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Planned Parenthood Generation Action; facilitating conversation about sexual health
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PAGE 7 • MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
Planned Parenthood Generation Action: facilitating conversation about sexual health
Emma Berg
Contributor
Activism and education are the words that come to mind when describing one of NC State’s newest clubs, Planned Parenthood Generation Action. Their work focuses on pro-abortion rights activism, sexual health information and educating people about their resources. They have been building membership and working with other on-campus groups since the start of the semester.
Emily Walter, a fourth-year studying political science, and Karsin Williard, also a fourth-year studying political science, started the club due to their passion for working with Planned Parenthood. Walter is president of Planned Parenthood Generation Action and Williard is vice president.
“This semester, our goal was to build our member base and our overarching goal is to get more and more people involved and learn about Planned Parenthood and the ways we can advocate for sexual health and be pro-justice on campus,” Walter said.
Walter works for Planned Parenthood, which helped inspire her to start an oncampus club dedicated to their mission.
“I intern for Planned Parenthood as a side job and we talked about how we wanted to extend our arm further to college campuses in the area,” Walter said. “We wanted to start that movement here.”
Planned Parenthood Generation Action is a national club with over 300 branches. At NC State specifically, Walter and Williard have worked hard to get involved and start making a difference.
“It’s important to highlight that we care about so many issues,” Williard said. “Obviously we care about what the core of Planned Parenthood is, but we also care about, support and try to reach out to groups on campus for a multitude of issues.”
Some of these events included a postermaking party in order to stand up against any anti-abortion protesters on campus. They also work alongside various student organizations such as with Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Girl KOde event or the Menstrual Education Needed! event.
For Girl KOde, they brought supplies and helped facilitate conversation about self-care, relationships and mental health.
At Menstrual Education Needed! they worked with North Carolina Public Interest Research Group, We Bleed Red, American Justice Corps, PERIOD and Delta Upsilon Fraternity.
“We were on a panel, and we talked about how important menstrual education and menstrual activism is for women,” Williard said. “Specifically through the lens of homelessness.”
Another area of importance for the club is tabling and providing accurate information on reproductive health and safety. They get their resources such as pamphlets and swag from their Planned Parenthood affiliate.
“I think there’s a lot of different misconceptions about reproductive health and part of what we’ve been doing is just tabling and talking to people about it,” Williard said. “We want people to come up to us with questions about reproductive health and access.”
Walter and Williard created what some might say is a controversial club during a time of extreme polarization. They are working to create change in the political process.
“Definitely being in the South and being in a time where we have a GOP-dominated president and legislature on the federal and state level effects how much activism we do because we need to do it more and we need to do it for more issues,” Walter said. “I think that the main thing we focus on beyond just campus groups and Planned Parenthood in general in N.C. is to flip the state house because we know that’s the easiest tactic that we have to put officials into office that back up pro-choice policies and pro-justice policies.”
The pair said they hope that the club will get students involved in politics and make them pay more attention to policy.
“Being able to build a youth power movement can create power that can be transferred into the political process and encourage people to vote in the local, state and national elections because elected officials make these policies that decide who gets access to what,” Walter said.
Williard said that students have reacted well to their presence on campus and seem to be empowered to get involved by the current political climate.
“I think geographically we need people, especially young people, that are passionate about reproductive health, social justice and public policy,” Williard said. “Planned Parenthood is such a strong national brand that having representation on campus is a good way to reach out and get people involved.”
Both Walter and Williard are graduating this spring and are working hard to make sure the club lasts post-graduation. They encourage anyone interested to attend meetings and even apply for a position in the club.
“If you think you want to be involved in activism around healthcare you should definitely come to our meetings,” Walter said.
The next general meeting will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Talley 4280. Their next event is called “FemiWIN Hygiene” and is in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association, with a presentation from Student Health on women’s health, a question and answer session and group discussion. It will be in Withers 140 on April 17 at 6:30 p.m.
EMMA DIMIG/TECHNICIAN Planned Parenthood Generation Action members Karsin Williard, a fourth-year studying political science and the vice president of the network, Kat Kirby, a third-year studying interdisciplinary studies, and Emily Walter, a fourth-year studying political science and the president of the network, work at a table during the 2018 Gender and Equity Research Symposium. The symposium took place in Talley Student Union on April 2, 2018.
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PAGE 8 • MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
28TH ANNUAL NC STATE POW-WOW
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Seth Adkins, a participant of the 28th annual Pow-Wow dances on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Garrett Thompson competes during the 28th annual Pow-Wow on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
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PAGE 9 • MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Young dancer Micah Richardson performs during the 28th annual NC State University Pow-Wow on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Dancer Charity Jones performs during the 28th annual NC State Pow-Wow on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Chris Richardson performs during the 28th annual NC State Pow-Wow on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN Jacob Hewlin performs during the 28th annual Pow-Wow on Saturday in Carmichael Gymnasium. The annual NC State Pow-Wow is hosted by the Native American Student Association and has vendors, dance contests and a drum contest, all in celebration of Native American heritage and culture.
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PAGE 10 • MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
THE RADAR
Events to keep an eye on for the week of April 9
D.H. HILL AUDITORIUM TUESDAY, 4-5 P.M. Free Derek Ham will discuss the creation of his virtual reality exhibit “I Am A Man,” which places users in historic events throughout the African American Civil Rights Movement.
EARTH FAIR
BRICKYARD WEDNESDAY, 10 A.M. - 2 P.M. Free Exhibits, demonstrations and ideas themed around conservation and nature will be on display on the Brickyard. Topics to be covered include food and water, transportation, nature and wellness.
THE LIGHT HOUSE PROJECT, 202 N TARBORO ST., RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27610 WEDNESDAY, 6:45-8:15 P.M. Price Not Listed The Lighthouse Project will be screening “The Muslim Next Door,” a National Geographic series about Muslim Americans. The episode screened focuses on Zainab Baloch’s run for city council and the murder of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha.
DEPORTATION DIASPORAS
RIDDICK HALL, ROOM 321 WEDNESDAY, 7-8:30 P.M. Free Author and researcher Jill Anderson will be speaking about her work surrounding youth raised in the United States and returned by force to Mexico.
On-campus group encourages students to give back to NC State
Emily Hench
Correspondent
Students for University Advancement is an organization at NC State with a mission to inform students about the importance of giving back to the community. The group was founded earlier this semester.
“This organization is focused on educating students about the philanthropic impact students can have on the university,” said Kara Mulligan, the assistant director of the NC State Annual Fund and the group’s advisor. “Giving back to your university is so important as a student, but also when you become an alumni.”
Caleb Parker, a third-year studying sociology and the group’s president, is also an advocate for giving back to the university, particularly as alumni.
“We’re trying to promote and educate students about annual giving,” Parker said. “Typically, gifts given to the university are given by alumni, and they’re not usually alumni that are young; we’re talking about people who graduated ten or more years ago. So what we’re trying to do is foster a community of giving within the student population so that when they graduate from NC State as a young alumni, they’ll be more accustomed to giving to the university, because they have already been giving to the university as a student.”
The group has already been active at several events across campus, including Student Giving Day on Stafford Commons on March 28.
“We hosted the Student Giving Day, that was pretty much us celebrating the donors,” Parker said. “Now that it’s getting warm outside, and the spring weather’s so nice, it’s just a good time to try to give back to those who have given to the university. We were also accepting gifts that day from students, and we’re trying to spread awareness about annual giving in a fun manner while also educating people as to why giving back to the university is important.”
At the event, student donors were put in the spotlight, and were celebrated for their generosity.
“We were out on Stafford Commons all day celebrating current student donors as well as students who had the opportunity to come out to make a gift, and just celebrated it with NC State swag, food and music,” Mulligan said.
The group was also present at a table at this year’s Grad Fair to encourage fourth-years to give a gift of $20.18, representative of the year in which they will graduated. Between events, Students for University Advancement has also been working to gather new members from across the student body. “At this point, we’ve gotten some students through word of mouth, but also with working with the Annual Giving officers has identified some students who kind of fit what we’re looking for,” Mulligan said. Organization members have been working to make themselves and their goals more well-known across campus. “For this semester, we’ve been trying to spread information about ourselves,” Parker said. “We’re always open to talk about Students for University Advancement, and we always welcome for others to come and help us.” The group, while making themselves more visible, also hope to encourage students to contribute to not only the university, but also to other student organizations across campus. “I’d love to see some more visibility on campus for the group, and just partnering with other organizations on campus,” Mulligan said. “What a lot of students don’t know is that you can give to a lot of the student organizations, so I think just being able to share that message with other organizations is something I’d love to see.” For more information on the group’s plans and future events, contact Kara Mulligan at klmullig@ncsu.edu. COURTESY OF STUDENTS FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT FACEBOOK Students for University Advancement work to increase student donations to NC State. At this year’s Grad Fair, the organization encouraged fourth-years to give a gift of $20.18, representing the year in which they will graduate.
