November’s Manhattan branch AAUW meeting featured Dr. Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez speaking on “Native Women’s Power: Past, Present, Future.” Dr. Broyles-Gonzalez is department head of the American Ethnic Studies department at K-State.Her talk emphasized local power in societies as expressed through lifeways and traditions. She used Oaxaca, Mexico as an example. Broyles-Gonzalez noted women’s unpredictable role within structures of power and governance in the United States. Within indigenous societies, according to Broyles-Gonzalez, women’s powers are institutionalized and guaranteed.

In other club news, Manhattan branch member, Nancy Bolsen, who also serves as statewide president of the American Association of University Women, was recently quoted in a Wichita Eagle newspaper article titled, “Pay disparity between women and men greater in Sedgwick County.” As stated in the article, US Census Data reveals that, “Women in Sedgwick County make an average of $12,352 less than men. Wichita women make $11,110 less per year than men….The numbers represent full-time, year-round workers from 2010 to 2014. Kansas women make $10,868 less on average than men each year, and the national disparity sits slightly below Kansas at $10,313.” “When you have that much less pay, you have that much less to put down on a car or a house,” Bolsen said. “The impacts are huge.”

The next Manhattan AAUW branch meeting will be held at the First Methodist Church, 600 Poyntz Avenue, 6pm, Monday, December 14. The holiday meeting will feature music and refreshments. Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaauw@gmail.com.