The University of New Mexico’s Women’s Resource Center (WRC) is marking a new chapter today, Sept.9, by celebrating the grand opening of its new space in Mesa Vista Hall, room 1057. Located in the northwest courtyard, across from the fountain, the center now shares this space with UNM’s Asian Pacific Islander Resource Center, creating an area designed to holistically support students and build a more connected community.
The center’s staff planned a festive cupcake party, where attendees could decorate cupcakes with toppings of their choice in a family-friendly environment so participants could see what the new space has to offer and meet the staff.
“We are excited to be in our new space. We are hoping students will be able to find us more easily and increase our foot traffic,” said Áine McCarthy, the director of the Women’s Resource Center. “It’s fun to be in a different configuration with our neighboring center AAPIRC.”
The WRC has been supporting students from the south side of Mesa Vista Hall for the last 54 years, since its inception in 1972. Today, the Center stands as a pillar of support, advocacy, safety and knowledge for all members of UNM and the greater community.
Collaboration is at the heart of WRC’s work and initiatives and is the key to their success. The center’s new shared space with AAPIRC will open more doors for cross-collaboration and help students find the university’s newest student support center on campus.
WRC’s new space reflects a reorganization to align student support services in a way that makes sense for each center’s evolution, growth and sustainability over the years. “Our team has tripled in size since I started here in 2020. We are grateful we got this opportunity to expand into this new office.”
Visitors to the WRC will still be able to benefit from all of the essential services the center offered in its former space, such as free printing, a family-friendly study space, a group room with snacks and free coffee, a free hygiene closet that is freshly stocked every day, including menstrual products, and student-led programming.
The center’s goal is to create a joyful, welcoming community environment for everyone on campus, regardless of gender expression or sexual identity, because one of the center’s most important roles is to provide confidential advocacy, free counseling and support to student parents.
Their counseling and advocacy services are crucial from Sept. to Nov. each year, a time frame referred to as the Red Zone, when students have returned to campus and are commuting to classes, study sessions and community get-togethers. During these months, there is a national trend of increased sexual assault reports than at any other time of the year. The WRC supports these survivors in important ways during these months.
The counseling office has remained in its former space, located on the south side of Mesa Vista Hall, across from the natatorium. The Center’s Mental Health Collaborative initiative is an active collaboration with El Centro, so the administration wanted to keep the two locations close.
This semester, MHC teamed up with SHAC to create a staff position to support the trauma- and culturally sensitive internships these centers offer to future mental health providers. A third MHC office location is at Vassar House on the North Campus.
For WRC staff, this move reflects the meaning of partnership, as it has positively impacted several UNM programs in addition to WRC, including HEP, CAMP, El Centro de la Raza, and the Mental Health Collaborative. Ultimately, this was a space swap with HEP and CAMP, whose incredible programs have been on a roller coaster with their federal funding all year.
For El Centro, whose large team has never been fully in one place, it will finally come together to support their students in a new, holistic way for the first time in its history in one area.
McCarthy shared that the El Centro team has been at the forefront of helping the campus meet this moment, where immigrant families are being ripped apart by attacks from this federal administration. The WRC is proud to learn from them and partner with them in their Mental Health Collaborative and in supporting undocumented students.
“This move has helped institutionalize free counseling, making it more secure than ever,” said McCarthy. “I am very proud of our Student Support Units. We want to work together to raise the bar for how UNM supports its community in violence prevention, survivor support and parenting student support.”
McCarthy also shared that she is very excited to now have Brandi Stone as the Division of Student Affairs executive director for student support. “It is wonderful when your role model becomes your boss,” she said.
To learn more about the WRC, upcoming events and its resources for students, visit the Center's website.
