• The Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein Women's Center

Mission Statement

Our mission is to collaboratively support and represent women on campus, in our community, in the public and in society, by increasing awareness of gender issues through transforming personal, economic, social, and cultural ideas into synergistic programs and events, and advocating for an inclusive, safe, and open environment that directly impacts, benefits and improves lives.

Vision

Following in the tradition and memory of Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein, former Dean of the School of General Studies, activist and advocate for increased opportunities for women, the Women's Center opened its doors in 1996 and affirms the university's commitment to advancing the status and success of women on campus.

How We Began

In 1993, a task force on the issues of female faculty was created by administration and tenured faculty members at UTD. It was their hope that the presence of a Women's Center on our campus would help women feel safe expressing concerns on issues such as job equity, discrimination and harassment, and provide guidance on documenting and voicing these issues. It was then determined that all campus women should benefit from the support a Women's Center could provide - students, staff and faculty.

The Women’s Center was finally born in September of 1996, under the President's office, division of Student Affairs. Lauren De Cillis was hired as director, to develop the Center based on the ideals, mission and strategic goals of the original task force. A diverse advisory board, “Friends of the Center”, was put in place, representing interested parties from campus and community, to provide vision and perspective to the projects of the center. Today, the Galerstein Women's Center represents a diversity of women's issues, and provides a safe haven for all that come through its doors.

Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein

"Just as women provide the basis for ancestral structure in the created society, they supply the point of view, the thematic substance, and the dominant interest."

Excerpt from: Feminine Concerns in Contemporary Spanish Fiction by Women By Carolyn Galerstein, Scripta Humanistica, 1998.