Jean-Antonio Cruz '96, right, picks up a copy of the new Cornell Women's Handbook last week. Hope Levin '96, far left, assisted in the distribution of the books at a Willard Straight Hall table set up by the Cornell Women's Handbook Collective.
By Ellen Samuels
Earlier this month, more than 1,700 female students of the class of '99 received a flyer announcing the publication of the first Cornell Women's Handbook. The handbook, which has been over a year in the making and was distributed to the Cornell community last week, was authored by a collective of about 40 Cornell undergraduate women, with advice and support from a number of faculty, staff and administrators.
Becca Rosenberg '97, a 1995-96 coordinator of the Cornell Women's Handbook Collective, sees the handbook as a "big sister" vehicle for new students at Cornell who may not know where to turn with a question or problem.
"The handbook is both a resource guide and a voice for Cornell women," who have previously lacked a forum for their unique experiences and concerns, Rosenberg said.
Jessica Fahringer '96, a 1994-95 handbook coordinator, added: "We wanted to show a variety of opinions and make the handbook accessible for all students. We encourage men to read it as well."
The illustrated handbook, which is divided into nine chap ters: "A History of Women at Cornell," "Campus Life," "Academic Life," "Identity," "Taking Care of Ourselves," "Relationships and Sexuality," "Reproductive Health," "Pro tecting Ourselves" and "Career Services and Networking," provides a wealth of information on issues ranging from eating disorders and sexual violence to using the University Career Center or taking courses in women's studies.
The handbook's coordinators say they hoped to use the project itself to bring together the "fragmented" elements of the Cornell women's community, as well as to reflect the diversity of women's experiences. Writers obtained anonymous student quotes from a survey which they distributed outside main campus buildings and among sororities and women's organizations in the fall of 1994, receiving about 1,500 responses. They also advertised for student submissions and even obtained permission to use anonymous material from the Contra ceptive, Gynecological & Sexuality Services waiting room journal in Gannett Health Center.
The idea of a resource handbook for Cornell women was
first raised by Fahringer and Sabra Brown '95, the 1994-95 coordinators of the Cornell Women's Resource Center, who obtained a $1,000 Student Community Fund grant from the Dean of Students Office to develop the project. Then they met Briana Barocas '96 at a Women's Resource Center open house in the fall of 1995. Barocas had just finished an internship that introduced her to the women's handbooks of Columbia University-Barnard College and the University of Michigan.
"As soon as I saw the Barnard-Columbia Women's Hand book, I thought this is absolutely wonderful, and Cornell doesn't have anything like it," said Barocas, now in her second year coordinating the Cornell Women's Handbook Collec
tive. Brown, Fahringer and Barocas decided to expand the idea of a resource guide to include personal narratives, creative writing and artwork by students.
By the spring of 1995, however, the collective had raised only about $4,000 of the $10,000 needed for printing. Luckily, they interested Martha Eller, director of the President's Council of Cornell Women, in the project. The PCCW made the handbook a reality with a $6,000 grant.
For information on how to get copies of the handbook, contact Nina Cummings at Gannett Health Center, 255-4782.
Ellen Samuels is a M.F.A. candidate in the Creative Writing Program.