November 12th gala event honoring the second-oldest collegiate women’s center in the country will feature pioneering activist Jean Kilbourne
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The UMass Dartmouth Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality (CWGS) will celebrate its 55th anniversary to advocacy and creating an inclusive campus community with a gala event on November 12, 2025, featuring Jean Kilbourne, an internationally recognized pioneer in examining the image of women in advertising and president of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Tickets to the evening gala celebration are $100 per person and is open to the public and the entire UMass Dartmouth community. A limited number of student tickets are available at a discounted price. Proceeds will support the Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality. Tickets and sponsorships are available here.
The schedule of events on November 12th will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Robert F. Stoico / FIRSTFED Charitable Grand Reading Room in the Claire T. Carney Library with an exclusive screening of the film, Lilly, a powerful film based on the true story of Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama tire factory supervisor whose goal is to lift her family into the middle class. Kilbourne will deliver an introduction to the movie. The screening is free and co-sponsored by the departments of Health & Society and Women & Gender Studies.
The evening gala celebration will begin at 5pm, followed by a dinner and speaking program honoring the 55-year history of the Center’s mission to advocate for and build a safe, inclusive community for students, faculty, and staff. Kilbourne will deliver a keynote address on the significance of women trailblazers and the importance of recognizing women’s contributions throughout history. Juli Parker, assistant dean of students and director of the Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality, will speak on the Center’s evolution and its role as a critical resource for all genders and the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I am excited to honor our legacy while advancing bold, inclusive programs that empower all women and gender-expansive individuals to thrive,” said Parker. “This event is also an opportunity to recognize our 55 years of alumni, many of whom are now change makers in our communities.”
Jean Kilbourne is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s, she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy to prevent these problems. She is president of the National Women's Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2015. Her documentary series, Killing Us Softly, explores the gender stereotypes in advertising, and is one of the most popular educational films of all time.
Founded in 1970 as the Women’s Referral Center, the Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality is the second-oldest collegiate women’s center in the country. Rooted in activism, its founders led contraceptive and abortion rights advocacy and education even before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Over four decades, the Center evolved—becoming the Women’s Center, then the Women’s Resource Center in 1996, and finally the Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality in 2011—each transformation reflecting a broader, more inclusive mission to support and empower students.
Today, CWGS fosters a supportive and inclusive community at UMass Dartmouth by offering a safe space to engage in dialogue on social justice issues affecting women and the LGBTQIA+ community, and provides health-related resources and referrals, educational programming on women's and LGBTQIA+ history and current issues, and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence.
For more information about the event, visit umassd.edu/events/cwgs-55 or contact cwgs@umassd.edu.