Franklin & MarshallHeader Logo

Alice Drum Women’s Center

Home / Centers, Institutes & Initiatives / Alice Drum Women’s Center

The Alice Drum Women’s Center was established in 1992 to promote dialogue and action around women’s issues and to instill an ethos of equality and inclusion. Today, the center continues to strive toward inclusion and advocacy along the intersections of race, class, sexuality, gender, and disability.

Open to All

The Alice Drum Women’s Center (ADWC) was established in 1992 to promote dialogue and action around women’s issues and to instill an ethos of equality and inclusion. Today, the center is a space for critical dialogue and a dynamic resource, community hub, and educational center for all individuals committed to achieving gender equity.  

Alice Drum Women's Center

ADWC features a F&Minist library, gender justice resources, free safer sex materials, menstruation products, and a student study space. ADWC also coordinates opportunities for students to develop leadership skills with a focus on community engagement through programming, workshops, and student-led discussions. 

ADWC offers a diverse array of programming such as speakers, readings, dinners, and workshops delving into themes of feminism, queerness, politics, gender equity, healthy masculinity, and more. 

Programming is frequently centered around major awareness and celebration events. This includes organizing activities for important observances like International Women’s Week, Queer Visibility Week, World AIDS Day, Period Action Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Indigenous People’s Day, and Galentine’s Day.

A significant portion of the programming is dedicated to promoting student well-being. This includes comprehensive programming for Take Back the Night, an international event and nonprofit organization dedicated to ending sexual, relationship, and domestic violence in all its forms. ADWC also hosts Self-Care Workshops designed for students to help them explore best practices for radical self-acceptance and community-based care.

ADWC provides administrative support for the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA), a registered student organization that promotes the welfare of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual students within the F&M community. 

Alice Drum Women's Center

Student Mural Celebrates Historic Women

What was once a quiet facade has been transformed into a vibrant campus landmark. Seeking a visual identity shaped by Diplomat voices, the ADWC executive board selected a digital illustration by Hope Clarke ’27 to be the center's striking welcome. Clarke's design celebrates pioneering women: Tarana Burke, Angela Davis, Gloria Steinem, Malala Yousafzai, and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Simone de Beauvoir, Frida Kahlo, and Yuri Kochiyama. 

“I wanted this to be something that people would look at and instantly know that it’s the Women's Center,”  Clarke said.

Read More »

Women’s Center Director Finds Her ‘Jam’ at Roller Derby Rink

In her role at the Women’s Center, Diosanny Rivera-Placido is known for being engaging and empathetic, the consummate listener for students and community members who come to the Center for advice or to share their thoughts on issues related to gender equality and justice, queer equality, women’s empowerment, and belonging and loneliness. But when she puts on a pair of skates, a helmet, and an imposing amount of safety gear, she transforms. In the egg-shaped roller rink, she becomes a hunter. A speed demon. A force of will. Rivera-Placido is a jammer for the Dutchland Rollers, a Lancaster-based derby team.

Read More »

« PreviousNext »