Women's Center turns 20

Penn Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi presented her goals for the coming year – including continued support for a racial harassment policy – at the Women's Center's 20th anniversary celebration yesterday. DiLapi said that expanding the center's image beyond that of a victim support center to a place where women can just relax and talk is another central goal. She said that in general, the University has a strong support system for women's programs, but lacks the appropriate judicial procedures to effectively resolve problems. In particular, she believes that the University's racial harassment system has failed women. "If the noisemakers [in the water buffalo incident] had been men, I don't think there would have been any shouting out of the window," DiLapi said. Last spring, five women brought charges against then-College freshman Eden Jacobowitz for referring to them as "water buffalo." The women dropped the charges in June, saying they did not feel they would get a fair hearing. DiLapi said the women involved in the incident were thwarted by the University's judicial system, in part, because of their gender. She said she usually prefers that the Women's Center avoid using legal means to solve problems. During the anniversary celebration, DiLapi introduced three of the women involved in the incident. "I want everyone in the community to know how courageous these women are...we're very proud that they are members of our group here at Penn," DiLapi said. Shannon Parker, an intern at the Women's Center and the facilitator of White Women Against Racism, said that "we want to make sure that all voices are heard concerning the issue of the possible suspension of the racial harassment [code] and to insure that there is no point at which members of the Penn community are unprotected." College senior Nikki Taylor, one of the women who brought charges against Jacobowitz, said that she and Jacobowitz's other accusers are working with the Center to emphasize that "the issue we were fighting was not just racial, but was also sexual." The Women's Center was founded 20 years ago in response to a series of rapes on and off campus and the insensitivity of police officers involved. After a four-day student sit-in, the University agreed to various demands, including the establishment of a specific place for women to go and talk about their experiences. The Women's Center provides a number of supportive and educational programs including rape crisis counseling and free self- defense classes, DiLapi said. She estimated that last year 2,500 to 3,000 women participated in the educational programs, and 100 to 200 took part in the counseling services. The Women's Center has several umbrella groups such as Multicultural Women at Penn which focuses on problems that international students – particularly graduate students – encounter when coming to the University. DiLapi added that the Women's Center also serves men. Male students often come to the Women's Center for advice on helping a woman close to them who has been assaulted or because of their own sexual orientation issues, she said. Men have also used the center's subject files for a study on sexual harassment.

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