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Connecticut College to open new Women´s Center Jan. 28

January 25, 2008

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Connecticut College will celebrate the grand opening of a new student-run Women´s Center Monday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m.

Located in the basement of the Smith/Burdick residence hall, the Women´s Center will be open to the entire campus community and will offer programming on gender-related topics. The center, which features comfortable couches, a TV and numerous books and resource materials on gender issues, will operate under an advisory board of students, faculty and staff.

Several students proposed the center after researching a women´s center that was operational at the college in the 1950s and 1960s, as part of an assignment for a gender and women´s studies fieldwork course. With support from the college, the students created a proposal to revive the center to provide a safe, welcoming environment for women and men to discuss gender issues.

Already, student leaders from the center have planned a number of programs, including a Thursday night film series, a book club, faculty talks and discussions on topics such as eating disorders, the presidential election and domestic violence.

The center will also support the college´s presentation of Eve Ensler´s "Vagina Monologues," the college´s Gender and Women´s Studies Conference and "Take Back the Night," an annual rally in support of victims of sexual assault and abuse. Center leaders also hope to work with New London community agencies.

Among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 41 states, the District of Columbia and 42 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 86-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu