External Validation as a Woman of Color

By Carrington Cline Positionality Statement: This post is written by Carrington Cline, a junior and student staff intern at the Women’s Center. This blog post articulates my encounters with the media’s portrayals of Black women, as it relates to the internal and external pressures that pushed me towards an unwavering focus on academic and career…

Reflection: A Form of Action

By Abby Claytor Our progress will depend on strong foundational concepts grounded in being self-reflective, deliberate, and evaluative. Taking time to develop and strengthen our foundations—individually and institutionally—is essential, no matter how progressive or rudimentary we may be in our thinking and actions. Jane Larsson, Executive Director, CIS What started as a quest for me…

Navigating my Identity as a Pakistani-American

By Tanzila Malik Growing up as a second-generation Pakistani-American, I never had a strong connection to my culture. My dad’s family immigrated to Nebraska from Pakistan in the early 1970s when he was just a year old. My mom lived in Pakistan until the age of eight. Then she moved to England, and then later…

Cancel Culture Anxiety

By Ash Acuña When I first joined the team at the Women’s Center, one of the very first things we covered were Brave Space guidelines. The three core tenets of Brave Spaces—challenge yourself, respect others, cultivate community—invite curiosity, learning, and safety to improve. Brave Spaces, at times, feel like a replacement for what educational spaces…

Microaggressions: an attack on belonging and identity 

Image description: shows student, Jane, smiling in front of a UMBC building Positionality Statement: This post is written by Jane DeHitta, an adult learner in her final year at UMBC, who works as a student staff and social work intern at the Women’s Center. I am a first generation Filipino-American student who seeks to be…

A Reading Opportunity

Content Note: This post is authored by Jess, the director of the Women's Center. I am a white cisgender queer woman. This post is a reflection about my reading list which is informed by my race, gender, and sexual orientation. Upon reading this, the reading opportunity that presents itself to you may look differently than…

A Mother’s Day Shout Out (Plus Some Action Items)

This post was written by Women's Center director, Jess Myers as a tribute to our UMBC moms. Special thanks to the moms who provided photos to help curate our Women's Center moms collage. Wishing happy thoughts to all our UMBC moms in your first and hopefully last quarantined Mother's Day!  Self-Care Content Note: There’s lots…

Trans Women in Women’s Spaces: A Reflection on the Transition of Privilege and Belonging

Autumn is a junior Meyerhoff Scholar (M29), pursuing a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Gender, Women and  Sexuality Studies dual degree, and currently a student intern at the Women’s Center. Content Note: The content of this blog may be triggering. Topics addressed by this blog include transphobia, menstruation, pregnancy, dysphoria, and gender-confirmation surgery.…

Introducing… Bri Gumbs, Program Coordinator!

The Women's Center is pleased to introduce Bri Gumbs, pronouns she/her/hers, as our full-time program coordinator and the newest addition to the Women's Center professional staff team! Please help us give the warmest of UMBC welcomes to Bri! Below is a short bio so you can learn a little bit about the newest member of…

Our 2019-2020 Staff!

As we enter into the 2019-2020 school year, we are excited to introduce you to the brilliant, creative, and driven UMBC students working in the Women’s Center! Please take a minute or two to read through some short bios below, and hopefully, you’ll be able to meet and make friends with each one of these…