Bye Bye Panthers for PP, Hello Drury VOX!

1. In just a sentence describe your Summit Experience this past year?

- This year I have learned more about teamwork and event preparation by working with Planned Parenthood.

2. What aspects of Summit do you feel will be beneficial to you as you continue your Drury experience?

- I feel I have gained a better sense of team organization. Summit will definitely help me be a better leader in the future as well as follower. I have learned to listen and how to let others bare some of my responsibilities. I have also learned a lot about handing different life situations like stress, money management, and overall professional presentation.

3. What was the greatest thing you learned from living in Summit Park?

- The greatest thing Summit has taught me is in the realm of event planning. Since our group was new on campus it was a great exercise within my major of public relations and advertising. Our events weren’t attended by large crowds and it sometimes left us pessimistic. However there is a Voices of Choice chapter starting on Drury’s Campus in the next years which means that there is a place of Planned Parenthood on Drury’s campus, and people heard our cause.

4. What impact do you feel you have made on the community along with your agency and why?

- I feel like our Summit apartment has opened up the Drury community’s eyes to Planned Parenthood. Crystal always talked about how Drury was sex shy and no one wanted to take condoms even though they need them. We were able to find creative ways to get people to take condoms without feeling embarrassed be it through trick or treating, or reindeer ornaments, or kinky crafts. It was also a rough year for planned parenthood, so it was important that Drury had our summit house rallying supporters for the future.

5. If you would have not had the chance to live in Summit, how would have this changed your experience at Drury?

- I think that if I were not admitted into summit I wouldn’t have learned how to balance my life as completely. It has been a struggle to be able to put volunteering at the same importance level as my education. I also feel that Summit has taught me how competitive student organizations around campus are. It is impossible to plan events that don’t clash with something else on campus. I now have a huge admiration for organization heads for working as well as they do together despite being in different organizations.

6. Looking back at the Summit Experience over the past year what would you have changed and why?

- I think I would have changed how my house functioned as a group. Since we had 8 people it was impossible to plan events that everyone could go to. That being said, as an event planner, it was also impossible to plan enough events to get everyones hours in. I think it was overambitious for us to try and plan mostly our own events instead of filling in where Planned Parenthood could use a couple volunteers. We learned more in second semester to ask Crystal where she needed a couple volunteers to help instead of assuming we could plan all of them on our own. Also, since we were more focused on bringing Planned Parenthood’s presence to Drury’s campus we didn’t take the time to team up with MSU’s Vox Chapter as much, and so now the Drury Vox chapter will be meeting them the same time we are.

7. What is some advice you would give to future Summit groups?

- I would tell future summit groups to plan their events faaaaar in advanced. Also, public relations is extremely important. If you want students to care about your specific cause, make sure you market yourself well and get a broad audience.

...

so the panthers are going crazy

planned parenthood is teaming up with vox. we had a meeting with the vox lady last saturday and it went swimmingly. we will soon be doing an event on campus to let drury students know that vox will be on drury next year. at this event we will be trying to sell or give away nake juice because everyone is made drury took them away.

look out for the vox event coming up and come when you find out COME

swag out.

Juicy Juicy Naked

What accomplishments have happened with your project over the course of this spring semester?
- With all the crazy radical republicans ruining Washington, DC at the moment, Planned Parenthood has been a wreck trying to keep funding. Crystal has been MIA and so that put a damper on some of our plans. But, we still have a couple of weeks to try to put something together.

What has been the greatest experience this past month volunteering with the agency?
- We haven't really had an opportunity to volunteer with the agency as much as we would like, but we have been talking to several groups on campus about Planned Parenthood and trying to educate as many people as possible. Also, we are beginning to work with VOX to bring a chapter to Drury, this is successful.

What has been your greatest challenge this past month volunteering with the agency?
- Contacting Crystal.

What projects or activities do you still have planned to finish out the year?
"Taking Back the Night", Selling NAKED juices with condoms. We're kings and queens (but mainly queens) of coming up with catchy titles, aren't we?! :)


Schönen Tag!

Austin

Get NAKED with a Condom

Make way for VOX – Voices of Planned Parenthood at Drury. Last weekend the Panthers for Planned Parenthood met with other students at Drury eager to give our organization a voice on campus. All I can say is it’s about time. Most universities do have Planned Parenthood groups on campus, even MSU. So Drury is finally catching up. The group will be lead by Jenn Kearbey and faculty advisor, English professor Jo Van Arkel, and of course Crystal from Planned Parenthood.

At the meeting we discussed our campus involvement, and we’re attempting to start events as early as the end of the semester. And next year we plan to continue working with Allies and V Warriors on overlapping events.

We concluded that it would be great to continue passing out contraceptives. But as you may or may not have noticed, we’ve sort of run out of creative methods of doing so. And in regards to recent campus news, we recognize that many of the students, faculty, and staff are upset that the CX no longer carries Naked Juice drinks. We as the Panthers of Planned Parenthood, with our new group VOX, will hopefully be selling Nakeds, with an attached condom, on campus in the last week or so of the semester. Currently we’re attempting to find a business from which we can purchase the drinks. Right now I believe Big Momma’s is the frontrunner.

I think the biggest challenge in this event will be cramming the sales in with the end of the semester, on top of our other tasks. But on the bright side I think this is the event that will really make us known in the Drury community. For Panthers for Planned Parenthood, better late than never, but for VOX, we’re coming, Drury!

The Legacy Lives On!

Even though the school year is ending and our stay in Summit will soon be over, the Panthers for Planned Parenthood will live on! Jenn Kearbey is working with Crystal at Planned Parenthood to create a VOX (Voices of Planned Parenthood) chapter at Drury. Jenn is the student leader, I am the financial leader, and Jo Van Arkel is our campus advisor. In the next few weeks of school we will be meeting with Andrea Battaglia and the student life staff to present our group and work on becoming recognized as a Drury student organization. We have even begun brainstorming a few promotional plans to get our name out to the student body.
As for the rest of the semester we plan on focusing mainly on getting VOX Drury off the ground. We will also be helping with the Take Back the Night event at Missouri State. This is to raise awareness of violence against people.

Brady

April and only one month left to go!

Over the spring semester I am proud to say that we as Panthers for Planned Parenthood have been making a difference. We have made our presence known on Drury campus. We have aided in the Birth Control Matters campaign by obtaining many signatures. Some of us have even done our part signing petitions to keep federal funding for Planned Parenthood. And for now they will stay in business.

Since this fight began,

• 825,268 people like you signed our open letter to Congress demanding an end to the attacks on Planned Parenthood and women's health.
• At least 45,923 people made phone calls to Congress to make sure they got the message.
• Thousands joined the Planned Parenthood Truth Tour as the big pink bus stopped for events in27 towns and cities from Milwaukee to New Orleans, including 4,000supporters who made their voices heard at the Stand Up for Women's Health Rally in Washington, DC, on April 7.
• Countless women and men from around the country gave time and money, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter, told personal stories about how Planned Parenthood changed their lives, and did everything possible to stand up for Planned Parenthood.

-Information via Cecile Richards Planned Parenthood Preside

Earlier in April most of our house attended a VOX meeting and we may have an official group at Drury by May 2nd!!! This will be a great opportunity to expand and improve on the activities and education we have accomplished this year. It's so exciting to know that when I am in Greece next semester there will be plenty of growth and development for VOX. There are a lot of passionate people putting this group together and I think it'll be a great chance to better Drury and help people understand the importance of sexual responsibility.

In the past month I have been incredibly busy with school and the same goes for pretty much everyone in the house. It has been very challenging trying to plan activities and get everyone in the same place. Also our plans for this semester have been taken up by other groups on campus which is unfortunate for us but just as good for Drury.

To finish up the semester we will be working with VOX to get our foot in the door before next year. Also we will be helping out with MSU's take back the night event in whatever way they need us. Hopefully we will finish out the year with a bang but with finals rapidly approaching we will have to wait and see....

The April Blog Post: In Which We Review the Aftermath Through Which Planned Parenthood Has Emerged Inexplicably Unscathed

If you have ever picked up a newspaper in your entire life (the past two months), you will doubtlessly have seen rumblings about Jon Kyl's insane, malinformed, and altogether idiotic attacks on Planned Parenthood.

Check it Out.

Well, Planned Parenthood still exists for now. So we are moving on ahead to give it a foothold at Drury: VOX. VOX is "Voices for Planned Parenthood" that works with a chapter system. MSU has a VOX organization on their campus, and finally we will too (fingers crossed). This is essentially the continuation of our fleeting work as "Panthers for Planned Parenthood". You should join, yeah?

April Showers

What accomplishments have happened with your project over the course of this spring semester?

So far we have had some pretty good accomplishments this spring semester. We have gotten a substantial amount of signatures for the Birth Control Matters Campaign. We have also started working with some other Drury faculty and students on forming a Drury branch of VOX (Planned Parenthood's organization).

What has been the greatest experience this past month volunteering with the agency?

The greatest experience this month was the recent meeting we had to begin VOX. It is exciting to get in on the ground level, see that other people are excited to implement Planned Parenthood for good on Drury's campus, and begin educating the people of Drury on sexual health.

What has been your greatest challenge this past month volunteering with the agency?

My greatest challenge is just finding the time. I have been really busy all year, and even more so this semester. It becomes hard to volunteer with an agency when there really isn't any bad consequences if I do not go. It is even harder when I have so much homework that when I get a break, all I want to do is sleep. However, I have been pushing through this semester and using any Planned Parenthood events as a well welcomed break from my hectic schedule.

What projects or activities do you still have planned to finish out the year?

One project we are extremely excited about is the Get Naked Campaign. We will be selling Naked juice around campus before the end of the year with a condom attached. This will bring a lot of attention because of recent events barring the selling of Naked juice on campus. With students in an outrage, we will attract rebels and Naked lovers alike. Getting them to our table is the first step in educating them on sexual health.

Vox: We can help you get Naked!

What accomplishments have happened with your project over the course of this spring semester?

- The spring semester has been extremely busy for Planned Parenthood. With the recent government spending cuts Crystal has been close to impossible to contact. We have teamed up with the Women and Gender studies group for a couple of events like their Feminist Happy Hour. We also teamed up with Vagina Warriors to get petition signatures for the birth control matters campaign. This semester there hasn't been a lot of even planning we have done, however our presence on campus has still be known.

What has been the greatest experience this past month volunteering with the agency?

- We just had our first Vox meeting which was really inspirational. There were a lot of great ideas thrown around and we were able to meet several of the teachers interested in Planned Parenthood involvement on campus. It was really great to meet more people who wanted to bring Planned Parenthood to the Drury campus and know that when our Summit house splits next year there will still be an organization we can help Planned Parenthood through.

What has been your greatest challenge this past month volunteering with the agency?

- all of the politics currently surrounding Planned Parenthood have made it difficult for our Summit house to get in touch with Crystal. There have been many lobby days in Jefferson City which we were unable to attend and thus our planning meeting has been continually pushed back.

- Also a lot of the ideas we had planned for the Spring semester are being pursued by Allies during their pride week.

What projects or activities do you still have planned to finish out the year?

- We are looking to joint he MSU Vox group in there event "Taking Back the Night" which will feature the DJ Makeout! It is an empowering night for women and children who have been abused. Several victims will be honored as well as awareness on discrimination and abuse will be addressed. This event will take place on April 27th and will be at the MSU Bear Paw/ North Mall.

- We are also teaming up with Jenn Kearbey to created Drury's own VOX chapter for next year. Currently we are hoping to get a movie night together for the end of the semester to tell students Panthers for Planned Parenthood will be becoming VOX. We are also looking at associating VOX with Naked Juices and setting up a table outside the library selling naked juice with a condom due to the recent uproar the CX has recieved.