Women and Allies Validating Equity, better known as WAAVE, was first introduced to Wayne State College during the beginning months of the COVID-19 outbreak. As the summer of 2020 passed, Lauren White, president of WAAVE, created the club’s official constitution.

WAAVE is an all-inclusive club that welcomes any Wayne State student. WAAVE focuses heavily on intersectionality and equity. Intersectionality, described by Lauren White, is sex, race, gender, geography and other factors that unite and affect each individual differently. Equity and equality may sound similar, but they have their differences. White said equality is having the same tools as everyone else to have a more equal opportunity, but “equity is having those tools and having those same advantages to have social mobility.”

White decided to create WAAVE for multiple reasons. “I noticed there wasn’t any women led clubs on campus, and also, I noticed there wasn’t something that was intersectional,” White said. Another spark of inspiration for this club was the experiences of White’s close friends. White recalled hearing stories of friends’ sexual assaults and experiences of blatant racism on campus.

“I thought, why don’t we have a coalition of people who are actively trying to talk about these issues; how we can make a difference,” White said.

WAAVE discusses many issues happening around the globe. One main focus of this year is environmentalism. An event that WAAVE hosted along with the WSC Green Team and the Wayne Green Team was a clean energy advocacy event. Here the groups wrote letters to the Nebraska Public Power District board members about carbon neutrality. White said the Power District is talking about setting a carbon neutrality goal by 2050. This is important to WAAVE and something they would like to see.

The goal of WAAVE as a whole is, “to educate, to advocate, and to create leaders in our community that are trying to work together to create a better and safer class consciousness. [To] have people learn about things that they have never experienced because of privilege; just come together and make a safer place on campus,” White said.

WAAVE has future events planned for the month of November. On Monday, Nov. 15, WAAVE will be collaborating with the Media Club for Men’s Mental Health day. They will be watching a film and will have a discussion after. On Tuesday, Nov. 16 and 30, in the Cottonwood Room at 7 p.m., WAAVE will be inviting the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska to discuss domestic violence.

WAAVE meetings are held every other Tuesday in the Cottonwood Room at 7 p.m.