Among the many programs potentially on the chopping block at EWU is a foundational diversity degree, the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) major. As one of the main centers of interdisciplinary studies, it would be a significant loss.
The field of study was created in the 1970s and discusses inequity, privilege and power dynamics in society and government from the perspective of underrepresented genders, races, and sexualities. The program aims to address perspectives and stories that are left out of traditional education and investigate how power structures sideline them.
“That doesn’t fall neatly into a science class or a literature or history class,” said Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown at a February event promoting the program. “It is that essential interdisciplinarity that is really critical, particularly for people at a stage in their life where they might not have picked out what that path is for you, so having that larger exposure is really significant”
GWSS had invited Brown to speak because the mayor has a history with the program. She served as the interim director of the Women’s and Gender Education Center — a program affiliated with GWSS, located in Monroe Hall, at Eastern in 1983. Brown said the university and the region wouldn’t be what they are without the program.
“That legacy of that energy and activity that came about because of the faculty and the students and the program coordinators has energized and informed our region and has helped make it what it is, and it needs to continue to shape and inform our region.” Brown said.
The potential discontinuation of the major comes from budgetary restraints, reallocation of resources and a low number of graduates.
One way they are shrinking the program is known as “de-crosslisting,” a process where courses that were once delivered in partnership with other departments, such as psychology, are limited to GWSS.
Jessi Willis, who is running the program in an interim capacity after former GWSS Chair Judy Rohrer resigned last year, sees the cut as part of a larger effort at EWU to sideline programs that are not perceived as lucrative.
“While I am not surprised, I am seriously disappointed because I think there is an opportunity for the university to see that sometimes what isn’t immediately profitable or visible in numbers has more long-term growth,” said Willis, who is a senior lecturer for the program. “It’s about the kind of skills that students develop and take with them into their immediate lives.”
On keeping programs like GWSS in higher education, Brown said advocacy is key to success in any field in higher education.
“In the last 10 years, I have felt that we cannot ever take for granted any gains in injustice or equality that have been won,” Brown said. “They can be rolled back. They can be reversed. They can be challenged. We absolutely have to keep these spaces and programs that create that ability to communicate, to learn, to explore and to advocate. Advocacy is important in higher education, and spaces like this dedicated to free speech, expression and free exploration is important. We need to keep them moving forward.”
Currently, the program’s fate is undetermined. While the university plans to allow funding for the minor, the major is still undecided. EWU’s Board of Trustees will meet in May and will most likely make its decision on whether to cut GWSS bachelor degree along with 11 other programs.
