MUW program aims to increase women in political office
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – There was a slogan that took hold during the 60s and 70s: “A woman’s place is in the House – and the Senate.”
But 50-plus years later, women still lag behind in seeking and being elected to political office.
In fact, there are only 151 women in the U.S. House and Senate combined, out of 535 total members.
That was one of the subjects tackled by the Lowndes County Federation of Democratic Women at Mississippi University for Women.
Besides looking at the issues facing voters in this year’s elections, they also discussed identifying, educating, and supporting the next generation of female political leaders, and increasing the number of women seeking elected office.
MUW Political Science Professor Dr. Chanley Rainey was tonight’s guest speaker.
She said The W has a program to put some of that talk into action.
“One of the things that I talked with the group about was the program that we run here at the W the new leadership Summer Institute. Applications are open right now. It happens every summer. We bring college students from across the state to campus and we train them to run for office. So, it’s all about educating and empowering young women in our state to be tomorrow’s leaders,” said Rainey.
April 7 is the deadline to apply for the Summer Leadership Institute.
