SAGARIS
The following article was contributed by Cheryl Gould, formerly of WSW staff, now living in New York.
Sagaris, an independent institute for the study of feminist thought will open next summer. A Sagaris is the double-edged sword of the Amazons. The institute is being started by a women's collective, two members of which I recently interviewed. The purpose of the institute is to bring together the foremost feminist thinkers so that they can communicate with and teach other women.
The collective consists of eight women. Among them are writers, teachers, a babysitter, a journalist and a shipping clerk. All the women consider themselves "veteran activists." All of the work involved in deciding the structure and policies of the institute is decided by the collective. When the school gets started two students will be elected to the board yearly. Anyone can join the collective as long as they are near to the other members who are located in New York City and Plainfield, Vermont. Compatibility with the other board members is the only. other criterion.
In addition to the collective there is a group of sponsors who have lent their names and their support to the institute. Among these women are Phyllis Chesler, Alix Kate Shulman (who will be one of the first teachers), Gloria Steinem and Barbara Seaman,
Starting next summer, Sagaris will hold two five-week sessions, open to 120 students each. Living space and child care will be offered. The tuition will be on a sliding-scale basis with as many scholarships as possible being awarded. The school is a non-profit corporation and all money will go for salaries, rent and scholarships.
The core of the program will be political theory covering feminist history, history of radical movements, organizing skills, and different political ideologies. In the mornings, three political theorists (different each session) will cither lecture or lead small groups. Separate disciplines offered in the afternoons will include literature, psychology, journalism, and creative writing-cach taught as to examine its relation ship to feminism.. There will also be general weekly lectures in humanistic psychology, sex-
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page 10/What She Wants/August 1974
AN
INSTITUTE
FEMINIST
uality, and spirituality in order to focus on individual and internal growth. Different types of body work classes will also be held. Economics will be taught in the evenings for all to attend, as this is an area in which women are generally weak.
WILL
JM71
FOR
THOUGHT
Here is a partial list of courses that will be offered next summe
"Is a Kiss a Revolution." Rita Mae Brown. Ms. Brown is a novelist and poet (Rubyfruit Jungle, Songs to a Handsome Woman), theoretician (her essays are being collected in a book called Plain Brown Wrapper), activist (one of the founders of NOW, Furies Collec tive. Radicalesbians).
"Feminism and Anarchism, "Alix Kate Schulman. Ms. Shulman is the author of the novel Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, the biography of Emma Goldman To the Barricades, and editor of a collection called Red Emma Speaks.
"Theoretical Thinking," Ti Grace Atkinson, Ms. Atkinson is an organizer, writer (Amazon Odyssey), and activist.
As the name Sagaris implies, there are two main thrusts of the institute; to begin the exploration of the philosophical and ideological foundations of feminism and to train women to think and organize themselves.
The institute is trying desperately to be funded independently, without the aid of grants. The collective needs "seed money" to get the school started. I would like to urge all women to send money, even if it's just a dollar, to help Sagaris get started.
SEXISM
The newly proposed regulations of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare which will govern the enforcement of the sex discrimination section of the Education Act of 1972 are weakest in the traditional male area of sports. The regulations state that institutions must not discriminate in expenditures for "necessary "equipment, yet they do not require "equal aggregate expenditures" for males and for females at the college level.
According to the Plain Dealer June 19, Margot Polivy, the Washington lawyer who rep resents the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, had this to say about the regulations: "Without a requirement for equal expenditures, I don't know what standard they are going to use."
WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
Heights Academy of Self Defense 2167 Lee Road(at Cedar) 932-4164 10a.m. 9:30
New classes starting each week 1st lesson free
$ 15 per month. No contracts
The address is:
Sagaris Inc.
Box 88
Plainfield, VT 05667
CEASE
One original provision requiring public schools to re-evaluate all of their textbooks in an effort to remove “sexist” statements was dropped because HEW feared that such a provision could conflict with the First Amendment guarantees of free press and speech. (And now the Constitution is being used to guarantee sexism. Here is one more concrete example of why the Equal Rights Amendment must be ratified!)
J
A very good rule forbidding sex discriminatlon in recruiting students and awarding scholarships is sure to be extensively lobbied against by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This is because far more money is spent enticing outstanding male athletes by colleges and universities
Also according to the P.D., she said, “earlier drafts of the regulations explicitly called for requirements that women's and men's teams be given equal facilities, coaching and per diem and travel expenses, but these requirements were left out of the published version."
Objections and recommendations should be directed to the Director of the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, P.O. Box 2974, Washington, D.C., 20013. Comments will be received up until October 15, 1974 (an “extra” two months longer than usually allowed for responses to federal legislation)..when HEW will submit its final regulations.