Search for Dir. of Gender Equity begins

The Office of Student Life has created the position of Director of Gender Equity in an effort to more fully address the needs and concerns of both female and male students.

Additionally, the office will appoint two case managers in order to serve as a resource for students who experience crises, such as deaths in their families.

“It is a priority to enhance the student experience and to ensure that we have the right staff in place in order to achieve our goals,” Dean of Student Life Terry Martinez, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.

According to Martinez, the idea of hiring a Director of Gender Equity developed from the long-standing discussion on the potential creation of a women’s center on campus.

“There has been a conversation at JHU about a women’s center for nearly 20 years. The Director of Gender Equity will oversee programming and services similar to those offered at women’s centers at other universities,” Martinez wrote.

Demere Woolway, the director of LGBTQ Life, worked with the Office of Student Life to develop the new positions and stressed that the Director of Gender Equity will not only focus on issues relating to women, but also to men and to gender as a whole.

“We’re basically asking this person to look beyond women to thinking more broadly about gender, to thinking about inequities as they exist on our campus around gender,” Woolway said. “I think that are some really productive conversations that can be had around masculinity, for example … What does masculinity mean? What does it look like? And I think that that could be something that a person in a role like this could do.”

Woolway said that she has received feedback from students regarding what issues they would like the new director to address.

“I’ve been fortunate to talk to a lot of different students as we’ve been working on creating this position and getting their input and their needs. What I’ve heard from a lot of them is there’s an interest in connecting a lot of the different programs and groups that already exist. For example, SARU [Sexual Assault Resource Unit] does some really great work, and Hopkins Feminists does some really great work,” Woolway said.

“And there’s the women’s history month calendar. And so, perhaps, a person in a position like this could do some work to make sure that everybody is collaborating on these larger programs.”

Woolway emphasized the importance of receiving input from students, since the new director will be a staff member of the Office of Student Life.

“When we do have a person on the ground, they are going to want to go out. And they are going to want to meet with students. That’s what we do. That’s what we’re here for. So they’re going to want to meet with students and find out what people’s priorities [are],” Woolway said. “What sort of things do they need in order to make campus feel more inclusive?”

Woolway also discussed the roles of the two case managers that the Office of Student Life will hire.

“My understanding is that the case managers are going to be in a position where they can be a sustained person to be in contact with a student — for example, if there is a death in that student’s family, and they need somebody to help negotiate with faculty members... just basically making sure that that student is able to get to the support that they need on campus,” Woolway said.

Woolway stressed that the case managers will not be counselors.

“It’s not through the Counseling Center. That’s a different kind of role where it’s a once week you meet, and you talk about your concerns. This person is sort of solution-oriented. How are we going to solve these problems and make it so that you can get back and focus on your schoolwork once again?” Woolway said.

According to Woolway, the search for the gender equity director and case managers will begin at the end of this school year.

“The hope is to have that person on campus and ready to start by the fall, so we would be doing the search and the interviews over the summer,” Woolway said.

Woolway predicted a partnership between the gender equity director and LGBTQ Life.

“I think there are lots of possibilities for overlap, for working together, especially around the needs of transgender people. There are lots of areas where we can talk about inclusion on campus in a very broad sense,” Woolway said. “I think there’s a lot of ways we can work together, just as LGBTQ Life already partners with the Office of Multicultural Affairs. That’s something that we [can] absolutely do.”

According to Woolway, the director of gender equity will primarily direct their attention toward the needs of students but could also address gender issues affecting faculty members.

“Primary focus would absolutely be students. The person in the position would be able to help build partnerships with faculty members, connect students with what’s going on for faculty members,” Woolway said. “I think a lot of the things as far as faculty hiring goes is mostly in the academic realm, and this person wouldn’t necessarily have responsibilities in that area but could certainly help educate.”