TCNJ Contingent Attends “Freedom on Our Terms” Conference

In 1977, more than 20,000 people gathered in Houston for a National Women’s Conference to examine and discuss the issues and problems facing women of the day. The historic event marked the first and only time the federal government authorized and financed a national gathering for women. At the conclusion of the conference, delegates ratified a plan of action that dealt with everything from improving women’s healthcare and civil rights, to reforming childcare and welfare benefits. Afterward, the recommendations were presented to Congress and the White House.

Thirty years later, many of those recommendations still have not been achieved.

One of the people in attendance at the 1977 conference was Mary Lynn Hopps, director of the Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) Program at TCNJ. So it was only natural that, when a new generation met this past November at Hunter College to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1977 Houston conference, and to “reignite the fight for equality,” that Hopps was in attendance. This time, she also brought a delegation of TCNJ students and faculty members.

The WILL Program spearheaded TCNJ’s participation in the Freedom on Our Terms Conference, which took place November 10–11. Much like the original event, this conference sought “to promote equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal responsibilities for women,” according to the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, the event’s sponsor.

“The general purpose of the conference [was] to look at and have dialogue about the position of women in the U.S. and the world today,” Hopps said. “The conference created a new platform for change.”

Students from TCNJ’s WILL program contributed extensively to the conference. Senior English and women and gender studies major Ashley Reichelmann and junior women and gender studies major Kari Osmond each spoke on panels at the conference, while eight other WILL students served as recorders for the conference. There was also a TCNJ faculty presence, as Hopps and Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies John Landreau presented on panels.

“TCNJ had a huge presence at this conference,” said Mary Lynn Hopps.

The College’s delegation also contributed to the development of a 10-point action plan that will be presented to the 2008 Presidential candidates. The candidates will be asked to commit to implementing the plan’s recommendations during their first 100 days in office.

The plan examines various gender-related issues: elimination of abstinence-only sex education; paid leave for family care; improved child care; ratification of the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; national single-payer health care; reform of the Federal Communications Commission to reverse media consolidation; changes in the tax code to put a value on labor spent for homemaking; and renewal of the fight to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reintroduced into Congress this year.

According to Hopps, the 2007 conference differed from its predecessor in that it was not government funded, it enlisted men, and it brought together women and girls of all ages. “It was an intergenerational conference, which hadn’t really happened before,” said Hopps.