The Columbus/MUW branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is gearing up for the election year, hosting five voter registration drives at Mississippi University for Women over the summer, with plans to host another on Tuesday, Sept. 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hogarth Dining Center.
The AAUW is a national organization with local chapters whose mission to “advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research” has special meaning at MUW, the first public college for women in the country.
The voter registration drives at MUW are part of a national push called “It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard” to ensure that women vote in 2012. The registration drives are coupled with an education campaign regarding issues of concern to women. To further that mission Jackson attorney and AAUW representative Elizabeth Crowell will present “It is Your Vote and It Still Matters” on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. at Nissan Auditorium in Parkinson Hall on the MUW campus as part of the Honors Forum Series.
Beverly Joyce, associate professor of art at MUW and president of the Columbus/MUW branch of AAUW, said, “This election is critical to this youngest generation of voters. So many of the issues will affect them directly, and the political pundits see this as a very close election.”
Joyce encourages women interested in joining to contact the group via Facebook (AAUW Columbus MS, MUW). Membership is open to anyone with at least an associate degree; MUW students may be free e-affiliates.
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