The Women’s Center has become synonymous with advocacy and community, welcoming NC State students and faculty regardless of gender identity into their space. The Center is dedicated to providing support and education on interpersonal violence while helping students find their space on campus.

Located on the top floor of Talley Student Union, the Women’s Center is decorated with foliage and shelves of books. There’s a small nook by the entrance with a pair of cushioned seats, sandwiched by bookshelves holding collections ranging from contemporary memoirs to zines no longer in circulation. This quiet room has witnessed the time and effort the Women’s Center staff have put into survivor services.

Services

One of the Women’s Center’s main offerings is survivor services, including but not limited to “accompaniment to court, student conduct hearings, law enforcement agencies, medical services.”

As a part of their survivor services, the center houses and employs the student-led organizations, More Voices Matter Together  (MVMT) Peer Educators. The Women’s Center’s interpersonal violence education groups are relatively new, given the center opened in 1991. MVMT was formed in the early 2000s.

Jordan Abernathy, a third-year majoring in anthropology and MVMT’s Director of Communications said “[MVMT] has been such a huge part of my life. It’s influenced me to be a more open person to education in areas that I thought that I didn’t need education in.”

Abernathy has been a peer-educator in health since high school and continues to serve the community through MVMT. “It’s easy, I think, to feel that disconnection on a big campus, like I said. But when I see students reaching out to other students — being a support just lending that helping hand — I think that’s great.”

Students can support MVMT and the Women’s Center’s survivor services through participating in the meetings or workshops they hold every Thursday, covering topics such as consent, sexual violence 101 and how to support survivors. There’s also a Survivor Fund people can either donate to directly or by buying the Colors of Healing coloring book, designed by members of NC State who experienced interpersonal violence.

Events

Another option is attending one of the big events they have every semester, like “Sex in the Dark.”

Campus Health, the Pride Center and occasionally other campus groups come together for Sex in the Dark with the Women’s Center as the host. Held in one of Talley Student Union’s ballrooms, members of NC State University and people from the local community are welcome.

Participants are encouraged to ask questions to a panel of “sex birds” with the ballroom dimly lit to ensure anonymity.  “We got a gynecologist, a physician, a sex expert, a sex therapist, and then a regular therapist. It’s like a great event that happens every semester,“ Abernathy said.

The Women’s Center’s biggest event is Take Back the Night, aimed to provide support and awareness to survivors of sexual assault. It features a keynote speaker, followed by a community march around campus.

“We have a huge resource fair [and] it takes up like all of Stafford Commons so people can find resources,” Abernathy says. “We say that with sexual assault survivors, it’s huge to have a support system that they can go to, they can rely on. So that’s really what we aim to do with Take Back the Night.”

Towards the end of Take Back the Night, they have a survivor speak out. It’s one of the few times employees of the Women’s Center aren’t mandated reporters. “Any survivor can come and can speak and has lots of support,” Abernathy said.

Groups

Pack Survivor Support Alliance (PSSA) launched in 2021. PSSA is a volunteer organization focused on educating and training NC State’s faculty and staff about interpersonal violence and how to best support sexual assault victims. Before it officially launched, pilot workshops were held during the pandemic. In an interview with Eye on the Triangle, Carlyn Wright-Eakes, the interpersonal violence prevention education coordinator at the time, stated: “I think on the first pilot workshop, we had 60 participants, which I was surprised, I thought it would have been lower.”

The workshops were further developed before PSSA’s official launch. They have four workshops open for registration and upon the completion of all four sessions, the participant is considered a PSSA ambassador.

Beyond survivor services, the Women’s Center has events and communities dedicated for self-care, leadership and entertainment. In partnership with the Pride Center, Multicultural Student Affairs and the African American Culture Center, the Women’s Center has a Care Retreat designed “to help all participants move towards actualization by focusing on the inner parts of the self.”

Community Building

Additionally, the Women’s Center has a gaming group that provides a variety of activities — from board games and puzzles, to Jeopardy and Roblox, to Dungeons and Dragons (DnD).

“It’s fun,” said Leigh Dubiel, a fourth-year majoring in film studies and the Game Master for the DnD group. “The Women’s Center is very open, and accepting, and it’s a very good space for facilitating groups and conversations and fun.”

Currently, their DnD group comprises 15 players, although sessions recommend five to six players. Dubiel says, “It’s quite a big group, but it’s a fun, big experience to do … It’s definitely been a challenge, but a fun challenge that’s been good to tackle and learn how to navigate.”

Curious students can also watch their DnD sessions. “If they just want to come and watch, I’m fine with having an audience, you know?” Dubiel said. Presently, the DnD group is on the second act of their campaign for the Spring semester due to the size of the group.

Students interested in community discussion can also participate in the Women’s Center’s Fabulous Fridays. It’s a weekly event where students can discuss a variety of topics and are encouraged to develop their own topic presentation. Expertise is not required to participate in the discussion.

A Welcoming Space

The Women’s Center emphasizes and embodies community. “What makes the Women’s Center unique from others is probably how interconnected everything is,” says Alex Reyer, a fourth-year student majoring in psychology.

Reyer has been active with MVMT since the Fall semester. “My favorite part of the Women’s Center is how welcoming all the staff and student interns and just everyone in the space is. I think that’s kind of what helped me want to venture out more into attending their events and stuff, ’cause there’s not a lot of guys or males that you’ll see in the Womens Center a lot,” Reyer said.

The Women’s Center has grown since its founding in 1991. What started with Women’s Week at NC State has become a flourishing student center, leading students, faculty and staff to a safer future for all gender identities.