Guam -The University of Guam Women and Gender Studies program will open the new Helen J.D. Whippy Center for Gender Studies at the University of Guam at 10:00 a.m. on October 8, 2010. Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Indonesian women’s activist Zohra Andi Baso will officially open the center which is located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 205.
The Center, named in honor of UOG’s Senior Vice President Helen Whippy, provides a venue for instructional support and regional collaboration in Guam and the Pacific region.
“Dr. Whippy has supported of the work of the program, and offered her guidance, mentoring, funding, and personal time to the Women and Gender Studies grant projects that focus on working with women on campus and girls in the community, thus ensuring the success of our work. Dr. Whippy is also an inspiration to faculty and students at the University of Guam as a female mathematician and upper level administrator. We wish to honor her successes on behalf of all women in Guam and recognize her commitment to gender equality on campus and in the local community,” said Helen Thompson, associate professor of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Guam.
The goals of the Center for Gender Studies are to:
- Provide supplementary instructional resources to all classes on the UOG campus such as books, documents and films on gender issues.
- Establish mentoring activities for male and female faculty and students in the area of gender.
- Serve as a repository for research and advocacy projects in the area of gender.
- Maintain activities and projects that highlight the need for gender equality on the University campus, the island of Guam and the Pacific region.
- Offer a venue for the University community, and local and regional organizations to meet and collaborate with the UOG Women and Gender Studies faculty.
- Collaborate with regional institutions on research and education on gender.
The event is free of charge and open to the public. The celebration will run from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.