When we first started creating this newsletter during Spring Break, returning to campus before the end of the semester still felt like a possibility. That feels ridiculous now. These past four months have been heavy, as we mourn lives lost due to COVID-19, police brutality, and racism.

This newsletter was intended to be a small way to celebrate the WGSS Class of 2020, who had to graduate without celebration and provide some levity to us while quarantining. We also wanted to offer a bit of hope to all WGSS undergraduates through the alumni interviews. With so much uncertainty, it can be useful to look to those who’ve come before us for guidance or as proof that it can be done and that success exists in many forms.

Now, amidst the massive organizing, mobilizing, and conversation happening all across the country, particularly around Black Lives Matter and sexual violence, we still intend this newsletter to do all of those things, but we also want it to serve as a reminder to take care of yourself. As Rachel Cargle often shares on her social media platforms, self care and rest are acts of resistance. Be sure to incorporate self care practices into the other forms of activism you’re involved in. This isn’t me giving myself or others permission to stop– not at all. Instead, it’s to encourage all of us to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves so that we can be in it for the long haul.

So take a moment to read this newsletter and then keep going because this work does not end once we all return to campus.

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Cover Photo by Mudassir Ali from Pexels