Featured SAH Alumni

Rebecca Fernandez, M.A. in Applied Women's Studies, 2010

"Having been raised by three generations of independent Puerto Rican women, I was a born advocate of women’s issues. It was natural for me then to pursue an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies at Vassar where I was afforded the opportunity to explore the philosophies and theories that trace the undercurrents and illuminate the contradictions of the female experience across race and class. What wasn’t quite so natural was figuring out my role in helping to harness the energy of these currents to power a beacon for future generations of women; how does one take one 8 ½ x 11 inch degree and stretch it across a people? This is where CGU stepped in. It was here that I had opportunity to meld my active passions for engaging with the world with my active passions for understanding it. It was through the AWS Program’s distinct internship-classroom-mentorship structure combined with a focus on the application of both theory and lived experience that I was able to hone a lifetime’s worth of academic/personal/professional experience into a concrete set of skills and concentrated passion that allow me to effect change."

Education

M.A. Applied Women’s Studies, Claremont Graduate University, 2010

B.A. Women’s Studies, Vassar College, 2007

Borough of Manhattan Community College, 2004

Current Employment

Associate Director of the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE), Los Angeles www.piqe.org

CGU Internships

Scripps College Academy, Scripps College, Claremont, CA

Sadie Nash Leadership Program, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

Project Sister, Pomona, CA