Women's Center welcomes new director

UMKC welcomed Brenda Bethman as the new Women's Center director Jan. 2. Previously she spent more than five years working at Texas A&M University as the program coordinator of the Women's Center and then director of the Women's & Gender Equity Resource Center.

"It's a good time to be here [in Kansas City]," Bethman said. "There's a lot of excitement and momentum working in a non-traditional, urban environment."

Bethman's plans for the Women's Center focus on long-term goals. These goals are designed to support UMKC students through the work of the Women's Center. Academic integration, women's leadership programming and violence prevention are at the top of her list.

"We're trying to think about ways to get the Women's Center's goals to support the University's mission," Bethman said.

The Women's Center already does support the University's mission, Bethman said, but she intends to do it with better articulation.

Bethman's plans for co-curriculum programming involve expanding the living-learning community, UMKC Women's Collaborative, made up of the Women's Center, Women's Council, and the Women's and Gender Studies program, and to sponsor WILL, Women Involved in Living and Leading. Through WILL, Bethman plans to better integrate academics with the Women's Center.

Bethman also plans to work on a new mentoring program for women. FUEL (Females Understanding Empowerment & Leadership) is UMKC's female mentoring program.

"It's a small effort to start, but we want to grow it," Bethman said. "I'm hoping down the road to do some work with women's leadership programs."

Bethman was the founding coordinator for the Women's Center and programs at Texas A&M. She created an undergraduate mentor and leadership program. The mentoring program was another way for Bethman and the Women's Center to support students.

Violence prevention programs already exist at UMKC, but Bethman wants to do more to prevent violence. She would like to get more information out about violence prevention because she thinks people at UMKC do not know much about how they can prevent it.

"Violence prevention and response is a priority," Bethman said. "The Women's Center is currently in the process of renewing their grant for violence prevention."

Although Bethman did not take part in deciding this semester's programming for the Women's Center, she is looking forward to the upcoming events. One reoccurring event this semester is "Stitch and Bitch: Crafting for a Cause," a chance to knit or crotchet crafts to raise money in support of local violence prevention organizations. The event starts Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. in the Women's Center located in 101 Haag Hall and continues every second Tuesday of the month.

Bethman said the February production of "The Vagina Monologues" should be fun to see. The performance returns to UMKC Feb. 19, 20 and 21. She is also looking forward to the April celebration of 100 High School Girls and the Black Women Leaders Conference in May.

kcaldwell@unews.com