Director of the School of Language, Culture, and Society

3 September 2013

Susan Shaw, Ph.D.

Director of the School of Language, Culture, and Society

Women’s Studies Department

Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR 97331

Dear Susan,

I read with excitement the news that you are proposing a doctoral program at Oregon State in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Brava!

Please allow me to endorse this idea from the non-profit sector—something I’m well versed in after 35 years running two women’s organizations in Washington, DC. As head of WREI, the Women’s Research & Education Institute, I have kept my finger on the academic pulse through our Congressional Fellowships on Women & Public Policy. Since 1980, I’ve brought more than 350 talented graduate students to Capitol Hill to master the ways and means of federal lawmaking. The best and brightest scholars from every possible field compete for this full-time, eight-month placement on U.S. Senate and House staffs.

Directing this program provides perspective on which degrees best prepare Fellows for the rough and tumble of national politics. Ironically, lawyers generally have the worst time adjusting to the pettiness and personalities in Congress while women’s studies and social workers invariablyhit the ground running. In particular, I’ve noticed that Fellows pursuing the Ph.D in women/gender studies are quick to grasp the partisan give-and-take and manipulate it to their advantage. They also offer their classmates a broader understanding of policymaking—lifting them out of the trenches and up to the 1000’ level.

Let me offer an example. 2013 WREI Fellow Angelina Gonzalez-Aller, is researching the representative consequences of gender and race norms in Congress for her dis-sertation at the University of Arizona. On the staff of Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, she was assigned to liaison with the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian-Pacific American caucuses on women’s health issues. Not only did Angelina educate her classmates on the different approaches these varied ethnic groups take to the Afford-able Care Act, she also made such an impression on caucus members that they voted to hold the next Tri-Caucus Health Conference on her campus in Tucson. That means federal dollars for the school along with the prestige of hosting at least 40 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in a conversation about one of the most critical issue of the day.

Wearing my other hat, as chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO), a bipartisan, 240-group coalition representing 12 million American women,

I can speak to the need for informed leadership in the feminist movement. Women’s studies was in its infancy when I and many of the incumbents now leading these 240 groups began their careers. As the Baby Boomers retire from the ranks, we need a core of experts with advanced knowledge not only about women’s issues but also feminist and womanist critical perspectives. Further, since women’s studies is inter-disciplinary, those holding this advanced degree will be trained to think broadly about a wide range of social justice issues, drawing from multiple bodies of knowledge and diverse methods of problem-solving.

I congratulate you and the School of Language, Culture, and Society for the work and vision it took to move this degree toward realization. On behalf of the discounted women in history who will gain notice, the generations of women who were denied any playing field, even an uneven one, and the up and coming cohort who will change the world, I say thank you.

Sincerely,

Susan Scanlan

Chair, National Council of Women's Organizations

President, Women's Research & Education Institute

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