Sharon Davie, the University Women’s Center founding director, has announced she will be retiring at the end of the academic year, vacating a position she has held for 25 years.
Davie said she is grateful for the time she’s had with the University and for the opportunities it has afforded her.
“I would characterize it as an adventure,” Davie said. “I would characterize it as one of the most wonderful opportunities for both academic learning and activist impact that I have ever had in my life.”
Margaret Edwards, a professional counselor at the Women’s Center, said Davie’s role was central to the development of the Center, and that she has been responsible for making it what it has become.
“She started the Women's Center, and her vision formed the Center's foundational programs, including counseling, advocacy for victims of sexual violence, and leadership and mentoring opportunities for students over the past 25 years,” Edwards said.
Claire Kaplan, the director of the Gender Violence and Social Change Program at the Women’s Center, said Davie’s passion for the project and her ability to listen were vital to developing the Center.
“I think Sharon is a unique combination of creativity, passion, persuasion and vision.” Kaplan said. “We have all shaped [the Center]. She has listened to other voices to shape it into what it is now.”
The Women’s Center was founded 25 years ago when students put together a petition and presented it to the Board of Visitors. Davie — the head and founder of the Women’s Studies program then — has worked with the Center since 1990.
Davie said she has witnessed colossal change during her time at the University. When she was getting her Masters here, the undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences was single sex. Davie said the feeling on Grounds was odd without the presence of women.
“It was so strange walking across the lawn and seeing only men,” Davie said.
A lot of those men were undergrads and a lot of them were in coats and ties. It was just a very strange experience. The weird contrast is that a number of those men would be whistling and hollering. There were suggestive comments — that was pretty common.”
The University was just starting co-educate the College after she got her PhD, Davie said. She came back to the University after teaching at Kenyon College and found students ready for change.
“There was an increasing degree of awareness of sexism and racism,” Davie said. “Students were working on increasing inclusiveness. [The students] had an awareness of where the nation and where U.Va. was, as in equality for women and all people.”
Davie plans to move to San Francisco with her husband in June, where she hopes to work on a collection of stories surrounding social change.
“I am looking forward to work on projects that I didn’t have time to work on at the University,” Davie said. “The long term project I have been doing is gathering women’s stories, who are grassroots women’s leaders, who are creating transformative models and change where they are.”
With new efforts like the Young Women’s Leadership Program — a collaboration between the Women’s Center and the Curry School — and the Men’s Leadership Project, the Center will continue to grow even without Davie’s supervision.
In looking for her replacement, the Center hopes to find a person who has a comprehensive understanding of gender issues, but who also realizes that gender is only a single part of one’s identity, Davie said.
“[We are looking for] someone who is really dedicated in his or her life to working with a university, students, women, men and with allies in many different areas to help to create avenues where programs for internal and external change can be made,” Davie said. “The key understanding of the person to come is to recognize that gender is one part of who we are and that there are many other qualities of that are equally important.”
Davie said the University community can still work towards more social change and equality in the future by being aware of societal pressures and believing that circumstances can be changed.
“We are awake to the things that need change here,” Davie said. “At the same time there is a kind of drive amongst students to move toward something that is a vision not in the sense of being impossible, a dream not in the sense of not being unrealistic, but a goal that we can reach working together.”
Many people at the Women’s Center spoke about the impact Davie has had on their own work. Sandra Menendez, the Gender Violence and Social Change intern last year, said Davie was an inspiration to her.
“Sharon Davie is so wholeheartedly committed to everything she does,” Menendez said. “I love working with her because she is so inspiring. She has built the Women’s Center from the ground up [and] it has been a home for many people for so long.”
Assoc. Anthropology Prof. Gertrude Fraser said over the years Davie has stood — sometimes alone — to make sure that women’s issues were heard.
“Sharon has been steadfast during times when she was the lone voice for raising issues of primary concern to women and she has been active when there were many others joining the struggle,” Fraser said in an email. “Her wisdom is her insight that the ultimate goal of diversity efforts is to fix the institution rather than to fix the woman, while not ignoring the power of ties of affiliation and affinity.”
Read More
Podcast revolutionizes storytelling for Charlottesville and its sister city
By Brandon Kile | 4 hours agoCharlottesville has four sister cities total, the other three being Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Poggio a Caiano, Italy and Winneba, Ghana.
Student Council debates resolution for increased allergen transparency, reviews summer budget
By Arshiya Pant | YesterdayThe resolution aimed to support students by requiring U.Va. Dine locations to provide a comprehensive list of allergens for food items on GrubHub.
Honor Committee brainstorms sanction diversification, considers future steps for AI
By Lexie Stadler | 2 days agoHancock and Carson Breus, vice chair for sanctions and third-year Commerce student, said they are collaborating to explore fresh sanctioning avenues.
