Welcome!
The Women & Gender Student Space is one of six student spaces within the Student Culture & Engagement Hub at the University of Arizona. They are located on the 4th floor of the Student Union Memorial Center in the 404 Suite.
We are open during the summer Tuesday through Thursday from 10am - 3pm.
Our front desk can be reached at wgrc@arizona.edu or by calling (520) 621-4498 during business hours.
About us:
With a history of over 50 years, we have served students from all backgrounds. Today, we continue to work toward creating change on campus by addressing sexism and misogyny, engaging in social justice efforts at the intersection of various identities such as sex, gender identity, gender expression, race, class, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability.
We are a community of diversely feminist, social-justice oriented individuals. We work to enrich our communities through educational programming founded in a social justice framework and by nurturing holistic individual growth through activism, events, post-classroom learning, and consciousness-raising engagement.
Our team strives to instill feminist attributes and goals in our programs and organizational structure. By "feminist" we acknowledge that gender is a central lens through which we conduct inquiry—critically considering what it means to be sexed, raced, and historically and culturally situated and we aim to propose alternatives to traditionally male models of leadership, thought and practice.
We ascribe to a broadly defined, fluctuating and inclusive feminist ideology that welcomes discordant viewpoints from varied experiences. We are a part of a broader social movement that dismantles oppressive structures and unifies people. We work to build a community that acknowledges and supports resistance to racism, classism, sexism, ableism and heterosexism.
All resources and events are offered free of charge and are open to all students!
Keep in touch with us via our student-run Instagram (wgrc_ua) or our weekly newsletter, which you can sign up for here: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_26lOcOPYYy7Lp4y
Frequently Asked Questions:
No, everyone is welcome. We strive to be a welcoming and safer space for folks of all genders, uplifting women, girls, trans, nonbinary, and femme folks.
The Feminist Pharmacy is operated by our internship, FORCE (Feminists Organized to Resist, Create, and Empower) and provides free and accessible sexual health and menstrual products including tampons, pads, liners, condoms, and pregnancy tests. These items are always free and available for individual use for students, staff, faculty, and community members on campus to provide equitable access to sexual and reproductive health items to all folks. Items are individual needs-based, and while there is not a quantity limit, items are not to be taken and distributed in bulk to dorms or external organizations.
The Feminist Pharmacy is an initiative that was started as a result of student organizing and protesting dating back to the 1990s. It was originally started as a small operation over 10 years ago and has expanded to offer all of the supplies it currently houses.
Due to budget constraints and small staff numbers, neither organization has the capacity to fund or staff pharmacies outside of the one in the WGSS lounge. We do not make donations.
FORCE can accept unopened donations of menstrual and safe sex products. Please bring them to the front desk at the WGRC during normal business hours (M-F, 9-5) and a staff will help get them sorted.
You can also find free menstrual supplies (tampons and pads) in all of the restrooms inside the Main Library, Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library, and Special Collections.
While we would like to respond to interviews from every student, our limited staff and hours limit such commitments. Requests to tour and inquire about our spaces are high as many of our faculty incorporate our resources into their curriculum. As partners seeking to support the needs of students, we ask that faculty work with our leadership before incorporating assignments that require individual or group time commitments of our team. While we cannot honor the interview requests, your students can find information on the website or by contacting leadership (Thomas Harris, Kenny Importante, and Dominique Calza). Students can also schedule appointments with staff or stop in to receive direction or support on issues related to their academic success. Again, our limited staffing resources precludes our ability to respond to interview requests on a scheduled or drop-in basis regarding services or information available on our website.
Additionally, guests and visitors to the space are asked to not photograph the space or anyone using the space without express permission.
We appreciate your support of the space and encourage you to share our online resources with students enrolled in your class.
Contact staff to open a line of communication. Keep in mind we have only 1 full-time staff, so availability is very limited. Please reach out with specifics about what type of event you are hoping to collaborate on, what kind of budget you are working with, and what the ask is for our team.
What does collaboration mean to the team?
- Intentional
- Communal decision making from initiation through execution
- Clearly communicated tasks and roles for shared work
- Honest about capacity
- Explicit communication around power/privilege, gender labor, and working across differences
- Commitment to debrief
Nope! There are no medical staff on our team. No doctors. No nurses. No midwives. You would need to see a trained medical professional such as obstetrician-gynecologist for any of the following:
- Prenatal, pregnancy, and postpartum care
- Reproductive system (think birth control)
- Pelvic exams
- Pap smears
- Any and all medical advice
Please see our comprehensive list of resources & community partners by following this link: https://padlet.com/WGRC_UA/campus-community-resources-ttlwj04sos4pyabl