The Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Solidarity Fund

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, as an academic field, interrogates the boundaries that limit communities' personal and political well-being. In today’s world, these boundaries are shrinking, making our work even more important. As a result, we see the demand for our research, our students, and our outreach expanding. Our faculty is internationally renowned, teaching and supporting our students while changing the world around us through offering expert testimony to Congress, building out public museum exhibits, and engaging in debate and commentary in national news outlets.

The demand for graduates with expertise in gender and diversity studies is growing, as are the challenges they face. Remarkably, our department provides an intellectual home for our students and a resource in moments when the world threatens their well-being in ways ranging from housing security, personal safety, and emotional support.

Our students are often on the front lines of battles for justice, and we are right there with them, in solidarity. With faculty, current students, and alumni engaged in activities regionally and internationally, our local roots have a global reach! Our research and teaching ensure scholarly analysis, intellectual community, and public events that enable understanding of and thriving for women, gender minorities, and sexually diverse people.

In pursuit of this effort, we are excited to establish our first endowment fund: the WGSS Solidarity Fund. The WGSS Solidarity Fund supports our research, students, and outreach and ensures the expansion and sustaining work of our department. This fund is broad in scope and supports students in need and in crisis, nurtures innovative teaching by our faculty and graduate students, and propels research at all levels, all while ensuring our lasting community engagement. The WGSS Solidarity Fund will fund this work now and continually into the future, allowing our impact to grow even more over time.