Mission Statement
The Gender Relations Center (GRC) was founded to create a healthier climate for women and men at the University of Notre Dame. Committed to the spiritual, emotional and intellectual development of all students, the GRC is a place where both women and men can engage in respectful dialogue and explore issues of identity, relationships and equality.
The center exists to serve the Notre Dame community in the following ways:
- Encourage and facilitate dialogue among students about issues related to gender;
- Offer programs on topics related to gender;
- Facilitate opportunities for on-going training in the campus community;
- Coordinate and provide support to student clubs and organizations concerned with gender issues.
History of the Gender Relations Center
Although women were admitted to the University in 1972, the Women's Resource Center (WRC) was not founded until 1993. The WRC was established as a student-run club and was intended to be a stepping stone towards an eventual University funded and maintained center. During May of 2002, the first female student body president, Brooke Norton, pitched a proposal to the Board of Trustees entitled, “Celebrating 30 years of Women.” In this report, Norton called for the creation of a University-sponsored Center for Women and Men.
In the fall of 2003, the Student Senate Gender Relations Committee began investigating the possibility of drafting a proposal for the creation of a Gender Center. Led by Kaitlyn Redfield, Pangborn Student Senator and chairperson of the Senate Gender Relations Committee, the group researched similar centers and produced a detailed report calling for the creation of a Gender Center backed by the University.
After the proposal was passed by both the Student Senate and the Campus Life Council, it was sent to Father Mark Poorman, C.S.C., Vice President of Student Affairs. In March of 2004, Father Poorman announced the creation of the Gender Relations Center (GRC) and invited Heather Rakoczy, then Rector of Pangborn Hall, to become the founding Director. In September of 2004, the GRC began on a half-time basis and became the newest department in Student Affairs in July, 2005. Now beginning its fourth year of operation, the GRC has more than quadrupled its staff, dedicated office space and budget.
Initially, the GRC was loosely modeled after women’s centers and rape crisis centers from institutions which ranked among the top 20 schools in the nation; however, the University could not find an ideal model to replicate because it wanted to honor the unique character of Notre Dame. Since the student body existed within a distinctively Catholic environment and consisted of nearly equal numbers of male and female students, the challenge was to create programs for women and men which acknowledged the Catholic identity and mission. By attempting to honor the unique culture at Notre Dame, the GRC established itself as the first and only office of its kind within collegiate Student Affairs offices nationwide.
Through campus programs and awareness initiatives, the GRC has attempted to address a variety of issues, including: dating and relating, competition and perfectionism, the “hook-up” culture, femininity and masculinity, sexuality and sexual health, body image and eating disorders, homosexuality and homophobia, sexism and stereotyping gender roles, domestic violence and abuse, violent and controlling behaviors, marriage and divorce, sexual harassment, and rape and sexual assault.
In short, the GRC has tried to encourage respectful dialogue among male and female students representing diverse political ideologies and various religious pieties in an attempt to explore identity, relationships and equality. Ultimately, the GRC has worked to affect social change, ideally creating a more positive campus climate and healthier relationships among students at the University.
