Women's Center records, 1970-2013

The Women's Center was an organization on University of Idaho's campus that served to promote gender equity in the community and provide opportunities to support, educate, and empower individuals. The origin of the Women's Center is found in a small committee appointed by University President Ernest Hartung in 1972, to tackle the high female student drop-out rate. This committee later grew to speak to broader issues pertaining to women on campus, including employees. They worked on campus issues such as women in faculty positions, pay grades and promotional opportunities. This small group of women later became known as the Women's Caucus, and a smaller portion of the group known as the "Core Group" was very active around issues of the inequality that women on campus experienced. They filed formal complaints against the University when promised changes were not implemented, leading to a conciliation agreement signed in 1974 by the "Core Group" and President Hartung. In this agreement, the University agreed to implement an Affirmative Action plan, provide permanent funding for the Women's Center Director, ensure equal starting salaries, and establish recruitment programs for female high school students, and more.

The Women's Center's mission was to advocate for gender equality on a variety of issues include wage-gap, reproduction, gender-based violence and discrimination, and other critical social issues. What was once a purely volunteer managed organization became a fully staffed establishment on campus with directors and coordinators that continually provided information, services and newsletters surrounding social issues of gender, sexuality, and equity.

The Women's Center's final location was on the ground floor of the Memorial Gym, room 109, where it provided amenities open to anyone, including lounge areas, kitchenettes, study rooms and a variety of audio and visual materials about the social justice work being done surrounding the fight for female equity.

On Dec. 18, 2024, the University of Idaho announced that it was closing six of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices, including the Women's Center. This was a result of the December 2024 Idaho State Board of Education Board Resolution on DEI Ideology in Higher Education, which stated that "institutions shall ensure that no student resource or student success center serves students based on DEI ideology." The closures were completed by the start of the Spring 2025 semester.