According to the Free State Club Directory, over 60% of all clubs at Free State have women on their leadership board despite only 48% of students being women according to US News.
Free State’s largest student-run organization, National Honor Society has a leadership board entirely composed of women. President of NHS, senior Lois Xie said the all female space has made it easier to communicate and support each other.
“We have that sense of camaraderie, and it’s just really helping us build all of our confidence and helping us step into a leadership role,“ Xie said.
For some other schools in Kansas, women having a majority of the positions of student power is atypical and, president of Art Club and Students Demand Action, senior Lily Dixon said that’s why she feels it’s all the more important for women to apply or volunteer for such positions.
“It’s breaking away from that stereotype that women are unable to lead or there’s certain things you can’t do,” Dixon said. “It’s really important, just as women, showing up, being there and trying to represent people.”
Dixon said that despite feeling Lawrence is an affirming place, it is still challenging trying to lead and make your voice heard especially when she said she hasn’t been socialized to do so.
In order to solve this feeling amongst some female students, spaces like the club Women in STEM or the speech and debate team’s Women and Gender Non-Conforming Night were created. President of Women in STEM Gillian Sellet said her goal with the club was to give women a break from the “bro culture” that can be typical in science and math spaces.
“Sometimes it can be more intimidating to have those conversations with a guy. Just a lot of the time it’s like an implicit power difference,” Sellet said.
Ultimately, Sellet said she hopes women continue leading these clubs where her and fellow seniors leave off as she said diversity improves the overall ecosystem of Free State.
“Diversity is always important,” Sellet said. “It broadens perspectives and introduces new ideas that would not possibly have been thought of or found without people in those leadership positions.”
