Letter to the Editor: Thanks to those who helped colloquium succeed

To the Rider News:
On behalf of the Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) program, I wish to thank The Rider News staff, especially Tara DeLorenzo, Gianluca D’Elia and Thomas Albano, for your coverage preceding and following our 33rd Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) Colloquium featuring Jazmine Fenlator, ’07, and three student panels demonstrating the impact of cultural perceptions about gender and sexuality.
Student presenters included Gerald DeMattia, Caroline Forde, Petra Gaskins, Peri Himsel, Haley Johnston, Kelsey Mahon, Jonathan Murphy, Breanne Needles, Samantha Traina and Nasser Sayer. Faculty panel chairs included Dr. Laurel Harris, Dr. Allison Weidhaas and Dr. Daria Cohen; Ms. Deborah Cordonnier introduced Fenlator. Forde, Himsel and Murphy were selected to present their papers again at the 11th annual New Jersey Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Colloquium (NJWGSC), also held at Rider, on March 27. Himsel won first prize at the NJWGSC event for her paper, “No Longer the Cleavers: A History of Gay and Lesbian Families from Post World War II to 2014.”
Nikita Mycyck received the Virginia Cyrus scholarship recognizing her potential for changing the lives of girls and women. Dr. Nowell Marshall, assistant professor of English, received the Ziegler-Gee Award in recognition of his exemplary work for gender and sexuality equality.
We were pleased that Fenlator received a Medal of Excellence at our colloquium, presented by Provost DonnaJean Fredeen and Athletic Director Don Harnum. And thank you also to our numerous co-sponsors: Athletics (Harnum), Development (Pamela Mingle), Multicultural Studies (Dr. Bosah Ebo) and Business of Sports (Dr. Chuck McCall). It was really wonderful to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Rider’s GSS program with the support of our campus community.

-Dr. Mary Morse
Director, GSS Program, and Associate Professor of English

Printed in the 04/08/15 issue.