Mission Statement

The Coalition of Women in German was founded on principles of community and activism. As an organization, we welcome and encourage each and every member to use their voice within and beyond the organization to take action and to fight for social justice.

In recent years, it has become standard practice for academic organizations to issue statements in response to world crises. Indeed, WiG itself has made such public statements, most recently in the face of transphobic legislation and again in support of the Ukrainian people. However, some members questioned the purpose of such statements, seeing them as performative and as a way of absolving ourselves of the work necessary for meaningful political engagement. The WiG Steering Committee discussed these concerns in November of 2023 and voted to suspend issuing such statements. Instead, the organization will continue to provide opportunities for members to engage in action, for example through Town Hall meetings such as the one that was held after the Dobbs decision, during which members found strength in community, voiced concerns, and shared resources and modes of action.

During our most recent Town Halls, which have focused on campus protests and solidarity with Palestine, it became clear that the leadership of WiG had not done an effective job of publicizing our decision to discontinue issuing statements and the reasoning behind it. The Steering Committee and Leadership Team wish to apologize for this oversight. To avoid confusion, we have removed our previous statements from the website. The WiG leadership team will continue to support any member—be they part of the leadership team or not—who would like to convene a Town Hall or engage our membership in activist activities that align with our mission. We hope our membership feels empowered to reach out to the larger WiG community via the listserv and to find others interested in collective action. In this way, the leadership team hopes to support the many ways in which our members engage in activism and build community.

Please feel free to contact the Steering Committee (steeringcommittee@womeningerman.com) or the presidential team (president@womeningerman.com) should you have any questions or concerns.