In August 2003, SheThinks, the Campus Program of the Independent Women’s Forum expanded its reach on college campuses, by bringing commonsense feminism to the southwest. Campus Program manager Kristen Richardson traveled to Arizona, where she met with students from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona. In the following weeks, both schools formed campus recognized organizations focused on bringing an alternate view of feminism to fellow students.
With the help of student leader Christina Coeriri, eight like-minded women met for dinner in Tempe, Arizona for their first meeting. Many ideas were exchanged, and plans for upcoming events were put into place.
The following night, the students presented IWF materials to all Freshman at orientation. They gathered contact information, and began compiling a list of interested women. The women’s organization is hoping to combat the left-wing feminist population on campus by offering a fresh approach of personal responsibility and fairness.
In October, IWF’s much talked about “Cupid” ad will run in the school paper, The State Press. In November, Kristen Richardson will speak to the group about the ad, the research behind it, and solutions on how to help “Take Back the Date.”
The rivalry between the two Arizona schools trickled down to the formation of these organizations. Not to be outdone, a group of 10 women at the University of Arizona in Tucson quickly banded together to form The Independent Women of the University of Arizona.
Wasting no time, the women held their first meeting and decided to bring Kristen Richardson to campus to help with an outline and plan for the upcoming year.
The “IWUA” hopes to counter school sponsored events such as “The Wall of Oppression.” The wall is placed in the middle of campus — literally unavoidable on a daily basis. It chronicles the so-called injustices to women through a series of pictures and articles while continually bashing males.
Using a well thought out model put together IWF leader Sara Butler from the University of Chicago, both groups are confident they can spread the word of personal responsibility and commonsense feminism to their organizations. Stay tuned as IWF’s student groups continue to spring up across the entire nation!