Pacific University’s Center for Gender Equity (CGE) is growing increasingly more popular on the Forest Grove campus, however, now lacks the space and office size needed to accommodate for the program’s ever growing support and interest.
CGE members hope to attain a larger space on the Forest Grove campus in the future, which they can then convert into an area for students, faculty and staff, where they can speak freely about difficult issues and gain access to a variety of different campus and state resources.
Members from CGE also said they plan to host fewer, but more thoroughly developed and important events next year.
“We want to become more of a well-rounded center,” Director of CGE Martha Rampton said. “We do a lot of events and get big responses, but it’s not sustainable.”
Rampton, who will retire from Pacific after the 2018-19 year, said she is excited to lead CGE for one more year and to help the center find its new direction. She is also confident that the spirit of CGE will continue on through dedicated staff members in her absence.
According to Rampton, she will not be as clearly in charge of CGE as she used to be next year, which she said is very exciting.
“It feels more like an organization that students are running now,” Rampton said.
Some of Rampton’s favorite CGE events from this past year include the panel that was held on Chicana Feminism, the introduction of an LGBTQ space in the form of Spectrum Outreach and the screening of the toxic masculinity focused documentary “The Mask You Live In.”
Rampton said she intends to continue focusing on toxic masculinity with next year’s CGE event programming. And hopes to keep student interest and participation high.
“We’re not cutting back on providing students with programming,” Rampton said. “We serve the students at Pacific. That is our main goal.”
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