Get Women's Studies out of Benson!

The Institute for Women's Studies at the University of Georgia is currently housed in the Benson Building on Lumpkin Street. This building, allegedly slated for demolition in 2001, is hardly an adequate facility for Women's Studies at UGA.

The physical state of the building is deplorable. Boasting black mold, potential asbestos, dead vermin, and a crumbling structure, the Benson building literally poses a health threat to any student, faculty, or staff member who spends a significant amount of time there. The administration should be deeply concerned with the health and safety of the over 120 Women's Studies students.

With approximately 50 Women's Studies majors, 40 minors, 2 undergraduate certificate students, 40 graduate certificate students, and countless students from other disciplines who take introductory Women's Studies courses, the Benson Building cannot accommodate the needs of Women's Studies students on campus.

This semester alone, 20 undergraduate WMST courses and 6 graduate WMST courses are being taught by the 10 core faculty members and 7 part-time instructors and graduate teaching assistants. However, the Benson building has only one classroom, two faculty offices, two staff offices, and a small library.

Students with classes in Benson must travel from all over campus to the isolated building on Lumpkin with no accessible bus stops, and most core faculty and teaching assistants must trek from their offices in North Campus to simply teach their classes or meet with students.

Many core and affiliate faculty are spread all over campus due to Benson's dismal capacity, and courses that are taught in Benson cannot be concurrently scheduled due to the lack of classrooms. Women's Studies students and faculty deserve a centralized location where they can meet, host discussions, lectures, and events, and hold more than one small class at a time.

With an essentially unoccupied art building sitting on North Campus, the Institute for Women's Studies should not have to fight to get an adequate learning space for its students. Women's Studies students at Georgia's flagship institution deserve better!

By signing this petition, you can tell the University that you care about Women's Studies. Let the administration know that you WILL NOT accept the terrible conditions imposed on Women's Studies students, faculty, and staff, and help get Women's Studies out of Benson!