Jane Kopas Women's Center
The Cultural Centers (Jane Kopas Women's Center and Multicultural Center) are committed to fostering an inclusive campus community where individuals advocate for the respect of the human dignity of all people. The Jane Kopas Women’s Center strives to engage people of all genders in advancing gender equity and inclusion. To do so, the Center facilitates meaningful dialogue, co-curricular learning, and skills development in the areas of feminism, advocacy, leadership, and empowerment so that students may become catalysts for a more just world.
Cultural Centers
Consistent with the ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ’s Catholic and Jesuit mission, the Cultural Centers are committed to fostering an inclusive campus community where individuals advocate for the respect of the human dignity of all people. Striving to form people who are committed to living their lives for and with others, the Centers offer opportunities for awareness, education, and dialogue on issues related to diversity, identity, privilege, oppression, equity, and justice.
Jane Kopas Women’s Center
The Jane Kopas Women’s Center strives to engage people of all genders in advancing gender equity and inclusion. To do so, the Center facilitates meaningful dialogue, co-curricular learning, and skills development in the areas of feminism, advocacy, leadership, and empowerment so that students may become catalysts for a more just world.
Student Learning Outcomes
As a result in engaging in opportunities offered by the Cultural Centers, students will:
- Develop a deeper awareness and appreciation of their own cultures, identities, and experiences and recognize how they shape our views of the world and of others;
- Cultivate an awareness of and appreciation for a diverse breadth of cultures, identities, and experiences to become supportive and informed allies for each other;
- Increase one’s understanding of and ability to address microaggressions, implicit bias, and non-inclusive language;
- Recognize and understand the individual, institutional, and structural aspects of privilege, discrimination, and oppression, including the role of intersecting identities;
- Acquire leadership skills, particularly with regards to advocating for inclusion and equity for individuals and groups, especially those historically underrepresented, marginalized, and/or oppressed;
- Connect curricular learning with co-curricular education, especially related to feminism, diversity, equity, and inclusion; and
- Identify and understand how to access resources, both on and off campus, for support and advocacy.
JKWC and the Jesuit Mission
To overcome “the legacy of systematic discrimination against women,” described in the Jesuits’ 34th Congregation document, the Center was founded in 1994 to empower women to reach their fullest potential. Scranton recognizes, however, that gender discrimination affects folks of all genders. Therefore, we recognize the need for all people to work together for gender equality. The Center respects cultural and racial diversity as an expression of this commitment to equality, working to dismantle the internal and external structures of discrimination to develop new models for gender equality and justice. The Women’s Center is uniquely positioned to fulfill the ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ’s promised commitment to social justice. Social justice is not merely the understanding of a need; it requires action. We participate in continuing education on social justice issues and we develop initiatives intended to respond to the often-repeated student query, “So what do we do?” We view this as the most vital step in social justice work – connecting awareness to a plan of action. Both components are imperative if the ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ is to educate and model how to become people for and with others.