Hi all,
I'm not a fan of the idea of consolidating the SWIPs into one national organization.  I'm not so sure a single national organization would rescue whatever should be rescued.  Are members going to be any more eager to be on the board of a national organization than they are to be on the board of a regional organization?  

Also:

    One reason we formed regional organizations, way back when, was accessibility:  we wanted the meetings to be financially accessible to women who couldn't afford to travel cross-country and stay in expensive lodgings, and we wanted to encourage and support both graduate students and undergrads who would find the divisional meetings more socially/professionally accessible that a larger national conference.  In the midwest it has been common for faculty and graduate students to organize rides and provide free housing so that undergrads, grads and those without substantial employment could be engaged as participants and presenters. That kind of access has been an important dimension of the work and mission of SWIP, in some of our manifestations.  I believe that in our present circumstances, nationally, with so many of us holding non-tenure jobs with low pay and uncertain future, travel across the continent is, if anything, even more problematic for even more of us.

Another consideration:  Divisional SWIPs have developed somewhat different practices and mission-conceptions, and hence differently inflected collegial\political cultures. I have very much liked that SWIP has always been multiple in political bents and practices. As I see it, the variety of SWIPs enriches feminist philosophy.  I, for one, would think more may be lost than gained, if we homogenize SWIP into a single national organization. 

Let's do a longer and deeper re-visiting of our situations, our purposes and our needs (in this 21st century) before settling on this or that as a solution to whatever the problem is.

Marilyn Frye
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