Compass Gender: Georgetown’s Women’s Studies Inches Toward Department Status

Housed in Georgetown’s Bunn Intercultural Center, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program may gain full department status. (Wikimedia Commons)

After years of student advocacy, Georgetown University’s Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST) Program appears closer to becoming a full-fledged department. In a statement issued by university President John Degioia on February 28 in response to a sit-in organized by Georgetown’s Black Survivors Coalition, the administration pledged to hire a tenured faculty member and move forward in considering departmental status. 

Originally founded as the Minor in Women’s Studies in 1987, the WGST Program has increased in size, scope, and popularity over the past several decades. In 1992, a major became available within the College’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program, and a freestanding major followed in 2006. A certificate in Women’s Studies opened to SFS students in 2000, further expanding the program’s reach. WGST faculty have reported high enrollment and positive feedback from students. However, obstacles to deeper student and faculty participation arise from the program’s structure.

The program contains twelve faculty members, none of whom are tenured or tenure-track, and only two of whom are full-time. The rest, as adjuncts and part-time lecturers, contend with lower pay and a lack of job security, with many taking on multiple jobs. Students struggle to find long-term mentorship, while the professors themselves face large workloads and burnout. Dr. Bonnie J. Morris, who taught in the program for 21 years, resigned in 2017 due to financial difficulties. In an op-ed for the Hoya, she wrote, “The moral dilemma is that in the underfunded area of women’s studies, I teach the history of equal pay for equal work, while not receiving it myself.”

Student advocacy for departmental status took off in 2017 when WGST student Sierra Campbell (COL ‘18) submitted a proposal to the College Dean’s Office calling for the creation of tenure-track positions and a graduate program. Though the response from the administration, according to Campbell, was positive, financing the changes presented problems. A March 2019 petition advocating for a full-fledged department signed by over 270 students revived the issue. 

On January 27, the Black Survivors Coalition submitted a list of demands to Degioia’s office, calling for more resources and support from the university for black survivors of sexual assault. Among their demands was the establishment of a WGST Department, as well as a mandatory WGST course addressing consent and sexual assault prevention. When university officials failed to publicly respond or substantively address their demands, the coalition organized a sit-in outside of Degioia’s office at the end of February.

Degioia sent out a framework on February 28 laying out the university’s response to the coalition’s demands. The framework announced that the university is currently in the process of hiring a tenured leader for the program, and that establishing a department can be considered once eight tenure-track faculty members agree to join the program. 

While the commitments fail to guarantee a full-fledged department, the promise of a tenured faculty member and active consideration on the part of the university nonetheless represent a significant step in what has otherwise been a fruitless campaign.