March is Women’s History Month!

Three  years ago Women’s History Month’s national theme was “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.” The theme honored generations of women who throughout American history have used their intelligence, imagination, sense of wonder, and tenacity to make extraordinary contributions to the STEM fields. At UMBC we honored this theme by partnering with the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) to feature some of their amazing students participating in technology in the engineering and information technology fields. While the theme for Women’s History Month changes every year, we have come to love the tradition in spotlighting the stories of UMBC’s CWIT women. So with that, we are honored to bring you the 3rd Annual CWIT Showcase in honor of Women’s History Month.

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Elyse Hill
Mechanical Engineering
CWIT  Scholar

Meet Elyse Hill! A CWIT Scholar and mechanical engineering major.

Describe what sparked your interest STEM and the journey to choosing your major.

Women often face subtle comments (microaggressions) or people who tell them they can’t/shouldn’t be in these majors which are often dominated by men. What would you say to those women or what advice do you have?

To people who have faced microaggressions, my best advice is to be wary of the comments. There are times to challenge the microaggressions, and there are times to let them slide and keep moving on with your life. Sometimes, it’s necessary to challenge what someone else is saying about you. Don’t let someone else get away with hurting your feelings or putting you down because, as my mom always said, “No one can hurt you unless you let them.” In addition, challenging such commentary can be a great learning experience for all those involved. However, there are also times when you don’t need to fight all battles. Sometimes, it’s just not worth it, especially when the person (or people) talking to you will never be able to learn from the experience of addressing the issue. So I say, take the commentary in stride, but don’t let it in any way diminish you or your outlook on your choices in life.

With viral hashtags like #DistractinglySexy or #AddWomen and #Ilooklikeanengineer, women in STEM are using social media as a tool for activism and creating awareness about women’s representation in STEM. What’s your favorite example of women in STEM supporting and empowering themselves and other women to change the narrative about women in STEM?

Elyse giving the thumbs up for her #ILookLookanEngineer shot!

Social media is my favorite example of women in STEM supporting one another. Things like Twitter and Facebook are great ways for the masses to react when something big happens on the internet. For example, Tim Hunt’s comments sparked #DistractinglySexy which led large numbers of females in science to latch onto the hashtag and post about their own lives. I think a community’s reaction to something is the most important part about the world we live in because it gives that community the chance to become visible. Who would have even pictured all the women who would respond with the #DistractinglySexy tag? To those women, they were just living their everyday lives until the whole thing blew up, allowing them a chance to share what they do with the world. Now we all know their stories, which can be seen as inspiration to some. As long as these tags keep themselves going, people’s perspective of the STEM field will expand and illustrate that women can be just as capable and present in these fields as men.

 

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The Center for Women In Technology (CWIT) is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in the creation of technology in the engineering and information technology fields. CWIT efforts begin with nurturing a strong group of Scholars, grow to building community resources for other women in these majors, extend to fostering a healthy gender climate and ITE pedagogy in College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) departments, and finally expand into outreach efforts to increase interest in technical careers. A successful program for female-friendly engineering and information technology education at UMBC will help make UMBC a destination for women (and men) interested in technical careers and serve as a national model for other universities. To read previous Women’s History Month CWIT spotlights, click here. 

To learn more about the experience of women in STEM, check out the American Association of University Women’s report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) which presents in-depth yet accessible profiles of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers — including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities — that continue to block women’s progress in STEM.

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For more information about Women’s History events and happenings, visit the Women’s Center myUMBC group page.

UMBC Women Who Rock is a blog series I’ve been writing since last year and it has become one of my favorite things to think and write about for the Women’s Center blog. In my role as Women’s Center director, I have some of the best opportunities to become acquainted with some of UMBC’s best and brightest women on campus. I admire the ways they live authentic lives unapologetically that challenge the stereotypes and assumptions that are often assigned to women. By debunking these stereotypes and forcing us to check our assumptions, they allow us to expand our notion of what a woman is and can be.   – Jess 

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UMBC Women Who Rock!
Pritma “Mickey” Irizarry, Assistant Director of Health Education

Mickey, UHS’s Health Education Assistant Director, shares her I’m Not as part of the Telling Our Stories Project

Mickey Irizarry is a #girlboss. She is also a UMBC Woman Who Rocks.

What is a #girlboss? She is many things. “A #girlboss is in charge of her own life. She gets what she wants because she works for it.” #Girlboss is also more than just a type of person but a platform that is meant to inspire women to lead deliberate lives. It’s not just about being about the boss of other people, but being the boss of your own life.

It’s Mickey, who first shared the concept of #girlboss with me last fall. There is a book by the same title written by Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of fashion retailer Nasty Gal. Inspired by the book (and there’s also a podcast), I began hearing and seeing Mickey use the hashtag often in support or to congratulate other women on campus. I too was on the receiving end of a #girlboss shout-out from Mickey and it felt really great.

That’s what also makes Mickey a UMBC Woman Who Rocks. She didn’t just take #girlboss as an inspiration for herself and hold it tight and privately. Rather, she shares it with others. Mickey isn’t just the boss of her own life, but it is important for her to encourage and support others to do the same. When I asked her more about this she said, “If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will either” and then went on to say but “it took me a long time to master that – and its still hard to fight the impostor syndrome.” This is why its so important for her to support other women, to show them that she sees potential in them, and give them credit where credit is due. This of course, reminds me of shine theory which I’ve written about in other UMBC Women Who Rock posts. Shine theory as explained by Ann Friedman in her article states that “Surrounding yourself with the best people doesn’t make you look worse by comparison. It makes you better.” Otherwise known as, “I don’t shine, if you don’t shine.”

So, I wanted spotlight Mickey as our in-residence #girlboss for this UMBC Women Who Rocks post. Between my initial reaching out to feature her and the time that it took me to write this, though, Mickey was offered and accepted a new position at American University as the Director of the Wellness Center! Her last day with us at UMBC is March 11th. So while this didn’t start off with the intention of being a tribute post, it seems that this is where this post is going to have to go. So you’ve been warned, it might get a little warm and fuzzy up in here. 

Taken way back during Mickey’s first semester working at UMBC.

Mickey started her time at UMBC seven and half years ago in September of 2008 as the Health Educator in the Health Education office at University Health Services. Under her leadership, the Peer Health Education program has grown immensely promoting the importance and value of student wellness to thousands of students over the years at UMBC. As you’ll learn later, Mickey absolutely sees the Peer Health Education program as the legacy she’ll leave behind. It’s not just the program she’s proud of but the way being its leader helped her grow as a professional, encouraged to look at health from various perspectives, and the way it allowed her to build connections and community for University Health Services (and more!). Beyond UHS, Mickey has been out and about on campus serving on many committees (like the Women’s Center Advisory Board for many years) and teaching IHU courses. Mickey is also an integral member of the new Staff of Color Network (SCN) and with the support of a few others, she’s helped SCN get off the ground and operate as a safe space for staff of color at UMBC (you can read more about the women behind SCN here). All of this and more earned her the recent promotion of assistant director of health education.

Another little fun fact about Mickey’s time here –  it was a very poignant #girlboss moment that gave UMBC the return of Take Back the Night. Mickey and I were sitting on a UMBC bus heading back from Towson University where we took some students to participate in their Take Back the Night. Perhaps it was the fact that traffic on 695 is the absolute worse or maybe it was feeling inspired by such a powerful event, but we ended up on that bus talking with each other about the idea of hosting our own Take Back the Night at UMBC. We got this. We can do this. We have the skills to make this happen. Without the concept of #girlboss, we #girlbossed the hell out of each other that night. Five years later this April, we’ll be hosting the fourth annual Take Back the Night on campus. It’s a huge event that is not only well attended but has given space for survivors to share their story and reclaim their healing. It is by far one of the most meaningful and important things I work on each year. Without Mickey, who knows if it would ever have been what it is today.

Mickey with many of the peers at last year’s 3rd Annual Take Back the Night

As the years pass by, when I think back to the time Mickey was a part of the UMBC community, I’ll certainly appreciate the work she dedicated to create an awesome peer health education program and the help she gave me to bring back Take Back the Night to campus, but I’ll feel most grateful for the #girlboss moments she created within myself and those we created for each other. I’ll think about the safe space we created and held up for each other to sort through professional moments when we felt disappointed, discouragement, or anger. Those moments where we could close the door, take off our masks, and just be ourselves. As young professional women trying to find our place at UMBC and simply just begin the foundations of our careers being vulnerable to others was (is) often a hard and scary thing to do. And, sexism doesn’t make that any easier. Mickey made me feel supported and that I belonged and that I could conquer whatever challenge was before me in that moment. I hope that I helped her feel the same. Without us even realizing, it was in those moments over the past five years that we were allowing ourselves to be #girlbosses for each other.

I’ll also think about the ways she created space for so many of the student peers in the health education program to also become the #girlboss of their own lives. I had the chance to work with many of these students as well, and the confidence and passion Mickey infused throughout their being was palpable. I know they’ll be reading this post so I’ll name just a few – Bria, Yoo-Jin, Kayla, Kristine… you know what I’m talking about, right?! Yes, Mickey built up a strong and vibrant health education program here at UMBC, but more importantly, she built up the people who are the program, specifically so many women, to be confident leaders, expand their dreams, and be exponentially greater for years and years to come.

Over hot chocolates a few weeks ago, I asked Mickey what she felt was the legacy she was going to leave behind when she left UMBC. Her first response was the Peer Health Education program – its strength, that it’s well-respected, has a competitive application process, and that though it is serious business, it’s also fun and engaging. She then thought a bit more and said, “I have LITERALLY grown up in my time here.” She was 21 when she first started working at UMBC. Along the way, she earned her master’s degree in Sociology and became a UMBC alum, she collaborated with so many different kinds of people and groups at UMBC, met some of her dearest friends here, and fell in love with fellow UMBC staff member, AJ Irizarry, creating yet another UMBC love story.

I’m so excited for this next part of Mickey’s journey. American University will be lucky to have her just as UMBC was so lucky to have her these past 7 and a half years. When she gets to American University, she’s gonna be THE BOSS!! And, yet to the many at UMBC who have been touched by Mickey, we already knew she is a boss, a #girlboss, who helped us grow up along the way, be deliberate with our lives, and shine confidence for the world to see and us to believe in. And, that is why Mickey Irizarry will always be a UMBC Woman Who Rocks!

Mickey with the 2015-16 peers during fall training.

Who are the UMBC women in your life that inspire you to think outside your expectations and assumptions? What are the counter narrative stories they’re sharing with us allowing UMBC and our greater community to be more of exactly who we want to be? Comment below and maybe you’ll just find them featured in a future UMBC Women Who Rock post.

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Check out other UMBC Women Who Rock:

Amanda Knapp (August 2014)
Susan Dumont (October 2014)
Jahia Knobloch (January 2015)
A Reflection on Encouragement and Accountability (February 2015)
Amelia Meman (March 2015)
Ashley Sweet (May 2015)
Rehana Shafi (August 2015)
The Women Behind the Staff of Color Network (September 2015)

A reflection from Women’s Center staff member Daniel Willey

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how disaster response and the concept of a snow day have social justice implications. This week, I am continuing the trend by looking at the disaster in Flint, Michigan. Many news outlets are examining the crisis from a “so how do we fix it” standpoint, but I want to look at this crisis through the lens of “how did we get here.” What structural imbalances led us to this point? What does this crisis say about the bigger picture? Before we get there, though, let’s look at what happened:

(cnn.com)

In 2011, former acting mayor of Flint, Michigan Mike Brown was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder as the city’s Emergency Financial Manager. The city was $15 million in debt, and it was the EFM’s job to cut the budget as much as possible to remedy the situation. As a major cost saving measure, Flint voted to stop buying water from Detroit, which pulls water from Lake Huron, and connect to Karegnondi Water Authority as a cheaper, more direct way of getting water from Lake Huron. This plan, voted on in 2013, would not be completed until 2016 and the city switched to water from the Flint River in the interim. Tests done on Flint River back in 2011 showed that the water from the river was corrosive and would need to be treated with phosphates before it could be used as a water source. This information was sent to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in 2013 when the decision was made to switch. It was the MDEQ’s job to address the corrosiveness of the water, which would cost about $100 per day. As a cost saving measure, they didn’t.

Fast forward to April 2014. Flint switches its water source. Residents report that the water is brown, smells, and has a bad taste. It was gross, but officials insisted it was fine.

(flintwaterstudy.org)

That summer, E.coli and coliform bacteria were found in the water and residents were told to boil their water. Still gross, but officials still claimed the water was safe to drink. Residents continued to report nasty water which was now causing rashes and illness across the city. In January of 2015, Detroit offered to reconnect Flint to Detroit municipal water and wave the reconnection fee. City officials declined and again insisted the water was safe.

Meanwhile, the GM plant near Flint stopped using the water, citing issues with corrosion of metal parts. Since April 2014, this same corrosion had been eating away at the zinc coating on the inside of lead pipes, allowing lead to leach into Flint’s water supply.

You probably know the rest of the story. There was cover-up after cover-up.

Thousands upon thousands of cases of water to be distributed to Flint residents (ibtimes.com)

Kids showing signs of lead poisoning were tested. The water was tested. The city switched back to Detroit’s municipal water, but it was too late. The lead was exposed and continues to leach into the water today. Flint is currently in a state of emergency, with all of its residents using bottled water to do everything from cooking to bathing to brushing teeth.

There’s a lot of stuff going on here. This timeline (and this one) and these few articles can help you get up-to-date on the facts and the finger-pointing. But, I want to focus on the residents of Flint and ask the question, How on earth did this happen?

Flint, like many parts of Michigan, was hit hard by the collapse of the automotive industry in 2009. Today, 40% of its residents are below the poverty line and 57% are black. Most are blue collar workers and the median value of owner-occupied homes is just $41,700. So, one has to wonder: Would this have happened in a white suburb? Would it have taken over a year for officials to respond? Historically, the answer is no.

It’s important to understand that the Flint disaster isn’t just the result of negligence. City officials made a conscious decision to pump corrosive, notoriously contaminated water into the homes of its residents. They also made a conscious decision to not properly treat the water. Once things got really bad, city officials did everything they could to cover it up. Flint residents are calling for answers and solutions, all while trying to survive on one case of bottled water per day.

Protesters in Detroit, Michigan during the height of the water shutoffs (thedailybeast.com)

Access to clean water is a human right. We literally cannot live without it. But, time and again poor people and people of color are denied this human right in the US. Just this last summer, water was shut off for 3,000 households in Detroit because of past-due accounts. Thousands more are at risk for losing their water– in fact, 40% of Detroit, 120,000 accounts and about 300,000 people, have outstanding water bills at an average of $755 per household. Detroit Water Brigade is one of many non-profits working to stop the shutoffs and implement a water affordability program.

Water shutoffs in Detroit and contaminated water in Flint have two important things in common: high rates of poverty and high proportions of black residents. It is no coincidence that both of these human rights violations occurred in areas of high rates of poverty and majority black population. When you consistently demonize, criminalize, and disinvest in poor or black people and black communities, a clear message is sent both to civilian constituents and city officials: these people aren’t worth our time and money and they don’t care anyway. That’s what Flint city and Michigan state officials conveyed to Flint residents and, eventually, the entire country.

Lee Ann Walters shows MotherJones.com the water from her tap

The thing is, the people of Flint do care. Lee Ann Walters is the mother of four who blew the whistle on the whole issue. It was because of her and a report from the EPA that was leaked to her that the national media began to pay attention to the issue. She organized residents for town hall meetings with city officials on numerous occasions, only to be met with dismissals and the same story about how the water was safe. In this viral video, she explains another issue with the water: she’s still being billed for it. If you can’t pay for your water, they shut it off. If you have no water, Child Protective Services get called in to remove your children from an “unfit” and “unsanitary” home. After 90 days of not paying the water bill, they cap your sewer which can lead to having your house condemned. There’s already a stigma on poor families and single parent households, especially single mothers. We call them unfit, or suggest they don’t care about their children. They are assumed to be less educated and less concerned about health issues, and now the stigma has played into how this whole thing went down: not only have classist and sexist assumptions allowed officials to dismiss local concerns for months, but they can also cause families to be uprooted or become homeless. This is what makes this issue not only a human rights issue but a social justice and feminist issue. 

Protesters in Flint, Michigan (rollingstone.com)

The residents of Flint deserve justice. Sure, officials need to be held accountable for their actions but what Flint needs right now is water. Flint needs investment. Flint needs new pipes and more jobs and better access to healthcare and government assistance programs. Flint needs schools and teachers equipped to meet the needs of the hundreds of children who have been affected by lead poisoning. Activist Michael Moore has written an open letter expressing his anger and calling for accountability and revolution. Whether or not you agree with him, it’s clear that this is a social justice issue. And, if we claim intersectional feminism as a value and practice, this is an issue feminists need to rally around as well.  

Understanding how structures of poverty, racism, and sexism set this problem up (and inform what happens next) can help activists, policy makers, and leaders keep this kind of thing from ever happening again. It can also help us answer these questions: Why didn’t it become an issue sooner? Who matters — and who doesn’t? Where else in this country are people in crisis without a voice? What will it take to get us to notice? Will we be too late?

If you want to do more to help flint, check out the Flint Water Response Team website or this article listing different areas in need of donations. The Flint water crisis didn’t become widely known and publicized until fairly recently and the EPA is still not happy with how the recovery is going. Spreading the word, sending water, and putting pressure on officials is crucial in the short term, but Flint has a long, long expensive road ahead.

A post written by Women’s Center student staff member, Carrie Cleveland

I have never been one to label myself a feminist. I think it is because what comes into my mind when I think of feminism is the 1960s – 1970s pop culture version where women were marching in the street and burning their bras (come to find out that this idea in my head is actually a myth). I never really identified with those women, so I pushed the topic to the side. THEN….. I started working here in the Women’s Center.

As a staff member, we are all encouraged to actively learn and one of the ways that I’m doing that is by reading. My background on all things feminism is much more  grounded in pop culture than it is theory. I’ve never taken a Gender and Women’s Studies class, like so many of my Women’s Center peers. Sometimes I struggle with the language and the theory so we thought this would be a good way for me to start my learning. Jess suggested that I dip my toe into the feminist blogosphere and start with some more approachable topics and accessible authors. As I’m reading and clicking and getting lost in all things women, I came across this blog written by Jamie Kennedy titled 10 Things Feminist Moms Do Differently Than Any Other Parents.

As I was scrolling, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. One of the first ideas the author presents is about disrupting gender norms. Now I have three girls and a VERY handy husband. He’s always building or fixing something so we did not hesitate to get my kids a tool set when they were little. When my husband was beginning a project, my daughter would run down and grab her hammer so she could help her dad with something. Perhaps these experiences are why she sees being a scientist and an astronaut as career options. I never thought of that as feminist idea, more so that she wanted to hang out with her dad. Look at that! I did not even know I was challenging gender norms. Go me! 

One of the next topics explored that resonated with me was about consent. There was a time where another daughter was playing soccer and this boy pushed her. It was not part of the game; he just walked up to her and pushed her down. She came off the field and on the sideline we were having a conversation about her telling that boy that he had no right to touch her in that way. The blog pointed out to me that this was laying the groundwork about consent. It also opened the door for more conversation about personal space, boundaries, and expectations for ourselves and others. Again, my purpose was not intentional, but woohoo!

I basically found myself nodding my head to the memes about vaginas and of supporting whatever choice a woman makes about working. Ranting (which is explained in the blog as way to show our children we are passionate and thoughtful people too!), well I truly thought that was the Jersey in me and not the feminist, but why can’t it be both, right?More feminism that I did not even know about. As I reflect about who I am now and what the word feminist means, I’m starting to understand that feminism has a broader meaning. I now feel like I can embrace the label “feminist” and be more cognizant of my parenting choices when talking about women and gender. Next time my daughters say something about boys and girls, I imagine these ideas will come to mind when I thoughtfully choose to my words.

My oldest daughter visiting NASA Goddard with the Girl Scouts.

I want my daughters to know that they can do anything. My oldest is determined to be an astronaut and I realize now that she has no idea that Sally Ride did something unthinkable to many in 1983 because it is not unthinkable to her. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) put together this report on why women in STEM is so important and here is another blog post about how we don’t even recognize successful women who are already in STEM.

My daughter, Vivian, hanging out at the Women’s Center working away

Moms know we are often very reluctant to sing our own praises, but hopefully I am doing something right with these three girls. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the director the Women’s Center one day.

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