![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Putting sex education to work: WGERC provides students with condoms, lubes, and more
The Women and Gender Equity Resource Center provides students with necessities for their health.
Nicholas Windfelder.
The Women and Gender Equity Resource Center located in the Division of Student Affairs.
February 1, 2022
A recent survey has shown that three out of five students have experienced anxiety and stress due to lack of basic needs like housing, food and childcare. Students may experience difficulties obtaining necessities like pads, condoms, soap, nursing pads or even a supportive environment to talk or breastfeed.
The Women and Gender Equity Resource Center (WGERC), located on the second floor of the Breezeway in room 224, can provide all of these necessities.
Jamie Vaughn, an FAU alum, was recently promoted as assistant director of the WGERC.
“This space was intended for students to come and have a safe space to hang out,” said Vaughn.
Part of “Owls Care Health Promotion”, the WGERC provides items related to sexual health, as well as assistance and information for Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing, maternity clinics and abortion clinics.
For students and organizations interested in the program, the WGERC puts on events, workshops, and meetings to talk about taboo issues, such as menstruation or STIs.
Maria Yepes, a current senior majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology and a certificate in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, works as a staff member at WGERC.
“I particularly love this [workshops] because it’s all about peer-student educators teaching other students and spreading information that is so important, but rarely talked about,” said Yepes.
Items such as lube and condoms are available in different locations on campus.
In the student housing buildings, WGERC and Owls Care provide “safer sex kits” which contain six condoms, one package of water-based lubricant, and one instruction pamphlet. Latex-free safer sex kits are also available at each front desk.
“I really like how we offer free sexual health items to students. Many students come to us when they need these items because they know we have them and obtaining them is very simple,” said Andre Betancur, an employee of WGERC. “And of course, we can answer any questions they may have about certain items and how to use them and/or what their purpose is.”
While sexual health is important, self-care is equally important at the center. WGERC provides everyday necessity items, like pads and soaps.
“If you menstruate, you menstruate. There is no holding it in, you have to have a pad and people will have sex, it’s just going to happen,” said Logan McGraw, director of communication of the National Organization for Women (NOW). “So, whether we like it or not, these things are necessities. Better to have them there if people need them, rather than maybe try and hide it away, because it can be a little bit taboo.”
Menstrual items are accessible in the women’s bathrooms on the second floor of the Breezeway and the gender neutral bathrooms at the Schmidt Family Complex in buckets the WGERC has dubbed as “The Period Pail.”
Vaughn expressed that there are talks of providing these products around campus, but that it’s difficult to achieve due to the individual management of each building and the limited access of their staff to other buildings.
For students who struggle with mental health, the center provides stress balls, aromatherapy bags, pronoun pins, a listening ear and even compliments.
“Maybe you’re having a moment and you come in and you grab something out of the compliment jar. We gently suggest that they read it out loud, so we all can hear,” said Vaughn. “Every time a student reads it, they’re like ‘Oh my god, that was so good. That made me feel good.’ So to know that there is a space on campus that kind of has your back, thinking about your well being, that’s a peace of mind.”
Most staff members of the WGERC had gone into this office for the first time as FAU students. Now as staff, their mission is to provide the same support they received.
“I believe it’s extremely important for students to have access to these services. A lot of the things we offer are not always so easy to get outside of the university, especially for free,” said Betancur. “I think the fact that we can offer students different services along with knowledge and guidance is very beneficial because students can then take that knowledge with them when they leave the office.”
This story was originally published on University Press on January 25, 2022.
