Bears and Elis descend on Warren Field

The Penn baseball team has perfection on the brain as the Quakers attempts to build on its 4-0 Ivy League record. The Penn baseball team has perfection on the brain as the Quakers attempts to build on its 4-0 Ivy League record.The Penn Women's Center is in the midst of celebrating its 25th anniversary. Such a historic occasion calls for an examination of what has been accomplished and what needs remain. In the last 100 years we have seen a successful women's movement change the face of gender relations. That movement also led to the creation of the Penn Women's Center in 1973. But times are no longer what they used to be and programs and institutions must change with the times. Does the Women's Center still serve a purpose on Penn's campus? In order to answer that question, people must be aware of what the Women's Center does. One of its main functions is to provide counseling, though according to the most recent data obtained from the Vice Provost for University Life's office, only 36 undergraduates sought consultation with the Women's Center during the '94-'95 academic year. Most people know the center also houses student groups (there are 11), but few know much about the groups themselves. One group housed in the Women's Center is White Women Against Racism. What does this group do? Unfortunately, if you're black, you'll have to rely on second-hand information. In February 1995, Janali Davis, a black Engineering junior, decided to attend a meeting of WWAR as part of her celebration of Black History Month. Because of her skin color, however, she was actually kicked out of the meeting. She argued futilely with Penn Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi for over an hour, finally leaving in tears. DiLapi defended her actions by stating, "We believe racism is a white problem, and we have a responsibility as white women in particular to do what we can to eradicate racism" (DP, 3/1/95). Another Women's Center group is called the Penn Women's Alliance -- a testament that the war with the Penn Men's Axis still rages. The group's main activity is to publish what members refer to as a literary magazine. Most of their materials would quickly be branded as pornography had they appeared in any other publication. Photographs have included a close-up of women's breasts as seen through bedposts and a naked woman standing with one leg resting on a horizontal pole. The last issue featured an artist's rendering of four naked women on its cover, and included another drawing entitled, "Nudes superimposed on Romaine Lettuce." Literary works have had such titles as, "Moist Whore," "He Fucked Me" and "Mom and Me at the Cuban Cigar Factory." Another publication associated with the Women's Center is Generation XX, a self-described forum for women's issues. Each issue cites its reason to exist on the back cover, quoting a poster from the National Union of Students (London) Women's campaign which reads, "Because if we get raped it's our fault and if we get bashed we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches." Perhaps at one point these statements were true, but their continued relevance is doubtful. A question of relevance also pertains to Women for Equal Opportunity at the University of Pennsylvania. With a female president, female vice provost for University Life, female Faculty Senate chairperson and a female as the most recent dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, inequality at Penn no longer seems an issue. Of course, such groups -- even Penn's Eagerly Awaited Radical Ladies -- have a right to exist. But is a center devoted to housing such groups really necessary? Some of DiLapi's justifications for the Women's Center, and especially its move to its current location, are almost humorous. "We appreciate the support everyone has shown," DiLapi said in a Oct. 25, 1996 DP article. "And because of that support -- along with our new location -- women are no longer uncomfortable while walking to classes here." Apparently if underclassmen can't appreciate this quote, it is because they didn't have to suffer through the discomfort of walking down Locust Walk without the Women's Center. DiLapi also referred to the move into what used to be the Theta Xi fraternity house as "poetic justice," because fraternity houses serve as a "danger zone for women" (DP, 10/7/96). Just as women should not be stereotyped, neither should fraternities -- nor people who disagree with the Women's Center. After then-College Sophomore Chris Robbins criticized the Women's Center's move to Locust Walk, DiLapi said Robbins has, "some real anti-woman concerns" (DP, 4/19/94). When examining the role of the Women's Center it is also important to note that all of its services are duplicated by other University departments. There is an Office of Student Life to handle most student activities, a Counseling Center to help people seeking psychological assistance and there is Victim Support for people who are victims of crime. Problems with the Counseling Center and Victim Support have been cited as reasons for the need of a Women's Center to help females. But if there really are problems, why should men be stuck with them? And if it is just that these services aren't equipped to handle women's issues, then additional counselors should be hired who can. Another center, and one in the middle of campus, is not necessary. DiLapi has also expressed an interest in having the Women's Center serve as a place where women can just relax and talk. Penn doesn't even have a general student center yet, and with the administration claiming that the Perelman Quadrangle actually is a student center, it is doubtful that there ever will be one. Is it really appropriate for women to have their own center to relax and talk while men don't have one? With the Women's Center receiving $275,000 annually from the General Fee and occupying desperately-sought space in the middle of campus, it is important for there to be a dialogue on its necessity. If feminism is the desire for equal rights than I, along with I believe most people at Penn, proudly call myself a feminist. But being a feminist and thinking that there is a need for the Penn Women's Center are two entirely different things. There is no doubt that women have suffered grave injustice, and there is no doubt that there was once a need for the Penn Women's Center. But while we celebrate the center's 25th anniversary this week, we must ask whether enough progress has been made to eliminate the need for a Women's Center. Even if people think a Women's Center is important, they must then ask if they are satisfied to have this Women's Center represent Penn women. Just because a need once existed doesn't mean it will always exist, and we must be able to say when this change has occurred.