Members of a support group for minority women met last night to defend their group against charges of exclusivity, but the white women who criticized the group did not attend the meeting.
The Women of Color Support Group, which meets Monday nights in the Women's Resource Center, opened its meeting last night to all female Dartmouth students in an effort to explain why the group is necessary and why it must be exclusive.
Of the 29 women who attended the meeting, 24 were minorities. The five white women included a reporter and photographer for The Dartmouth.
Mary Childers, the director of the Resource Center, had expected to moderate a direct debate between the group and its critics. Instead members of the group discussed how they would respond to future criticism.
The Women of Color Support Group gained prominence on campus this year under the stewardship of Marisol Negr--n, who worked as an intern in the Women's Resource Center. The group meets informally and is not related to a minority women's therapy group directed by Pat Arroyo, a Dick's House counselor.
As the informal group gained popularity, criticism mounted on campus from students who felt the group excluded white women and amounted to self-segregation on the part of the women of color.
The decision to hold the open meeting in part came out of heated debate over the group at last Wednesday's women's dinner at the Resource Center. Kristine Hong '95 said the atmosphere of the weekly dinner crumbled as women attacked the reasoning behind the support group.
Childers opened last night's meeting explaining that it was intended as an open forum. She said the meeting was not a place to talk about a recent article in Spare Rib by Ann Marshall '95 which defended the support group by attacking its critics.
Instead, Childers said she hoped the meeting would clear the air as to why the group must be exclusive and would give white women an opportunity to express their concerns to the group openly and directly.
In an interview after the meeting Childers expressed disappointment that the direct debate did not take place.
At the meeting, members of the group spoke about why they feel a need for an exclusive women of color support group. One woman said the experiences of minority women are different from those of white women, and that minority women need a place where they can vent their feelings and concerns without feeling any inhibitions.
Other women emphasized that the group is not a coalition or a place to talk about white people and racism, but is a place where they can depend on support from women with common backgrounds and experiences.
Marshall, the author of the Spare Rib article, expressed her anger at the poor attendance of white women at the meeting. As she spoke, the tone of the meeting changed and grew more intense and other group members expressed similar disappointment and anger.
In an interview after the meeting, Marshall said she publicized the event in three separate electronic mail messages. "It's not like it slipped anyone's mind," she said.
"Mary Childers has done an excellent job to teach white women why women of color need this organization but she can't teach all white women," Marshall said. "Women of color tried to open up to discuss these issues and it was a failure because white women didn't show up."
The three white women who attended the meeting did not criticize the support group. Childers said another open forum concerning the exclusive nature of the support group will not take place.
She said members of the group did not need to feel like they had to justify themselves. Rebecca Slisz '95, who is white, said she supported the group and its needs.
Slisz expressed anger and humiliation at the poor representation of white women at the meeting. In a quivering voice, Slisz said she was embarassed by the lack of courage and the unwillingness to clear the air as demonstrated by critics of the group who did not attend the meeting.
