NOW on Your Campus

The National Organization for Women (NOW) recognizes the positive impact feminists can have on campus, in your local communities and nationally. NOW activism is great preparation for ongoing leadership, organizing, and activism throughout your life.

In the March for Women's Lives, April 25, 2004, tens of thousands of students were introduced to the feminist movement, and were inspired to become more active on reproductive rights. Many want to continue to mobilize and be active on a wide range of women's issues, as we all understand that reproductive rights isn't the only area in which progressive values are under attack in our country.

Starting a campus organization anywhere involves going through the official steps required by your college to become an official campus group. Once the group is official, it is eligible to receive any funds that may be available through the university, and will have access to campus resources and facilities.

Empowering Young Feminists

Over that same time, much has also changed in the lives of the young. Student life is increasingly more hectic and demanding, and college student government bodies have made it more difficult for national groups to have campus affiliates. NOW's requirements for full-fledged chapters are often at odds with these regulations, e.g. having only students as members, not allowing membership dues, and/or college oversight of campus group activities which may restrict activities (such as banning action on abortion or gay rights).

Campus chapters of today don't have the easy organizing road of days past. But if your college rules permit, we hope you'll choose to be a full-fledged NOW chapter.

If that doesn't work on your campus—there is another option:

Campus Action Networks! NOW’s new program—NOW CAN—hopes to change that! By creating different structures and expectations for campus groups, such as removing the requirement of NOW membership in order to participate and having different reporting mechanisms for the group’s activities, we hope that NOW CAN groups will find it easier to be a part of the largest feminist organization in the country!

Resources for NOW Campus Action Networks include substantial Internet support, and access to NOW staff for questions and ideas. We recognize that each group will need to structure itself to fit its own campus and interests, and we're looking forward to working with anyone interested in NOW on their campus to discern the best alternatives for each group’s situation, whether it's a NOW chapter or a NOW CAN.

NOW CAN groups are set up by students who will organize meetings and plan events to involve other students in bringing about progressive change on campus. Students interested in starting a NOW chapter on campus can begin by sending an email to chapters@now.org or calling the NOW Action Center at 202-628-8669, ext. 137. Students interested in starting their own NOW CAN organization can begin by registering online, and then affiliating with their campus student activities or student government association.

What's Involved

The only requirements for Campus Action NOW groups are as follows:

• Register online or call 202-628-8669 x137 to let the National Action Center know of your group's interest and commitment to working on feminist issues.

• Decide on a structure, either from examples available to groups on your campus, or using ideas described in this manual. Your group will need to name a leader who will be the group's spokesperson for your NOW CAN on your campus, and be the contact for the group with the NOW Action Center.

• Send the NOW Action Center a copy of your charter and goals for the year, and complete brief monthly updates online, keeping the Action Center aware of your group's progress, concerns, and projects.

Join NOW! Membership in NOW is open to any individual who agrees with NOW's goals, and NOW CAN participants are encouraged to join NOW. However, membership is not required for participation in a NOW CAN group. To participate additionally in NOW through a local chapter or state organization, you must become a NOW member—this will add another dimension to your activism and we encourage you to consider joining as a member.

Ongoing Campaigns. Feminist response to current events is very important, as well as long-term campaigns to change society. Many of NOW's ongoing action and issue projects offer ways to involve students and heighten awareness of discrimination against women. Planning and participating in a Love Your Body event, protesting discrimination at a local Wal-Mart store, registering students to vote, and working to secure access to emergency contraception for students are examples of things that a Campus NOW chapter or Campus Action NOW group can organize. There are many more issues you'll learn about through NOW because, unfortunately, the people who create these obstacles for women never seem to run out of ideas! Stay tuned!