On June 6, 2025, nearly 150 people gathered at the Stevenson Event Center to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Feminist Studies and the generations of activists and feminist scholars who have contributed to the passionate pursuit and expansion of feminist thought and advocacy at UCSC. The event was live streamed, and an additional 60 people attended virtually.
Moderated by beloved Distinguished Professor Emerita Bettina Aptheker, the event featured a panel of eight alums across five decades, including the first Women's Studies cohort that graduated in 1975. See the list of participating alum panelists below. Click here to view the live-streamed video of the event.
Feminist Studies was established as the Women's Studies program at UCSC in 1974, and became the Feminist Studies department in 1996. Since its founding, the pioneering department has been home to some of the field’s most prominent thinkers. For this celebratory event, eight alums engaged with Professor Aptheker to discuss what feminist studies has meant to their careers, their lives, and society at large.
While the Feminist Studies faculty voted to disestablish the department at the end of the current academic year, the Feminist Studies major will continue, and interdisciplinary feminist scholarship will retain a strong presence at UCSC.
Through the Decades alumna panelists
Nancy Lemon (Kresge 1975, Women's Studies) - Retired Director of the Domestic Violence Practicum and Seminar, UC Berkeley School of Law, and member of the first graduating class
Blanca Tavera (Oakes 1986, Women's Studies) - Domestic violence activist, founder of Defensa de Mujeres, and retired Professor at the San Jose State University School of Social Work
Nicole Nichols (nee Nasser) (Cowell 1999, Literature and Women's Studies) - Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at UC Davis Medical Center, and adjunct faculty at University of Nevada, Reno
Naomi Marks (Merrill 2000, Earth Sciences and Women's Studies) - Geochemist, Associate Program Leader for Nuclear Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation, and Deputy Director of the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Kate Schatz (Stevenson 2003, Women's Studies, Literature and Creative Writing) - New York Times bestselling author of the Rad Women series and Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with W. Kamau Bell
Kim Angulo (Merrill 2013, Feminist Studies) - Assistant Public Defender, Sacramento County Public Defender's Office
Sarah Elkotbeid (Crown 2018, Environmental Studies and Feminist Studies - Environmental Health Equity and Community Partnerships Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council
Halima Kazem, (PhD 2022, Feminist Studies) - Associate director of Stanford's program in Feminist, Gender & Sexualities Studies
