Sheila Blair, AAUWMI President

12883 Plum Street, Southgate, Michigan 48195

[email protected]

734-674-2246 (Cell)

Bylaws Briefings

Jan Van Gasse, AAUWMI Bylaws Director

Some members might feel strongly that this proposal isn’t a good idea and that is fine. Everyone is entitled to their convictions and it is appropriate to disagree with the bylaws proposal. We hope, however, that all will show respect, no matter what their viewpoint is. All thoughts and feelings are valid, but there have been issues of incivility when open membership is discussed.

Cassandra Dahnke and Tomas Spath, founders of the Institute for Civility, state “Civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs, and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process.” Civility is about more than just politeness, although politeness is a necessary first step. It is about disagreeing without disrespect, seeking common ground as a starting point for dialogue about differences, understanding biases and personal preconceptions, and teaching others to do the same. 

As stated in AAUW’s Member Responsibilities, “Civility, which fosters respect, understanding, and collaboration, is essential for our mission. Demonstrating civility towards AAUW members, staff, and the entire AAUW Community involves practicing courtesy, tolerance, empathy, kindness, inclusivity, and respect.”

“Incivility erodes trust and morale, impedes cooperation, and undermines the AAUW mission by fostering divisions and animosity characterized by hostility, racism, discrimination, rudeness, exclusion, and entitlement.”

A respectful and inclusive environment is essential for us to achieve our mission: advancing gender equity through research, education and advocacy. The entire AAUW community has a right to be treated with civility and respect and a responsibility to demonstrate civility.  

You are encouraged to discuss Open Membership in a civil manner at branch meetings. There are many resources for you to use at https://openupaauw.org/ and at https://www.aauw.org/resources/member/open-membership-toolkit/.

Please study the resources available so as to become an informed voter. For example, it is important to know that the AAUW’s membership requirements have changed many times to become more inclusive. Up until the 1940s, members of AAUW had to hold approved degrees from a small list of accredited schools and prospective members had to be voted upon for admission to AAUW. World War II broadened AAUW’s perspective and women from all accredited schools could be admitted. However, it wasn’t until 1963 that degrees such as education, nursing, and home economics were approved. In 1987, men were allowed to join. In 2005, those with associate or equivalent degrees were permitted membership.  

It is also important to know that the history and battle for equity has evolved over time. In the past, women were often limited in jobs available; such as, teacher, secretary, nurse. Now, we are in leadership positions across industries. In the past, men far outnumbered women in higher education. Now, women represent the majority on many college campuses and in many professional degree programs. Today, we also recognize that higher education is one of several paths now available to women. Professional certifications, on the job training, career technical experience and life experience are all alternative paths to obtaining education and skills for women.  

Speaking of the issues and voting, Email is key to getting information from AAUW about the bylaws amendment and the voting procedures. Members should make sure that their email address in the Community Hub is up-to-date and that they can receive email messages from AAUW by March 15 in order to receive an emailed ballot.

To check that AAUW can actually reach you, be sure that you haven’t inadvertently unsubscribed from their mailings. (This can sometimes happen if you forward a message to someone else without removing the unsubscribe link in the footer.)

STEP 1. Ensure AAUW can send you any email!

• Start at aauw.us/emailoptions 
• Enter your email address and click SUBMIT
• You’ll get an email with a new link.
• Click that, you’ll get a form where you can edit your US Mail and email addresses.
• Be sure that the “Yes, receive email updates” preference is selected.
• Be sure to click SAVE if you make any changes.

If you have trouble getting the email with the link to your contact info, check your Spam for a message from “AAUW” — it should come almost immediately. As always, [email protected] would be your next place to check for help.

STEP 2. Choose what email you want to receive

• Start at my aauw.org
• Login to your account (If you changed your password in STEP 1, you may need to use the old one to login. Use the “forgot password” link if necessary.)
• Once you are logged in, the menu on the left will have a Personal Snapshot section
• Under that, check the My Contact Information and My Preferences to be sure your contact information is correct and you are signed up for the correct list of e-newsletters. Please do not opt out of “Mission & Action,” the newsletter most likely to have information about the bylaws change.

As mentioned, voting will take place online starting on April 3. AAUW is utilizing an independent voting system from Simply Voting for this year’s election. Members will receive emails from [email protected] with their unique Elector ID and Password to vote. Add [email protected] to your contacts. It’s not spam.  

Members without a valid email address on file or who have unsubscribed from AAUW national emails will receive a paper ballot by mail. No additional paper ballots will be sent during the voting period (only one ballot with no reminders). Paper ballots cannot be requested. If you receive emails from AAUW, then you will continue to receive simplyvoting.com email reminders until your encrypted ballot has been submitted up until the voting deadline of May 15 (noon ET). 

Update from AAUWMI co-VPs for Programs

Barb Duran and Linda Kevorkian

Nancy Shoemaker

The Planning team for the State Convention on May 10-11 is very busy. We have been managing and planning for this event at the Mariott in Livonia. Zoom meetings and site visitations occur on a regular basis to guarantee a successful convention. This two day event is focused but filled with meetings, shopping, games and award presentations.

AAUW members will begin arriving on Friday to check in but will not receive their program booklets until Saturday. Some members may choose to spend Friday night at the hotel. The menus and plans for Friday and Saturday night have been carefully planned and will be informative and fun.

Lisa Maatz, former AAUW Vice President of Government Relations

'Tary Time

Kay Calley-Martin and Jan Van Gasse, AAUWMI Co-Secretaries 

Questions? Contact Jan and/or Kay

Action and Advocacy

Ruth Brown, AAUWMI Public Policy Director

If you would like to join me in sponsoring this program, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the Jackson branch members who are working on this timely project.

The next meeting of the AAUW Public Policy branch counterparts is planned for Wednesday April 10, 2024 at 7:00pm EST. The purpose of counterpart meetings is simply to connect counterparts creating a forum to share successes, get ideas of what other branches are doing, and to discuss challenges. Sometimes our meetings have a presenter or revolve around a topic, such as resources, while other times the meetings are an interactive conversation with one another to support each others' efforts. If the branch Public Policy Chair is not available at this time or your branch does not have a Public Policy Chair, please designate someone to represent your branch at this meeting. Please let me know the name, role, branch, and e-mail address of the person attending this meeting so that the host can send you the Zoom link.

At this time, I would like to recognize and thank the members of the AAUWMI State Public Policy Committee:

South Haven AAUW Branch: Julie Leavitt  

Iron Mountain/Kingsford AAUW Branch: Barb Rice and Jan Van Gasse

Jackson AAUW Branch: Pattie Rayl and Ruth Brown

Marquette Branch: Karlyn Rapport

Government Relations Coordinator: Mary Pollock 

This committee has been hard at work this year preparing the "Public Policy Playbook" that will be presented at the AAUW of Michigan State Convention in Livonia on Saturday May 11, 2024. As directed by your AAUW of Michigan State Board at its Summer 2023 Board retreat, all committees were tasked with developing a playbook for branches to use. In the back of the "Public Policy Playbook" is the resources section that has already been released to the Public Policy branch counterparts in the Fall of 2023 so that you could begin to immediately use it this program year. The resources section is ever evolving and can be updated as new resources are discovered.

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to AAUW and especially for keeping a focus on Public Policy matters. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you or your branch members need assistance or have questions.

Ruth Brown, AAUW of Michigan

Public Policy Director

[email protected]

(517) 398-0116 cell and text

AAUWMI's Public Policy Priorities in Lansing

Mary Pollock, Government Relations Coordinator

If you are interested in legislative happenings in Lansing, join AAUWMI Virtual Lobby Corps Zoom calls on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. EST. Mary Pollock, AAUWMI Government Relations Coordinator hosts the meetings and often has guest speakers. Email Mary at [email protected] to be added to the distribution list for meeting reminders and late-breaking news.

AAUWMI Membership Update

Eva Habib

As we start a new year, Membership of AAUWMI has exciting news to share. Without volunteering your time and effort and believing in the AAUW Mission, we would not have gone so far and accomplished so much.

We are on our way to establishing the Lansing “Capitol Area Branch.” We have already collected names of prospective members in the Lansing area. If you have a friend you want to include in the list, it is not too late; we have room to include more. Just email me the name, email, and the person's information, and I will include it. We plan to meet in mid-April; stay tuned for more details.  

The communication with the branches’ membership chairs and branch Members is going great. I am thrilled to work with you and help you solve your branch’s problems, answer questions, and investigate any issues. So, please keep the communication going.

The Open Membership Vote is coming very soon. As an organization, we believe in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. That is what open membership is all about, DEI. Women lift women and help them rise.

Each member is an ambassador of AAUW. Let’s do it.

You can reach me anytime via email at [email protected] or text at 313-418-9085 with any questions or concerns.

Fiscal Matters

Sally Doty, AAUWMI Finance Vice President

As we come out of the cold months of winter, we begin to think about what we were supposed to do. At the beginning of our fiscal year, we all check on our rosters on the AAUW website. It is now time to check again. With the transfer at AAUW from the old system to the new, there might be a few problems. I have noticed that join dates for members in my branch have changed dramatically for those people who renewed later than September 30. Since AAUW is going to a strict 12-month schedule to determine renewal dates if your member sent in a late renewal say in November, her renewal date is either November or December this year, not July 1 as in the past. This is affecting her join date as well. I am looking into this and will follow up with more information when I get it. If you do not have the information from last year, I can provide it. Let me know if you would like this information.

This is the time when we plan for next year. The Finance Committee has written a Finance Playbook to help you move forward. We will be having another ZOOM meeting to go over it with you. In recruiting more finance people, it should be helpful to know that resources are available and that the job is adaptable to each branch and Foundation – whether large or small.

I am hoping to see many of you in Livonia at the AAUW Michigan convention on May 10th and May 11th. I really enjoy meeting and talking to all of you. It makes me hopeful that we, as an organization, are making a difference for women and girls in the future.

DEI&B, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, are not just buzz words created to keep up with status quo. It is a system our nation must implement in all facets of life to make it a more equitable place. The history of America is wrought with structural inequities and discrimination. The irony is our republic was “created” by immigrants who fled Europe in search of a more democratic society. What they searched for should be remembered: freedom from religious persecution, political liberty, economic opportunity, and simply a better life. The feelings evoked from the oppression they fled should have been resounding echoes in their consciousness as they created this republic, and as this nation evolved, equality for all should have reverberated from our yesterdays to our today.

Somewhere, the reason this democracy was “founded” was forgotten. Although, these immigrants were educated by and relied on the indigenous population to help them adapt to the environment of a foreign land. Through these interactions, part of the constitution was created using the Iroquois league of Nations framework. The Native American Indian and the Future immigrants who came here whether by force or choice helped build this land and further the economy. All these people contributing invaluable elements of their culture: academics, food, farming, medicine, technology, language, the list is endless.

What does DEI&B have to do with education? It is the knowledge that was shared through cultures that advanced medicine, technology, and architecture, just to name a few. It has been proven that representation matters and contributors to history must be known to allow students and the populace to succeed regardless of their background.

In politics, it is recognition of our differences and similarities, which allows us to make a more equitable society. The preamble of the Constitution was a great start, and the advancement of society through the integration/assimilation of various cultural contributions continues to make America the land of the free, home of the brave.

We have a long way to go for all people of this nation to benefit from their contributions, and this is the reason DEI&B are so important. Take some time to read the entire Constitution and ask yourself how I can do more to advance the mission of DEI&B to achieve “Liberty and Justice for All.”

2023 Branch Donations to National AAUW

Ruth Briggs, AAUW Funds Director

The top 10 branch donors in order were Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Midland, Wyandotte-Downriver, Battle Creek, Livonia, Farmington, Marquette, Port Huron, Plymouth-Canton. Well Done, Michigan! 

AAUWMI Spotlights Michigan Branches

Leah Monger, State Services Manager

The 2023-2024 AAUWMI annual report will once age feature a multi-page collage of photos from branch events and celebrations. Please email me one or two photos with suggested captions to ensure that your branch gets its moment in the AAUWMI annual report spotlight.

Did you know that AAUWMI is on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn? If you use these platforms, we'd love to have you like our pages and engage with our posts.

If you administer branch social media accounts, we encourage you to share AAUWMI posts on your branch pages. Please email me if you have posts about branch events and celebrations that would be appropriate to share more broadly on AAUWMI's social media.

I'm also happy to include information about major branch anniversaries and events in the quarterly newsletter. See the event invitation from the Rochester branch below as an example

As always, I’m your front line of support with any AAUW or AAUWMI questions you might have. I might not have the answer, but I’ll find someone who does! Please contact me for assistance.

Eliza Seaman Leggett

AAUW of Michigan

Important Dates 2023-2024

Wednesday, March 27, 7:00 p.m. ET – Branch Presidents’ Quarterly Zoom Meeting

Tuesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m. ET – Open Membership Town Hall Webinar. Register here.

Saturday, May 4 – AAUWMI Annual Report distributed

Friday, May 10, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 PM ET – AAUW of Michigan Board Meeting* (in person)

Friday, May 10 – Saturday, May 11 – Annual Meeting and Convention, Detroit Marriott Livonia, 17100 North Laurel Park Drive, Livonia, MI 48152

Saturday, June 1

• Spring/Summer Newsletter distributed
• Affiliate Annual Reports due

Wednesday, June 26, 7:00 p.m. ET – Branch Presidents’ Quarterly Zoom Meeting

*Any member of AAUW of Michigan is welcome to attend Board meetings. Please send an email to Sheila Blair, AAUWMI President, at [email protected] if you would like to attend any meeting, and she will send you the details. 

Elected Officers/Executive Committee

Appointed Directors

AAUWMI Administrative Staff