Center History

The Susan B. Anthony Center was founded in 1995 as “a place for the recognition of women’s current and past contributions that could provide encouragement to young women to enter nontraditional careers, strive to high level positions, and undertake leadership positions to being about change and raise awareness.” The founders of the Center, Celia Applegate and Nan Johnson, initially hoped to address gender discrepancies on campus by addressing “Women’s Issues,” such as safety and security, fraternity vs. sorority privileges, representations of women of color, tenure, and child care. Under Nan Johnson‘s leadership from 1995-1999, the Center focused on women’s empowerment on campus and in the local community. In 1999, Nora Bredes became the Director of the Center and refocused on her passion: politics. The Center became a hub for women’s political empowerment through the First Women Project and the Women Leading Local Government Summits. Presently, under Director Kate Cerulli’s leadership, the Center is focused on bringing awareness to, and advocating for, social justice for the betterment of society for all individuals.