A Brief History of the WRC
In 1989, Northeast Missouri State University hosted their first Women’s Resource Conference. This conference served as the impetus for the creation of Truman’s own Woman’s Resource Center. Lynn Freeman, a graduate of Grinnell College, had taken note of the conservative views of college administrators and student body alike over a year before, but the arrival of the Women’s Resource Conference to Truman’s campus made her truly decide there was a definite need for a stronger focus on women’s rights and issues.
It took over two years to create the center, but by February 4, 1990, Truman’s WRC was firmly established in the Ryle Hall foyer, open the the public and ready to fulfill its purpose–providing a non-political center of discussion and education to promote attention to women’s issues.
The WRC also offered a way for female students to organize social occasions, provide opportunities for themselves and others to pick and choose functions and guest speakers, and offer lectures and events on topics concerning women and women’s health. Events like the Aids Walk and the Women’s Art Show offered opportunities for students to organize for a cause and share their opinions in an open forum. While those events are no longer held by the WRC today, other events are still occurring annually.