AAUW Auburn Celebrates 75 Years of Scholarships, Community Action, Supporting Women and Girls

Every year for the past 75 years, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Auburn Branch has given college scholarships to local high school girls.  AAUW Auburn is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community group founded by a small group of women who were determined to encourage young girls to get an education.  Auburn’s chapter of AAUW has evolved into a dynamic organization that gives tens of thousands of scholarship funds every year within our community.

To celebrate this momentous event in local history, AAUW members and guests gathered at The Ridge Events Center on Sunday, April 28, 2024 for a luncheon and program of honoring their history.  While none of the founding members survive, three daughters of founding members spoke about their memories as children of the audacious founders.  They recalled how happy their mothers were to exercise autonomy in a world where women were second-class citizens.  Amazingly, to modern ears, was the story about how each woman decided to sign the AAUW charter with her own name, rather than with her husband’s name, preceded by the prefix “Mrs.”

The current members who reminisced about their mothers’ work with AAUW were Carol Francis, whose mother was Helen Francis; plus Delana and Anne Ruud, whose mother was Dorothea Ruud.  In addition, the AAUW membership was honored to have one of their earliest members, Alice Robie attend the Jubilee.  Her daughter, Pam Robie Hart, continues her mother’s passion for supporting women and girls in our community.

In addition to the founding members, the Auburn branch honored its Lifetime Members, women who have been members for 50 years or more.  Lifetime Members Mary Stevens, Sue Dings, and Gerry Suskin mentioned their most poignant memories.  Joanna Jones was unable to attend.

 The parent organization of AAUW Auburn was launched in 1881 to encourage women to get a college education and to fight for women’s suffrage.  With those major goals achieved, AAUW has evolved to work for: economic security for all women; equal access to quality public education; social and racial justice for all; and increased representation of women in leadership.  Nationally, AAUW has more than 170,000 members across the United States, as well as more than 1,000 local branches.

Scholarships are awarded to high school graduates, students transferring from a community college to a four-year college, and to women who are re-entering college later in life.  AAUW Auburn also raises money for 8^th grade girls to attend a STEM summer camp at U.C. Davis, and this program is called Tech Trek.  Girls get an opportunity to live in a college dorm for a week, to work on science projects, to attend science seminars, and to interact with prominent women in STEM careers. 

New programs, designed to develop career skills, are Speech Trek and Gov Trek.  Speech Trek is open to all high school students, including boys, and it encourages teens to practice public speaking.  Gov Trek is open to all Junior and Senior girls who are interested in exploring careers in public service or elected office.  In addition to these scholarship programs, AAUW monitors pending legislation and advocates for laws that support women, girls, and families. 

Looking toward the future, three young recipients of scholarships spoke on video about how grateful they were to receive support from AAUW.  Rose Lease spoke about her experience with Tech Trek at U.C Davis; Samantha Bishop thanked everyone for her college scholarship; and Annabel Easton explained how Speech Trek challenged her to do research on a difficult topic, to write an organized speech, and to present that speech in front of a large group.  The future careers of all three girls will be shaped by their experiences. 

Event organizers Sharon Watson-Hamilton and Sandra Scott designed the program to take guests through time by highlighting how AAUW Auburn has empowered women for 75 years.  Throughout the event, guests enjoyed live music by the Gold Country Strings Trio.

Acknowledging AAUW’s contributions to our community were Auburn Mayor Rachel Radell-Harris and retiring District 3 Board of Supervisor Jim Holmes.  Each of them read proclamations, one from the city of Auburn, and the other from the Placer Board of Supervisors, which listed the many contributions of our local AAUW branch.