Faculty, staff, alumni, family and friends gathered together in Old Main Chapel on a snowy spring day to celebrate our graduates and recognize our scholarship and award winners. This year, we had 23 students graduate with a bachelor's degree in women and gender studies, 25 earn a minor, three receive the undergraduate certificate in women and gender studies, and six students complete the graduate certificate. Assistant professor Dr. Kristie Soares led this year's ceremony, which included a short speech by department chair Dr. Lorraine Bayard de Volo, and student speeches by Jamie Ramge, Jackson Reinagel and Casey McAndrew.
The ceremony was followed by a lively reception in the Heritage Center, giving faculty a chance to meet the proud friends and families of our graduates.
Congratulations to all of our graduates! We are proud of your accomplishments and look forward to see how you all change the world.

WGST Majors in the Cottage before Commencement

Completing the Major in
Women & Gender Studies:

Hannah Cates Bernick
Hannah is graduating with bachelor of arts degrees in both women and gender studies and economics, with an emphasis in public policy; as well as a minor in political science. She is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She would like to thank her parents for always prioritizing her education, her sister, Lucy, for keeping it real with her, and her roommates, Jamie and Maddie, for getting her through her senior year.

Katelin Bishop
Katelin has earned a degree in women and gender studies with a minor in media studies. She would like to thank her family and friends for always supporting her, as well as encouraging her to follow her dreams. Katelin would like to thank her family, most importantly, for continually telling her that “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Paul Budge
Paul is graduating today with dual degrees in both political science and women and gender studies. After graduation, he will be attending law school.

Giulia Ferrero
Giulia is graduating with majors in sociology, ethnic studies, and women and gender studies, as well as a minor in business and the global gender and sexuality studies certificate. She is a member of the Triota Honor Society, and made the Dean’s List in Fall ’16. She will be attending Columbia University in the fall to complete a master’s in advanced clinical social work. Giulia would like to thank her family and friends for their unconditional support, and thank the Department of Women and Gender Studies for providing a positive learning environment.

Lauren Gilfenbain
Lauren has earned a bachelor’s degree in women and gender studies, with minors in both sociology and ethnic studies, and the certificate in global gender and sexuality studies. After graduation, she plans to heal, and pursue a graduate or law degree in California. She would like to thank her family, friends, and the amazing professors in the women and gender studies, ethnic studies and sociology departments that have facilitated her learning and have allowed her to grow into the woman she is today.

Mallory Cole Hale
Mallory is graduating with degrees in women and gender studies, and International Affairs, summa cum laude, with minors in political science and Arabic. Mallory is a 2018 recipient of the Jacob Van Ek Award, and has recently been given the Chancellor’s Recognition Award for earning all A’s throughout their college career. They will be attending law school at the University of California-Berkeley as a Henderson Scholar within the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice. They would like to thank Shoshana Pollack, their parents, and their cat for endless emotional support; as well as the entire WGST department, especially Dr. Wyrod and Dr. Misri. 

Karina Hillman
Karina is graduating with a double major in political science and women and gender studies. She is a member of the Gender Justice League, an officer of the Hiking Club, and the leader of Buffs for Reproductive Rights, the Planned Parenthood Generation Action student group. After graduation, she will be working as a co-conspirator for Terra Incognita Media, a non-profit media company working to decolonize the outdoor industry. She would like to thank the Gender Justice League, Dr. Wyrod, and the women and gender studies faculty for redefining social responsibility both within and outside of the university. She would also like to thank her family and partner for their support.

Elizabeth Hope Leahey
Elizabeth has earned bachelor’s degrees in both sociology and women and gender studies, while maintaining a 3.7 cumulative GPA. After graduation, she will be working as a child visitation facilitator in Jefferson County, Colorado. She would like to thank her amazing family for supporting her in her dreams throughout her life and college career. She says she couldn’t have done it without the help of her Mom, Dad, John, Megan and Chris! She loves you and thanks you for all you have done for her.

Casey Elizabeth McAndrew
Casey is graduating with a degree in women and gender studies, and after graduation, she plans to change the world! She would like to thank her family, friends, her many therapists, and all the badass women and non-binary folks who inspire her every day.

Hayden Elise Morano
Hayden has completed degrees in both psychology and women and gender studies. She worked as a research assistant in the cognitive development center at CU �鶹ӰԺ. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in criminal psychology. She hopes to use what she has learned in her WGST courses and apply this to future education and any career opportunities to create more inclusive environments, and view the world through a critical intersectional lens. She would like to thank her friends and family for supporting her constant change of plans and constant lateness. She especially wants to thank her parents for their unwavering love and support regardless of what she does, her wife for life, Ellen Kate, and Dr. Harper for giving her endless opportunities.

Brit Nuckles
Brit is graduating with bachelor’s degrees in political science and women and gender studies. They are a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha. Brit is the recipient of the Jeffrey D. Stephens Memorial Scholarship in Arts and Sciences; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alumni Association scholarship; The Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Scholarship; and the Positive Futures Scholarship. They will be attending law school in the fall at American University in D.C.  Brit would especially like to thank their partner, Sara Khaleeq, their father, Steve, and his partner, Iva.

Silvia Marie Peckham
Silvia has earned her bachelor’s degree in women and gender studies, with a minor in Hindu and Urdu. Silvia is a United States Navy Veteran, has made the Arts & Sciences Dean’s List, and is involved in the Theatre & Dance department as a playwright, director, assistant dramaturg, crew, and performer. She plans to pursue a master’s in theatre and a graduate certificate in women and gender studies. She would like to thank the women & gender studies faculty and staff for all of their understanding, compassion and support.

Jamie Marion Ramge
Jamie has completed a double major in women and gender studies and communication. She is the two-time recipient of the Tyler J. Stevenson Memorial Scholarship; a recipient of the Academic Leadership Award in the College of Media, Communication and Information; and the founder of Ability Alliance, a club for students with disabilities. She would like to thank her mother, father, brothers, friends, and the classmates and teachers who have made her education about so much more than a degree.

Jackson Milo Reinagel
Jackson is graduating with a degree in women and gender studies, with certificates in LGBTQ studies, and peace and conflict studies. Jackson is a Van Ek Scholar, and the founder of Theta Pi Sigma’s Zeta chapter. He plans to continue his activism at CU while earning a master’s in media and public engagement. He would especially like to thank the incredible staff and faculty that make this department a home on campus.

Megan Saks
Megan is graduating today with a bachelor of arts degree in women and gender studies. While at CU, she has been recognized on the Arts & Sciences’ Dean's list every semester; and she has worked with the Brazen Project, advocating for abortion access and fighting stigma on campus. She plans to continue to cultivate a commitment to justice after graduation, and would like to thank her family, blood relatives and beyond, for their unfaltering love and support. She says she simply could not have done it without you all.

Effie Shannon
Effie is a women and gender studies major and a sociology minor. She is a member of the gender justice league and enjoys gardening in her free time. She plans on going to grad school for criminology so she can advocate for incarcerated people. She would like to thank her parents, Mark and Susan, and her cat Lucifer.

Alexa Sweet
Alexa has completed a double major in women and gender studies and psychology with a minor in education. Her plans include joining Teach for America, as she would like to be an elementary teacher in order to help and inspire kids, and make a difference in the education system. She wants to use the knowledge gained from WGST to create a more inclusive and welcoming classroom environment. She would like to thank her friends and family, especially her mom and grandma for supporting her with everything she has done up until now. She is excited for what is to come!

Alex Theisen
Alex is graduating with degrees in psychology and women and gender studies, as well as the certificate in LGBTQ studies. Alex has also been very helpful to the department, working with us as a student employee for the past two years. After graduation, they plan to become a therapist for LGBT families. Alex would like to thank Jade, Ash, their family, and their cats.

Also completing the Major in Women and Gender Studies:
Cora Kilgo
Emma Maeuser
Annie O'Brien
Suzannah Ranzo
Olivia Schmich

Congratulations Women and Gender Studies Class of 2019!

Commencement Photo & Video Gallery

WGST Commencement attendees, in the Cottage before the ceremony

Watch now: WGST Commencement

Watch now: Student Commencement Speeches

WGST Faculty in attendance

A snowy processional walk to Old Main

Dr. Soares and Dr. Bayard de Volo lead the procession to Old Main

Graduates express themselves through their caps

WGST Majors waiting to line up

Jamie Ramge delivered a moving speech

Jackson Reinagel's speech included an invitation to his 'Knowledge is Power' workshop

Casey McAndrew giving her student commencement speech

The audience at Old Main

Majors lining up to receive their degrees

Students and family prepare for the moving of the tassels

Graduates move their tassels from right to left

WGST Minors in attendance

Completing the Minor in
Women & Gender Studies:

Rebecca Brownsword
Rebecca is graduating with a degree in political science and a minor in women and gender studies. She has worked at a hotline crisis call center, Moving to End Sexual Assault. She would like to thank her family for coming all the way to Colorado on this snowy day.

Channing Wynne Iannotti
Channing is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a minor in women and gender studies, and a certificate in LGBTQ Studies. They served as the vice president of new membership education for Theta Pi Sigma, and were a member of the Gender Justice League. Channing would like to thank their dog, their mother for getting them their dog, and all the dogs on campus for being there when they couldn’t see their dog.

Breana Halimé McCullough
Breana has completed a bachelor of music degree in music performance, and a minor in women and gender studies. She received a full-ride to CU �鶹ӰԺ and participated in numerous benefit events. Breana will be attending graduate school at the Jacobs School of Music and Indiana University. She would especially like to thank Erika Eckert, and the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.

Meredith Nass
Meredith has earned a bachelor degree in ethnic studies, a minor in women and gender studies, and a certificate in leadership studies from INVST (invest). She was nominated valedictorian for ethnic studies, and has been on the Dean’s list all four years. She plans to pursue a master’s in education in a combined program with ethnic studies at CU �鶹ӰԺ, and hopes to continue working for justice wherever she finds herself. She would like to thank all of her professors, mentors, friends and family for their love and endless support.

Madeleine Ruth Seltzer
Madeleine is graduating with a degree in English Literature and a minor in women and gender studies. Her fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry have been widely published. She worked as the gender and ethnic studies editor for the CU Honor’s Journal, and as an intern for Senator Brittany Pettersen. She is the recipient of several scholarships, including the Rising Star Award, given by the Colorado Community College system. She would like to thank Front Range Community College for getting her here today, and her mentors Mary Ann Grim, Catlyn Keenan, and Sarah Schantz for believing in her and her capabilities. She would also like to thank WGST staff Alicia Turchette and Valerie Bhat for bringing her into the cottage and providing a safe space for her on campus. She is forever thankful for her family, for her mom and dad for endlessly supporting her, and for her partner Robben, who has always been kind and by her side.

Also completing the Minor in Women and Gender Studies:

Completing the Undergraduate Certificate in Global Gender & Sexuality Studies:

Bonnie Evans
Giulia Ferrero
Lauren Gilfenbain

Completing the
Graduate Certificate in
Women & Gender Studies:

Jasmine Baetz
Jasmine is graduating with a master’s of fine arts in ceramics and a graduate certificate in women and gender studies, having completed her thesis entitled “Clay and Precarity.” She notes that her work within women and gender studies has helped her to dissect and reconstitute her own art practice.

Allison L. Glover, PhD
Allison has completed the graduate certificate in women and gender studies, and her PhD in Latin American Literature in the department of Spanish and Portuguese, with her dissertation, “Mediating the intersections: feminisms, queer theories and testimonial literary production about women in central America, 1977-1987”

Laura Malpass
Laura has earned the graduate certificate in women and gender studies and a master's of fine art in dance, with the completion of her thesis, "slippage: an interrogation of myth and memory through movement.” Laura notes that, combined with her secondary emphasis in somatics, her work for thw WGST graduate certificate has highly influenced her pedagogy, through which she strives to create a liberated learning environment in the ballet studio and lecture classes. "My research seeks to empower students to find their voice, better understand their physicality, and approach dance learning with curiosity in a safe, supportive environment rather than simply end-gaining to create the 'perfect' picture at the expense of mental and physical health."

Meryleen Mena, PhD
Meryleen earned her doctoral degree in socio-cultural anthropology with her dissertation, “Women detained: Justice and Institutional violence in Sao Paulo’s Criminal Justice System”, which was awarded the Best Dissertation in the Social Sciences by the Brazil section of the Latin American Studies Association. She notes that the graduate certificate in women and gender studies was a major contribution to her scholarship and ethnographic fieldwork, especially Dr. Misri’s courses, which provided her with the theoretical and practical tools to carry out her research; Dr. Bayard de Volo’s guidance and support, and for emphasizing that the emotions you experience during fieldwork and post-fieldwork are all part of the process.

Rebecca Rice, PhD
Rebecca has completed the WGST Graduate Certificate while earning her PhD in Communication Studies, with her dissertation "Collaborative Organizing for all Hazards: Translation of Security in Local Emergency Management." She is especially interested in how organizations are gendered in their structures, routines, and hierarchies, and notes that the WGST certificate has helped her to explore security organizations as a (typically) culturally masculine space. After graduation she will begin in her new position as an assistant professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

"The WGST Graduate Certificate was a major contribution to my scholarship! For my ethnographic fieldwork (2015-2017), I studied the experience of women and gender non-conforming individuals (GNCIs) in the criminal justice system in São Paulo, Brazil through an interdisciplinary approach, building on literatures from anthropology, women and gender studies, and prison studies in the U.S. and in Brazil. Taking Dr. Deepti Misri's courses Feminist Theories and Gender, Violence, and Representation provided me with the theoretical and practical tools to carry out this type of research. Additionally, Dr. Bayard de Volo's guidance in feminist methodologies gave me with the research tools I needed to conduct multi-sited research with a range of interlocutors across distinct and intersecting, political, gender, race, and class identities. Especially, as I wrote the dissertation, I would often return to what Dr. Bayard de Volo had stressed--the significance of my subject position, the type of knowledge I brought to issues of gendered violence in a context like Brazil, and that the emotions I'd experience during fieldwork and post-fieldwork were all part of the process of knowledge production and not a hindrance as I had initially interpreted. I am also superbly grateful to my committee members Dr. Bayard de Volo and Dr. Robert Buffington, the care and respect they showed my scholarship and the insightful critiques I received to improve my dissertation's arguments. I was recently awarded "Best Dissertation in the Social Sciences" by the Brazil section of the Latin American Studies Association. I know I could not have done it with out my WGST Graduate Certificate." - Dr. Meryleen Mena

WGST Graduate Certificate recipients
Jasmine Baetz and Dr. Meryleen Mena

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The Department of Women and Gender Studies is proud to offer several scholarships and award recognitions to our students each year. The students were honored at our annual Commencement ceremony in Old Main on Thursday, May 9th.

2019 Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Scholarship:
Madison Rose Boreman

Madison is a double-major in women and gender studies and psychology, and is active with Black Women’s Alliance, volunteer work, and is a 3-time dean’s list honoree.  As a student-athlete on the �鶹ӰԺ’s Cross Country team, Madison grappled with a difficult decision: whether or not to take a knee during the national anthem of an NCAA championship race, during a wave of such protests sparked by Colin Kaepernick’s action. In her application, Madison writes “I knew that I would be alone in my vulnerable kneeling position, but I also knew what I could be representing and participating in: a large social activist movement in efforts to aid minorities in society.” She did decide to take a knee, and found support from her teammates and competitors alike. “I like to think that my seemingly small action of kneeling impacted the movement it represented even in the smallest way, but if not, it impacted a smaller group: of me and other black women who also stood on the line before the race.”

Madison Rose Boreman

2019 Jean Dubofsky Scholarship:
Rebekah Kenitzer

Rebekah is a women and gender studies major, with a minor is sociology. She was on the dean’s list last fall, and is working toward a career in policy making, the non-profit arena, and public health.  She is proudly involved in philanthropic efforts as a member of Alpha Chi Omega and has volunteered at the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN), leading fundraising events there. She has also worked as an intern at Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA), working on the hotline to assist survivors of domestic/sexual violence, and with social media outreach. Through her experiences so far, Rebekah notes that she has learned the importance of social justice organizations continually looking to increase inclusivity, to bring attention to disregarded groups and to embrace differences. The committee could think of no better candidate for the Dubofsky Scholarship.

2019 Andermarch Cicogna Scholarship:
Jessica Marie Chavez

Jessica is a junior majoring in women and gender studies, and is a student in the INVST Community Studies program. She was chosen for this award for both her strong academic performance, and her commitment to social justice.

Jessica is currently involved in Transformative Teach, an organization that takes a curriculum-based approach to prevent the perpetuation of the School to Prison Pipeline. As Jessica describes, “My team and I are targeting future teachers enrolled in teacher licensure programs to present them with history, local examples, and their stake in this issue. This is important to me because I believe all children deserve a fair chance in this world like their mothers and fathers and ancestors did not get. It is important to address the root causes of this problem rather than the symptoms.”

The award recognizes students who share the same spirit of compassion, understanding, social justice, and academic pursuit as the two women for whom the award is named, Renata Andermarch and Patricia Cicogna.

2019 Joanne Easley Arnold Outstanding Senior Award:
Karina Hillman

Karina Hillman

Karina has completed degrees in both women and gender studies and political science. Our faculty chose Karina for this award for truly exemplifying inclusive, conscientious, and intersectional feminist leadership. As our students know, leadership takes many forms beyond traditional and hegemonic models. While traditional models may look for the loud booming voice dominating the masses, other models are quieter and more subtle, leading more by example and service. For several years, Karina has been part of a small group of students dedicated to confronting gender and sexual discrimination on our campus and in our country. This is a passionate group and she has played a pivotal role in making the Gender Justice League both a vanguard of activism and a much-needed space of mutual support. Again and again, she exhibited poise and compassion as a leader, listening empathetically to the views of other members to find shared goals and commitments. Equally impressive, Karina provided this leadership in an understated way while never diluting her own principles or beliefs. Beyond her work in the Gender Justice League, she is also a leader on campus in bringing a critical feminist perspective to environmental issues, including outdoor sports.

TheJoanne Easley Arnold Outstanding Senior Award is named in honor of a professor emerita of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the �鶹ӰԺ, for her long-term support of Women and Gender Studies. Chosen by the women and gender studies faculty, it is given annually to a graduating student to recognize them for outstanding leadership, service, and commitment to women and gender studies.

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2019 Women & Gender Studies Excellence in Inclusion Award:
Haley Takahashi

Haley is a senior graduating with a BFA in art practices, and is awarded the Women and Gender Studies Excellence in Inclusion Award for their art piece: “This Land is Soaked in Blood." Haley’s piece, pictured below, is a stunning, ceiling-height Japanese Kimono covered in blood-red replicas of the 1942 U.S. government order mandating that all persons of Japanese ancestry report to internment camps. In their artist’s statement, Haley notes that this issue is quite personal to them, as their own grandmother was sent to an internment camp. Haley reminds us that the “history of violence, prejudice, racism, and horror permeate the identity of many Japanese Americans.” The faculty were very impressed with Haley’s artwork and with the powerful statement that it makes about both historical and contemporary issues of racial profiling.

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This Land is Soaked in Blood

Silkscreen, Unbleached muslin, red dye, netting, red embroidery thread
2019
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