It’s a hybrid resource space that supports and leads the entire Marquette community in addressing issues of sexual violence, climate for persons identifying as LGBTQ, and healthy sexual behavior, both on campus and in the larger community. Based in the Office of the Provost, it’s an academic center, but it also provides consulting and resources for students and for staff who work with students. As a Center with a home base in the Union, it provides safe space, community, and resources for people interested in gender and sexuality.

Since the Center GSRC is brand new, we’re looking for ways to get students, faculty and staff involved from the ground up in setting the GSRC’s priorities. In 2012-2013, there’s a list of projects that will get the Center moving in the right direction.

1. Infrastructure: – The new director, Dr. Susannah Bartlow, is working to hire a Program Assistant and (later) student workers, develop an Advisory Board, and get some more couches and resources in the GSRC’s physical space so it feels comfortable. Dr. Bartlow and other colleagues will also be doing some needs assessment to find out what Marquette needs and prioritizes for the Center now that it’s here.
   
2. Academic Resources: – The Faculty Fellows program provides course release for two faculty members each year to pursue projects in gender and sexuality work. Theresa Tobin, of the Department of Philosophy, is using the GSRC as the home base for a community engagement final project for her fall 2012 Feminist Philosophy course. Dr. Tobin is also working on a project on spiritual violence. Steven Franzoi, of the Department of Psychology, is the spring 2013 fellow. The Center will also host faculty research presentations from Marquette faculty who received summer scholarships from the Center budget.
   
3. Student Affairs partnerships: – Part of the mission of the GSRC is to support and extend resources on gender, sex and sexuality. Most of these resources exist within Student Affairs, so the GSRC will be getting to know the resources and providing additional support and enhancement for events like National Coming Out Day, Sexual Violence Awareness Week, and the campus SMART team.

In AMU 425—take the elevators to the fourth floor and walk to the left.

The Center provides resources and space for everyone interested in gender and sexuality, whether it’s faculty seeking consultation for course development, LGBT students seeking a safe space, allies curious about how to help, or women and men looking for resources on pay equity.

The Catholic Church and the Jesuit Order have for many years called for and worked to promote dignity and justice on issues within the GSRC’s mandate. At Marquette University specifically, the Marquette Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity clearly articulates a commitment to caring deeply for all members of the community, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The values expressed in the GSRC – cura personalis, sex and gender egalitarianism, inclusivity, celebration of diversity, social justice, and a climate of mutual respect — define the Catholic and Jesuit nature of our institutional identity.

The GSRC is the focal point and the central support for those working to embrace and advocate for social justice regarding sex, gender, and sexuality – in our relations with one another, in the classroom and out, and as a basic goal of our educational and intellectual work. As such it contributes to positive change not only on campus but in Marquette’s larger community, locally and across the globe.