Though many have voiced their concerns about the University’s lack of action to create an on-campus women’s center, a University official said budget cuts are delaying the plans.

The University’s Women’s Studies Student Organization presented a demonstration of a potential women’s center Monday at the Tate Plaza.

Members held the demonstration to remind University President Michael Adams that a task force to plan for a women’s center on campus was approved on March 20, 2008, at a University Council meeting.

The group wants to create a safe space for victims of sexual violence and a standing spot for support group discussions and literature on feminism and women’s career options. “We hope to get it back on everybody’s mind,” April Greene, a senior women’s studies major and the co-facilitator of WSSO, said at the demonstration. “We’re hoping the result is that President Adams will address the campus community and give the progress report on the creation of a women’s center.”

The request for a progress report was made by the University’s Student Affairs Committee, which unanimously voted to support a resolution asking Adams to “immediately appoint a task force to plan for a women’s center that will be established on campus to meet the needs of students, faculty and staff.”

The resolution asked Adams to present a progress report to the University Council no later than November 2008. November came, but the University Council meeting was canceled.

The WSSO has not heard from anyone since then, but is expecting an announcement about a women’s center at the next University Council meeting on March 19, said Cecilia Herles, assistant director for the Institute of Women’s Studies, at the demonstration.

The announcement most likely will be a discussion report of the women’s center, said Tom Jackson, vice-president of Public Affairs in a phone interview Monday. He said philosophical and academic questions about establishing a women’s center at the University will be discussed.

“But the issue has primarily been a budgetary issue,” Jackson said.

The University has been affected by its 9 percent budget cuts, losing more than $36 million in state support for the resident instruction budget, according to Adams’ testimony before the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Adams also said the University has 153 vacant faculty positions and 173 vacant staff positions, due to attrition. University students had to pay an extra $100 as a spring semester fee.

The WSSO understands the difficult economic time due to budget cuts, but, “we feel the resources can be found,” Greene said. She said the women’s center could be located in available space in Memorial Hall. The center would depend on volunteers and interns, she said.

In terms of the debate surrounding the need for a women’s center, 56 percent of the University students are women, Greene said.

“Even though women are a majority on campus, we still have sexual violence,” Greene said. She mentioned the sexual harassment cases reported by The Red & Black last year, involving male faculty members and their female students.

She said a women’s center could also bring about general empowerment for women. Women could come to one place to receive support, education and advocacy, Greene said.

“[The University] is one of the only flagship universities without a women’s center,” said Hannah Barfield, a psychology and women’s studies major from Thomasville, at the demonstration. “That’s embarrassing.”