Women and Gender Resource Center (Abby Trembeczki/East Tennessean)

ETSU’s Women and Gender Resource Center provides a safe space to hang out on campus as well as providing resources and helping connect people to resources that aren’t available within the center itself.

“The purpose and the mission of the Women and Gender Resource Center is to provide a space for community building activities, but also a place where faculty, staff and students on campus can find resources related to gender. It’s open to all people on campus,” said Heidi Marsh, director of the WGRC.

The WGRC is located on the second floor of the D.P. Culp Student Center in Room 215.

Women and Gender Resource Center (Abby Trembeczki)

“In the physical space we offer a really relaxing environment. A lot of students comment on the vibe,” Marsh said. “There’s space to do collaborative work, to relax, to do your homework and other projects.”

In addition to offering a place to hang out, the center also has a library where they offer books that can be checked out. Many of the books are scholarly, but they also have several fiction books with many by women authors.

Within the physical center, they provide a variety of free hygiene and health products. Some of the products provided include menstrual products, toothpaste and toothbrushes, soaps and shampoo. They also provide items for safe sex.

The center makes it a priority to remain well connected both in the community and on campus. Through these connections, they’re able to provide more resources and connect students, faculty and staff in need to others who can help in different ways. Some of these added resources include helping with food and housing, as well as connections that keep in mind the specific needs of diverse communities.

“If they have experienced harassment or sexual assault, we can help them get connected to resources for that and locate confidential and non-confidential reporting options. And then we can also connect students to culturally aware resources depending on what they need,” explained Marsh. “So for instance if they’re members of the LGBTQ community, we can provide connections in that way. If they’re women of color, we can provide connections to Black-owned businesses for hair care and hair products and things like that. And we can also help advocate for students, faculty or staff on campus who are experiencing discrimination of any kind or just need a general advocate.”

The WGRC has plans for multiple events coming up this semester. March will start out with a kickoff for Women’s History Month, followed by more events. Some of these include student presentations for International Women’s Day and a book club for the book “The Body is Not an Apology” by Sonya Reed Taylor.

They have two regular discussion groups: a general support and discussion group and Intersex and Connect, a group focused on the discussion of feminist topics.

The WGRC will also be partnering with the Pride Center for Prom in April as well as the Lavender Graduation Celebration.

Marsh also emphasized that people can always reach out to her personally at marshh@etsu.edu or by sending a direct message to the WGRC’s Instagram account.

“We’re always open to hearing what people on campus want to see. So if there’s something you’d like to see at the center that’s not currently there, let us know and we’ll do our best to provide it,” said Marsh.

Check out the WGRC on Instagram @wgrcetsu for more information and to view the full event schedule.

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