Greetings everyone,
Graduation marks a momentous transition. College, at its best, involves compelling challenges, unexpected failure, surprising success, new friendships, bumps in the road, emerging identities, awesome instructors, mind-blowing discoveries, nascent skills. It’s so often heady and humbling and heartbreaking, exhilarating and inspiring. For all it asks and all we give, it can be hard to say goodbye. Most graduates come to miss college, or at least parts of it, as they get on with their lives.
Our alums are always on our minds, but never more than at graduation. As your lives demonstrate, life after college is also filled with challenges, success and failures, fast friends, and on-going discovery. The questions your Gender and Women’s Studies classes raised, the theories you explored, and the solutions you proposed have likely remained relevant after you left our classrooms. Our current moment clearly highlights the value of a Gender and Women’s Studies’ education.
This year, we had an amazing response to our Day of the Badger fundraising campaign. More than 80 people gave a little or a lot to support the department, its teachers, and its students. We are so grateful for these funds. They help us enrich our teaching, support our programming, and develop our research. Our sincere thanks to those that donated. Next year, we’re hoping to hear from 100 or more of you! (Please reach out if you can provide a challenge pledge to help inspire others to give.)
Another spring semester is in the books. I’ll be in touch in the fall.
Until then, On Wisconsin.
Judith Houck, GWS Chair