Here is an e-mail I got in response to my post yesterday. The subject line of the e-mail read: University Women's Club - don't celebrate your ignorance. Since I assumed that that was not the motto of the clubs, I guessed instead that it was a clue that the e-mail wasn't going to be very nice.
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BC Council
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Nice! I really wish I could spend more time with people like this. Maybe we can form a club?
Anyway, I stand by my original post, which I do not find at all embarrassing, despite my failure to mention the important fundraising activities of some of these clubs.
** Note: Some of these clubs do advocacy! **
A careful reading of the post might show that I did not disparage these clubs -- not their missions, not their membership, not their existence, whether or not they raise funds for scholarships. I wrote that, while understanding the historic context of the name, I wish these clubs had a different name, one that does not imply that the most common definition of University Women = Wives of Professors.
I still feel that way.
I have been in bloggerland long enough to know that even mild statements about something seemingly uncontroversial can somehow inspire anger and contempt, a reaction I still find ....... very curious.
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Your blog re UWC was sent to me from one of our clubs.
I am wondering if you have received emails from members of the University Women's Clubs in America or anywhere else in the world. Most members nowadays are retired professional women with common interests, ergo the interest groups and daytime meetings etc- but our biggest role is in advocacy on all levels - from local to international and fundraising for scholarships and bursaries.. In my province the 23 clubs raised about $250,000 dollars last year.That is a lot of scholarships for women in BC who need the $$. (When you received your first brochure several decades ago - the UWC members were mostly younger women with small children who stayed at home which was the norm in the 50s and 60s who wanted to use their education outside the home in a meaningful way and to hold discourse with like minded women)
You could have googled about UWCs before embarrassing yourself with your comments. Don't professors do some research before making statements?
Just have a boo at our National website and you will see that we are all about. www.cfuw.org
Maybe an apology?
Your nom de plume or whatever the nomenclature is in bloggerland........very curious.
The foregoing is written from just me and not in my official role on the BC Council.
Regards,
Monica von Kursell
--CommunicationsBC Council
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Nice! I really wish I could spend more time with people like this. Maybe we can form a club?
Anyway, I stand by my original post, which I do not find at all embarrassing, despite my failure to mention the important fundraising activities of some of these clubs.
** Note: Some of these clubs do advocacy! **
A careful reading of the post might show that I did not disparage these clubs -- not their missions, not their membership, not their existence, whether or not they raise funds for scholarships. I wrote that, while understanding the historic context of the name, I wish these clubs had a different name, one that does not imply that the most common definition of University Women = Wives of Professors.
I still feel that way.
I have been in bloggerland long enough to know that even mild statements about something seemingly uncontroversial can somehow inspire anger and contempt, a reaction I still find ....... very curious.