Headline: College Student Challenges Feminism at Adelphi University

By: Nicole Garcia

Samantha Napoli, a sophomore at Adelphi University, has always felt Adelphi needed a
women’s empowerment club. She has seen that other campuses have this type of club and felt it
was time Adelphi had one as well. “The more strong women we have, the better society is going
to be,” Napoli said.
Napoli felt that bringing the Feminist Alliance club to campus was important. She said, “I
think it is something important that we should see on campus because we really don’t have a
women’s advocacy group other than the club FOCUS (Females of Cultures United for Success).”
The purpose of the club, as stated on their roster, is to advocate for social justice,
encourage students to get involved in leadership, promote activism, provide resources and
educate members about intersectional feminism, in order to create an inclusive campus
community. By leveraging existing resources and creating innovative opportunities, the students
of the Feminist Alliance aim to make Adelphi a campus that is a role model in women’s
leadership organizations.
When she talked to her friends about her idea to get the club running, they were
concerned whether the topic of feminism would come off as too taboo or political.
“A lot of people don’t know what feminism means,” Napoli said. “In today’s political
climate, it is trickier to navigate this topic.”
She believes the Feminist Alliance Club is a great way to get students informed about
issues, including what feminism is, what it looks like and how it is not a dirty word.
The club officially established on campus after the Center for Student Involvement
accepted their application on Feb. 14, 2019. Their meetings are on Wednesdays from 6 p.m. until
7 p.m. in Levermore Hall, room 309. They currently, have 28 members and are growing. Their
overall goal on campus is to destigmatize the word feminism.
Some event ideas the club has are a girl’s power party, feminine experience panel,
women leadership workshop and women and mental health. In their meetings, some topics they
discuss are how feminism is represented at Adelphi, divides in the feminist community and
whether different genders get different treatment at Adelphi.
The club is not exclusive to women. Napoli hopes men will join the club because every
man has had some female figure in his life and he should be aware of feminist issues.
A member of the club and also one of her sorority sisters, Jasmine Garcia, said, “Sam has
really taken charge in the creation of the Feminist Alliance. The determination and enthusiasm to
make this club a success has been contagious and I, personally, am so excited to be a part of it!”
Napoli is now the Vice President of the Feminist Alliance and is excited to see how the
club grows on campus. She chose this position because she wanted to take a step back and watch
how the president will run the club.
 “What motivates me is really making a difference. I want to feel like I am making the
biggest difference that I can possibly make and just know that I did something,” she said. Her
advice for anyone interested or hesitant to start a club on campus is, if the club is based on
something you are passionate about, then it is worth a try.
The genesis for the club began in Fall 2018 when the neuroscience major realized she did
not know what she wanted as a career and decided to go to the Center for Career and
Professional Development to get advice. There, she met Victoria Passarella, the center’s assistant
director. Napoli told Passarella that she wanted to get involved with advocacy and social justice.
Napoli decided she would take charge and get the club up and running. She never thought she
would be the one to start an organization on campus.
Passarella told her about an idea for a women’s club that some graduating seniors wanted
to have on campus. The idea for the Feminist Alliance had been brought up before, but it was
never followed through with.
This was not Napoli’s first involvement on campus. She is a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon, a
member of the Equestrian Club and a student worker at the Center for Career and Professional
Development. One of her sorority sisters, Olivia Tcholakian, recalled how Napoli felt about the
club. “She seemed passionate about it from the start,” she said.
Raised in Rock Point, NY, Napoli had parents who celebrated strong women throughout
her life. Napoli hopes to parlay her experience into political advocacy after graduation. “I think
there needs to be more women in politics. I’m not necessarily the most competitive, cutthroat
person but I feel like it’s my duty to maybe try,” she said.