grille, which is where the entire university goes to eat. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., I handed out pamphlets, spoke to anyone who would listen, and signed people up for AAUW memberships.

McDonald came and helped at the outreach table. It was a great day. I received a few names of students who are interested in being on the council, and I have Victoria Greer lined up as vice president. I believe the interest in a vibrant AAUW student council will continue to grow in the years to come.

My other SAC goal for the academic year is to show the film Miss Representation on campus to drum up interest in women’s issues and in the AAUW student council.

Suzy Gardner from the university relations office has been instrumental in helping me get things started for AAUW on campus. I am working closely with her to secure space and work out other details to make an event out of the movie screening.

I have had a great experience and received tons of support in my effort to get AAUW off the ground at Regis University. I will be blogging in the future with updates, so stay tuned!

This post was written by National Student Advisory Council member Maria Mazzaferro.