FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2015

CONTACT:
Whitney G. Stohr
509-844-1185
wstohr@suffragistmemorial.org
www.suffragistmemorial.org

TPSMA Launches National University Campus Affiliates Program

Virginia non-profit raising funds to construct national memorial honoring women suffragists invites individual college and university students and student groups to participate in awareness raising and fund development

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FAIRFAX, Va. (August 3, 2015) The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association (TPSMA) launched a new program to engage college-age students in efforts to honor the generations of activists who persevered through the 72-year struggle for women’s suffrage, that began with the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, and culminated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The TPSM University Affiliates Program urges students to assume an active role in the development of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, and encourages student involvement and activism on U.S. college and university campuses nationwide.

TPSMA is a non-profit organization committed to building a national memorial commemorating the suffragists by 2020, the year that will mark a century since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. This goal can only be accomplished if the necessary awareness and funds are raised; therefore, the addition of a young, enthusiastic demographic of supporters will be invaluable to the organization’s success.

“I am thrilled about the launch of this program,” said Whitney Stohr, TPSMA Media & Marketing Committee. “This is an opportunity for TPSMA to build support for the memorial and teach young adults about the suffrage movement. The path to democracy was long and hard, and women’s true role in that struggle is not always taught in history class. It is important that students recognize how courageously people have fought for voting rights in this country.”

Lauriane Lebrun, TPSMA online communications associate and Southern New Hampshire University honors student, added, “One of my favorite aspects of this program is the room it leaves for students to be creative and really make it their own. Raising funds for the memorial is the main goal of course, but the affiliates program has the potential to be that and more. I’m hopeful that students will be inspired and empowered as they learn about the suffragists, and that the program will encourage discussions about how gender equality has evolved over the years.”

Students can join the affiliates program as individual members or as members of a campus-based TPSM student group. Annual dues, once paid, secure the new affiliate’s membership, along with opportunities to participate in fundraising events and awareness-raising campaigns. As affiliates, students will be invited to enter contests, submit content for publication on TPSMA’s blog and social media pages, help educate their peers about women’s rights and history, and reflect on the women’s suffrage movement in a variety of ways.

Registration of student affiliate members and student groups for the 2015-16 academic year opens August 3, 2015 and will be accepted on a rolling basis. Annual membership dues are $19 per student.

For more information or to register, contact Whitney Stohr at wstohr@suffragistmemorial.org.

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Update:  To register as an individual or Campus Affiliate Group, please complete the following form to provide contact information for student Affiliate members; then direct students to TPSMA’s website to complete payment of the required annual dues of $19 per student: https://suffragistmemorial.org/join/.

Registration Form:  TPSM Affiliates Program – Campus Group Registration

Press Release:  TPSM University Affiliates Program – August 3, 2015