#300LaSalle: The Lasallian Women and Gender Resource Center
Throughout the year, the Manhattan College community will reflect on the meaning of the Lasallian tradition.
From Mission Month in April until the end of the Jubilee Year in November, members of the Manhattan College community will reflect on the meaning of the Lasallian tradition on campus.
Two of the five Lasallian pillars are respect for all people and inclusive community. The Lasallian Women and Gender Resource Center launched in the fall of 2018 with a commitment to offering resources, support, scholarship, and advocacy for students having experiences related to gender and sexuality. Priorities include sexual assault prevention and gender justice.
Alongside co-directors Jordan Pascoe, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy, and Roksana Badruddoja, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, Jo-Ann Mullooly ’16 serves as the graduate assistant of the Center. Mullooly was a Lasallian Volunteer for two years prior to returning to Riverdale to pursue her master’s degree in school counseling.
“The Center is a collaborative effort. We have two faculty co-directors and many faculty supporters serving as advisors. We’ve also partnered with different student groups on campus – the LBGTQ Student Group, Society of Women Engineers, Muslim Student Association, Dining for Women, Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience, Campus Ministry and Social Action, Lotus Magazine and the Multicultural Center. My greatest joy from the first year was witnessing how many students utilized the space and found a home within the Center.
We have plans to work closer to other offices on campus, particularly within the Student Life division. That way, we can all be on the same page on what it means to serve in an inclusive community and what it means to respect all people. Working collaboratively with different offices is going to make a greater impact for students and staff, present and future.
This is a student-run center. It came from the minds of students and is a real representation of what our student body looks like today. There’s nothing we do that wasn’t passed by a student or wasn’t an idea from a student. That means the Center is always going to be growing and transforming. The mission will always be at its core but the Center is going to look different five years from now, ten years from now.”