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News and Views
Fall 2000 Volume 11, Issue 1
Reflections on Transition and Change
by Lara Foley
As I prepare to graduate this summer, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experience in the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research (CWSGR), focusing specifically on the last year and a half.
A Week of Bad News
In the spring of 1999, I had just completed my qualifying exams and was eager to begin fieldwork and interviews for my dissertation. Imagine my surprise when my outside committee member, Cindy Burack, called to tell me that she had taken a position at Ohio State University in the Women's Studies Program. My first thought was, "good for her, this is a great opportunity." My next, selfish thought was "oh great, now what am I going to do?" No problem, I am compulsive when it comes to planning, I had already secured a "back up" outside member, Ofelia Schutte. Before I could get in touch with her to ask her to be on my committee, I got an e-mail stating that Dr. Schutte had taken a position at University of South Florida as the director of the Women's Studies Program. This time my first reaction was, "poor me," and only later did I admit that this too was a wonderful opportunity for Ofelia. Mind you, these announcements came to me in the same week, and it was not over yet. Just days later I found out that Sue Rosser, then director of CWSGR, was leaving University of Florida to become the first woman dean at Georgia Institute of Technology. Again, an amazing opportunity for Dr. Rosser. However, I could no longer focus on the individual achievements and opportunities of these women. I was even beyond concern for who would replace Dr. Burack on my dissertation committee. Now, I was worried about the future of CWSGR. Losing a jointly appointed faculty member (Dr. Burack) was a big deal, losing an integral affiliate faculty member (Dr. Schutte) on top of that was a really big deal, but add the director of the Center (Dr. Rosser) and that was a blow from which I was not sure we could recover.
The Interim
Silly me. My fears could not have been more misguided. As fall semester 1999 approached, CWSGR had an interim director, Vasudha Narayanan, and a temporary graduate and undergraduate coordinator, Milagros Peña who was a visiting professor in the sociology department that year. These two women not only kept the program afloat, they brought it together in a way that I had yet to experience. Dr. Peña quickly learned the procedures for obtaining undergraduate majors and minors as well as graduate certificates and Ph.D. concentrations. I was able to get clear and consistent information from her about my program and hoped that her visiting position would turn into a permanent one. Dr. Narayanan brought a sense of communication and community to the program. And of course, how could I have doubted the abilities of those remaining in the program, Paula Palmer, Tace Hedrick, and Kendal Broad, to keep things going during this time of transition.
A Day of Good News
In the Spring of 2000, Dr. Peña was offered and accepted a full-time, joint position in sociology and women's studies; I found an excellent outside committee member, Louise Newman; and the Center conducted a national search for a new director. I had the privilege of taking each candidate to lunch and on a mini-tour of Gainesville. While I enjoyed meeting all of the candidates, Angel Kwolek-Folland made the biggest impression. She showed a genuine interest in the concerns of graduate students. Several weeks after all the candidates had been interviewed, Paula Palmer told me she had some good news:
Dr. Kwolek-Folland had accepted the position of director of CWSGR . . . AND . . . . (I was not prepared for an AND) . . . we had secured the funding for the restoration of the Women's Gym!!!! What an exciting day. After a week of bad news only one year prior, this was a day that really made me feel secure in the future of CWSGR.
This fall, at a reception for CWSGR, listening to the history of women's studies at UF, I felt naive for doubting the support for and strength of CWSGR. If any other department lost three faculty members, it might be unnerving, but I would certainly not fear for the department's survival. Women's Studies as a discipline has come a long way since its inception in the late 1960's, and women's studies at UF has overcome many obstacles.
It is time for me, and anyone who shared my fears in spring 1999, to realize that CWSGR will not only continue to survive, but will continue to grow. Now I look forward to visiting CWSGR as an alumna. I will have a beautiful building and garden to visit. It is also my vision, and I believe the vision of many others in CWSGR, that a thriving core faculty, a Masters program, possibly a Ph.D. program, a free standing major in women's studies, and many other things that I have not even dared to consider will also greet me on these return visits.
Lara Foley is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and is currently completing a PhD Concentration in Womens Studies.
