By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published October 30, 2025
NOVI — The American Association of University Women Northville-Novi Branch commemorated 50 years of advocating for women in the community with dinner and a “walk down memory lane” at Genitti’s Hole in the Wall in downtown Northville on Sept. 24.
The group says it strives for the equity and betterment of women through education, charity and political advocacy.
“In addition to being a charity organization, we are also a political organization,” said Karen Zyczynski, president of AAUWNN. “Although we are nonpartisan, we do lobby legislatures both at the state and national level on issues that have direct impact on women and girls.”
According to Zyczynski, the national organization has been a long-standing supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment and was present when President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
The Northville-Novi branch began organizing in the summer of 1975 with a call for women to join the group placed in several newspapers, and it held its first meeting on Sept. 24 of that year. On that day, 55 women chartered the group as the AAUW Northville. The city of Novi was officially added to the group’s title in 1991, but residents of the city had been members of the group before that.
“Although there were Novi members, initially, they didn’t allow two communities to combine together. They wanted them to be individual communities. So that’s why Novi wasn’t added (to the title) in the beginning, at least that’s what I heard from other members,’ Zyczynski said.
The group prioritizes the education of women and girls in both communities and offers several programs.
The group holds an annual career day event, which pairs middle school girls with women in various career fields to learn about different career choices available to them.
“The mission in the development of the AAUW was to promote education and equality of women and girls and to develop imagination, and that’s exactly what our career path day does,” Judy Sherman said. “Our goal is to expose young girls in the Northville (Novi) area to different careers, different career opportunities, as well as women who are successful in their field”
This year, 30 eighth grade girls participated in four classes such as nursing simulation, biology, geology and computer graphic technology at Schoolcraft College, had a lunch with several guest speakers who shared their experiences, and then went to two local women-owned businesses where they heard more about those businesses.
“This program not only reaches out to the girls, and gives them a chance to look at different careers and different exceptional women, it also gives us a chance to bridge with the community,” Sherman said.
AAUWNN also is responsible for integrating more books about women into school libraries. Upon realizing there were only a handful of books about women in the school libraries, the group founded its “Remember the Ladies” program and started donating books to the libraries about women.
“When I was a kid, I would go to the library, we didn’t have libraries in our school, and I would say to the librarian, ‘Where are the books about women?’’ And she would say, ‘Over there.’ So, I would go over there and there would be a shelf and there would be four books, Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison,” Joyce Murdock said. “So, finally, I say, ‘Could you show me?’ She said, “Sure,’ and I got really excited because I thought she’s going to show me the shelf that I haven’t been able to find all this time, and what did she do, she took me to this shelf with the four books and she looks at me and she goes, ‘They’re all here.’ And I thought, ‘There are only four of them!’ I was so disappointed, I almost cried. So, that’s why I really like this program.”
Through the program, the group makes donations to the various school libraries as well as the Novi and Northville public libraries. The books are chosen based on the recommendations of the librarians.
AAUWNN also awards four $1,500 scholarships every year. An academic and a needs-based scholarship is awarded to women graduating from each of Northville and Novi high schools.
Along with the education of young women, the group also works to continue the education of its members. Its meetings often feature guest speakers on a variety of topics.
According to Zyczynski, the first guest speaker was L. Brooks Patterson, who spoke at the group’s October 1975 meeting on Michigan’s probation and parole practices.
Before the anniversary dinner, the group had visits from several political figures.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingle, D-Ann Arbor, recognized the group’s achievements by personally delivering an entry on behalf of the organization into the 119th Congress.
Novi Mayor Justin Fischer accompanied Northville Mayor Brian Turnbull, who presented the group with a proclamation declaring Sept. 24 AAUWNN day in Northville.
Zyczynski said she knew Turnbull was going to make the proclamation, but had no idea that Fischer would be accompanying him.
“That was a big surprise for us,” said Zyczynski.
AAUWN is always accepting new members; to join, a woman must have a college degree, but there are exceptions made for certifications in certain fields such as real estate.
The group holds various fundraising events every year to pay for its programming. The largest fundraiser is its biannual fashion show, which is scheduled for April 25, 2026, at Schoolcraft College.