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After Mackenzie Deveau, B.A. ’19 (Psychology), graduated from the 51Ʒ�� and, soon after, law school, she went to work as one of Maine’s first public defenders after Maine became the last state to institute a public defense system, which was not Mackenzie’s original plan. But in a panel discussion on Oct. 10 at UNE, Deveau said what helped guide her toward this historic, purposeful work was her courses in UNE’s Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies program (GWS).

Deveau said the GWS minor taught her how to see the world from other perspectives and serve those people better in her work as an attorney.

“The GWS program has helped me face the inequalities I experience each day,” Deveau said. “And because of my job as a public defender, I mostly have a male clientele. It gives me a new perspective on why men feel that they need to act certain ways in society and fulfill certain expectations. And it informs how I'm going to talk to those clients, how I'm going to approach their backgrounds, what programming I might suggest for them.”

Deveau shared her life story along with five other GWS graduates at the program's 20th-anniversary celebration in the George and Barbara Bush Center. The festive affair brought together students, staff, faculty, and alumni, including six panelists who shared how GWS instilled in them a deeper sense of empathy, a call to service, and confidence. 

These were some of the benefits the GWS co-founders hoped for when they started the program at their students’ request in 2004.

“It was born out of the social movements for women’s rights and for civil rights. The personal is political, and the political is personal. So, while the program has evolved over the past two decades, these things remain unchanged,” said co-founder and Professor of History Elizabeth DeWolfe, Ph.D.

From its inception, the GWS program has been interdisciplinary, noted Professor of English Jennifer Tuttle, Ph.D., another co-founder and the Dorothy M. Healy Professor of Literature and Health.

Today, Associate Professor of Psychology Linda Morrison, Ph.D., directs the program, which now extends across a diverse array of disciplines as the electives in the 18-credit minor have expanded into anthropology, biological sciences, philosophy, political science, sport and recreation management, and film.

Still, DeWolfe said, some may ask: How can a minor be so impactful? She listed just some of the reasons.

“Completing this minor makes your interests and expertise in the issues of gender and women and sexuality visible on your transcript and on your resume,” DeWolfe said.

The panelists gave a host of other reasons. More than one said GWS showed them the power in small acts of generosity, as well as the full impact of embracing gratitude.  

“I feel that feminism is a product of tiny changes in the larger picture through grassroots organizations, community ties, or when a mother raises her daughter or son or whoever to believe she deserves or he deserves or they deserve or whoever deserves better than they had,” said panelist Megan (Hall) McLellan, who graduated in 2018 as a double major in English and Political Science and as the Jacques Downs award recipient, which is given to the outstanding senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.  

After McLellan left UNE, she pursued a career in law. But after much self-reflection, she left law school to become a real estate agent, which gave her the flexibility to be a stay-at-home mom. McLellan said having the confidence to pursue your own life goals is an important display of feminist beliefs.  

“I hope above all that the knowledge I learned at 51Ʒ��not only benefits me, but benefits (my daughter) and makes her a stronger, smarter, more determined version of myself,” McLellan said.  

Mia Morgan, B.A. ’23 (Psychology), who works in admissions at Bowdoin College, said GWS helped her parse out the complexities in people’s identities. 

“I think it would be really easy for me to say, ‘Well, I’m a Black woman. I think my experience kind of speaks for itself,’” Morgan said. “But I’m not going to be able to speak for everybody surrounding me... I have no idea what it’s like for a student from Mongolia whose application I’m reading. So, I really want to make sure I know what it’s like for others.” 

Likewise, Heidi Fox, B.S. ’21 (Medical Biology), who is now in her third year at UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, said she minored in GWS to learn to better advocate for marginalized groups. 

“I think it's very important for me to learn about the different identities that people hold and the ways in which that can impact their lived experiences, especially with health care, given how marginalized people have historically been treated by the health care and the medical system in America,” Fox told those gathered.

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Linda Sartorelli, Ph.D., who retired from a 40-year teaching career at 51Ʒ��in 2019, asked the panelists if they knew how their GWS courses would help them later in life when they took them.

“So often the students don’t see that. And I wonder if you did,” Sartorelli said during the question-and-answer segment.

Shannon (Cardinal) Molton, B.A. ’16 (English and History), who went on to work as a seventh-grade humanities teacher after earning a Master’s degree and considering a career as a museum curator, responded instantly.

“What I didn’t know was how much confidence I was going to gain from the things I learned here, from the people I interacted with here,” Molton said.

Fellow panelist Allie (Symonds) Starbird, B.A. ’18 (Psychology), agreed — and advised students “to ebb and flow” — and embrace life lessons.

“A lot of what I expected my life to look like is very different,” Starbird said. “I thought I’d have a husband and three kids by now and maybe be a teacher like my mother. But I have a wife, and I work in research and live in Maine, which I didn’t expect.”