A. Ray Olpin University Union

In 1971, a collaborative group of women consisting of faculty, staff, and graduate students came together to establish the Women’s Resource Center (WRC). The WRC strives to be the primary resource and network for women on campus. Some of the campus resources provided through the WRC include individual counseling services, scholarships, emergency funds, support groups, community outreach, and volunteer opportunities. The WRC also reaches out to girls in grades 6-12 through their Go Girlz Community initiative, which encourages the pursuit of higher education to primarily minority, first generation, and economically disadvantaged female students in the Salt Lake County school district

Through the years the WRC has helped establish the Gender Studies Program, implement a feminist-multicultural counseling training program, advocate for campus child care, monitor campus climate toward women within higher education, encourage the hiring of women faculty and staff, as well as establish scholarship funds for single-parent(s), non-traditional and first-generation students. They also work with USTART, a student-sponsored initiative to offer support and retention strategies. Most recently the WRC helped initiate the Homeless Student Task Force for current students who experience housing insecurity. These initiatives have helped start the difficult yet necessary conversation about women pursuing an education and the challenges they may face when doing so

While counseling services are not unique to the WRC, the approach and extent of their services are. The WRC does not cap the number of sessions an individual (faculty, student, and or staff member) can access. Their counselors take a feminist-multicultural approach when meeting with individuals. This lens of counseling addresses issues of concern a student, staff, or faculty member may have holistically while also being sensitive to cultural norms, identities, and perspectives they may hold. While the WRC does not offer individual counseling sessions to community members, they do encourage community members to attend their group sessions during the evening

Although the WRC is meant to primarily serve women at the University of Utah, they do have volunteer opportunities, workshops, counseling services, and scholarships that men are eligible for, as well. Current scholarship opportunities supported through the WRC and their partners can be found on their webpage: womenscenter.utah.edu

Located on the fourth floor of the Union, stop by the WRC and learn more about their services, staff, and efforts to advocate for women at all levels!