ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9603010023
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUE GIVEN
GIVEN THE recent attention to the nature of the membership of the Junior League as reported in The Roanoke Times on Feb. 1, ``Would-be Junior Leaguer's problem: He's a man,'' I feel it's important our community understands who we are, what we are committed to, and why we are a women-only organization.
Our mission is threefold:
We promote volunteerism.
We improve the community.
We develop the potential of women.
Because of the array of Junior League programs and collaborations that impact both men and women in our community, it might be easy to misunderstand the importance we place on the development of women.
We're known throughout this community for our recent work in providing opportunities for affordable child care through projects like Project H.O.P.E., offered at Hurt Part, or Smart Starts, a collaborative project with the schools to offer a life-skills curriculum to parenting teens. In addition, last year we made a $250,000 contribution to set up a development fund to provide financial assistance for child care for families in need.
But if you examine our activities a little closer, you'll find there are thousands of women whose self-esteem and leadership talents have flourished due to their involvement in our organization. We provide them with growth opportunities they don't get anywhere else - not at home, not in their careers, not in other organizations.
You might think, after all these years and attention that have been given to women's issues, we now enjoy equal opportunities with men. We don't.
The reality persists that women in all sectors of society continue to hit barriers that prevent them from being equal participants in our society. Only 10 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are women, and there's only one woman governor in the 50 states. In U.S. corporations, only 3 percent to 5 percent of senior positions are held by women, far too few in proportion to their number in the labor force, and senior women executives earn 35 percent less than their male counterparts. Yet, despite this, the majority of CEOs believe that women no longer confront serious glass-ceiling problems. There's a gap between reality and perception.
It's for these reasons that we believe a women's environment continues to be necessary to ensure that women achieve full participation in our society. Various court decisions recognize the legitimacy of this view. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an organization may adopt an exclusionary policy if the group targeted for membership - in our case, women - has been historically discriminated against, the organization has programs to ameliorate or eliminate discrimination, and the organization doesn't perpetuate stereotypes.
In addition, numerous Supreme Court decisions recognize the constitutional right inherent in the First Amendment to freely associate. Junior League members, like members of other special-interest organizations, may associate with like-minded people to achieve their chosen mission. Some recent press coverage has noted that because the Supreme Court mandated that organizations like the Rotary Club admit women, organizations like the Junior League should also be required to admit men. There's a big difference between the two situations - women haven't achieved equality.
As recently as May 1995, the Junior League formally reconsidered its mission to make sure it was still relevant in today's society, and still contributing to the solutions of societal problems. For all the reasons stated above, we reaffirmed the fact that women still need places to develop their potential, and that the Junior League is a valuable resource to fill that need.
Recognizing that women currently, as in the past, are being denied leadership opportunities and training within our communities, our membership trains and encourages women as leaders, and works to ensure that leadership opportunities are available to women of all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds.
Sue Given is president of The Junior League of Roanoke Valley.
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