Letting HerStory be told
By Melanie Hunter
The women of Rider can look forward to having a continued voice on campus as HerStory, the university’s first feminist literary journal, is going strong into its second year.
Julie Morcate, a junior English major and the president of HerStory, said the journal will cover a wide range of women’s issues.
“We want to cover everything — the impact of the media, lesbian issues, domestic abuse and family relationships, among others,” she said.
Last year, the journal received about 100 submissions and chose 26 to be featured in the first issue, according to Maria Gullo, a senior English major and last year’s president of HerStory. She hopes to build on the success of last year and see HerStory continue to grow.
“We handed out journals at the premiere, and they actually went very quickly, which made us all very happy,” Gullo said. “We received a lot of compliments from a multitude of people and, even today, we still have people coming up to us in class asking us about HerStory.”
Morcate and Gullo also received an exciting opportunity last semester to attend the Clinton Global Intiative in Austin, Texas. The three-day conference was moderated by former president Bill Clinton and provided leadership training for student groups committed to fostering change in their communities. The pair was chosen out of thousands of applicants because of their work with HerStory.
Morcate feels that encouraging expression on women’s issues, even on a small campus like Rider, can help impact the community and bring awareness to issues that affect women globally.
“I’ve always felt very strongly about injustice,” Morcate said. “If we help young girls to learn about their civil rights, that would change the world in so many ways. Everyone knows that women know what’s best.”
Gullo, who came up with the idea for HerStory, also recognized the need among the Rider community to address women’s issues, and to create a student dialogue that promotes understanding and acceptance.
“As soon as I transferred here, I felt like the women of Rider needed something that allowed them to express themselves, as well as make them feel more united to each other so they felt less alone,” Gullo said. “I was blessed to have a group of friends, made up of amazing women, who were more than thrilled to become my executive board.”
Both men and women are invited to submit their original works to the journal. All forms of expression are welcome, including articles and scholarly essays, artwork, plays, photography, poetry and stories. Politically-based works are acceptable as well. The only requirement is that it addresses a women’s issue or highlights a challenge facing women today.
HerStory is also seeking members to help with advertising and organization, including word-of-mouth promotion of the journal. The group is meeting next Friday, Nov. 7, in BLC 214 at 3:30 p.m. Anyone interested is welcome to attend.
All submissions can be sent to Herstory@rider.edu and are due by Nov. 20.
