Memories from Past

Sheena Carey sits in her dimly lit office in the fourth floor of Johnston Hall. It’s full of books, and music streams into the hallway. During her office hours, several students go in and out seeking her advice on how to get an internship. She casually tells each student what is required for a communication internship, points them in the direction of where to find one and then processes the applications.

“Marquette’s always been my home,” Carey said. “I never felt like I didn’t belong.”

In her twentieth year working at Marquette, Carey, a communication alumna, thought back to her undergraduate days as a journalism major.

Carey wasn’t a traditional student as an undergraduate in the mid 1970s through the 1980s. She was a single mother.

“There wasn’t a lot of resources,” she said. “I had to struggle through. There was not a lot of support available on campus, and not a whole lot to do. It was a time when Marquette began to recognize that not everyone was a traditional student.”

Carey said she ended up taking as many classes as were available in the evening so she could work to support herself and her young daughter. Eventually she discovered the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). The EOP specializes in working with low income students to help first generation college students graduate. It was then she quit her job and was able to take classes while her daughter was in daycare. Carey was far from being the traditional student, she said.

“Just as parties were starting I was heading up to 20th Street to take care of my child,” Sheena reminisced.

But she never felt like she didn’t belong. After graduating from Marquette with an undergraduate degree in journalism, Carey went on to graduate school in communication and eventually became the internship director in the Diederich College of Communication.

Carey said she’s noticed a lot of changes in her 30 years at Marquette.

“I was here when O’Donnell was the female dorm and McCormick was all male,” she said.

She also said there weren’t as many options for classes about gender and race.

“Even taking sociology classes, there was nothing about women,” she said. “The biggest difference is I can’t recall having any female instructors,” she said. “All of my instructors were male.”

She also said there weren’t as many women in her classes as there are now in the classes she teaches.

“When I look out in my classrooms it’s rare I see a male,” Carey said. “There are fewer and fewer men. In one class there are two out of 20 students that were male.”

Carey said the main thing that hasn’t changed is diversity on campus, but there are more female tenure-track faculty members and women in leadership positions.

“If you look at our history, we were first to admit women,” Carey said. “Marquette does seem to be at the forefront of change. We’re seeing how society is changing and we’re rushing up to greet it.”

Marquette’s Present

Elizabeth Fincher, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has always wanted to help others. She’s double majoring in English and secondary education because she wants to be an urban teacher.

Fincher transferred to Marquette from a small community college in Tennessee two years ago, and admits she had to adjust to the more rigorous course schedule.

“I knew the workload was going to be challenging,” she said. “The homework load was so much more, but I’ve learned more here in two years than I did in three years at community college.”

Fincher said there was about the same ratio of women to men at her old school, but she was surprised there was such a strong feminist voice on campus.

“Marquette seems to have a really open mind,” she said. “It changes with the times which I think is fantastic.”

Fincher differs from other transfer students because she’s 30 years old. Before deciding to go back to school full time in 2005, she worked overseas doing missionary work in Malta. The service learning program is her favorite program at Marquette. She said she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, but having the opportunity to volunteer in an urban school has inspired her to work in one after she graduates.

Until then, Fincher is connected with the Center for Urban Teachers. She says the program connects her with other successful urban teachers. She’s currently working at St. Margaret’s grade school and middle school.

Fincher’s one complaint about Marquette is the lack of diversity.

“I hope in the future that Marquette will have more diversity… with more non-traditional students,” she said.

Looking into the Future

According to Marquette’s website, 53 percent of students enrolled are women and 47 percent are men.

“It’s a really interesting issue,” Amelia Zurcher, an English professor in College of Arts and Sciences, and the chair of the Gender and Women’s studies program said. “They’re having to do affirmative action for men.”

According to Zurcher, the women’s studies program has existed for many years, but has had little success. The revised program was launched this fall, and has been launched as a full stand-alone major and minor. There is also a revised required introduction course and a new senior capstone that will be available in spring 2011.

“The biggest goal is to build the program in terms of majors and minors,” Zurcher said. “For a long time there was no recruitment or programming.”

Zurcher said the program can be interdisciplinary and students can build their own program. She said it’s very transferable into the business world.

“It’s a great entry way,” she said. “Employers are really interested in increasing the number of people who are knowledgeable about gender and women’s studies.”

Zurcher said the increased interest in the program shows Marquette’s shift to the global world.

“A lot of theory [depends] on international fields,” she said. “What happens world wide greatly depends on gender. We’re joining the mainstream with this program.”

Zurcher said men are also welcome in the program.

“Gender structures everybody’s world,” she said.

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