Silver Anniversary Fund Drive

The Center for Research on Women recently celebrated its Silver Anniversary --that means 25 years of research focused on issues of gender, race, class, and social inequality.

What began as an idea among colleagues in 1982 has become the thriving Center for Research on Women (CROW) at the University of Memphis, the home of collaborative research and engaged scholarship that includes dozens of scholars dedicated to understanding and addressing problems of social inequality.

To commemorate this milestone, we are asking our supporters to participate in our Silver Anniversary Campaign.

Goal I is for 25 current donors to become patrons by pledging $1000 to CROW over a 3 year period. A gift of $1000 over 3 years would truly acknowledge the importance of scholarly research on issues that impact women’s lives, health, and economic self-sufficiency.

Goal II is for 25 new donors to begin their support of the Center's mission with a gift of $100.

Won't you join our list of donors with your gift to support this important work?

In the last twenty five years CROW researchers have tackled a broad range of issues of critical importance to women – from work, wages and workplace discrimination, immigration, unfair labor practices, international fair and free trade, to domestic violence, sexual assault, and women’s economic status.  

Let me share just a few of the important projects CROW has been working on recently with the support of donors like you:

Across Races & Nations: Building New Communities in the U.S. South.

This five year, multi-state collaborative research project has resulted in the publication of a new report focused on Latino immigration and the changing racial-ethnic dynamics of the South. The compelling 378 page report, published in English and Spanish, is being released at a time of escalating debate in Tennessee and across the nation about immigration policy.  It contains invaluable information for activists, philanthropists and others who seek to understand immigration and address the needs of Latino immigrants as part of larger social justice agendas.

Memphis Safe Campus Consortium

The Center is proud to take the lead at the University of Memphis in the prevention and effective response to violence against women on campus.  As part of a multi-campus consortium funded by the Department of Justice, Office of Violence against Women, CROW is implementing a coordinated community response to violence against women on our campus including prevention and education programs for students, staff and campus safety officers.

Girls for Change

CROW has collaborated with the Memphis Area Women's Council and the University of Memphis' Women's Studies Program to create Girls for Change, a leadership and policy training project for teen girls. Through Girls for Change, Memphis girls ages 13-17 learn to identify and articulate problems, conduct and utilize research, and organize with others to take action on issues they believe in.  Girls from more than 20 public, private and parochial schools in Shelby County have participated in Girls for Change programs.  

Women’s Research Forum

Our series of public forums throughout the year provide an opportunity for women’s research to take a front-row seat.  Examples of this year’s topics include “Psychosocial influences on adverse birth outcomes among pregnant adolescents” and “Gender disparities in heart disease.”

Community Issues Forum

In addition to ongoing research, CROW produces an annual community issues forum where topics of interest to the local community are explored in a scholarly manner.  Last year’s forum (Teen Sex in the Bluff City: Examining the Implications of Teenage Sexual Behaviors on Girls’ Health in Memphis) resulted in an ongoing interest group that is researching effective programs to reduce teen pregnancies, transmission of HIV / STI’s, and infant mortality rates in Memphis. CROW’s 2004 forum led to the creation of the North American Research and Action Network, an international network of scholars and activists dedicated to fair trade and social justice throughout North America.

Publications and More

Our nationally distributed newsletter, StandPoint, reaches thousands of people with news and information about research on women, book reviews, editorials and more. We provide office space and administrative support for the non-profit Memphis Area Women’s Council.  We offer research experience and mentoring for graduate students in Women’s Studies and other disciplines.  We support research fellowships and Visiting Scholars.

Our donors have been instrumental to these successes, and we hope you will celebrate our Silver Anniversary along with us – by being as generous as you can be. 

On behalf of all of us at CROW, thank you for supporting women, research, and the fight for social justice and equality.

Lynda M. Sagrestano, Ph.D., Director