Pictured clockwise: Brandy Lee, first full-time office associate; Trish Jaggers, current office associate; Jimmie Price, director from 1996-1998 and Jane Olmsted, current director; 1996 office staff in front of Van Meter: Jane, Jimmie, Sharon, and Anita .

Shortly after the core women’s studies courses were approved for general education credit, Ward was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided that she needed to step down as the Program’s Director. Ward’s decision posed a challenge to the Women’s Studies Program: finding someone to step in and take a position that was largely voluntary. Ward approached Jimmie Price, who was a professor of public health, about becoming the new director. If Price didn’t take the position, there was a chance that the program would not survive, but Jimmie agreed, and became director in the fall of 1994.

During Jimmie’s time as director, the program underwent several changes. It got its first real budget, adequate office space in the Wetherby Administration Building, and its first office assistant, Sharon Walker. Though the budget was small and Walker’s position only part-time, the assistance eased the workload. Jimmie conducted the women’s conference in the fall of 1994 and again in 1995, but by that time, she realized that running the conference used up most of women’s studies’ resources, in terms of money, personnel, and good-will volunteers, so at the final session of the 1995 conference, she announced that this would be the last women’s studies conference. The participants were disappointed by this decision, and on the spot, non-Western academics offered donations to keep it going, but Jimmie knew that money wasn't her only problem. She could not nurture the Program and at the same time run the conference—together they just took too much of the Program’s meager resources. Ward supported Price in this decision; in fact, she encouraged Jimmie to discontinue the conferences in 1994, since they had already achieved their purpose—to educate the campus about women’s studies.

The Program stayed in Wetherby until 1996, when it moved to Van Meter. In 1996, Price got approval for a new faculty line: a joint appointment in English and women’s studies. Jane Olmsted, who had just earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, became assistant director and taught core courses as well as courses in English, her “home” department. Jane Olmsted commented that she felt the job was written for her because it combined her three loves: English, women’s studies, and Kentucky. Olmsted, who had lived in Kentucky from 1976 to 1991 had taught at the University of Louisville, St. Catharine College, and Berea College for five years. During this time she had grown to love Kentucky and longed to return, and when she met Price and the English faculty, she was sold.

In 1998, illness required that Price take an early retirement. Before she left at the end of the 1998 academic year, however, she successfully lobbied for a full-time office associate. Hiring one became Olmsted’s first administrative task. Brandy Lee, who held the position for four years, was the first office associate. Gifted in desktop publishing, Lee helped raise the public image of the program. When she left, the program was lucky that Trish Lindsey Jaggers (alum) wanted the position. Take a look at our newsletters to see a sample of her fantastic work.

Other changes ensued. The fourth move of the women’s studies office occurred in the months after the famous hail storm on April 16, 1998. Over the course of 13 years, the program’s office had been located in Cherry Hall, Wetherby, Van Meter, and now the stone house at 1532 State Street. The University received insurance payments that made renovating the house possible. Moving into the house made the program more visible, and with the extra space, the women’s studies staff could do and provide more for students.