Feminist Union out for the semester

Theresa Bruskin

The executive board of the Feminist Union, a small but vocal organization at Kent State, decided to disband the group for the semester.

Katie Troha, Kat Rybski and Emily Costa, the Feminist Union’s three remaining board members, met the first week of the semester to discuss the future of the organization.

“We decided there was too much going on this semester, and we didn’t want to do it without being able to put enough time into it,” Troha said. “It was just the three of us left.”

Troha called the decision “spontaneous,” but said the group didn’t reregister with the Center for Student Involvement this year. They were only expecting between five and 10 returning members this semester, she said.

Rybski, who was elected president of the Feminist Union in the spring, said Costa and Troha were each busy with so many other things that it seemed best to temporarily disband the group.

She said several friends and returning group members are interested in restarting the group and filling in the empty executive board positions later in the semester.

“If they (Costa and Troha) want to be part of the board, I would be more than happy to have them back,” Rybski said. “It’s really open to anyone who’s interested.”

The Feminist Union has no definite plans at this point, Rybski said. When it becomes active again, she said she plans on arranging more movie nights and other social events. She said she would like to show Mona Lisa Smile but also movies that aren’t necessarily “women-related.”

The future of Take Back the Night, a march the Feminist Union arranged the past two years to help prevent violence and rape on campus, is unknown, Troha said.

Costa, the third board member involved in the decision, was unable to be reached for comment.

Contact student life reporter Theresa Bruskin at [email protected].