The Washington-based American Association of University Women said it would no longer list Komen among the community service opportunities available to the 600 college women who attend the AAUW’s annual leadership conference in June. The headquarters office will no longer sponsor Washington teams in the Komen-sponsored Race for the Cure and expects its branches to follow suit, said Lisa Maatz, AAUW’s director of public policy and government relations.
In years past, the women attending the annual leadership conference could choose to volunteer for the race, Maatz said. The decision to cancel Komen as a volunteer choice is a message that “we want to send to these best and brightest young women, that we’re modeling to them to stick to their principles and make tough calls if you have to,” she said.
“This whole thing is quite regrettable, and we would really like to see a different outcome,” Maatz said. “We want to make sure we have breast cancer screening for poor women and the underserved. This isn’t rocket science, this is public health.”
