From Tampons to Town Hall Meetings By: Kendall Little FAU NOW is making changes in the FAU community in big ways At the end of the Fall 2020 semester, Joi Dean cleared the shelves at her local Target of any menstrual products it carried, but not for her own use. After receiving quizzical looks from other shoppers and even the cashier, she drove her tampon and pad-stocked car to different charities in the area and donated all $800 worth of menstrual products. This was only one of the events the FAU chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) held this semester. Some were less extravagant, such as hosting virtual meetings about activism or organizing two town hall meetings to discuss racial issues at FAU, but all brought a difference to the FAU community. Dean felt that FAU students typically operate in small, like-minded groups and she wanted to bring about a change. “I really want to bring people together,” she said. “I want to bring in these people that might agree with feminism or might be a feminist and might not know it.” NOW is full of accepting and diverse members, but Dean wanted to branch out and bring in people who wouldn’t ordinarily have conversations about feminism or other types of equality. So Dean reached out to Sigma Chi Fraternity. Together, the frat and the feminists volunteered at Boca Helping Hands, which is a non-profit that provides food, medical, and financial assistance to those who need it.
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Group photo of FAU NOW. Photo courtesy of Alex Liscio.
“NOW goes above and beyond when it comes to educating, discussing, and advocating for change,” she said. NOW is designed to inform the FAU community about topics like feminism, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality. Though the FAU chapter of NOW was founded in 2017, the national organization was founded in 1966 by Betty Friedan. Friedan led the women’s rights campaign in the 1960s and even sparked the second wave of feminism with her 1963 book, “The Feminine Mystique.” From petitions to protests, the founding members of the organization fought long and hard for their rights. 51 years later, the feminists of FAU brought NOW to the Boca Raton campus to continue the fight for true gender equality.
From general meetings every Tuesday that are open to all to special events and opportunities for bonding, NOW has an opportunity for every student to get involved.
“We cover a wide range of topics and that really gets you to see the world for what it is,” NOW member Rafaela St. Juste said. “Knowledge is power and the more I went to NOW meetings, the more confident I became in talking about subjects.”
Eshanie Whitehead, a freshman English major, says that she joined the organization because of how dedicated the members are to making a change.
NOW isn’t just for informing, its members say. It’s also an inclusive group of people that help each other develop their views and beliefs.
