Manifesta's Destiny

Student-led group able to book internationally known author, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés

By: Eric Thorson

Posted: 11/5/09

A little known group on campus has been able to secure a prominent author and poet to come give a free lecture at The University of Wisconsin-Stout. The lecturer is Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. She is an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning poet, diplomate senior Jungian psychoanalyst and post-trauma specialist. She is probably most well known for authoring her international best seller, "Women Who Run With the Wolves." The book spent 145 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and has been published in 35 languages worldwide.

Estés' post-trauma expertise has been in high demand after some of recent and most devastating events on record that have occurred within the past 50 years. She started by providing therapy at hospitals in the 1960s for severely injured children and shell-shocked war veterans and their families. She has given her services to natural disaster sites as well, providing help to Armenian earthquake survivors and training others in the field of post trauma on site. She has provided her services domestically to the community of Columbine, Colo. after the 1999 massacre in Columbine High School. She also worked with families of survivors of the attacks that occurred on 9/11. Estés will share stories of her experiences in the Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center on Monday, Nov. 9 from 7-8 p.m. She will make an appearance in Milwaukee before coming to Menomonie. Funds totaling nearly $6,500 were raised to bring the speaker to campus. They were provided by the English and Women and Gender Studies programs along with the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, the Stout Student Association and the Provost's offices.

The little known group that played the biggest role in bringing Estés here is called Manifesta. President of Manifesta Kate Erickson describes the group as "a student-led human egalitarian group that focuses on gender rights and consciousness."

The group was formerly known as Women's Issues, but former president and recently graduated Erica Idso decided to change the name to Manifesta.

"Limiting the group to women is a mistake due to the fact that the issue of gender is not black and white," said Erickson.
Manifesta's goal is to provide a safe environment that students can use as a sounding board on human rights issues.
"People of minority groups, marginalized groups and different religious groups have a common struggle for equality. We've started having meetings between various diversity organizations, which hasn't happened for a long time," said Erickson.

Manifesta works alongside the Black Student Union as well as the Hmong Stout Student Organization while maintaining focus on its own agenda. Erickson and her group meet Mondays at 7 p.m. in the Ally Center next to Huffs on the first floor of the MSC. The meeting on the first Monday of every month is dedicated to discussing current and historical human rights events. The other meetings focus on upcoming projects that are in the works, such as booking more speakers and coordinating a sexual abuse awareness event. Manifesta is a relatively new group to UW-Stout, but Erickson feels that its presence on campus is necessary.

"My experiences in college have opened my eyes to the issues we face based on gender as well as the different groups that need to be advocated for," Erickson said.