New Zeta Iota Honor Society at Fairfield

On May 1, 14 students from Fairfield University’s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program in the College of Arts and Sciences were inducted into the newly established Zeta Iota chapter of Triota, the National Women’s and Gender Studies Honor Society. This milestone marks the first-ever induction ceremony at Fairfield, following the chapter’s official launch earlier this spring.

Shannon Kelley, PhD, associate professor of English and outgoing director of the WGSS program, led the effort to establish the Zeta Iota chapter. Reflecting on the significance of the event, Dr. Kelley said, “On Thursday, we inducted 14 majors and minors. These students remind us that feminism can flourish and find a home at a Jesuit university, and that both support the same values of equity, inclusion, and equal rights for all. I am grateful to chapter officers Sage Stefanski, Katharine Gutkoski, and Rebecca Mattei-Brown for leading the night.”

“Of everything I’ve done in my three-year directorship of WGSS,” said Dr. Kelley, “I received the most gratification from starting the Zeta Iota chapter of Triota.”

Triota (Iota Iota Iota) was founded in 1985 at Metropolitan State University of Denver and now includes more than 140 chapters nationwide. The organization promotes academic excellence and upholds feminist values, offering students a supportive environment to “connect, research, and implement ideas around dismantling systems of oppression.”

The Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) is an interdisciplinary program that critically examines how sex, gender, and sexuality shape, and are shaped by, cultural, social, political, and intellectual systems. As an evolving field, WGSS draws on scholarship across multiple disciplines to develop its own theories, methods, and ways of knowing, empowering students to challenge assumptions and envision more just and equitable futures.

Effective July 1, leadership of the WGSS program will transition to Niall Brennan, PhD, who will take on the role of program director.

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