Photo courtesy/Claire Fisher, The Bona Venture
Two new club members get ready for the first meeting to start
In the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University, there is a clear imbalance of men compared to women—women being in the minority.
With the goal to create an intentional community for women to gather and support one another, Anna Bulszewicz, a lecturer in the Jandoli school, took action on behalf of the women in the Jandoli School. In fall 2021, Women in Communications was formed.
After a semester, the club dwindled off in the spring semester of that same school year.
In fall 2022, sophomores Elizabeth Foley and Claire Fisher attended the Hellinger Awards and found themselves inspired to restart the club. The girls spent the ride back to Bonaventure planning their next email to Bulszewicz on how to reimagine the club.
In November 2022, the club was revived and presented again to Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication.
The club recently had its interest meeting to gauge membership number after winter break and meetings to lock in budgets and generate social media. Co-presidents Foley, a strategic communications major, and Fisher, a communication, social justice and advocacy major, created a bi-weekly meeting schedule; one event for education and one event for group bonding.
“It can be very intimidating as a woman in a male-dominated field, and we want to make sure there is a safe place for people to talk about it, structured and unstructured,” Foley said.
In a structured format, club members can come listen to speakers talk about their gender-based research or hands-on experience in the workplace.
“This could be a speaker in sports broadcasting, public relations, advertising, journalism or more,” Foley said.
Bulszewicz, Foley and Fisher have emailed back and forth with an ESPN producer, Megan Cassidy, who is excited to schedule a Zoom question-and-answer section in the coming days.
Armed with knowledge, the club wants to serve as a stress-free environment where the women of the Jandoli School can continue to bond. Trips to the Allegheny Valley River Trail and dinners in the Rathskeller are all a part of the club’s agenda in the coming months.
As March, Women’s History Month, approaches, the club is planning a donation drive in coordination with Connecting Communities in Action. It will be collecting hygiene products and other items to be announced for their women’s domestic violence shelter.
The group will continue to meet in the coming months and hopes to attract incoming students.
