Calling All Book Lovers

Although our Lake/Sumter Branch Book Club will be on hiatus this summer, AAUW-FL invites members to join them this summer on an online Zoom book club.

Each month from May through September, the group will explore a diverse selection of books across different genres, cultures, and time periods. Here's what they will be reading.

• May 8

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

• June 12

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu

• July 10

All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley

• August 14

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

• September 11

James by Percival Everett

The Northern Palm Beach Branch of AAUW will host the Book Club. To participate or for more information, contact Doris (dorisnoble20016@yahoo.com).

What a great way to continue learning over the summer!

Tech Trek 2025 Looks Great!

We celebrated our 2024 Tech Trek Campers at our January 2025 General Meeting.

The Tech Trek curriculum is organized into Core Courses and Workshops. Both camp locations - Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter and Stetson University in DeLand - offer similar experiences to the campers who select their camp location based on the Core Course and Workshops offered.

This summer, Core Courses at Florida Atlantic University will be Qualcomm Wearable Tech, Structural Engineering, Neuroscience, and Marine Biology. At Stetson University, the Core Courses will be Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab, Marine Science, Forensic Science, and Environmental Science.

Workshops have been announced only for Florida Atlantic University. They will be Rube Goldberg Workshop, Fly Lab, Chemistry is Fun, Bullet Journals, Lingo Kits, Google Slides, ARM Loxahatchee Conservation and Archery, Energy 101 - Empower Yourself (FPL Robot), Makey Makey Music, Exercise Science and Group Fitness, and Genome Editing.

In addition to these experiences, both camps will host a professional STEM women's dinner. This has been one of the highlights for campers in the past as each table at the banquet was composed of a group of girls and a couple of STEM professional women.

On each university campus, campers will live in dorms, eat in the student cafeteria, and use the university's classrooms and labs for the Core Classes and Workshops.

Audra, a 2024 Tech Trek Camper, shared her thoughts about camp with us.

Katina Stephens Inspires at April General Meeting

Lake/Sumter AAUW members and guests were excited to have Katina Stephens, the South Atlantic Regional Director for the Southern Christian Leadership (SCL) Foundation speak at our April General Meeting. Ms. Stephens gave us a brief overview of the humble beginnings of SCL Foundation, including founders Harry Belafonte and Sir Sidney Poitier’s financing protest activities of Dr. Martin L. King Jr and her father, Lorenzo Thomas, being one of those foot soldiers in the struggle for African American voting rights in the ’60s that SCL Foundation would mentor. She tied these origins to the history of AAUW’s beginnings and affirmed that we should be saddled not with the burden but with the opportunity to prove and justify a woman’s right to exist.

Ms. Stephens ended her presentation by showing all of us the importance of Allyship. Allyship (in diversity and inclusion) refers to the active support and advocacy for individuals from marginalized communities. It involves using one’s privilege to create opportunities and champion the interests of those facing discrimination and social injustice. However, she urged all of us to go home to consider who we are in our commitment to helping mankind or better yet, womankind, by pondering: Are we Allies or Accomplices?  

Allies are people that utilize their privilege to create opportunities for marginalized groups and support those who do not have that same position. While allies are essential in promoting diversity and inclusion, they are not enough on their own.  

Accomplices are people actively working to dismantle the systems of oppression that perpetuate inequality by actively working towards creating change. They go beyond the status quo, and they take risks and are vocal activists for marginalized communities.

Ms. Stephens drove home an important point: In working together to do the most good, we need to shine a light on the fact that while allies are absolutely essential in promoting diversity and inclusion, accomplices are critical in creating long-lasting change.

AAUW attendees left charged and encouraged to continue the great work we have already championed and excited about the new adventures we can see on the horizon.