Profile

Emily Persico (pictured right) has recently moved from her position in Student Legal Services to a new role as Office Manager at the Women’s Resource Center.  Emily brings with her years of experience with PSU.  As many of our non-traditional students do, Emily started her studies at PSU as a  mom with a six-month old child at home.  She began volunteering at the WRC and became involved in campus issues.  She focused her studies on social justice, and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies. 

After graduating Emily joined the SLS team and continued her involvement in campus.  Emily has been serving on the President’s Commission for the Status of Women since 2005.  Emily co-led the group’s project to assess the need for lactation stations on campus, and recently stepped into the role of Co-Chair of the Commission.

In addition to single parenting and working, Emily also continues to donate volunteer time to community agencies.  Last year she completed the 60-hour volunteer training at the Portland Women’s Crisis Line and began taking on weekly shifts answering the crisis line.  This fall she also began training and volunteering with VOA Home Free as a support-group facilitator.

This unique combination of non-traditional student experience, institutional knowledge, and interpersonal violence training place Emily in a unique position to fully support the mission of the WRC and serve as a resource to the students and volunteers at the center.  Colleagues also report that Emily has already transformed the WRC with her ability to “Emilize” complex administrative tangles, her superior sense of personal style, sparkling footwear, and dance moves.