Lifelong Learning, Lifelong Friends, and A Mission

By Kay Hardy Campbell

South Shore Woman’s Journal

February/March 2006

            We women scatter in so many directions. We rush to work, to school, to attend to family duties, and to church or synagogue. When we return home, we’re exhausted, wondering where the days and weeks have gone. As we race through our days, we know we need to take time to nurture ourselves, and stimulate our intellect to keep refreshed so we can meet our daily challenges. We also know we need girlfriends to help us through all our life stages, but somehow it’s hard to connect. We know it’s important at every life stage; whether we’re fully involved in our careers, young mothers at home, new empty-nesters with kids off to college, or retirees.

             The members of AAUW – the American Association of University Women -  have been sharing friendship and a love of lifelong learning for 125 years, since the organization was founded in 1881. Today, more than 100,000 members across the U.S. are members of the organization. Many of them also join local AAUW branches that meet regularly to raise funds to support women’s higher education, to learn more about topics of interest ranging from art history and financial planning to politics, forming a network of friends in the process. On Boston’s South Shore, AAUW’s Hingham-Area branch brings together women from Plymouth to Quincy.

 “Personally I joined AAUW years ago to make sure I continued to learn and I have to admit my knowledge has grown as well as my leadership skills,” explained branch member and Membership Vice President Hollie Bagley of Hingham. “Through AAUW I have met amazing and fascinating women, many of whom I now count as friends.  But, the most exciting aspect of my AAUW membership is knowing that I belong to a national organization fighting for the rights of women and girls and that I can contribute to the mission on the community level.” 

 “What brings us together is our belief in the AAUW mission, that higher education and equity for women is an important key to a better future for America,” commented Kay Campbell, also of Hingham and the current branch president. “As a group, we raise money for the AAUW Educational Foundation , the largest non-profit private fund that focuses on higher education for women and related issues, awarding more than $4 million in grants and fellowships each year. We also contribute to the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund, which supports women pursuing gender discrimination suits in academia. We carry out several fundraising activities during the year, such as Hanover Mall’s Charity Night.”

 On the local level, branch members confer an annual Recognition Award to a woman pursuing her college degree. “We see this as a way of giving a college student an added boost of confidence, to recognize her as an individual with great potential,” said Campbell.

             “In addition to our focus on fundraising and the public events that we hold once a month during the academic year, we also form special interest groups,” Campbell continued. “Here on the South Shore we have a writer’s group, and another group that gets together to just to have fun exploring parlor and card games, ’Girls Game Night’. Others seek out adventurous dining in Boston. Last Fall we went to Helmand, the Afghani restaurant in Cambridge, and we’re going for tea at the Four Seasons as a mid-winter pick-me-up.”  In years past, the group has also had a Spanish and French conversation group as well as a book club and a gourmet couples club. “These interest groups spring up whenever someone comes along who wants to organize them. We’re always delighted when a new interest group blossoms.”

             This year, the Hingham Area Branch is teaming up with AAUW members from neighboring branches in Taunton, Foxboro, and Worcester to organize My Turn to Learn, a college fair at the Westgate Mall in Brockton aimed at non-traditional students.  The event, scheduled for March 4, 2006 from 1-5PM, will bring together local and regional colleges that place value on the non-traditional student, such as a young mother who had to drop out of college, or an older adult who never considered that he or she could make that important investment in him or herself.

 “We are holding My Turn to Learn in a public place where prospective non-traditional women students will be shopping with their families," College Fair co-organizer and AAUW Taunton Branch President Beryl Domingo explained. "We'll invite them to stop by and talk to representatives from local colleges. We’ll also have experts on hand who can advise them about financing their higher education. We want them to leave the fair believing it's possible to go back and finish that degree, or to start down the road toward that goal. We also want to make sure they know that their efforts will make a big difference in their lives, financially as well as personally. We hope they will learn that financing their higher education is within reach."

 In March, the Hingham Area Branch will hold a public presentation by Russell Heissner of BC International, a Dedham company that develops and produces renewable biofuels. He’ll speak on “Energy Plans for Our Future: What Can Your Town Do?” at the Hingham Public Library at 7PM on March 14, 2006.  On April 11th, also at the Hingham Library, author Suzanne Strempek Shea will discuss “Memoir Writing: Your Life as Art,” while reading from her recently-published memoir, Shelf Life.  Her book chronicles the year she worked in an independent bookstore in Springfield, shining a poignant and appreciative light on the people and activities behind the scenes in bookstores.  The Hingham Area branch will round out its program year with a banquet in May.

 The Hingham Area Branch welcomes new members. Membership is open to all holders of an associate’s, bachelor’s, or higher degree from an accredited college or university.  Students enrolled in college can join AAUW as student affiliates. 

 “AAUW membership is a gift we give ourselves,” Bagley explained. “Each of us joins for a different personal reason:  networking, lifelong learning, advocacy, but we all stand strong to support AAUW’s mission of equity and education for all women and girls.”

            To learn more about joining AAUW, contact Hollie Bagley at: 781-749-6274, or holliebagley@comcast.net.  For more information about AAUW in Massachusetts, visit the website at: www.aauw-ma.org.