Dr. Deirdre Almeida and Dr. Judy Rohrer’s commentary, “EWU’s future: Will the new president restore the diversity programs that were once a vibrant calling cared of the university?” was published in the Inlander today.

KXLY’s Peter Choi recently reported on the “Hidden in Plain Sight” exhibit.

Here is our collection of Annual Reports from 2018 to 2021.

In the recent article, published in the Journal of Gender Studies, Dr. Rohrer exposes the ways in which the bankrupt Boy Scouts of American “has been broadly bankrupt from the beginning.”

In this piece, our director, Dr. Judy Rohrer, reminds us “we would do well now to slow down, take stock of the luggage we are carrying and the carcasses we are still dragging.”

Cover image by: NurseTogether, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

We are always proud of all of our faculty, students and staff. This year, we are thrilled that so many of them have been recognized for their incredible work.

Dr. Jessi Willis won the College of Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award for their enthusiasm and innovation in the teaching and/or learning process, their ability to engage students both within and outside the classroom, the way they inspire independent and original thinking in students and stimulate them to do social, political, and professional work, and their innovations in course and curriculum design.

Dr. Judy Rohrer won the College of Social Sciences Scholarship & Creative Activities Excellence Award for her superlative professional, scholarly, and/or creative activity engagement with her discipline or field, a major or significant publication, scholarship of engagement, or formal presentation in the her field, and external funding recognizing her current or potential contribution to her field as well as her contributions to conversations within and across disciplines.

Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies major, Sam Lee, was selected to receive the Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship from the College of Social Sciences in the amount of $1,250.

Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies graduating senior, Danica Jenck, won the Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences.

Graduating senior, Shilo Stuart, won the Dean Jeffers W. Chertok Honored Student Award for the College of Social Sciences, Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies.

Frances Grace Mortel won two Student Leadership Excellence Awards. Frances was selected as the Social Justice Advocate of the Year and was part of the EWU Film Society team that won the Event of the Year for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Cinema Screenings of Minari & Kapaemahu. Frances is a Women’s and Gender Education Center work study student.

Our Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies director, Judy Rohrer, PhD encourages white people “to stop, to really listen, to not turn away, to directly confront the violence and trauma of White supremacy” in this recent article published in the Inlander.

An Innovative Collaboration

Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) and the Women’s and Gender Education (WAGE) Center were pleased to collaborate with Visual Communication Design faculty Sonja Durr, MFA to host the Black Lives and Movements Matter: Black History Month graphic design contest in her Visual Communication Design 3 – Design for Social Change students. The amazing results were featured on our social media throughout February and the four winning posters will be displayed in the WAGE Center. First, second, and third prizes were awarded.

Submitted content reflected the values and principles of Black activist movements and highlighted inclusiveness and the celebration of Black life. Social media images and posters featured issues related to various diverse Black communities and movements. Students were able to choose historical or contemporary issues and/or leaders. Unique submissions that considered the intersectionality of identities and oppressions were encouraged.

First Place

Mary Hoerner’s Claudette Colvin social media images:

Mary Hoerner’s Claudette Colvin poster:

Second Place

Sela Tran’s George Floyd, Alberta Odell Jones, and Emmett Till social media images:

Sela Tran’s Trayvon Martin poster:

Third Place (Tie)

Cameron Todd’s W.E.B. DuBois social media images:

Cameron Todd’s W.E.B. DuBois poster:

Savannah Johnson’s Black Voices Matter social media images:

Savannah Johnson’s Black Voices Matter poster:

Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to every student who submitted their work! Winning students will receive gift cards to local vendors.

The Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies Program and the Women’s and Gender Education Center are the lead organizers of the Activist In Residence (AIR) program on the EWU campus.

For an eighth year, AIR will bring an activist to campus to work with EWU students, staff, faculty, and community members during winter quarter of 2021.

Meet the 2021 Activist In Residence

Jac Archer (they/them/theirs) is an activist in the Inland Northwest. Jac moved to the Spokane area in 2013 where they work as an activist, community organizer, and educator in the fields of diversity, equity, civic engagement, and sexuality. Jac has delivered lectures and training workshops throughout the community, including Whitworth University, and has previously served on panels at Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga. 

While earning their bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University, Jac served on the Multicultural Coalition from 2015-2017, where they represented the Black Student Union and Scary Feminist Club. Jac currently serves on the Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) Steering Committee, the Peace and Justice Action League (PJALS) board, Spokane Human Rights Commission (SHRC), and the Washington State LGBTQ Commission. 

Jac has a passion for organizing, institutional policy, and making difficult concepts easily accessible. They also enjoy writing, singing, performance, and podcasts.

All workshops and panels are on Wednesdays from 3:30 -5 p.m. PST

Free and Open to the Public

Virtual Attendance via Zoom

View Poster

One registration will cover all Activist in Residence events you attend virtually. Those who attend four or more workshops/panels will receive an Activist in Residence certificate.

All workshops are highly participatory and interactive, with an emphasis on active practice and story sharing.

Jan. 20

The Activism Ecosystem: Defining the Terrain of the Fight

What is activism? What makes an activist, and who is doing activism in Spokane? Learn about Spokane’s activist ecosystem, and hear from local Black leaders doing key work in the electoral sphere.

Jan. 27

Noticing Work: Finding Your Place in the Activist Ecosystem

Learn tools to discover what activist work is already being done in your community, and how to find your place in it. Add skills to your activist toolbox that will improve your approach to community work, no matter your job or professional focus.

Feb. 3

Black Activism: Our Local Ecosystem

Activism isn’t just signing petitions or holding signs in the street, but includes a broad variety of tactics and experiences for every type of movement-maker. Hear from local Black leaders who each take a slightly different approach to making change in Spokane.

Feb. 10

Planning the Fight: The Basics of an Activist Campaign

Check out the big picture and discover how petitions and protest actions in the street relate to long term change in communities and government. Explore the basics of campaign planning, what it is, and how to do it.

Feb. 17

Zooming In: Exploring Activist Campaigns in Spokane

Learn about activist campaigns in Spokane, and hear from members of the Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) steering committee as they discuss the tactics they’ve used individually and as a group to affect local policy.

Feb. 24

Campaign Tactics: How to Plan an Action

Every campaign is made up of actions. Discover the strategy, planning, and detail behind the most visible part of activism, and learn how to plan an action for yourself.

Katie Horvath, the executive director of the Spectrum LGBTQ+ Center, Judy Rohrer, the director of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies at EWU, and Naghmana Sherazi, a board member of the Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane worked together on this Guest Opinion for the Spokesman-Review.

They remind readers that 52 community partners in and around Spokane recently set priorities around post-election outcomes: “community safety; planning a coordinated post-election response, and setting the tone by developing a simple 5-point message: We reject white nationalism. We choose and will protect inclusive democracy. We keep each other safe.  We will do our part to ensure everyone’s vote is counted. We demand the results be respected.”