After weeks of speculation, the closing of The Women’s Center for Gender Justice was confirmed at the October 9th Town Hall by members of John Jay’s administration.
After confirming the news at Town Hall, John Jay President Karol V. Mason directed further questions to the Interim Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Daniel Matos, who is one of the administration members responsible in the decision making process to close the Women’s Center for Gender Justice.
Interim Vice President Matos declined The Sentinel’s request for an interview on this matter.
At the October 9th Town Hall, Interim Vice President Matos explained that, “This was not a decision that was made lightly. We’re talking about years, pre-pandemic, where we have seen a decline in the programming in that center.”
Members of the administration have also announced that this decision was finalized during the summer, partly because of a lack of leadership within The Women’s Center, a lack of student usage of the center, and a decline in the services offered to students.
“Ever since Professor Yukins stepped down from that position, we’ve been through a variety of different iterations of leadership in that office,” said Interim Vice President Matos. “The fact of the matter is that the decline has continued in both the number of students that are served and in the programming that happens in that center.”
Professor Elizabeth Yukins is an assistant professor of English at John Jay College and was the director of The Women’s Center from 2011 until recently.
The space that the Women’s Center occupied on the L level of John Jay’s campus will be transformed into a space for the Immigrant Student Success Center.
The lack of available space on John Jay’s campus was also a contributing factor to the closing of The Women’s Center.
Many female identifying students at John Jay were shocked when this decision was confirmed by the administration.
These students are now concerned about how whether or not they will be able access the resources that the Women’s Center had available.
Elizabeth Ninaquispe, a John Jay senior majoring in political science, shared her thoughts on the closing of The Women’s Center.
“It was a shock and a surprise since the news of The Women’s Center closing was announced. Without a center to promote gender rights and equality, we risk feeding into past stereotypes and behaviors that harm the school population,” said Ninaquispe.
Astha Prajapati, a John Jay senior majoring in law & society, also explained why she was disappointed by the closing of The Women’s Center.
“The support and the space we women’s had it’s going away and it’s crucial,” she said. “The privacy we needed to understand each other and to demand changes on women’s or each other’s lives is not going to be there any more,” said Prajapati.
Associate Professor of English and Director of Gender Studies Olivera Jokic explained how although The Women’s Center no longer has a physical space on John Jay’s campus, students will be able to access the resources the Women’s Center provided through the Counseling Service and Wellness Centers.
“I think by proxy also there are other communities that felt like the main street tone of the institution did not serve them very well; this is also were you could go for counseling and some would anticipate to have some sort of women’s health addressed,” she said.
“A lot of that at John Jay moved out of The Women’s Center a while ago. Some of it is in The Wellness Center and some of it is in The Counseling Center,” said Jokic.
Professor Jokic also explained the history of the decline in utilization of The Women’s Center’s resources.
“Historically, one of the directors of The Women’s Center was also a professor of counseling. She was able to direct people and for a very long time now, ever since there was no counselor, staff, and no faculty at all involved in The Women’s Center the activities were kind of reduced,” said Jokic.
The lack of leadership within The Women’s Center’s staff was also a contributing factor of it’s closing.
Professor Jokic explained this is because, “The absence of the faculty director created some kind of vacuum,” she said.
“There was no clear sense of direction and there was no clear sense of connection with academic affairs,” said Jokic.
Even though the services offered in The Women’s Center will still be available through The Wellness and Counseling centers, students feel as though they are still negatively impacted by this decision in light of recent John Jay news.
“With the recent news of Professor Curtis coming back to campus and the recent sexual assault that happened in the bathrooms, I think that it reduces the quality of care and safety for women on campus,” said Ninaquispe.
Professor Ric Curtis is a professor in the Anthropology Department at John Jay College who was suspended from teaching in 2018 when numerous complaints were made that accused him of violating CUNY’s Drug and Alcohol policy and CUNY’s Sexual Misconduct Policy.
Ninaquispe continued to explain her thoughts about women’s safety on John Jay’s campus.
“Women are already scared for their safety outside of school and The Women’s Center was a safe space where people were able to do homework or take a nap before going to work,” said Ninaquispe.
Interim Vice President Matos affirmed at the October 9th Town Hall that the activities and services of The Women’s Center will be expanded despite it having no physical space on John Jay’s campus.
“To build much more of what The Women’s Center was designed to do, [we plan] to attach Student Affairs offices and departments through academic offices,” he said.
“In this case, a gender studies office, to provide programming on gender justice issues,” said Interim Vice President Matos.
Prajapati stated her hopes for female identifying John Jay students in spite of The Women’s Center’s being closed.
“The closing of the Women’s Center at John Jay College marks the end of a space, but not the end of its impact,” she said. “The strength, support, and justice it fostered will continue to live on in every woman it empowered,” said Prajapati
Any John Jay student who is in need of contraceptives, a pregnancy test, and a sexually transmitted disease panel may contact the Wellness Center for those services.
Additionally, any John Jay student who feels they are in need of counseling services is able to utilize the free counseling services offered at John Jay’s Counseling Service Center.
The Wellness Center
212.237.8111
L.68.00 New Building
Counseling Services Center
212.237.8111
L.68.00 New Building
