Awakening a Sleeping Giant in Maryville, Tennessee

Ellie Lienau, AAUW Southeast Central Regional Director, interviewed Harolyn Ropp about the revival of the Maryville branch.

Harri: Our branch revival really is a wonderful success story, but it also speaks to the great strength of AAUW and its continued meaningfulness to our society today. AAUW literally changed my life back in the ’70s, and I've never forgotten how much I owe AAUW. I guess that’s why I was willing to undertake what I knew would be a monumental task (having served AAUW in Illinois in several branch and state positions) in trying to rejuvenate the Maryville, Tennessee Branch.

Ellie: What was the branch like before you joined and started the process? Was the branch having problems getting leaders? How close was the branch to disbanding?

Harri: When I first moved into the area and joined this branch in May 1999, the now 60-year-old (!) branch had already begun discussions about disbanding. Enthusiasm and interest had waned, membership had dwindled, and the branch had no definite direction or purpose other than its very successful yearly book sale. The president had suffered a personal tragedy, so she, too, had lost her enthusiasm, and the board took a major step toward disbanding by establishing an endowed scholarship at Maryville College. I, on the other hand, after attending a luncheon in December 1999 and meeting more of the members, became convinced that there was way too much rich talent and history to let this branch die. Fortunately, there were others who agreed with me, and so our three-member executive board (Vivian Selecman as membership and program VP, Kathleen Sallee as finance VP and EF chair, and myself as president) began the arduous job of rebuilding—from six in May, 2000, to a current membership of 44—an increase of 633 percent.

Ellie: What did you (and others) do to revive the branch?

Harri:

• Changed the focus to increasing visibility, effecting change, and becoming active in the community by encouraging activity!
• Changed the meeting time from daytime to 5:30 pm to be accessible to both the working and nonworking population.
• Concentrated energies on the underlying mission of AAUW (equity and education for women and girls) with forums and round tables on violence, education, sexual and economic discrimination, local and worldwide issues pertaining to women, women in history, building political and financial leadership, and effecting local changes to benefit girls
• Built a partnership foundation and established a coalition of women's organizations, called WeCAN!
• Applied for and were awarded a "Sisters in Action" community grant from the AAUW Educational Foundation to hold the first ever Sister-to-Sister Summit in Tennessee
• Established our own website to disseminate information, and distributed promotional and contact information wherever there would be a lot of traffic: fairs and festivals, library, gas stations, city halls, real estate offices, etc. In local newspapers, we wrote letters to the editor, contributed to a regular news column, publicized board and planning meeting dates in addition to general meetings, submitted press releases on everything we were doing (including state and regional conferences!), and even submitted summaries of meetings (which are publicized in our paper's "Area Club News" every Wednesday). We appeared before local school boards and sought coverage by the local TV channels and radio stations. We had a display table with materials and a continuously running PowerPoint presentation at volunteer, college, and school employee fairs.
• Encouraged feedback at every turn, and remained flexible and adaptable as new ideas (and passions!) emerged.

Ellie: What is the branch like today?

Harri: As we begin our fourth year of rebuilding, we are convinced that AAUW is and can continue to be a meaningful organization in our area. Our current president, Wendy Pitts Reeves, is applying some creative leadership approaches by assuring that we identify and train potential leaders to continue and spread our high-maintenance workload as widely as possible. Planning has begun for our third consecutive Sister-to-Sister Summit, which is our most potent energizer. The summit and its attendant organizing and follow-up activities have called attention to the plight of girls and women like nothing heretofore seen in these parts! Rallying to the effort have been more than 150 individuals and 25+ organizations and institutions, from this and several adjacent counties, and the state, as well. Now we are more and more frequently being sought for advice and assistance on everything from coalition-building to handling sexual harassment in the schools to promoting Pay Equity Day. A sleeping giant has awakened, but our challenge will be in sustaining that momentum by aggressively recruiting new members and retaining the current ones!

To talk to Harri about the Maryville branch revival, send an e-mail to harriropp@yahoo.com.