Women's and Gender Studies Department
Program History

Fall 1970: J.J. Wilson and students start planning for courses on women

First consciousness-raising groups on campus

Spring 1971: First course on women--a student-initiated course on "Women and History," taught by Trish Raleigh and Shelly Fedanzo with Bob Brown as faculty sponsor

Summer 1971: First faculty-taught course on women--"Women and Literature," taught by J.J. Wilson

Fall 1971: First interdisciplinary lecture series on women--"Pandora's Box" coordinated by J.J. Wilson, Elaine Bundeson and Sandra Walton

First course on women in regular department curriculum: "Women's History," taught by Mary Felstinger

Women's Survival Center founded in Clarice Stasz's office

Spring 1972: First student-initiated courses on women listed as Women's Studies courses

Five students apply for a special major in Women's Studies

Women's Survival Center gets space in the university library

Fall 1972: First Women's Studies core course, WOMS 200, "Changing Women," taught by J.J. Wilson and Karen Petersen

Eight courses on women taught in regular departments, including a course on La Chicana in Mexican-American Studies and one on Black Women taught in Afro-American Studies

Five extension coursees offered on women's business

Women's Survival Center gets office in the trailers

Spring 1973: Women's Studies becomes a program within the Division of Inter-Disciplinary Studies and gets allocation to hire a coordinator

"Our Bodies, Ourselves" is taught for the first time. Later becomes "Feminist Perspectives on Women's Health, Women's Bodies" (currently "Women's Bodies: Health and Image")

Fall 1973: First faculty member, Ann Neel, hired to coordinate and teach Women's Studies, followed in later 1970s by Ruth Mahaney, Karlene Faith, Janet Cole, Adele Clarke and Lauren Coodley

Women's History Slide Show started by students in Alice Wexler's "Women's History" class. Later led to National Women's History Project

Women's Studies gets office in the trailers

Women's Studies governing board established with student, staff, faculty and community members

Distaff, campus women's newspaper, published

Spring 1974: Women's Union, a student organization, is founded

Fall 1974: Marjory Downing Wagner becomes President of Sonoma State University--the first woman president in the state university system

Yvette Fallandy becomes Vice-President for Academic Affairs

First course for returning women taught in Women's Studies

"Teaching and Planning" becomes a Women's Studies course required of all student teachers. In the early 1980s, this course becomes Feminist Pedagogy, and in late 1980s, "Teaching Adults."

Spring 1975: Elaine Bundesen in the Admissions Office prepares for a re-entry women's brochure

Two support groups for re-entry women are organized by Jan Kalbaugh and Sandra Walton

24 courses focusing on women in Women's Studies and 14 in other departments are offered

Summer 1975: Extension class, "From Kitchen to College," offered by Jackie Kramer

Workshop for prospective re-entry women organized with junior colleges in a six-county service area

Fall 1975: First Affirmative Action Director appointed, Bari Evans

Spring 1976: Management offers an extension course on "Negotiating the Secretarial Ghetto," taught by Shawna Davis Fikes

Fall 1976: Off-campus Housing Office offers re-entry services

First re-entry conversations

Spring 1978: First class on "Racism and Sexism" team-taught by Ruth Mahaney and Ada Mason of American Multicultural Studies

First celebration of National Women's History Week

Fall 1978: Re-entry task force chaired by Barry Godolphin and Tak Richards

Women's Studies minor approved

Spring 1979: 500 attend "Conference on Women and Power" coordinated by Linda Lipps of the Career Development Center

Fall 1979: Half-time Director for Re-entry Center hired, Tak Richards

Re-entry Learning Moments started

Siege of Women's Studies begins as SSU President Diamendoupolos calls for major program review

Twenty-eight women faculty send letter to President Diamandopoulos supporting the Women's Studies Program and its coordinators

Spring 1980: President Diamendoupolos tries to close Women's Studies, but gives in to student, faculty and community protest

Fall 1980: First full-time Director of Affirmative Action hired, Barbara Lesch McCaffry

Fall 1981: First tenure-track faculty hired in Women's Studies, Kay Trimberger

Fall 1982: First associated student funding for Women's Center lobbied by Carmen Radcliffe

Spring 1983: Women's Studies has 10-year reunion, attended by over 100 people

Career Minor in Women's Health approved

Fall 1983: Women's Studies course approved for general education (GE) credit

Fall 1985: Women's Council of the California State University founded

Fall 1986: SSU Council of Women's Issues founded as chapter of the Women's Council of the State University

Fall 1987: Formation of Vice-President's Ad Hoc Committee meets to establish a Women's Resource Center on campus

Spring 1989: Half-time coordinator hired for Women's Resource Center, Karen Markowitz

Fall 1989: Women's Studies and Women's Resource Center win a major program improvement grant from the Chancellor's Office for a Women's Peer Leadership Project

Spring 1992: A reunion and conference held, "In Celebration of Women's Education at SSU: 1970-1992"

Karen Markowitz laid off from Women's Resource Center and funding is ended

Fall 1993: Women's Resource Center returns to a primarily student-run organization with Linda Lipps, Associate Director of EOP, given one-fourth time to be the coordinator.

Student coordinator of Women's Resource Center files a case with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights (OCR), complaining that SSU is deficient in dealing with complaints about sexual assault and sexual harassment

Women's Studies wins a grant from AT&T to develop a "Women in Science" program

Spring 1994: Eileen Naughton-Merberg appointed Coordinator of Sexual Assault Education

Christine Ritchy-Gray hired to coordinate a Women in Science program

Fall 1994: Women's Studies is granted a second tenure-track position

Women's Studies approved to offer an experimental special major in Gender Studies for five years

Spring 1995: Cindy Stearns hired as assistant professor of Women's Studies

Fall 1995: Funding restored to hire a half-time professional coordinator for the Women's Resource Center, combined with a hlaf-time employee in the Office of Campus Life. Kris Montgomery is hired.

Fall 1996: "Conference on Girls: Power, Promise and Possibility" held with funding from the Sonoma County Community Foundation and AAUW

Spring 1997: Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA) founded with Brandi Redman as the first student coordinator

Fall 1997: Kaiser Permanente funds the Women's Health Lecture Series

Spring 1998: New major in Women's and Gender Studies approved unanimously by all campus committees. This is the new name of the program

Spring 2000: Dr. Kay Trimberger retires and continues to teach on occasional basis through the Faculty Early Retirement Program

Fall 2001: Women's and Gender Studies becomes a department. (It had been a program.) Dr. Charlene Tung joins the faculty as the third tenture-track faculty hire in the program's history.

Fall 2003: Dr. Nan Alamilla Boyd joins the faculty, bringing the total number of core tenure-track faculty in the department to three

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