Another week is coming to an end, and that means another Feminist Friday, courtesy of the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity, will take place at 1 p.m. Friday in the Sloss House.

Feminist Fridays are weekly conversation hours — every Friday at 1 p.m. in the Sloss House — dedicated to raising awareness and engaging dialogue around a broad spectrum of issues through a feminist lens.

The theme for this Feminist Friday is “Mentoring Women of Color in Graduate School,” which will be presented by Tera Jordan, associate professor of human development and family studies. This will be Jordan’s first time presenting.

“I’m planning on talking about a few things — one, my own journey, my own history of being mentored by women of color,” Jordan said. “A number of women have come in my life for a reason, a season and for some, a lifetime.”

Jordan said the main focus of her presentation will focus on mentorship of women of color as well as her own experience with her mentors. She said she plans to bring in messages from her mentors during her presentation.

“I intend to bring in some perspectives based on literature in a framework called the holistic and intersectional ecology model,” Jordan said. “It talks about ways in which perhaps mentors operate as other mothers, attending to not just the academic needs of other students, but the emotional, psychosocial, relational and professional needs of students.”

Other focus areas of her presentation will include adding perspectives from community ecology such as privilege, feminism and defining how to achieve equality for women.

Jordan said her talk is a really important talk to be having at a university like Iowa State, due to certain campus climate aspects that may be overlooked.

“So the mission at Iowa State is to create, share and apply knowledge and as a faculty member I sit really on the front lines of helping to ensure access to the ISU experience for all and providing a very enriching and rich educational experience,” Jordan said. “Another key goal of […] the university is to ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome, supported, included and valued by the university and each other.

“For some women of color — not all, but some — in graduate school was that they do not always consistently feel welcomed, they do not always feel supported, they do not always feel included and therefore they do not always feel valued,” Jordan said.

Jordan said everyone should come to her presentation because everyone can learn from it, whether they are students, faculty or staff. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

“It is important to have this talk to raise awareness and as we continue to ensure the Iowa State experience for all we have to attend to those who are not experiencing the whole measure of our mission,” Jordan said. “We have come a long way, and this conversation will highlight large and small ways we need to grow.”