March is Women's History Month, a time devoted to the study of women who made a difference in the world and who didn't have it easy.
At Ball State University, students are used to seeing a balanced amount of women and men in the classroom. Last school year the student population was about 53 percent women and 47 percent men, according to the university's Student Enrollment Fact Book.
The population of Muncie is similarly balanced, with about 51 percent women and 49 percent men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Only in the last few years, however, has this equality in numbers begun to be reflected in positions of power in and around Delaware County. Men have dominated the political, educational and civil realms in the area for decades, but women have recently been appointed to some of the most powerful positions in our community.
Sharon McShurley was elected Muncie's first female mayor in the November 2007 race. She then appointed the city's first female police chief, Deborah Davis, and said in a Muncie Star Press article that Davis' qualifications, not her gender, had earned her the job. Jo Ann Gora is Ball State University's first female president in 14 administrations, and Sue Errington, elected in 2006, is the first woman to be elected from Delaware County to the state Senate.
These jobs are some of the most influential in the area, and for the first time, they are all performed by women. Women like these cannot only assert their power to help other women in our community, but they also serve as role models for all who see them.
Women should not be given powerful positions because of their gender. Any people in the position to influence the lives of community members should be qualified and capable, regardless of their chromosomes.
When we are looking for community leaders, we need to look beyond gender if we expect to reach any true equality.
We also need to look at the major disparity that exists between the number of local positions of power performed by men and women.
Here are a few examples: No woman has ever been elected to the Delaware County Board of Commissioners, 10 out of 106 Muncie police officers are women and only one of the 19 public school corporations in surrounding counties has a female superintendent. Also, three out of nine Muncie City Council positions belong to women.
These are positions that exist for the protection, education and order of all local residents, at least half of whom are women, but the jobs are done mostly by men. The recent progress women have made in Muncie is commendable, but for truly fair representation of women in the area, there is ground yet to be covered.
Ball State is a university which is "redefining" itself, partly by emphasizing the importance of progressiveness and diversity. The school has a number of organizations that support women, such as a thriving women's studies program, a dedicated women's department at the Amelia T. Wood Health Center and numerous active women's organizations such as sororities.
Gora's success at the university is further evident of the progress Ball State has made. This progress needs to continue, though. Three out of nine members of the Board of Trustees are women, and Kay Bales is the only female vice president out of eight.
Both the university and the community in general have moved toward equality in recent years, and that is laudable, but there is still a way to go.
There is proof that qualified, capable women exist in our society, and these women serve as a beacon to others and as a reminder that more progress needs to be made. They have proved it can be done, and they have shown us how.
Women's History Month is almost over. It is time for us to consider the history local women are making right now in our community. Years from now, students could look back and read these women's names as part of a brief phase of local equality.
Or they could read about these women as the first few in a long line of diversity and fairness in Muncie.
Write to Jennifer at jawright5@bsu.edu
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