A note to students from WGSS

Dear Students,

We write as Board Members for our Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program. We are, like many of our colleagues, deeply troubled by all that has unfolded on our campus this week. We are writing to tell you that our work—both inside and beyond the classroom—is driven by an ethics of care, and that we support you now and in the future. We are here for you when you need us, and our offices remain places of safety, trust, and enduring support for all of you.

Despite what has been an emotionally grueling week for our community, we, as WGSS faculty, remain committed to working with our students, our staff and faculty colleagues, and our administration to make immediate changes to the structures and dynamics currently in place for students reporting incidents of sexual violence. While we are distressed by what has unfolded on our campus this week, we are also energized to make real and lasting change that best supports our students, and our campus community more broadly. Our work, like our support for you, will be relentless.

In Commitment and Care,

Julietta Singh, Assistant Professor of English

Dorothy Holland, Associate Professor of Theatre and WGSS, Department Chair, Theatre and Dance

Ladelle McWhorter, Stephanie Bennett-Smith Chair of WGSS and Professor of Enviornmental Studies

Andrea Simpson, Associate Professor of Political Science

Crystal Hoyt, Professor of Leadership Studies and Psychology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Mariela Méndez de Coudriet, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies

Mari Lee Mifsud, Professor of Rhetoric & Program Coordinator of WGSS

Erika Damer, Assistant Professor of Classics

Holly Blake, Associate Dean for Outreach Education and Development & Director of the WILL* Program

Melissa Ooten, Associate Director of WILL*, Gender Research Specialist

Lucretia McCulley, Head of Scholarly Communications, Boatright Library