Women’s Center at UI bids farewell

MOSCOW — The University of Idaho campus and the Moscow community witnessed achievements made by the UI Women’s Center become part of its history after closing Friday afternoon.

A packed Memorial Gym celebrated the bittersweet 52nd anniversary over cake and coffee — marking the last birthday observed by the organization.

“We’re all in mourning of this space,” said Morgan Neville, student and work study employee at the center. “Right now, it’s awful. But I don’t think we’re going to know how devastating this is until down the line. The impact is going to be felt for a long time.”

The Women’s Center was one of several diversity, equity and inclusion offices on campus that closed early this year. The Black/African American Cultural Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs and the LGBTQA Office were all affected by pressures placed by state entities.

A resolution passed by the Idaho State Board of Education last month required that all university programs no longer serve students based on diversity, equity and inclusion ideology.

Student Day Scott said out of all offices that closed, the Women’s Center impacted her the most. She was part of the Black/African Cultural Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Gay-Straight Alliance, which felt like a second home to her.

“The Women’s Center to me was an intersection of my identities,” she said. “To lose it all … that’s devastating. … I haven’t even processed it fully.”

While the center is closing, it announced some services will continue and staff will be scattered to other university departments.

The organization’s office housed within the Memorial Gym will become a violence prevention space led by Program Coordinator Katrina Critchfield and Violence Prevention Coordinator Eva Olson to provide advocacy for victims. Director Lysa Salsbury will focus on assessment and strategic planning in Student Affairs and office manager Amberly Beckman will provide support in the Department of Student Involvement.

Many students agree that these services are important to provide, but feel so much was lost.

“The transition strips away culture and history entirely,” said Karina Simplot, a student and former center employee. “We want to be grateful for what is left over and what we are still able to have, while grieving and deeply understanding how dangerous it is to holistically sweep away so many identities and personhood.”

Neville said having diversity offices dedicated to students is violence prevention in itself. She said the Women’s Center went beyond providing those services and was a space that empowered all marginalized communities.

Melanie Velazco, alum and former center employee, agreed. She’s hopeful about the violence prevention program’s future, but said it won’t reach as many people as the center did.

Salsbury said the Women’s Center has profoundly impacted students, the region and nation since opening its doors in 1972.

The organization played a significant role in increasing university enrolled student employment, such as work study, from 35% in 1972 to 51% in 2024, she said. It also co-created the UI Leadership Academy and Women’s Leadership Conference.

The local victim service agency Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse began as a confidential hotline at the center, she said. After being designated a confidential reporting location in 2015, the center helped hundreds of faculty, staff and students with direct advocacy support for trauma, personal violence, bullying and harassment in gender-based discrimination.

The organization also spearheaded hiring the first LGBTQA program adviser and establishing a campus office in the state of Idaho, she said.

“The legacy of other impacts we’ve made will most importantly remain in the generations of students we’ve connected with and inspired to be thoughtful, engaged citizens,” Salsbury said.

Salsbury encourages the community to support regional grassroots organizations that work to further gender equity across the state, like Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, Inland Oasis, Bans Off Moscow, Latah County Human Rights Task Force and others.

To preserve the history of the Women’s Center, the University of Idaho is compiling an extensive digital collection of media and personal testimonies of the impact it’s made. Anyone can contribute at bit.ly/4031YUm.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.