The decision to join Athena was an easy one for Laurel Meyer, as it was a way for her to meet new people at the University of Idaho.
“I thought that getting involved would just improve my work, it would make coming to work for fun, having that sense of involvement outside of the office,” Meyer said.
Laurel Myer | Courtesy
Meyer, who works as a treasurer for Athena, said that when she joined Athena she had only been working at UI I for a year and a half. Through Athena, she was able to learn more about the campus and meet new people.
According to Meyer, Athena is a professional women’s organization that is comprised of faculty and staff from UI whose purpose is to promote a more inclusive climate on the UI campus.”
Meyer said the organization was beneficial to her in many ways, but especially in growing professionally.
“Athena is important to me obviously as a way to develop professionally, but also the purpose of Athena is to use a collective voice to advocate for women on this campus, and the ability to create a more equitable campus community is something that I really value and that I look forward to improving,” Meyer said.
Meyer said Athena offers many programs for its members such as their mentorship program, women’s leadership conference and woman of the year award.
The woman of the year is an award given by Athena in which UI faculty, staff and administrators can be nominated by their peers. Winners are then chosen by a committee, which evaluates how well candidates mirror the mission of Athena and reflect equity and inclusivity at UI, Meyer said.
Meyer said besides these annual events, Athena is also working on other projects.
Jessica Martinez | Courtesy
Meyer said Athena is currently promoting paid parental leave, as UI offers 12 weeks of parental leave but those who use these leave must use vacation time or sick leave to get funds, something Meyer hopes to change.
Jessica Martinez, who works as the marketing and communications chair at Athena, said she believes that the road to equality is a long one.
“There is still a pay gap between men and women, a lack of women in positions of leadership, and other challenges specific to professional women,” Martinez said. “It’s tempting to think in 2019 that we’ve solved all these problems, but there is still a long way to go towards equality.”
Martinez said her biggest reason for joining Athena was getting involved in its “inspiring work,” but she also said it helps her in becoming a better leader.
“It empowers me to be a better leader and to dream big about what the University of Idaho can do and be,” Martinez said.
Meyer said another project Athena is working on is representation in portraits on campus, as many women and people of color are not represented in portraits on campus. Athena hopes to include more representation in future portraits.
Meyer said although Athena is primarily for faculty and staff at UI, they hope to introduce a scholarship that will benefit students this spring.
Meyer said there will be one winner of the scholarship, the Athena Student Excellence Award, in which the student will be chosen through a nomination or application process by a panel of judges.
Meyer said she thinks Athena is important in making UI a more inclusive and equal place.
“I think our mission statement is really important to encourage equality and inclusivity on campus because I think that while there are some women in high leadership positions on campus,” Meyer said. “We have a long way to go and I think that’s kind of clear across the university.”
Cody Allred can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyLAllred