Organization Highlight: Women in STEM
Women in STEM (WIS) is an organization founded in August of 2023 with the goal of creating a space for the various women at Centenary College who have an interest in the field of STEM, granting them opportunities to collaborate with their peers, and find opportunities to explore their interest. The idea of this organization came to fruition when Founders Summer Faust and Manisha Menon attended a Q&A for another rising organization in which a student asked about the opportunities for Engineering students. This question put into perspective the lack of organizations on campus that highlighted some of the more understated, but extremely difficult, majors on campus such as Engineering, Psychology, Nursing, Mathematics, and Computer Science to name a few. While there is no shortage of honors societies on campus, there were no organizations that simply existed to support the people of these groups and allow them a chance to collaborate with one another for the betterment of everyone.
WIS spotlights the achievements and importance of women who have been in STEM fields and experienced various hardships and scrutiny that comes with being a woman in the previously predominantly male field. They also hope to deliver a message of never letting anyone tell you that you can’t do something, the only limits to your success are ones that you set yourself. Reach for the stars in all that you do, and you will never meet a challenge you can’t overcome.
Members of the 2024-2025 Executive Committee spoke about what being a member of WIS means to them:
Vice President Manisha Menon explained that “being a co-founder and serving as the Vice President of Women in STEM has allowed me many opportunities to exhibit and share what it means to be a true woman in STEM. I love getting to interact with many different women in the STEM fields and help put on events that highlight our mission!”
Treasurer Mackenzie Olinger said “Women in STEM has provided me with a supportive community of other dedicated women in science who inspire and motivate me to achieve greatness. It has been such a special experience, and I love having this group on campus!”
Historian Emma Crow responded with “Women in STEM has given me the opportunity to be a part of a community filled with women that have similar goals as myself. Being a member of this group has provided me with a support system filled with women that understand the struggles that can come from being a woman in STEM. I am so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group!”
The rest of the current EC consists of Social Media Manager Sophie Vidrine and Secretary Savanna Arevalo in addition to the founding members.
As President of WIS, I want to say that this organization has meant more to me than I could have ever imagined. Founding this organization with the hopes of creating a collaborative community on campus for women in STEM fields has brought me so many opportunities to spread awareness of the difficulty of these fields for women and how they can work to overcome certain challenges they might see. Getting to participate in my community and on campus to help other women in my field and various others with my Executive Committee has been the best thing of my time here at Centenary. I hope that from this organization women and young girls will be inspired to do things they have been told they couldn’t before and remember to always follow their dreams no matter how big.
WIS has been involved in several programs including participating in Full STEAM Ahead, where they discussed the motivation behind creating the organization. They were also able to speak with the members of Girls Empowered for More Society nonprofit organization to show the path it takes to be a woman in STEM and encourage the younger generation to follow their dreams as far as they can. They have already had multiple collaborations with organizations such as Tri Beta, NOW, AED, ZTA, and Panhellenic. Other on-campus events WIS has appeared in include holding various research/career talks, Women’s History Month programs, Boo at the Bandshell—they are back-to-back overall champions, and Homecoming where they recently won the Gumbo Cook Off.
