First Lady, Molly Shi Boren cutting the ribbon on the door of the Women's Outreach Center, 1999

History of the OU Women’s Outreach Center

When members of the OU community have a vision, anything can happen. One such vision became a reality after a needs assessment was conducted in order to establish a women’s center on the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma. Lesley Kelman, a program development specialist at Goddard was a key player in getting the Women’s Outreach Center up and running. After extensive research of other women’s centers in the nation, Kelman gained the support of the first lady, Molly Shi Boren. With the support of President and Mrs. Boren, the Women’s Outreach Center opened its doors in November of 1999 as a part of Student Life.

From the moment Mrs. Boren cut the ribbon at the Center’s grand opening, we have served the OU community offering referrals and student support in the heart of the student union. The Center has made tremendous strides and changes over the years. Some of the initial programs at the Center included the Sister to Sister Mentoring Program, World AIDS Day Quilt, Women and Wheels auto maintenance workshop, Clothesline Project, Rape Awareness Week, eating disorders awareness, breast cancer awareness month and various support groups. 

In 2003, the Women’s Outreach Center received the first grant for breast cancer awareness programming from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Six years later, we continue to have the generous support of the foundation to educate campus women and men about the importance of breast self-exam, clinical breast-exams and the need to support survivors. Each year we have a team in Race for the Cure. Our biggest event is the Pink and Black Ball, a spring campus-wide formal dance raising money for breast cancer. Last years ball raised over $5,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and had over 300 attendees.

Sexperts, a peer education program bringing safer sex education to students began in 2003. Students volunteer their time to become peer educators. Once trained, the sexperts provide workshops to various campus groups about STD’s and pregnancy prevention. In fall 2008, the program will expand to include sexual assault prevention peer educators. 

In 2008, the Center took over the Sexual Assault Response Team for the university. The SART is a group of women staff from the Division of Student Affairs trained to respond 24/7 in the event of a student experiencing a sexual assault.

While some of the programs have changed over the years, the mission to support women on OU’s campus has not. Building awareness through outreach, hosting seminars on issues important to women, and resource and referral are all a part of the Women’s Outreach Center today. We continue to be committed to addressing issues of gender, celebrating diversity, developing leaders, empowering women and promoting women’s achievement.