AAUW SACRAMENTO PRIORITIES By Kathy Papst

Hello fellow members and board of directors! I am finally back from my self-imposed hiatus in order to get settled into my new home. I am now ready to continue with my efforts to share news and encourage action for our mission of equity for women and girls.

As we start our new calendar year and finish our branch year, I have been reflecting on ways to encourage our members to become involved with our mission. Several articles have been published and emails sent in order for you to share your ideas and possibly take on a board position or chairmanship in our branch. The current board members have been working hard for many years, and some of them are in need of a break. We feel that it is always good to have new perspectives and fresh ideas in these positions. I know that it is daunting, especially if you are new to AAUW and don’t know how the board works for its members. President Nancy McCabe and program co-directors Barbara Smith and Hedda Smithson have told the members that the work involved is easy, and they are correct because we all work together to make it happen, to keep up interest in attending events and becoming involved in opportunities to help our community. It just takes a small leap of faith to step forward.

I would like to invite anyone interested in helping with Public Policy, Civil Rights Advocacy, and Title IX to come to my apartment for lunch and a complete overview of what these positions involve. I would love to have two or three members to help with these programs. I can answer any questions and show you the ropes on how I work for these important mission actions. I have tentatively set this for Thursday, March 20, at 11a.m. If you are curious about the workings of collaborating with me, please email me; my contact information can be found in the Membership Directory.

While I was away for December 2024 and January/February of 2025, the California AAUW board members were working hard with plans for the rest of the fiscal year and beyond. You can find the latest Public Policy Newsletter <here>. Here are a few highlights for these programs.

• The annual Lobby Days are coming up very soon. There was an article in last month’s newsletter and also in the state newsletter, California Connection, explaining how we reach out to California legislators with our support and our mission. The dates are April 8 and 9. On April 8, members of several branches will meet with legislators in person. Activities on April 9 will be on Zoom. The deadline to participate is Feb. 21.
• There were two webinars in January on important topics that we had programs on last year. One was entitled 2024 Revisions to Title IX: How they Impact AAUW Values and Public Policy Priorities. The second webinar was on Reproductive Rights: Where Do We Go from Here? Both webinars are available to watch in the archived programs on the California website.
• The state board has announced that they are having a contest for Branch Activity of the Year. The winning entry will be a branch activity that is novel, inspirational, and mission-related with a DEI component. The activity must be reproducible (AKA “borrowable”) by other branches. Honored branches will receive a small monetary award and bragging rights at the AAUW California Annual Event on April 26. The application on their website and the deadline this year is March 15. I don’t think that the activity has to be completed by the application deadline date, so we can still apply for our remaining programs in March and April.
• The branch leaders were recently sent the Annual Branch Survey regarding the programs and activities that were mission related. The “FIVE STAR PROGRAM” celebrates branches for achieving five stars for commitment to be involved in all aspects of AAUW’s mission. Our branch received three stars. I truly believe that we would have received five stars if we had thought to videotape our tremendous programs throughout the year. All were definitely mission related and well attended. We will have to think about this for the future so that we can shine a light on the hard work we do in this community to foster equity for women and girls.

I highly encourage our members to read the California Connection on the AAUW website. You can find the latest edition <here>. It has so much to offer. It highlights the public policy legislation that AAUW supports. There are articles on ways to highlight branch involvement in AAUW activities. If you have any questions on what they do for branches and members in the state, they will gladly help you out. Our members receive emails with the newsletter each month. If you are not receiving them, you can reach out and request to be added to the roster.

And finally, don’t forget about the TWO MINUTE ACTIVIST on both the national and AAUW California websites. It really works to have individual members tell our legislators that these issues are very important to us.

Thank you. I hope to see you in March for the Civil Rights For All program. Don’t forget to sign up soon.

ARMCHAIR ACTIVISM By Kathy Papst

There are ways to be active with AAUW even if you don’t have a lot of time to be involved or are not on the Board of Directors. The last event of the year will be the May meeting where we will vote for the next Board for 2024/2025. There is a break after that for the summer, but I encourage our members to keep our mission in your mind over the summer months. Both the national and state websites have ways to keep abreast of what is happening with legislation and continued efforts with equity for women and girls. This is an ongoing effort because those who oppose our efforts to achieve equity do not take a break from their efforts to thwart equity for 50 % of the population.

Both the national and state websites have ways to support legislation that AAUW supports without spending a lot of time. I am a member of the “Two Minute Activist” where you can support efforts to pass laws that AAUW is actively involved with. One would think that this doesn’t have much clout, but having thousands of members who make their voice heard really makes our Congress and Senate members take notice.

It only takes “two minutes” to look at the legislation that helps assist change for future generations while sitting at home. All you need to do is go to AAUW.ORG and click on Two Minute Activist and sign your name in support for upcoming laws that may change the future for all women. There is a message that you can sign or you can add your own additional message to tell why you feel that this legislation is so important. Even if you do not do this, please keep reading and listening to news outlets that keep you informed with the latest news on women’s issues for our children and grandchildren’s future.

***From the AAUW California Public Policy Committee:
Please click <here> for the April issue of Public Policy News. This issue contains the article “AAUW California Public Policy Committee Sets 2024 Legislative Agenda” for inclusion in your branch newsletters.

AAUW PRIORITIES By Kathy Papst

“Title IX – What Is It and Why Is It Important?”

AAUW was instrumental in championing and supporting legislation for equality for women and girls in schools, colleges and universities, which led to the passage of TITLE IX in 1972. This important law was established “to ensure that male and female students and employees in educational settings that receive federal funding are treated equally and fairly”. It protects against discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment.

This law fundamentally changed how schools treat girls in the academic setting, but also in high school and especially collegiate sports programs. This law forced schools to change both funding and opportunities for equal involvement in sports programs. Before this law was enacted, the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) reported that women’s sports were only 2 percent of the budget for all sports programs in colleges and universities. This includes both participation in and scholarships for athletic endeavor.

At first, there was considerable opposition from administrations and coaches. Many of them felt that if they were to give women equal share in sports funding, then it would force schools to severely reduce or even eliminate some men’s programs. Rules were established for how the funding would reach the goals of equality and has been a tremendous success.

Is TITLE IX still relevant? The 50^th anniversary of this legislation was celebrated on June 23, 2022. TITLE IX is much more than athletics. This legislation affects all aspects of education, including, for example:

• Recruiting and admissions
• Career and technical education
• Comparable facilities and course offerings
• Financial assistance
• Student health and insurance benefits
• Sexual harassment and assault
• Harassment based on gender identity

In 2024 TITLE IX’s work is not done. In recent years, the Department of Education has worked to dismantle many of the TITLE IX protections, including harassment and violence. AAUW encourages support for the GEEA (GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION ACT), which would provide, in part, TITLE IX coordinators the resources, training, and technical assistance necessary to ensure that TITLE IX protections are not further eroded. It also would establish an Office of Gender Equity in the Department of Education.

For further information, please go to both the national and California websites. There is a fact sheet on the national website, published in 2022 with the history and developments over the last 50 years of this landmark law. I would like to encourage our members to educate yourselves regarding issues of the ongoing work for equality for women and girls. If you wish to do more, please contact Kathy Papst (my contact information can be found in the Membership Directory) and I will help you to become involved at the branch level to contribute and support this and other Public Policy issues. Thank you.