SEPTEMBER
2001
"TIRELESS" DIRECTOR BROUGHT WOMEN'S STUDIES A LONG WAY
Reprinted from the Tallahassee Democrat
By Melanie Yeager
She had a Ph.D. in history from Stanford
University, but times were different in 1975, and her academic
credentials were frequently overlooked.
"The pretty young mother of a 2-year-old son," was
how Florida State University's media office chose to define the
historian named as FSU's first program director for Women's Studies.
The next sentence mentioned her husband's work.
Twenty-six years later, that director-Jean Bryant-has witnessed
an evolution on campus in the recognition of female accomplishments.
Many credit Bryant, 61, for pushing the change along.
As first volunteer director in 1975, then eventual half-time
director in 1980, Bryant has devoted her FSU career to raising
awareness of women's issues. She retires at the end of this month
(June 2001) from the Women's Studies Program and the history
department, where she filled the rest of her time.
"Jean was a tireless leader," said Karen Laughlin,
an associate English professor and member of the Women's Studies
Executive Committee. "Twenty years is a long time to be
fighting the battles she's been fighting."
Another supporter is Sheila Ortiz-Taylor, a longtime English professor. She shot back a reply letter to FSU's first announcement of Bryant's appointment, asking that FSU "avoid language which minimizes the intellectual contributions of women by speaking of them in the diction of the American beauty pageant."
The interaction has become Women's Studies' lore. Bryant and Ortiz-Taylor were among FSU faculty who launched courses focused on women in the early 1970s. The women's movement for equal rights was under way, and universities were under pressure to hire more female faculty.
FSU also was wrestling with a lawsuit by other female faculty
members alleging gender bias in pay and promotions.
"It was viewed with a great deal of suspicion," Bryant
said of gender-specific courses. People thought women's studies
were mired in politics and a passing fad, she said.
Even fellow faculty members were skeptical of the academic merits. Many times incoming faculty hid their gender research until they gained tenure.
But in 1975, FSU created a humanities minor in women's studies
from a hodgepodge of classes from different departments. From
there, the program grew to a college major in 1996 and now offers
minor degrees for graduate students.
It hasn't been easy.
"We were dependent on departments hiring faculty interested in gender and departments committed to having permanent courses in women's studies," Bryant said. "We were forced to be reactive."
It took years of trying before FSU allowed women's studies courses to count toward required liberal studies electives, she said.
The program still has no full-time faculty of its own.
Because of a limited budget Bryant quickly learned to collaborate
with other campus groups-such as the International Student Center
or the Museum of Fine Arts. She also worked with community agencies
to promote courses and bring in guest speakers.
"She was a consummate outreach person both within the campus and the wider community," said Don Foss, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "There's hardly a soul (who) doesn't know her."
Among the recent visitors have been Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian human rights activist, and Judy Chicago, an artist well known for her work, "The Dinner Party," which symbolizes women's history in Western civilization.
Joyce Carbonell, a professor who teaches the "Psychology of Women" course, will become the next half-time director this summer. She says the program owes an incredible debt to Bryant.
"She's taken a seed and grown it into this healthy plant," Carbonell said. "And she's managed to do that with such aplomb and without a great amount of rancor."
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