Women launch ERA letter writing campaign
Welfare reform,
social programs
targets of NOW
By LORRAINE NELSON
Of the Emerald
Local members of the National
Organization of Women (NOW)
are taking the group’s national
priorities to heart — they are
launching a massive letter writing
campaign aimed at convincing Il
linois legislators to support the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
when it comes before them in four
weeks.
Working for passage of the
amendment was set as the
organization's number one priority
for its “Second Decade Attack” at
a national NOW conference in De
troit in April. Connie Holvey,
Eugene chapter delegate to the
conference, says local members
will practice economic sanctions
against unratified states as well as
conducting the letter campaign.
Holvey founded the NOW chap
ter in Eugene last September. “In
a lot of places, NOW is an upper or
middle class organization, but that
isn’t true in Eugene,” says Holvey.
“Women’s Political Caucus cov
ers that class of people here. I
tried intentionally to attract people
of lower classes.
“It is very evident in Eugene that
many people of lower classes are
people with some good ideas,”
she says referring to neighbor
hood groups.
Holvey says the most active
thing NOW does on a local level is
to sponsor consciousness raising
groups. The groups follow specific
NOW guidelines which Holvey
describes as “fairly political.”
“The groups cover points about
where women are and why, and
possibly some of the ways they
can get out," she says.
NOW will be attacking welfare
reform, aiming for guaranteed in
come on a national level. Holvey
says she “would like to see the
IRS take over redistribution of in
come. Welfare, as it stands now,
does not provide an incentive for
people to work."
NOW is also supporting dis
placed homemakers bills pres
ently pending in 28 states. If
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passed, the bills would provide
social security payments, health
insurance, career counseling and
job training for housewives.
The Eugene chapter will be
meeting again Tuesday to discuss
local action concerning child care
for students, the gay rights bill,
battered wives and displaced
homemakers. The meeting is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Lin
coin School, 650 West 12th Ave.
NOW was started in Washing
ton D.C. by 28 women in 1966.
Objectives of the organization
were outlined at that time as ERA,
repeal of all abortion laws, child
care, maternity leave and equal
education and employment.
According to Holvey, approxi
mately ten per cent of NOW’s
65,000 members are men.
NOW beckons Holvey
Connie Holvey became as
sociated with NOW six years
ago in New York. She obtained
a bachelor's degree in social
history from Columbia Univer
sity and has written a book on
the subject.
Holvey is a member of
Womenspace, a local organi
zation designed to help bat
tered women. If state funding is
made available, Womenspace
will establish a shelter in
Eugene for counseling bat
tered women. Since its found
ing last January, Womenspace
has counseled over 40 women.
Holvey has done radio talk
shows on KLCC and KPNW to
make people aware that there
is a problem with battered
women.
Holvey would like to hold a
women’s festival before the
end of May to bring all the
women s groups in Eugene to
gether. She says she feels
there is a lot the groups could
do together and for each other.
Connie Holvey
Black colleges suffer
enrollment declines
(CPS)—Despite a national trend of rising enrollments for college
freshmen, historically black colleges are suffering sharp enrollment
declines, according to a Washington, D.C. research group.
In its annual survey of fall enrollments, the Institute for Services to
Education (ISE) said, "The preliminary data for fall 1976 shows that
historically black colleges realized significant declines in first-time
freshmen with a total decrease of seven per cent from fall 1975.” There
was a rise of less than one per cent in total enrollments at the black
institutions — the smallest increases in the decade.
But declining enrollments is only one of the problems facing black
colleges. At the annual meeting of the National Association for Equal
Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), black leaders in higtier
education felt the foremost issue was how to get federal and state
bureaucracies to redirect their policies, such as concentrating mainly on
getting black students into colleges and universities, and instead, to
focus on getting the students out — as graduates holding bachelor's,
doctor’s and professional degrees.
The ISE report, to be released in full later this year, points out there
have been previous drops in black freshman enrollments in the past
decade, but that during the same time there has been a steady 5.1 per
cent increase in overall enrollments. This year, total enrollments at four
year public institutions dropped by 0.8 per cent while rising 2.6 per cent
at four-year private, black schools. At two-year public black institutions,
total enrollments rose by 10.2 per cent and at two-year private schools
there was a 1.3 per cent decline.
While the report calls this decline "serious," the ISE president,
Elias Blake, Jr., is optimistic that the "decline is a relative thing this year
... it comes after two years of fantastic increases."
At the NAFEO meeting in Washington, Blake urged the Carter
administration to put into effect several proposals to strengthen black
colleges and programs. He called on the government to:
•Spend $356,000 a year on institutional grants to the colleges and on
financial aid to their students.
•Create a federal mechanism to plan a program of long-term aid to
the historically black colleges and universities.
•Provide financing for two or more regional centers for research on
education for black Americans.
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