Celebrating 100 years with MSU Texas: Women’s History Month

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - News Channel 6 is celebrating a century with Midwestern State University, and we’re continuing our tribute to the university’s past, present and future. On this last day of Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at what MSU Texas does to make sure women feel represented and that their voices are heard.

“It’s really important to give people the opportunity to see themselves on campus because a lot of people don’t feel like they belong in a classroom, or they belong in certain spaces,” Rachel Shipley said.

The MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center at MSU Texas works to make everyone on campus feel represented and included, and Shipley, who’s over the Women’s Student Council, said women are a big part of that.

“Which I think is a unique challenge because not only am I trying to serve the one specific group of women, but I have to make sure I’m being conscious of the fact that people’s experience as a woman are going to be different based on their background and ethnicity,” Shipley said.

To make sure all women are reached, a number of events are held throughout the semester, including different panels that highlight professional women.

“It’s really important for us to bring in female leaders in different fields to come and talk about their experience in the professional world as women so students who are shooting for those positions in the future can see themselves in those positions, and they’re not having to look at people that don’t look like them or come from the same background,” Shipley said.

Shipley said MSU Texas leads by example, from the president to the classroom.

“I can think of so many professors who have had such a profound impact on my life, and it really showed me that I’m capable of doing what I want to do and achieving what I want to achieve,” Shipley said.

For two MSU professors, Women’s History Month is an essential piece of the classroom.

“It’s really important to make sure you are hearing just as many stories about women that you are about men,” Dr. Mary Draper, assistant professor of history, said. “Women were at all of the important events in this nation’s history, and in other nation’s history, so I just think it’s important that we insert them into the narrative we tell.”

“I think it’s really wonderful that we set aside time, not just for Women’s History Month, but for all these other kinds of history we celebrate, to pay attention to these different groups of people,” Dr. Sarah Cobb, mathematics department chair, said. “Women’s History Month in particular is half of all people and it’s such a good opportunity to look at a group that doesn’t get their stories told quite as often.”

All MSU Texas centennial celebration stories can be found by clicking here.

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