Graduation year: 1992
Majors/Minors: Government with Gender Studies Concentration
Current occupation: Program Manager, Sustainability Services, UL Environment
Favorite Gender Studies class/professor/memory from your experience at Notre Dame:
So many, but Kathleen Maas Weigert's classes helped me find my voice, and motivated me to work for and support work for social justice. Kathleen Biddick helped me deconstruct traditional notions of gender in ways that made me, very personally, feel far more free.
Your experience with Gender Studies/gender issues at Notre Dame:
The gender studies program was fairly new when I was at Notre Dame. As a new program, it was also fairly scrappy and innovative in generating funding. I was impressed with the women who founded and promoted the program -- they put in a lot of sweat equity in an environment that was not always supportive. I did find that many faculty, men and women, were far more receptive to the messages and thought leadership developed by the gender studies program than many of my fellow students at the time. The gender studies program felt like a thought-provoking refuge.
How your Gender Studies education has impacted your life:
The gender studies program helped me learn how to think critically. This has been instrumental in everything I've done -- from my work in peace advocacy, in a faith-based social justice organization, in the socially responsible investing industry, on LGBT issues, in a big 4 consulting firm, and now back in the sustainability industry.
Your hopes for the future of Gender Studies at Notre Dame:
I hope it will survive, thrive, and continue to challenge and nurture the students, faculty, and engage its alumni.