2021-2022 Theme:
Economic Security Through Pay Equity
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Message from the President |
We’ve begun our new AAUW year with our September meeting and greatly appreciate the Pay Equity presentation given by Coda Rayo-Garza, San Antonio YWCA – a great start to examining the many facets of this year’s theme, Economic Security Through Pay Equity. We look forward to our panel discussion on October 2nd, led by AAUW Texas President Gloria Long, regarding the Status of Pay Equity, Advocacy, and Legislation.
We have a great slate of speakers scheduled for the 2021-2022 year. Check out the speaker program list in the annual update of our AAUW SA Directory and Bylaws. All members receive this publication so please notify Diane Claiborne-Carr if you don’t receive one. Hats off to Martha Steele and her committee for their work in establishing our speaker program for the year and for coordinating the monthly events.
The AAUW SA Newsletter continues to be a great way to stay abreast of issues related to our mission to support women and girls. Right now, legislation is extremely important, with many aspects impacting women and their families. Equity issues are primary on the agenda right now, and we must do all we can to ensure equity in pay, housing, education, and child care (to name a few) at the state and national levels.
Please continue to invite friends to our monthly meetings and encourage membership in our branch. Welcome back to all members as we hold virtual meetings for the 2021-2022 year. It’s also worth remembering that our Zoom gatherings can help enable diversity and inclusion by allowing us to expand our reach to new groups. Growing our membership in AAUW is extremely important now during the many challenges we are facing with the COVID virus and gender equality issues. We are extremely pleased and welcome our new members this year, including our student members. If you still need to pay your membership dues, contact Rachel Skelley (VP Membership).
Check out the information in this issue about our interest group meetings this month. Book Discussion will continue to meet virtually. WWW and Culinary Adventures will meet in carefully chosen venues that ensure our health and safety, as well as our enjoyment. We remain flexible and ready to pivot if the situation changes.
This year is the 140th anniversary of AAUW, so stay tuned for announcements regarding the celebration of this significant milestone. AAUW Texas is planning a Convening for April 29-30 in Hurst, Texas (DFW area) with virtual access available as well. Watch for updates as plans progress.
Stronger together –
Cheryl Fuller
AAUW San Antonio President
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AAUW
IS
STILL
ZOOMING!
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October 2, 2021
11:30 a.m.
Speakers: Gloria Long, AAUW Texas President, Patricia Rehm, AAUW Texas Public Policy Chair, and Kevin C. Stewart, AAUW Texas Legislative Counsel
Topic: AAUW Texas: Status of Pay Equity, Advocacy and Legislation
RSVP to Cheryl Fuller
to receive the Zoom link.
The Zoom link will be sent a few days before the meeting.
The recording will be posted on the
website after the meeting.
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AAUW Texas President
Gloria Long
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AAUW Texas Legislative Counsel
Kevin C. Stewart
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AAUW Public Policy Chair
Patricia Rehm
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Join us for next month’s AAUW meeting on October 2 at 11:30 on Zoom. We are privileged to hear from these Texas AAUW leaders: Gloria Long, President, Patricia Rehm, Public Policy Chair, and Kevin C. Stewart, Legislative Counsel, who will inform us of advocacy actions that support our theme of “Economic Security through Pay Equity.”
Gloria Long, President, has served on the Board of AAUW Texas for eight years. Other positions she has held on the board were Membership Vice-President and North District Representative. In her 50 years as a member of AAUW, she has belonged to six different branches. She is currently a dual member of Tarrant County and Northeast Tarrant County Branches. Before her retirement, she was a high school mathematics teacher. She is a supporter of the League of Women Voters and active in her Episcopal Church. She loves camping with her husband, Marvin, in the mountains of New Mexico. She plays bridge and is an enthusiastic reader.
Patricia A. Rehm first joined AAUW in 1968 as a member of the Middlebury, Vermont branch. That year, as she was beginning her career as an English teacher, she volunteered as an AAUW-sponsored summer reading program for children. She felt that the mission of AAUW matched her priorities as a public school teacher. She earned a M.Ed. degree with special certification in reading and special education. At the time of her retirement, she was teaching a Life Skills class for high school students, a course that she was asked to develop.
As she became a more active public policy advocate, she was asked to join the Texas Board of Directors as Public Policy Chair. She has served in leadership positions in AAUW branches of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Plano and Georgetown, Texas. She is a dual member of Georgetown and Austin branches.
The third speaker on our panel will be Kevin C. Stewart, an Austin attorney and political consultant who advocates for clients at the state Capitol and before state agencies. As Pat Rehm explains, Mr. Stewart “has been a valuable partner in understanding legislative procedures...“ Especially during this time, with COVID-19 restrictions at the Capitol, he has “enabled AAUW to establish a link to our state legislators....”

He is author of TEXAS LEGISLATIVE LAW HANDBOOK and is a member of the Campaign and Legislative Law Section of the Texas Bar.
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Summary of Message from September Speaker
Coda Rayo-Garza, Director of Racial Justice and Gender Equity, spoke at our first meeting of 2021/22. In keeping with our theme this year, “Economic Security Through Pay Equity,” she gave us an in-depth look at pay inequities of San Antonio. She then told us of the survey conducted by YWCA that showed San Antonians strongly believe there is a pay gap, that there are not enough equal pay advocates in leadership roles, and that women are not skilled in salary negotiation.
In order to show employers where pay gaps occur, her group developed the equal pay calculator. You can download this calculator at ywcasa.org.
From there, the YWCA took on the work of “narrative change.” Using the analysis provided by More In Common they set about to reach the 24% of folks in San Antonio who are open to the message that pay equity should be a Texas value.
The videos, which displayed high production values as well as persuasive messaging, were aired on San Antonio television during the Olympics. The organization continues to develop messaging to change the narrative. If you know someone who is in a leadership role in a business, please encourage them to participate in this initiative by contacting Coda.
You can view Coda’s entire program, including the ads, on our AAUW San Antonio website. She’s a compelling speaker and the information she offers is worth your time, especially if you wish to be an effective advocate for pay equity.
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My Key Moments from the 2021
AAUW Virtual National Conference
for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL)
Although I couldn’t attend every session, I feel I was able to participate in a couple that were relevant to my personal situation. I really wanted to attend the "#ElectHER" session, but something came up and I couldn’t finish the session.
I felt that the “Work in a Changing World” session gave excellent insight into how to approach the new lives we will all have after the pandemic. I don’t think anything will go back to how we lived before and that every part of life was affected and will evolve with new norms from this point on. I loved that someone offered the advice of believing in yourself and your worth enough to know the company you are working for. Don’t just take the job for the salary, or the executive position, but research and inquire about their morals, beliefs and align those with their mission and vision statements. If they don’t have similar ideals, then something isn’t right, and you should proceed with caution.
My absolute favorite and personal self-help session was the "Using Your Google Maps" session. This session reminded me to stay in sync with my values and allow my own core competencies to guide me not just in my career or through leadership but in my daily routine. Identifying and dividing up my values into pillars is a wonderful idea but I seem to allow my pride or ego to drive change and end up acting on emotions most times. I still struggle with this, but I do try to change this bad habit.
Thank you for allowing me the scholarship to attend the AAUW Conference and I hope to attend in person next time.
Connie Pullen
St. Philip’s College Student Leader
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Graduates Winning
Our five graduate scholarship winners from last spring are now members of our AAUW branch. Recently, we received this from one of our graduates:
This is Shaima Khalaf. I would like to share with
you that I have graduated this month
and have got my Master’s degree.
Winning your generous scholarship helped me a lot.
Thank you. I truly appreciate your help.
Kind Regards,
Shaima Khalaf
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College and University Affiliates
Colleges and Universities (C/U) who are affiliates of AAUW open up possibilities to their students and staff such as:
- C/U memberships open doors to grants and fellowships (over 3 million dollars annually to graduate level women--nationally and internationally), leadership training, professional development, educational resources, and advocacy tools.
- Supports AAUW Start Smart and AAUW Work Smart workshops that train women to negotiate their salary and benefits to realize their financial worth.
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Provides member benefits such as a discount card at Office Depot and Office Max, lowest prices on hotels with HotelStorm, access to films intended to empower women and girls at Tugg.com, and many more.
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Staffs electronic communication (connect@aauw.org) so members have access to their questions within 48 hours.
- Provides a Member Services Database where members have immediate access to branch information and their own giving history.
- Sends Action Network weekly so that members can stay updated on issues vital to our mission.
- Gives members a direct contact to their congress people, through the Two-Minute Activist, so that members can speak directly to their elected official(s).
In our area, Palo Alto, UTSA, and SAC are accessing these benefits. We have many more C/Us within our reach who could benefit. If you, or you know someone who, has contact with a Dean of Women, President, Chief of Staff, etc. at one of our C/Us, please let me know so that we can reach out to them.
Karen Reichensperger
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Second Session Ends in Mixed Results for AAUW-Supported Bills
The second special session of the legislature has officially adjourned. AAUW worked throughout the term and both sessions supporting bills promoting women’s health, pay equity, and voter registration rights and opposing the bills weakening or restricting them. It was a mixed bag for us. The election bill and the critical race theory bill, which we opposed, both passed. However, the 13th check for those in the Texas Teacher Retirement System and the bill requiring schools to teach about dating and domestic violence that we supported, both passed.
After the second special session of the legislature adjourned, AAUW Lobbyist, Kevin Stewart shared that tensions were still high, relationships were harmed, and that it didn’t seem that anyone except perhaps the Lieutenant Governor walked away with what they wanted.
Governor Abbott has now issued a proclamation announcing that he will convene a third special legislative session at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 20, 2021. The proclamation identifies five agenda items for the third Special Session:
- Legislation relating to the apportionment of the State of Texas into districts to elect members of the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate, the State Board of Education, and the US House of Representatives.
- Legislation providing appropriations from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2020 (ARPA), Pub L. 117-2.
- Legislation identical to Senate Bill 29 as passed by the Texas Senate in the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, disallowing a student from competing in University Interscholastic League athletic competitions designated for the sex opposite to the student's sex at birth.
- Legislation regarding whether any state or local governmental entities in Texas can mandate that an individual receive a COVID-19 vaccine and, if so, what exemptions should apply to such mandate.
- Legislation similar to Senate Bill 474 as passed by the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, but that addresses the concerns expressed in the governor's veto statement.
In national news, The Express News reported on September 10 information from an article from the Washington Bureau that the Biden administration is suing Texas over its new abortion ban – the strictest in the nation – warning that if the law is allowed to stand, it could become a model for states to trample constitutionally protected rights of all kinds. “The act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said as he announced the legal action Thursday. “This kind of scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United States is one that all Americans – whatever their politics or party – should fear.”
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The Two-Minute Activist
The Two-Minute Activist is a source of information on topics relating to women’s issues. It also enhances our ability to send emails and texts to legislators to fight for equal pay, family leave, stopping sexual harassment, equality in education and more. Sign up on the AAUW webpage to get regular alerts to be able to take timely action.
You can also text “AAUW” to 21333 to get AAUW action alerts via text.
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2021-2022 Officers
President Cheryl Fuller
President-Elect Diane Claiborne-Carr
VP Membership Rachel Skelley
VP Programs Martha Steele
Secretary Kate Vetters
Treasurer Adrien Frank
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For more information visit the AAUW websites:

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October 2021 Culinary Adventures
Join us as we travel to a winery north of town - Grape Creek Winery east of Fredericksburg on Thursday, October 14 for lunch at NOON.
Address:
10587 E. US Hwy 290
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
* Founded in 1983, Grape Creek Vineyards is the oldest winery on Highway 290.
* Their Wine program produces over 60,000 cases of wine each year (that is over 700,000 bottles of wine) between their two brands, Grape Creek and Heath Sparkling Wines.
* 40,000 square feet production facility houses 50 stainless tanks, ranging from 1000 to 12,000 gallons, totaling 130,000 gallons of tank capacity.
* Their cellar has over 2000 barrels of aging wine.
* Each harvest they crush 800+ tons of Texas Grapes.
* All Grape Creek wines are bottled on the estate with the capacity of over 1200 cases per day.
Limited reservations available for this patio luncheon (weather permitting).
Carpool meet up spot will be communicated to those responding.
We will need to leave the SA area by 10:45 am.
RSVP by noon on October 11.
All vaccinated are welcome !
Bonus ! ! ! Not an official AAUW Culinary Adventures event, but as info……..
Outstanding in the Field Is having an event at Peeler Farms, Floresville, TX on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 with guest chef John Brand of Hotel Emma.
These events have been held around the country and now are around the world with their roving restaurant without walls. Diners are at one long table at a farm/field/beach and OITF works with local chefs and purveyors to serve a multi-course gastronomic delight.
Arrive promptly at 3 pm for their specialty cocktail, appetizers and mingling. Before COVID they suggested you bring your own plate that has significance to you. Not a requirement but it serves as an icebreaker to get to know your neighboring diners. Not sure if they are still doing that?
This is definitely a splurge with tickets slightly over $300 per person. Purchase your own ticket at their website, invite your friends and let me know if you plan on going. Many of their events sell out.
Don’t think of it as just dinner - think of it as an adventure!
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BRIDGE
Cancelled until further notice.
Contact Pearl Eng
210.240.8118
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HISTORIC SOUTHWEST
Cancelled until further notice.
Contact Lola Hill
210.334.5897
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BOOK DISCUSSION
VIA ZOOM!
Saturday, October 16, 10:00 am
You Don't Belong Here
by Elizabeth Becker
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CULINARY ADVENTURES
Thursday, October 14, 12:00 noon
Grape Creek Winery
10587 E. US Hwy 290
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
RSVP to Ali Heller by noon October 11
210-617-8189
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WINE, WOMEN & WISDOM
Wednesday, October 27, 5:00 pm
The Hayden
4025 Broadway 78209
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MOVIEGOERS
Cancelled until further notice.
Movie, time, and place selected by the group and announced the day before.
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