CFUW National

On August 26, University Women’s Clubs from Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Victoria met in Winnipeg. Plans began for a scholarship, a publication called the Chronicle, and surveys on education and vocations. The travelling scholarship was meant as an equivalent to the Rhodes Scholarships, for which women were ineligible, to be financed through lecture series or tours. Public work was to be encouraged, and women of suitable talents should be encouraged to run for school board or university governing bodies. The CFUW brought together women who were of the belief that they were privileged to have been well-educated, and determined to use their education in the service of society rather than for their own self-gain. In doing so, they hoped to prove that women were the equals of men.

At the First CFUW Triennial, an education report done by Geneva Misener of the Edmonton University Women’s Club was presented encouraging women to enter the teaching profession with“ an adequate salary schedule” including the principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work! In addition, Elsinore Macpherson reported on a survey of vocations of university women in Canada.

CFUW established the Legal and Economic Status of Women Committee to co-operate with the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) and keep clubs informed on questions concerning women’s rights.

The Reading Stimulation Grant was intended to be directed to those areas poorly supplied with books, and aimed to stimulate children’s reading skills. 

The Committee on Penal Reform was established and presented briefs over the twenty years of its existence. The committee also supported work done by the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS), an organization that addresses issues affecting women and girls in the justice system.

CFUW’s president, Laura Sabia, and a group of Canadian women’s organizations put pressure on Lester B. Pearson’s government to create the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

The CFUW Charitable Trust was established to receive donations to fund the CFUW fellowships and scholarships.

CFUW is represented along with other women’s groups in a nationally televised Press Conference on gun control. CFUW works with the Coalition for Gun Control and Firearms Control Centre.

Motivated by attendance at the Beijing Conference, CFUW applies for and receives consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. This consultative status allows access by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to all UN bodies that are open to NGOs. This includes the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

CFUW joins The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. The Coalition is comprised of 28 women’s groups, unions and human rights organizations.  The coalition is formed in response to federal funding cuts to Status of Women, defunding of the Court Challenges Program and the abandonment of the Universal Child Care plan.

■ Women in Universities, A Comparative Study – 25 Years Later, chaired by Margaret Therrien, a member of the original team.

■ Sexual Assault on Campus, chaired by Pam Love and Dr Sharon Crabb of the Status of Women sub-Committee

We celebrated 100 years as a national organization!

In 2023 to reflect changing demographics we dropped the full name  and adopted an acronym and a new logo and tagline to represent the new brand and our members. Some clubs were concerned that the word ‘university’ was not inclusive to prospective members,  prompting an extensive external and internal  consultation process on the requirements behind a legal name change.

Our new logo represents the pages of an opening book, symbolising our foundation in learning and education, but is also dynamic  – open and expanding. The unfolding pages reflect our long history with many achievements, and  can also be viewed as a colourful mosaic, or the petals of the lotus flower, embracing the diversity of our members. 

The orange centre of the ‘book’ or ‘flower’ can also be seen as a flame, and is a mindful acknowledgment of our historic ‘lamp of learning’, and important aspect of our legacy: lighting the way upward and forward.

The new tagline: “Realising potential. For all women”, hopefully speaks for itself.

‘Realising’ as in both ‘to understand’, and ‘to make real’ speaks to the foundations of our organisation; and ‘potential’ being the outcome of our vision and our work. 

“For all women” is a powerful statement reflecting the duality of both our advocacy on behalf of ‘all women’, and our organization being a welcoming space for ‘all women’ to join and participate.