"A BYU education should be (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, and (3) character building, leading to (4) lifelong learning and service." And that is what the Women's Research Institute has promoted for the past 30+ years. The research done through this department has linked researchers across the university and has touched lives around the world. As a graduate of the Women's Studies minor, I have personally seen the work people are able to do because the Institute is present. In my senior research class, I was able to have individual time with professors that may not have been otherwise available. In this same class, we had women from varying majors, which brought more points of view to our research and broadened what we were able to do.
I'm unclear as to WHY the Women's Research Institute is being dissolved, but I would ask the University and specifically the Committee that made this decision, to reconsider. People, not just women, are upset about this decision because it is taking a piece of the university from the students that have come to BYU to study. I feel that by closing the Women's Research Institute, we are stealing from future generations; not only BYU students, but from people all over the globe that could benefit from the research done there.
If you don't want the Women's Research Institute to close, please DO something about it. Write a letter/email, call, join the Facebook group, wear a shirt or whatever you want to protest this decision. Let them know what they are taking away!
