"We're hoping the 40-or-so people who attended the rally will spread our word to their friends and classmates," said Lynn Thompson, co-director of Womyn's Concerns and an organizer of the rally.
First to speak, Erica Smith, events coordinator for the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, said, "I want to stress that reproductive freedom, freedom to make choices about our own bodies, is important to all women: no matter what race, age, sexual orientation, religion or economic status we may be," Smith said.
After handing out a sample of the threatening, racist e-mail Black Caucus President, LaKeisha Wolf received, Sharleen Morris, vice president of Black Caucus, spoke about issues facing black women at Penn State.
Morris hopes that the female members of the Black Caucus and Womyn's Concerns can collaborate more and realize that issues for all women are also issues for black women.
Solt spoke on the importance of proportioned numbers of women and men in government.
"Women and men may both live on the same campus here, but we live in distinctly different worlds," Solt said. "A lot of our needs and what we deem important do not get met without adequate female representation."
Solt also added that she is creating an educational packet for faculty to use to educate their classes on women's issues.
The packet will include information on groups, such as Real Life Choices and Men Stopping Rape, to make it easier for faculty to contact the groups and invite them to speak to their classes.
"Freshman seminars are not mandated to teach anything, so there is no way for us to tell them they must inform freshman on sexual assault and women's issues," Solt said. "Talking to them in the summer and at orientation is not enough."
Solt also added the idea of creating more basic health classes that would deal with sexual assault and women's issues.
"Many students are turned off by the WNST label on women's studies classes, which do an excellent job dealing with the issues discussed today," Solt said. "If we created a health class that covered these issues, students would be more willing to take the class."
Laurie Rosenberger spoke briefly on the issue of rape and sexual assault. Women aged 15 to 24 are at the highest risk for sexual assault, according to Rosenberger, who added that 112 Penn State students sought services after experiencing a sexual assault during the 1999-2000 academic year.
Since less than 10 percent of rapes are reported, more than 1,000 rapes could have occurred at Penn State last year, said Rosenberger.
"I don't want to just talk about the problem of sexual assault in our community, our nation and worldwide," Rosenberger said. "I want to talk about what we can do about it. The themes of NYWDA are voices, power, and choices. . .we men and women need to raise our voices about sexual assault."
Rosenberger said women raising their voices about sexual assault will result in fewer victims.
"Consenting to sexual intercourse every time is a choice that is ours (women's) regardless of any other choice we make," Rosenberger said. "How we dress, where we go, whom we hang out with, these are all choices that we make, and none of these choices has anything to do with why women are assaulted."
Following the Sept. 10 Snyder Hall assaults, many members of the community, including Rosenberger, created a list of "suggestions" which were later presented to the administration. They also subsequently met with members of the administration to explain how the suggestions could be implemented.
"Unfortunately, most of our ideas were shot down, as we were told that the University could not fund more sexual assault awareness education, among other explanations for their inaction and silence (following the Snyder incident)," Rosenberger said.
"We were told that next time around, the administration would not be silent about sexual assault, but we need to continue to raise our voices to show the administration that we won't allow them to be silent, that they need to take the issue of sexual assault more seriously and give it the attention they give other issues, and demand expansion of sexual assault awareness education."
Associate professor of history, Lori Ginzberg, briefly discussed the history and future of feminism.
"Gloria Steinem brought up the concept that young women tend to be more conservative," Ginzberg said. "College, with all its other pressures, tends to be the time when men and women seem most equal. It's all downhill from here."
Ginzberg cited the need for young people to form movements so, "older, pissed-off women have something to enter."
