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authority records
Corporate body · 1991-

While courses in women’s studies were first offered at the university in 1971, the degree-granting Women’s Studies Program in the Faculty of Arts began offering an undergraduate major in 1991. The program was an interdisciplinary field of study that drew upon the social sciences, humanities, research methods, theory, literature, and gender relations. Tannis MacBeth Williams was the program’s first chair.
Early faculty involved in the Women’s Studies Program were Dr. Dawn Currie, Dr. Valerie Raoul, Dr. Veronica Strong-Boag, Prof. Sneja Gunew, Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh, Dr. Becki Ross, and Dr. Lenora Angeles. The Women’s Studies Program worked closely with the Centre for Research in Women’s Studies and Gender Relations (created in 1991 with a mandate to support research and develop links between local and international scholars, policy makers and activists). The Founding Director of CRWSGR was Veronica Strong-Boag. Graduate-level courses were first offered in the 1998-99 academic year, initially from within the Interdisciplinary Studies Programme in the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The CRWSGR began administering M.A. and PhD programs in Women’s Studies and Gender Relations in 2000-2001. It changed its name to the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies (CWAGS) in 2006. In 2012, CWAGS and the Women’s and Gender Studies graduate and undergraduate programs merged to form the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, directed by Dr. Mary K. Bryson.

The Ladies Discussion Club
Corporate body · ca.1933-ca.1972

The ladies’ Discussion Club was formed in January of 1933, by the teachers and ex-teachers of the Maclean School staff. The club was originally given the name “Semper Discupulae” but soon became known by its present title of the “Ladies’ Discussion Club”. It was clearly stated at the very beginning that each person was expected to take an active part at every meeting. Although teachers and ex-teachers were charter members, other interested ladies were soon invited to join the club. The members helped start the library, with a “musical” being held in the Anglican church to help raise money to purchase books for a club library. Most of these books were donated to the Rossland Public Library when it was established. The club even had a public debate against the Mens’ Discussion Club in 1936 at the courthouse and won. The women were required to pay a fine if late to a meeting, and the money raised would be donated to organizations such as the Red Cross and the local Community Chest. Two charter members remained in the club from its inception, Dorothy Bisson Fraser and Erna Coombes. Starting in 1948, the club also had a school award for excellence.

Phrateres. Theta Chapter
Corporate body · 1935-

The first Canadian chapter of the Phrateres was established at UBC in 1935 through the initiative of Clare Brown Harris while president of the Women's Undergraduate Society. An international organization, Phrateres was first formed at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles by Dean Helen Matheson Laughlin in 1924. The Theta Chapter at UBC was the eighth to be established on the west coast. Phrateres, which comes from the Greek word for sisterhood, seek to fulfil the ideals of the modern University and to promote a spirit of friendliness among women of individual universities and of all universities. Membership in the organization, whose motto is "famous for friendliness", is open to both sorority and non-sorority women at a small cost. It seeks to enrich university life through a wide range of social and service activities, including dances, reunions, and fundraising. Theta Chapter is affiliated with the UBC Greek system (sororities and fraternities), and over the years has been subdivided into as many as twelve sub-chapters, named Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Eta, Zeta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Omicron and Sigma.
As of 2000, Theta Chapter at UBC was the sole remaining active collegiate chapter of Phrateres International.