Students form new group with anonymous grant

The Organization of Women Leaders at Princeton is still in its infancy but already has made a large impact on campus.

Founded by co-presidents Nancy Ippolito '03 and Erin Culbertson '03, OWL was created to serve as a uniting force and to provide a support system for women on campus.

One of the new orgainzation's most tangible successes came in the form of an anonymous donation this summer of $150,000 to be received during the next three years, according to fund-raising committee head Robin Hindery '03.

Ippolito and Culbertson said they began to perceive last spring that there were too few women in student leadership positions. "We thought that there should be an organization on campus, something women could join and become involved in," Culbertson said.

The pair was further inspired by their experiences in HIS 384: Gender in America: Colonial, Revolutionary and Victorian Society, and while helping to plan Take Back the Night.

"We realized how many girls experience sexual violence at Princeton and how few say anything," Ippolito said. "We wanted to get people to start talking about women's issues without doing it in an offensive way."

Ippolito and Culbertson said they have been amazed by the levels of response and enthusiasm their group has attracted during the last two weeks.

More than 300 female students signed up and expressed interest in OWL at this year's activities fair, and nearly 100 attended its first meeting, which became so crowded that some students were left standing out in the hallway.

In the early stages of planning their new organization, Ippolito and Culbertson sought feedback from friends and from history professor Christine Stansell '71, who teaches HIS 384. They submitted a proposal for University recognition of their organization, which the USG approved during the first week in May.

"It was a grass-roots effort," Stansell noted.

Once they had approval, the duo began to lay the organizational groundwork for OWL. Ippolito and Culbertson began to organize different committees and bring in others to join the organization.

According to Ippolito, members will collaborate with other student organizations — including Whig-Clio, the Student Volunteer Council and SHARE — to increase the number of opportunities students have to become involved with OWL.

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The new organization is led by 10 committees that coordinate all facets of OWL, including the newsletter, guest speakers, social events, fund raising, publicity, diversity, health and community service.

Speaker series

OWL members have begun to schedule their speaker series, which aims to offer undergraduate women on-campus opportunities to interact with female alumnae, professors and other women leaders.

Stansell and development communications director Judith Friedman '74, both among the first co-educational classes at Princeton, will speak at the organization's first luncheon Oct. 4.

Other projects OWL leaders are working on include an Ivy League conference on international women's rights scheduled for March, as well as a speaker panel slated for Oct. 18 titled "Controversial Sex: How the Media Influences Perception of Sex on Campus."

What has been most exciting to the organization's leaders is the enthusiasm expressed by such a wide range of women with different interests and backgrounds.

"So many have told us that this was exactly what they needed," Culbertson said. "It will give them a lot of support, but they also feel like they will be able to make a change and have a high level of involvement."

"Girls I've never met or seen before come up to me and ask me about OWL," Ippolito said.

Culbertson added, "There has been such a high level of energy. Everyone's ideas build off of each other. Judging from the start, we think it's going to be a great year."