Your body, your choice. Being a feminist has been stressful with the amount of hate some seem to have against feminism, but others still strive to educate, fight for equality and be safe. The Women’s Activist Organization (WAO) is a feminist student organization here at NDSU.

WAO focuses on educating, creating a safe space for people and striving to improve the community at NDSU.

The president of WAO, Olivia Oland, is a junior majoring in criminal justice, psychology and women & gender studies. This is her second year being the president of WAO and was able to answer questions regarding the goal of the organization.

Remember the organization handing out condoms? WAO strives to educate and that automatically includes safe sex. “We are a Great American Condom Campaign ‘SafeSite’ which means we get sent 500 condoms each semester to hand out on campus and at our meetings. Sex isn’t talked about in North Dakota, let alone sex as pleasure and not as a form of reproducing. We love handing out condoms and educating our peers about having safe and protected sex,” Oland explained.

One of the benefits is seeing peoples reactions to asking, “Hey want a condom? We want you to have protected sex!” Oland said. There are three different and classic reactions they receive to this personal question: “The first is shuddering — they can’t believe that people would ask them that. The second is a casual laugh — they grab the condom and quickly put it in their pocket. The third, and most common, is people getting excited. They usually say, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re the group that hands out condoms!’ We have branded ourselves with that,” Oland said.

Moving on from condoms and safe sex, but still maintaining that goal, “We 100 percent focus on feminist issues,” Oland explained.

People may get confused when hearing about WAO because there is so much they are able to accomplish through their goals, as Oland explains, “Activism is so broad, but we want people to find something that they’re passionate about with goals they can work towards. We work with on-campus groups like The Body Project and Pride Alliance, both organizations have goals that WAO supports — we also work with groups in the community like Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, the Red River Women’s Clinic and Planned Parenthood.”

One problem that they see in the world today and strive to show is “women, and men, realizing they have a choice,” Oland explained. “You have control of your body and you can choose if you want to be on birth control, if you want to be having sex, if you want to have an abortion. You have a choice when it comes to what you want to do with your career, what classes you take, who you associate yourself with. And when you do make those choices, you have to understand that maybe other people won’t choose the same thing you choose, but at least they have a choice.”

One goal of the organization is to allow people of NDSU to have a safe place to speak up. “We are an inclusive organization that welcomes all races, genders, sexualities, religions, political affiliations, economic status … We strive to be as intersectional as we can be,” Oland said. The organization has also made a place for friendships to be made. “We have created an environment for friendships to form, and it is pretty amazing what these friendships have led to,” Oland shared.

WAO works to volunteer at multiple different places allowing members to become more educated on difficult topics. “Every year we bring in the Red River Women’s Clinic, the only abortion provider in the state of North Dakota, so our members can be trained on how to be escorts. An escort is a pro-choice community member who volunteers to help escort RRWC patients into their building every week” Oland explained. “We also volunteer at the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center; we like to take tours and help clean their facility. We also help our members talk about tough issues, like loving yourself and what your goals are as a person.”

Through Oland’s years of being an active member of WAO, she has seen a difference in herself. “I see a difference in how I carry myself. I feel empowered by other members; they’re so encouraging in everything I do. I also feel like I have accomplished so much since I have joined. I have learned so much about different activism opportunities in the community and how I can actually make a difference in my community,” Oland shared.

Many think that they will not see a difference in themselves by joining an organization, but Oland see’s otherwise. “I see members develop into these different, more accepting, inspired people after each meeting they go to,” Oland said. “They develop friendships with other members who empower them and affirm their choices. They become aware of different privileges they have, and what makes them who they are. It makes my heart happy, if we’re being honest. It’s really inspiring to watch.”

When discussing a favorite memory that impacted her, Oland shared how her freshman year there was contraceptive bingo, “Everyone was so open about the contraceptives they used and talked about sex as pleasure, not as a way to reproduce. I learned so much and it was so welcoming; it made me feel like I had control over the choices I made. I realized this was a safe space for me to talk, ask questions and feel empowered about the choices I was making for myself and for my body.”

With a lot of controversy and hate against feminists within the past year, Oland explains how the organization remained strong. “The first few months after the election, all the feminists in the country were exhausted. So exhausted from feeling hate and going against everything he did. Don’t get me wrong, we still fight back. But we fight back by supporting Planned Parenthood, so it can’t be defunded. Writing letters to North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer, telling him what is important to us as North Dakota people. When access to abortion is becoming restricted, we support groups in the community that are pro-choice. When groups on campus take stances against things we support (the Democratic party, LGBT folks and other minorities) we show our support; we go to their meetings; we become vocal about why they are important on our campus.”

“The largest event we hold is each spring and it is the ‘Sex Positivity Expo,’” Oland shared. “This will be our fourth year hosting it. The Sex+Expo is a positive sexual health expo that aims to provide opportunities for education to members of our community through a feminist lens. We invite 25-30 organizations from campus and the community to come to it. We also have two t0 three guest speakers. This year it will be Thursday, April 5 from 5-8 p.m.” Other than their big events, WAO meets every first, third and fifth of each month in the Room of Nations from 7-8 p.m., you can also find them on Facebook.

WAO wants to “help you become a better activist for whatever you are passionate about, and if you don’t know what you’re passionate about we will help you find something!” Oland said.