If you’ve ever attended an activity fair at the beginning of the semester, then you’ve seen just how many clubs the Fordham student body has created. Throughout Women’s History Month, we’ll be covering a handful of the different organizations that provide support, mentorship and fellowship to the women of Fordham. For the first installation of the column, what better club to profile than Fordham’s very own Women’s Empowerment Club? 

As the two general coordinators, Natalie Ortof, GSB ’22, and Reilly Dunne, FCRH ’24, explained, the goal of the club is to create a safe space for all students to discuss the various issues they face.

The Women’s Empowerment Club primarily focuses on the struggle that women face, however, Ortof and Dunne understand that any feminism that’s not inclusive fails its mission. They have strived to foster a welcoming environment that sparks conversations and champions constant education. Their meetings often consist of presentations on important historical figures that fought for women’s rights, and their excursions into the city always have an educational aspect. But don’t think they’re boring, they have a good time. 

For their most recent trip, they visited the Museum of Sex in Manhattan. “Sexual wellness is such an important part of women’s empowerment, and so is being aware of the resources that are available to you … going to the Museum of Sex and learning more about how to practice safe sex and be that connected with a partner that is consensual and in a way that is loving is something that I wouldn’t want our members to miss out on,” Ortof said. “It’s a way to push the boundaries in a small way and give people space to learn,” Dunne added.

While they visit the Museum of Sex only once a year, they host a variety of other programs throughout the rest of the year. This includes a book club, a trip to the Museum of Modern Art, virtual attendance of Planned Parenthood’s day of action and meetings in Dealy 207 every Tuesday. Every semester they also put on a theater production and donate the proceeds to an organization of the club’s choice. They have not yet decided which organization to donate to this semester, but they will be putting on Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.” Stay tuned for the announcement of their upcoming performance dates.

Along with educational events, the club organizes bake sales that raise money for mutual aid funds that benefit people living at Fordham, in the Bronx and in the greater NYC community. During Black History Month, the club donated the proceeds from their bakesale to Black Woman Exhale, a mutual aid fund that supports Black women, gender-noncomforming people and femmes in NYC. 

“Giving to mutual aid funds and supporting the most vulnerable here in our community is something that is really vital, sort of practicing what you preach. It’s nice to talk, and it’s good that we have all of these educational meetings, but what’s it all for if we’re not doing something as an organization to materially help people?” Dunne explained. 

Yet, the Women’s Empowerment Club is not only about education and donating money to those in need. They also strive to create a safe environment for students on campus. To that end, they work alongside USG’s Comittee Against Sexual Misconduct to host a Speakout against sexual violence event every semester. This semester the event took place on International Women’s Day, March 8, in Rodrigue’s Coffee House. For those unaware of what a “Speak Out” is, it’s a not-quite-open mic where people are encouraged to share their stories and experiences with others in a supportive space. “It’s the most powerful event that we have put on. It’s so raw, and visceral, and real, and emotional, but also so uplifting. It’s incredible, and I’m lucky to be able to put that on with the Committee against Sexual Misconduct at USG,” Ortof said. 

While these programs offer support and education to Fordham students, the club (like many) was created to fill a void within the already present culture at Fordham. So the question now, six years after the club was officially recognized and nine years after it was created, is whether Fordham does enough. In response, Dunne and Ortof noted the overall lack of institutional support. “It falls on the students to provide support, mentorship and guidance for female students, and … at least from my knowledge, there’s no targeted mentorship and targeted outreach on an administrative level towards female students. Especially when it comes to the business school and STEM, which are definitely dominated by men,” Dunne explained. They also explained that the lack of support does not only extend to women on campus, but also to people of color, of different gender identities, of anything that does not fit the white, cisgender male “norm.”

At the end of the interview, I asked Ortof and Dunne the hardest hitting question so far: who is your favorite feminist figure? While they sputtered for a moment, complaining that it was too hard to select only one, they each named one of their favorites. 

Ortof named Sojourner Truth. She explained: “As I ran [the Women’s History Month] meeting, I got to learn a lot about her life … She helped a lot of freed slaves find jobs, and she was able to find freedom herself and use her platform to speak. I learned yesterday that when she gave her ‘Ain’t I a Woman’ speech at the women’s convention in Akron, Ohio, she was the only woman of color there. A lot of the women present didn’t want her to speak, but she did, and now ‘Ain’t I a Woman’ is one of the most famous speeches ever.” 

Dunne said one of her favorite feminist figures is  Angela Davis: “I admire her so, so deeply. She is such an intelligent, revolutionary thinker, and it’s incredible that she’s still doing so much work even as she’s in her 70s, which is insane. Getting to see her speak at Fordham was one of the highlights of my life.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the Women’s Empowerment Club, attend their meetings on Tuesdays in Dealy 207 at 5:15 or message them on Instagram at @we_fordham.