Women's Center
The Women’s Center was founded in 1971 under the leadership of Joan Bates Forsberg, who at the time was Advocate for Women and Registrar. The Center serves as a place for the particular concerns of women to be heard and addressed, and as a space for community-building. Its current mission is “to provide a safe, supportive community for discussion and reflection on experiences in ministry, academia, related fields, and our personal lives. All cis women, trans women, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming individuals are welcome in our safe space. We aim to empower students to stand together in the work towards gender equity in their relationships, academic and sacred spaces, work places, and the wider world.” The Women’s Center also hosts events open to the entire Divinity School community, typically with the focus on raising awareness about the persistence of gender-based discrimination and injustice against women.
“[The women students] all helped me decide that we needed a space on campus for women to meet. There needed to be something like a Women’s Center [...] I think it started in terms of thinking about needing a room where women, if they wanted to come to talk with me, or if they wanted counseling [...] I can see the day as clearly as if it were yesterday. I was sitting in my office and a couple of the other women were here in the room with me. Raymond Wood was the Facilities and Business Manager of the School, and his office was across the hall [...] The women and I had decided that I would go and ask Mr. Wood for a room where I could meet with women when they came for counseling [...] I stepped out of my office, half way across the hall, and the women in the office behind me suddenly said, ‘Ask for a suite. Ask for a suite.’”
Joan Bates Forsberg
The Women's Center has occasionally published a journal of writing, art, and ideas, titled Voice. Submissions include poetry, fiction, sermons, biblical/theological exegesis, photography, and art. After a haitus of over 15 years, the latest issue is due for publication in Fall of 2020.
The Women's Center has served as a hub for feminism at the Yale Divinity School, advocating for and facilitating changes to all aspects of the community's life, including the curriculum. Below are the Guidelines for Nonsexist language issued by Professor Margaret Farley to her students in 2003.
