By Zerina Bajramovic
Contributing Writer
UNH has been selected as one of 50 campuses across the country to host the Elect Her — Campus Women Win Summit.
Elect Her — Campus Women Win is a nationwide program that trains female college students to run successful campaigns and promotes women gaining titles in office for the future.
The Elect Her Summit is a collaboration between the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Running Start. The goal is to allow further success in women candidates and eliminate the gender gap in leadership.
“The event will be beneficial to campus women and all students as we are gathering 15 elected officials to really work with us, not just speak with us, about opportunities and obstacles to women running for governmental office,” said Marla Brettschneider, women’s studies program coordinator and professor.
AAUW and Running Start will be able to provide UNH women leaders with a unique opportunity because Elect Her is the only program in the country that both teaches and trains women to run for student government and future political office, as stated on their website.
UNH will be hosting the two-part New Hampshire Feminist Leadership Community Summit over the course of two days. The first part of the event, the Feminist Leadership Premiere Event, will be held on Friday, Nov. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. The second part will be Elect Her Training, on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Both segments will be held in the Strafford Room in the MUB.
The Feminist Leadership Premiere Event is open and free to the public, though those interested in attending are required to RSVP. The second part of the event is open to students only and requires prospective attendees to submit an application first.
The two-day event will also include a 30-minute networking reception directly after the training on Saturday, which will be open to all.
As both the program coordinator and professor of political science and women’s studies, Brettschneider has been involved heavily with the event since the beginning.
It’s not only a great opportunity for the students, but also everyone else at UNH, according to Brettschneider.
Feminist leaders from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine will be joining UNH students during the event, as faculty, staff, and members from the surrounding community come together to discuss feminist leadership. Friday’s Feminist Leadership Premiere Event will also include dinner and workshops along with the training.
“I’m proud that UNH and the women’s studies program was chosen to host it. Our faculty and students have been working endlessly to make it happen and I can’t wait to see the end product,” said senior Marisa Milone, an intern at UNH women’s studies program.
According to Milone, over 100 people are anticipated to participate in the event Friday evening and over 50 UNH students will be participating in Saturday’s event.
“I’m proud of the number of people who are coming out to support this feminist event,” said Milone.
Cecilia Martins, UNH student and women’s studies program assistant, was also heavily involved in bringing the event to campus.
“The women’s studies program is determined to do our part in diminishing the gender gap in student leadership on campus as well as in politics and leadership positions in general,” said Martins.
According to Martins, the training will focus on the key aspects of messaging and communication.
“The entire training will be interactive, with participants hearing from leaders in the fields of political campaigning, student government, and in communications, and then putting what they learn into practice through exercises designed to push participants to be active in personalizing and promoting platforms important to them,” she said.
