A few weeks ago, I contacted women and gender studies students Lauren Habig and Brooklyn Hildebrandt for an interview about Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued Roe vs. Wade. They worked together to bring Weddington to campus for a lecture last month. Habig, Hildebrandt and I had planned to meet for an interview in the Women’s Studies Resource Center.

Before this meeting, I’ll admit I didn’t even know that the WSRC existed. I searched for it on the second floor map of the library, obviously curious where the said “center” could possibly be located. I was familiar with Upperman African American Cultural Center and Centro Hispano in Fisher Student Union. Surely, the WSRC would be something like that.

I walked into a one-room faculty office, barely the size of the kitchen in my apartment, for help in my search. Believe it or not, that teeny-tiny office was it. I’m pretty sure my reaction may have been offensive. The idea that this was a “center” originally made me laugh, as if it was a joke, and sadly, it wasn’t.

But wait, they do have some community space. It’s a small, open area with two couches, hidden behind rows and rows of bookcases in the quiet section of the library, with no clear entrance or exit. While we had the interview, a lovely young gentleman sat on the other couch, and his stinky, bare feet hung off the armrest as he snoozed.

Before we started, I actually asked Habig and Hildebrandt if it was okay for us to talk there, given the quiet nature of the library’s second floor, forgetting that this was supposed to be a place that women studies students theoretically came for “resources” and that this area was a space for them to gather.

“We once had someone come into the office and ask us to be quiet,” Hildebrandt told me.

That’s when it sort of hit me. Ironically, the WSRC, an essential meeting place, is still stuck in the quiet section of the library. But aren’t we past the days of silent women? We have rights now, you know. At least I thought we did.

Here’s the other thing: The WSRC is located right next to the men’s bathroom. There are more men going through a center about women than actual women.

But I guess this is an improvement from the original gathering place. The first director coordinator ran the program out of her office more than 13 years ago. Now they’re up to two offices – glorified cubicles, rather – in the library. Cheers to that, I suppose.

The reality is that the WSRC has outgrown its space. The students are involved in various activities on and off campus. They bring several famous women and feminist leaders to the university, 12 lecturers scheduled January through May, and they put on an annual production of The Vagina Monologues at UNCW theatres.

Most importantly, they are the only unit of the UNCW Institution of Diversity and Inclusion that houses an academic program – the women and gender studies minor.

The current director of the WSRC, Michelle Scatton-Tessier, uses her faculty office for internships, direct independent study, and faculty appointments. So why are they the only ones without a fancy, dedicated center in Fisher Student Union, a building with plenty of foot traffic and certainly an area that is anything but silent?

Scatton-Tessier has written proposals for the past three years to get space for WSRC, but her requests have been denied.

Currently, the WSRC uses the new LGBTQIA Resource Office that was built last August. The LGBTQIA group lets them use their new space for meetings when they need privacy to talk about budgets or other matters. The WSRC is happy that their fellow activist group received the designated space. However, the LGBTQIA center only had to appeal for that space one time, while the WSRC and equivalent organizations have been around for more than 13 years.

I’m sort of confused at this point. It appears our university welcomes the LGBTQIA rights (thank goodness), but we’re still marginalizing women.

The WSRC has been told by the provost’s office that the LGBTQIA office was a more “obvious” need, although the WSRC’s need for space was “acknowledged.”

What does that even mean – acknowledged? So if someone acknowledges domestic violence, that’s enough? Someone acknowledges that a female co-worker is being sexually assaulted in the work force, and that’s enough?

According to the UNCW Admissions, women comprise 58 percent of the student population, and minorities make up 15.7 percent. I’m not saying that the latter number is fair – that’s a whole other issue. But women, who represent more than both men and minorities on this campus, are being acknowledged far less via inefficient space alone.

It’s a slap in the face, truly. How do female students know that the university values their contribution if they won’t even give them an appropriate area to meet?

Scatton-Tessier can and – I’m sure – will fight for more space every year. Realistically, the students are the only ones that could make this happen. That’s how LGBTQIA got their space, apparently through heavy student involvement.

For all you ladies out there, and any other WSRC supporters for that matter, consider this a shout-out, or maybe just a wake-up call. If Sarah Weddington, at age 26, won an argument for the legalization of first-trimester abortions more than 40 years ago, why the hell can’t we simply get more, much-needed space for a campus center?

And I as I complete this, growing slightly disappointed in my own words, I’m realizing the answer. It’s about time that we stop questioning why these things aren’t being changed and just do something about it.