Aquinas College shared a profile on Bridget Gibley, a graduate from Aquinas in Spring 2020, according to a college press release.

Gibley’s major was in English Literature with minors in Spanish, Irish Studies and Women’s Studies. While she has been experiencing a challenging year, given the COVID-19 pandemic, she is looking forward to her next chapter. 

She began her graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in their Coordinated Master’s Degree Program for Women’s and Gender Studies as well as Library and Information Science and plans to finish in 2023. 

“She received the opportunity to serve as a Teaching Assistant for an Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies course. Though all of her classes are online due to COVID, she has loved getting to explore a new city and school during her free time,” Aquinas College reported in the press release. 

Gibley plans to become a librarian and will promote inclusivity as well as representation in programming for children. It is her desire that they have a space that is safe in order to learn and grow as individuals. 

Gibley had a full experience as a student at Aquinas College and remembers one event with a great degree of fondness, when she was welcomed at Michelle DeRose’s house and shared a meal and edifying conversation.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood was another formative time, as she remembered everyone getting the book upon publishing staying up late to finish it. 

While there is not just one thing to change in the fight for female equality, GIbley believes that there are a number of ways to accomplish the goal. 

“For Bridget’s answer, she believes that ‘the way our current capitalistic society functions is the root of a lot of feminist issues.’ As she explains, capitalism overlaps with racism and sexism, such that people and their value are linked to what they can produce, a dynamic that marginalizes many groups in our society. Bridget feels that this dynamic has been even more pronounced during the pandemic,” Aquinas College wrote in the press release.