Faculty and students in the GWSS Department gathered on May 10th, 2019 to celebrate our accomplishments and honor our graduates. Graduating students Taylor Beashore (GWSS minor), Kayla Boltz (GWSS minor), Dennis Borror (GWSS minor), Elyse Boxberger (GWSS minor), Adam Carr (Queer Studies minor), Kayla Clark (GWSS minor), Laura Gunderson (GWSS major and Queer Studies minor), Karla Larranaga (GWSS graduate certificate), Kylee Norris (GWSS minor), Chelsea Osademe (GWSS graduate certificate), Marco Saucedo (GWSS minor), Anneliese Spence (GWSS minor), Katherine Sundgren (GWSS minor), and Tori Wiegers (GWSS minor) were honored with certificates and bookmarks engraved with the Audre Lorde quote, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
Sophomore Marley Lowe is the recipient of the Clarina Howard Nichols Scholarship this year. The scholarship is named for a 19th century Kansas journalist and women’s rights activist, and is awarded annually to a first- or second-year GWSS major based on a combination of GPA and an essay. The scholarship recognizes the long history of feminist activism in Kansas and supports the new generation of change-makers. Marley is pursuing degrees in Communication Studies, American Ethnic Studies, and GWSS. She wrote about her work organizing an “Unthanksgiving” event in her capacity as the programming chair of K-State Housing and Dining’s Social Justice Alliance.
The Kathleen C. Goetsch scholarship, awarded based on financial need, was given to Melanie Johnson this year. Melanie is a senior double-majoring in GWSS and Sociology.
The recipient of this year’s Founders Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, awarded annually to a GWSS major with junior standing based on their academic record, is Mercedes Payton.
Two students, Tessa Ervin and Mercedes Payton, shared the department’s paper competition award this year. Tessa, a first-year Biology major, won for her essay entitled “Removal and Reeducation,” written for Dr. Levitt’s First-Year Seminar, and Mercedes, a junior GWSS major, won for her essay “Not Like Other Settlers,” written for Dr. Weaver’s Advanced Fundamentals in GWSS class.