{"id":281,"date":"2013-10-25T17:41:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T21:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/?page_id=281"},"modified":"2026-08-13T09:12:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:12:56","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Herstory"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span data-dobid=\"hdw\">her\u00b7sto\u00b7ry <\/span>\/\u02c8h\u0259rst\u0259r\u0113\/ <i><span class=\"LpLPAf ZYHQ7e\">noun<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Feminist history, or history considered or presented from a feminist viewpoint or with special attention to the experience of women; radical feminist Robin Morgan is credited with coining the term in 1970.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"jig1\" class=\"justified-image-grid jig-8d4043024c1d223636bb3a5d3e1e32cc jig-preset-global jig-source-wp-gallery\"><div class=\"jig-clearfix\"><\/div><noscript id=\"jig1-html\" class=\"justified-image-grid-html\" data-lazy-src=\"skiplazyload\" data-src=\"skipunveillazyload\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2013\/10\/WICS-1024x808.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-jig-noscript=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2013\/10\/WICS-1024x808.jpg\" alt=\"WICS\" width=\"291\" height=\"230\" \/><\/a><p class=\"jig-HTMLdescription\">WICS<\/p><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2013\/10\/Reunion2-1024x688.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-jig-noscript=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2013\/10\/Reunion2-1024x688.jpg\" alt=\"TBTN\" width=\"342\" height=\"230\" \/><\/a><p class=\"jig-HTMLdescription\">TBTN<\/p><\/li><\/ul><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>The Ramapo of New Jersey Women\u2019s Center was established in 1974, during a period when women&#8217;s enrollment in coeducational colleges and universities increased significantly in the United States. Originally, the Women&#8217;s Center primarily sought to support women as they entered an academic world largely dominated by men. Today, the Women\u2019s Center still works to support women students; at the same time, we have expanded our mission to serve people of all genders and sexualities. Our goal is to ensure our campus is a safer, welcoming place for all students.<\/p>\n<h2>Our Founding Feminists<\/h2>\n<div class=\"collapsableContent\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"collapsableTitle\"><span class=\"fa-stack\"><i class=\"fa fa-circle fa-stack-2x\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-up fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><\/span>Lynne Farrow and the Roots of the Women\u2019s Center<\/div><div class=\"c_content\">\n<p>Lynne Farrow played a pivotal role in founding the Ramapo Women\u2019s Center. At just twenty-four, she was the college\u2019s youngest professor when she began teaching Women in Contemporary Society in 1972. Required for all returning adult women students, the class used feminist epistemology to inspire and radicalize a generation. Reflecting on that time, Lynne later noted that the success of the returning adult women\u2019s program helped establish °®ÒºAƬ\u2019s reputation as an institution that prioritized women\u2019s educational experiences.<\/p>\n<p>In the late 1960s and early 1970s, women\u2019s studies was emerging as a formal academic field, with a Master\u2019s degree as its terminal credential. Lynne earned her MA in women\u2019s studies from Goddard College and went on to teach a course on women&#8217;s experiences at the New School. A formative moment in her journey came when she met Alice Paul \u2014 the suffragist and original author of the Equal Rights Amendment. Over a plate of vegetables, they discussed Paul\u2019s hunger strikes and the struggles of the suffrage movement, a conversation that deeply influenced Lynne\u2019s commitment to feminist teaching.<\/p>\n<p>While teaching at °®ÒºAƬ, Lynne was also active in the Rockland County Feminist group, which published the feminist journal Aurora. Among her colleagues there was Phyllis Frank, another prominent local activist.<\/p>\n<p>As the semesters passed, Lynne began collecting resources for her women students. What began as a single folder grew into an overflowing file cabinet filled with information. She began offering guidance and referrals to women students and the broader college community. Some of her students interned with her, helping to compile local and national resources on issues that were largely unpublicized at the time: domestic violence, sexual assault, divorce, sexual harassment, childcare, women\u2019s shelters, abortion access, and reproductive healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>As demand grew, Lynne saw the need for a dedicated space on campus where women could find support, resources, and engage in consciousness-raising. With help from the college\u2019s night maintenance crew, the walls separating the offices of three faculty members \u2014 Lynne, Ros Petchesky, and Jackie (last name unknown, an artist) \u2014 were torn down. Chairs and couches were reappropriated from the Student Center, and the Women\u2019s Center was born.<\/p>\n<p>Initially housed in the Human Environment School, possibly in room D101, the Women\u2019s Center moved to its current location next to the Fishbowl in the late 1970s. Although the physical space was created in 1972, it became an official campus office in 1974 when Lynne secured funding for a part-time director and an operating budget. The center was supported by student volunteers and interns, as well as engaged faculty, including founding professor of Psychology Dr. Carole Campana, who joined the college in 1971.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 As told by Lynne Farrow, January 2010<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"collapsableContent\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"collapsableTitle\"><span class=\"fa-stack\"><i class=\"fa fa-circle fa-stack-2x\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-up fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><\/span>Lee Sennish and the Expansion of the Women\u2019s Center<\/div><div class=\"c_content\">\n<p>In 1974, Lee Sennish became the first official Director of the Ramapo Women\u2019s Center. From the beginning, the Center served a wide range of campus groups: consciousness-raising circles, a Lamaze group for activist mothers, a lesbian women&#8217;s group, and many returning adult women eager to put feminist theory into practice. Lynne Farrow described the Center as a welcoming space for those who felt like outsiders \u2014 people she saw as kindred spirits \u2014 where everyone could find community and support.<\/p>\n<p>The early Women\u2019s Center also had unconventional allies, including an anarchist cafeteria worker who provided students with food at wholesale prices.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the most urgent issues the Center addressed were domestic violence and sexual harassment. As the first Women\u2019s Center in Bergen County, it became a vital resource, fielding calls from women in abusive situations and helping them find shelters and medical care.<\/p>\n<p>The Center also played a role in a landmark 1983 sex-bias case. During a meeting at the Center, several women realized they had all been sexually harassed by the same assistant vice president. One of them later filed a lawsuit for sex discrimination, arguing that the harassment had cost her tenure. The case ended in a $230,000 federal court settlement after a six-day trial. Reflecting on this, Lynne emphasized how the experience reinforced the feminist principle that &#8220;the personal is political&#8221; \u2014 showing how shared truth and solidarity can drive real change.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1141\" style=\"width: 173px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1141\" class=\" wp-image-1141\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2021\/03\/26219966_10155006846877161_2645275738098785332_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"163\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2021\/03\/26219966_10155006846877161_2645275738098785332_n.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2021\/03\/26219966_10155006846877161_2645275738098785332_n-209x300.jpg 209w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 163px) 100vw, 163px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1141\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lee Sennish<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u2014\u00a0 As told by Lynne Farrow, January 2010<\/p>\n<p>The Women&#8217;s Center could not exist as it does today without Lee&#8217;s vision, contagious passion, and love of sisterhood. She was a fierce advocate for civil rights who raised feminist consciousness daily, and raised hell when needed.<\/p>\n<p>Long after she retired <span class=\"il\">Lee<\/span> continued to support the mission of the Women&#8217;s Center with her mentorship and an annual scholarship, and even in her late 80&#8217;s <span class=\"il\">Lee<\/span> came to the College to support student events. Her fierce sense of humor and keen insight will be missed, but her legacy will continue for many generations to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kat McGee, &#8217;06, &#8220;A Remembrance of Lee Sennish (1927-2018)&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/527388814?h=15ce123313&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video of Lee Sennish courtesy of the Rockland Woman Leaders Hall of Fame hosted by Center for Safety &amp; Change.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Content Warning:<\/strong> This video includes a description of domestic violence.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Past Speakers<\/h2>\n<div class=\"collapsableContent\" tabindex=\"0\"><div class=\"collapsableTitle\"><span class=\"fa-stack\"><i class=\"fa fa-circle fa-stack-2x\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-up fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i><\/span>Our Herstory of Influential Speakers<\/div><div class=\"c_content\">\n<p>Over the years, the Women&#8217;s Center has hosted some of the most eminent advocates and activists for feminism, women&#8217;s rights, women&#8217;s liberation, and LGBTQ+ justice, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bella Abzug<\/li>\n<li>Rita Mae Brown<\/li>\n<li>Charlotte Bunch<\/li>\n<li>Lt. Dan Choi<\/li>\n<li>Dorothy Dinnerstein<\/li>\n<li>Hope Giselle<\/li>\n<li>Vivian Gornick<\/li>\n<li>Florence Howe<\/li>\n<li>Flo Kennedy<\/li>\n<li>Jean Kilbourne<\/li>\n<li>Coretta Scott King<\/li>\n<li>Audre Lorde<\/li>\n<li>Robin Morgan<\/li>\n<li>Grace Paley<\/li>\n<li>Gloria Steinem<\/li>\n<li>Sarah Weddington<\/li>\n<li>Chris Williamson<\/li>\n<li>Ellen Willis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>her\u00b7sto\u00b7ry \/\u02c8h\u0259rst\u0259r\u0113\/ noun Feminist history, or history considered or presented from a feminist viewpoint or with special attention to the experience of women; radical feminist Robin Morgan is credited with coining the term in 1970. The Ramapo of New Jersey Women\u2019s Center was established in 1974, during a period when women&#8217;s enrollment in coeducational [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.5 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Our Herstory - Women\u2019s Center &amp; LGBTQ+ Services || Ramapo of New Jersey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/womenscenter\/history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Herstory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"her\u00b7sto\u00b7ry \/\u02c8h\u0259rst\u0259r\u0113\/ noun Feminist history, or history considered or presented from a feminist viewpoint or with special attention to the experience of women; radical feminist Robin Morgan is credited with coining the term in 1970. 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