Last Updated September 23, 1999; comments to marshamiller@indstate.edu

Association convention was, as usual, busy and filled with lots of information. Elsewhere in this newsletter are reports on the public policy program and the bylaws changes approved by delegates in Washington. Some of the bylaws changes engendered quite a bit of spirited discussion, as you would expect from AAUW members – and when do AAUW members not have an opinion?

The biggest discussion of the entire convention concerned the actions taken by the EF board of directors in April, namely, the decision to hire their own executive director. As you may know by now, an opposition slate of candidates, called the Unity Team, was proposed for election as the EF board of directors (in opposition to the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee). Sunday’s election lines were long but in the end the Unity Team was overwhelmingly elected.

What does this mean for EF and AAUW? It’s too soon to say, except that the expectation is that they will keep the AAUW membership in mind when discussing changes/problems and their possible solutions. The feeling at convention was that the former EF board appeared to forget how they got their $105 million endowment – through the hard work of the AAUW members. The actions taken by the former board of directors may, ultimately, prove to be necessary and correct ones – only time will tell – but their unilateral actions threatened to undo the organization we’ve all worked for, and that upset the membership.

On the other major question of the convention, the $10 dues increase was approved and will take effect next year.

In Indiana news, the state board at its July meeting voted to disband Connersville, Greenwood, and Washington branches. This is not good news, but it is our hope that some, if not all, of these members will remain active as members-at-large. The Lafayette branch is still struggling to come back. Which brings up the question: why does there seem to be so much trouble keeping branches in university towns? Any ideas?

Our AAUW/Gender Fairness Coalition workshop on July 17 was interesting and productive. The presenters were all well informed and knowledgeable and the topic was timely – public policy. Everything that AAUW stands for is under attack, so it is not too soon to begin educating our members and communities on the importance of next year’s elections.

Carroll Parsons of the Brownsburg branch is a new member of the state board. She will serve as the educational equity/diversity chair. We welcome Carroll and look forward to a productive relationship.

And finally, Indiana AAUW now has it’s own web page. The state president, state newsletter editor, and the webmaster are the ones responsible for inputting the information and making updates. Indiana State University has graciously allowed us to piggyback on their website. So check us out at the following address: http://web.indstate.edu/aauw-in.

Thank you for being part of AAUW.
 

Table of Contents | | |