LSU’s student-run feminist organization, Feminists in Action, is working to bring meaningful change to the culture on campus.
The group, entering its tenth year as an organization on campus, holds biweekly meetings at the LSU Women’s Center that range from town halls and informational sessions to group activities such as movie nights.
Feminists in Action focuses on raising awareness about progressive social issues, often related to reproductive health or gender inequality that effect people locally and nationally and providing reproductive and educational resources to students on campus, according to Lauren Pete.
Lauren Pete, a history and religious studies junior, serves as the outreach chair of Feminists in Action. She said that turnout and engagement from students has generally been positive.
“The past couple of meetings we have had, we have not been able to fit everyone in the room,” Pete said. “It always seems we put out chairs and it is never enough.
According to Pete, there is a lot of membership overlap with other progressively-minded groups on campus like Spectrum, which often work closely with Feminists in Action to host events like voter registration drives.
“We want people to know why people should be feminists,” Pete said. “Feminism is for everyone.”
Following the June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned the Supreme Court’s previous ruling in Roe v. Wade, Feminists in Action has made it a priority to inform students about accessible birth control options.
“We try to do work that students want and that would benefit the students,” said Myrissa Eisworth, president of Feminists in Action and junior studying anthropology and sociology.
Although the organization focuses heavily on social change, Camille Michel, Feminist’s in Action’s social media director, said her time as a member of Feminists in Action has given purpose to her time at LSU.
Michel joined her freshman year and said that the overturning of Roe v. Wade inspired her to become involved. Since then, she said that Feminists in Action has become a large part of her life.
“It has brought a lot of purpose and motivation to my life that I didn’t have in the past,” Michel said.
In September, the organization hosted a reproductive workshop to explain the history of reproductive health rights in America, highlight the lack of options for students and provide resources for navigating life in a post-Roe world.
On Oct. 18, the organization is holding a commemoration event marking the one-year anniversary of protests against LSU’s inaction against sexual assault involving Dr. Adelaide Russo and the Department of French Studies.
Feminists in Action also works to promote advocacy and activism, according to the organization’s mission statement. Events such as the Title IX roundtable, where Title IX officials meet with students to discuss on-campus issues, bring student’s concerns to the forefront and holds the Title IX office accountable.
“The Title IX roundtable is an opportunity for students to come and meet a panel of people from Title IX,” Pete said. “It’s like a forum for students to express their concerns or questions.”
