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The LGBTQIA+ Community

Research tool for using the Lewis University Library materials and resources to their fullest potential in regard to the LGBTQIA+ community

The Women's and Gender Studies Program

Discover How Cultural Norms and Expectations Influence the People We Become

In this interdisciplinary minor, students and faculty explore topics that concern women and gender through a social justice lens.  Students and faculty explore both theoretical and practical aspects of the field of women’s and gender studies including the ways in which ideas about women and gender have shaped public policy, civil rights, health care, religion, education, and the law as well as the gendered portrayal of persons in art, literature, music, and the popular media. Courses focus on understanding and challenging how mainstream ideas of women and gender affect our everyday lives in intersection with other identity categories such as ability, age, ethnicity, race, religion, sexuality and social class.


WHY WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES?

  • Interdisciplinary by nature
  • Intellectually engaging minor
  • Characterized by strong commitment to critical thinking
  • Opportunities for student-faculty exchange and collaboration
  • Great career differentiator
  • Small class sizes allowing for productive dialogue to explore challenging issues
  • Inquiry-based authentic assignments

- Taken from the Degree Program's webpage, HERE


Admission Requirements

Please refer to the Office of Admissions for application requirements and specific next steps.

For more information contact the Office of Admission at admission@lewisu.edu or call (815) 836-5250.

Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In alignment with our Catholic identity and Lasallian heritage, diversity and inclusion are key to the Lewis University foundation. In the spirit of association and justice, two of Lewis’s five distinctive values, we are required and/or called to recognize and live out our institutional mission and commitment to diversity and inclusion as coexisting entities.

As a member of the Lewis University leadership team, collaborating with our stakeholders including the community is what makes the goal of being a welcoming and inclusive educational environment possible. Our collaborative efforts, both internal and external, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in ways that aim to be transformative – inclusive excellence.

We celebrate diversity (i.e. culture, ethnicity, gender identity, intellectual ability, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and theological perspective) and seek to be inclusive by learning from and deep listening to students, faculty, and staff of our campus community.

-Taken from the Office's Webpage: HERE

Their webpage provides connections to other campus departments, offices, and programs pertaining to many aspects of diversity, not only the gender and sexuality components.

The Diversity Engagement Committee

Office of Mission & Identity's Diversity Engagement Committee

Described best in its own words from their webpage (HERE):

"The Diversity Engagement Committee (DEC) seeks to further strengthen and advance Lewis University’s ongoing efforts to embrace and affirm the equal dignity of every person in the spirit of our Catholic and Lasallian Mission. The work of the Diversity Engagement Committee contributes to the University’s efforts to prepare students for a pluralistic world by offering resources and experiences which contribute to their appreciation and understanding of the diversity of the human experience."

Feel free to reach out with questions about how the University's Catholic and Lasallian identity actually demand our community include and value the LGBTQIA+ members of our Lewis body.

Office of Multicultural Student Enrichment

-Taken from their webpage, HERE:

The Office for Student Engagement and Multicultural Student Enrichment (SEMSE), in support of University Mission values, empowers students through campus education on issues of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status, religion, and their intersections through advocacy, academic and social enrichment, leadership, and community engagement.

Diverse, Inclusive, Accepting, Welcoming, Safe Space for Everyone

The multicultural programming at Lewis is one of the many ways the University reflects its understanding, appreciation, and celebration of diversity. Our staff collaborates with the campus community to provide programs and services that develop cultural competence in the areas of experiential learning, culture, and social growth for all of the University’s students.

The office of SEMSE supports the needs of diverse populations and seeks to promote inclusive spaces.

Lewis University is a Santified Zone

-Taken from their webpage, HERE:

Lewis University: A Sanctified Zone

Guided by its Catholic identity and Lasallian heritage, Lewis University is firmly committed to fostering a campus atmosphere that is permeated by its Mission-based values of Fidelity, Wisdom, Knowledge, Justice and Association. We treasure each member of our community as made in the image and likeness of God, as a person of innate dignity, and as a profound gift. As such, we seek to be a place and a people United in Diversity. Accordingly, we have declared Lewis University a Sanctified Zone.

As a Sanctified Zone, we seek to acknowledge, value, and celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion at Lewis University in all our programs, classrooms, experiential learning settings, and virtual spaces:

  • by hearing each person’s unique stories;
  • by accepting each other as individuals and as members of communities;
  • by challenging our unexamined assumptions to help us unmask personal, cultural, religious, racial, and systemic stigmatization and discrimination based on gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, and individuals with diverse abilities;
  • by recognizing that prejudice, ignorance and stereotypes create and sustain privilege and preference for some while marginalizing and oppressing others;
  • by educating lifelong learners who will be bridge builders and change agents in our communities, locally, nationally, and internationally by fostering a sense of belonging and by extending radical hospitality to all;
  • and by becoming people who are more compassionate, welcoming, hospitable and committed to justice, healing, and peace.

The active promotion of diversity and the opposition to all forms of hate, prejudice and bias are a powerful and healing expression of our desire to be “Signs of Faith” (Signum Fidei) to our students and each other.

Once on their webpage, find the contacts and feel free to reach out with questions about how these initiatives support the LGBTQIA+ community!

The Gender Sexuality Alliance Student Organization

-Taken from their webpage on our Lewis University site, HERE:

The Lewis University Gender Sexuality Alliance formerly known as Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) was founded in the Spring of 2007, brings together both queer youth and straight allies to:

  • Raise awareness of different sexual and gender identities, linking homophobia with other oppressions, and advocating for equal treatment for youth of all sexual orientations.
     
  • Educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues.
     
  • Create a fun, safe environment in which students form friendships, support each other and learn about preventing homophobia and other oppressions.

The Student Organization uses this Instagram account to promote its events around campus.