IvyLee Rosario – News Writer –
For Yi-Chun Tricia Lin, the Director of the Women’s Studies Program at Southern Connecticut State University, being elected President of the National Women’s Studies Association has put her at a loss of words, she said, but if she had to choose one it would be “honored.”
The National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) dedicates itself to “promoting and supporting the production and dissemination of knowledge about women and gender through teaching, learning, research and service in academic and other settings,” according to the NWSA web page.
Lin has been a member of the NWSA for more than six years, actively working on the association’s yearly conferences as well as serving as their vice president for two terms from 2006 to 2010.
“I was the longest serving vice president in the association. It was four and a half years of exciting, exhilarating and tough work,” said Lin. “I stepped aside thinking that was it but I never stayed totally removed.”
Although she no longer served as vice president, Lin still continued to stay active within the association. Then with some encouragement from her colleagues, she was convinced to run for the presidency..
“It was truly exciting to be such a vital part of this amazing organization. It felt easy for me to put all of my work and energy into this job as president because I had so much dedication to it already,” said Lin. “The NWSA is such an amazing thing to be a part of; I am beyond ecstatic to start my term in November.”
Lin will serve as president for two years from November of this year to 2014. For her, there aren’t many changes that need to be done, she said. She’ll just continue moving in the same direction.
With Lin having previous experience on the executive level, she is thrilled to have someone she’s worked with before as her vice president.
“Professor Michele Berger is someone I’ve worked with in the past and she’s an amazing colleague,” said Lin. “She is the professor of Women’s Gender Studies at the University of Carolina, and it is a great experience knowing the NWSA is made up of people from all different states and schools.”
Lin isn’t the only one who was excited about her NWSA presidency news; most of her colleagues were just as excited.
“Members recognize Dr. Lin’s long-standing service to NWSA through her activism over the last several years. There is no area of the association that she has not actively worked on to improve,” said Michele Berger, now vice president of the NWSA. “She is a tireless champion for change. She has been able to articulate the vision of a thriving feminist organization that serves the needs of scholars, students and advocates interested in women’s and gender studies.”
Lin has been at Southern for eight years, having started in the fall of 2004. She has made a great impact to the Women’s Studies program at Southern and her work has not stopped there.
“When I heard about her becoming president of NWSA, I was thrilled for her. She has done so much great work here at Southern,” said Rosalyn Amenta, an adjunct professor of Women’s Studies at Southern. “I know they made the right choice. She has so much dedication.”
When it comes to her position as incoming president of the NWSA, Lin does not take the position lightly. There are several goals she wishes to accomplish in her term as president.
“I want to build a more international network. I want to carve out collaborations with similar organizations around the world. Places like Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and European countries as well,” said Lin. “Once we can establish communication with other organizations then we can really get the NWSA’s name out and share all our work on expanding the association.”
In addition to extending the association worldwide, Lin whas hopes of bringing back an old concept.
“I want to try and bring in grant money to run the NWSA junior faculty institute. We had one once at Spelman College in Atlanta in 2009 and it was fantastic.”
Lin is up to the challenge of being president of the NWSA, she said, and is ready to start working.
“I’m honored to be chosen and I hope to continue with the enthusiasm and passion for the association and the conferences,” said Lin. “I want to make sure we stay current and do our very best to get the NWSA noticed by even more people than it already is.”
