"I love working with the students in this community."

Combining promoting healthy behavior with cutting edge training and research is what Peggy Brown does best. Since 1996, Peggy has aspired to promote healthy behavior and campus community for students at Norris Health Center, where she is Registered Nurse, Health Educator and Program Manager. A single mom of a UWM alumna, Peggy sees students for health counseling and advises the Peer Health Advocates, a student organization committed to making the campus a healthier place for students. She says that students "are at a point in their lives when they're making decisions that are going to impact their health, their well being for the rest of their lives."

"Find someone to connect to and tell them what you need and you most likely will get what you need or someone will point you in the right direction."

To learn more from Peggy about Norris Health Center or the Peer Health Advocates, e-mail her at mmb3@uwm.edu.

"I've always been very concerned with the safety of women and women's issues."

As the first woman to head the UWM Police Department, Chief Pam Hodermann has something in common with many UWM students: commuting. Pam spent three years commuting 20 hours per week to earn her law degree from UW-Madison in 2000. The natural, adoptive and stepmother of five, Pam has worked at UWM since 1974, when she became the first female officer on the UWM Police force, specializing in sexual assault prevention and women's issues. Of her goals as Chief, she says, "I'm really excited to move the department toward a more service-oriented support of the students. I want them to know that we're here to help them."

"This is a good place for women to be empowered, to be strengthened."

To learn more from Pam about the UWM Police Department or her experiences with foster care, contact her at pamelah@uwm.edu.

"Don't be afraid to try things that are new."

Veteran scuba diver and soccer enthusiast Sarah Lovern came all the way from Missouri to study tiny crustaceans. A Ph.D. student studying Biological Science, Sarah works at the Great Lakes WATER Institute, where she researches the effects certain nanoparticles have on daphnia, or water fleas. To adjust to graduate student life, Milwaukee and UWM, Sarah involved herself in student organizations. Sarah is a TA and a senator representing the Graduate School in SA, and she reinstated UWM's Biology Club. Sarah urges other UWM women to open up, ask questions and seek out new experiences. After graduation, she hopes to continue both teaching and research as a professor.

"Students have a lot of input on this campus, more so than on a lot of other campuses."

To learn more from Sarah about the Biology Club, the Great Lakes WATER Institute, the Biological Sciences program, the S.A. Senate, or being a teaching assistant, contact her at sblovern@uwm.edu.

"I get to work with the best of the students, faculty and staff? the most civic-minded and big-hearted."

CVSL Director Laurie Marks insists she has "the best job on campus." The former UWM Student Association president and political science major returned to UWM in 2000 to direct the newly founded Center for Volunteerism and Student Leadership, which helps students, faculty, staff and alumni to get involved in existing and new service opportunities. Before returning to UWM, Laurie worked at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin doing grass roots political organizing. A UWM sports fan, she says that getting involved is a key to student success. Laurie expects to complete an M. Ed from Marquette University in College Student Personnel in the fall of 2004.

"Try to get involved in something [you] feel passionate about."

If you would like to learn more from Laurie about CVSL, contact her at lmarks@uwm.edu.

"It's our responsibility as women who want to change, to work to change."

Junior Liz Michalak has the power to impact the life of every woman at UWM. A Sociology and Women's Studies major, Liz is SA Women's Issues Director and co-chair of VOX: Voices of Planned Parenthood. As SA Director of Women's Issues, Liz is concentrating on three campaigns: Get Out the Vote, Coalition for Diversity, and a project to diversify women's issues on campus. "It's important to me that all issues of all women of color are addressed also," she said. Liz appeared in the Vagina Monologues as "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy." She hopes to attend graduate school and eventually teach.

"Studying is cool, and get your degree, but try to make a difference too while you're at it."

To learn more from Liz about VOX or her work with SA, contact her at michalak@uwm.edu.

"The first places students should turn to are the student support services we offer on this campus."

Kathy Miller-Dillon, Assistant Director of the Center for Women's Studies (CWS), learned firsthand the value of CWS as a haven for students. She began at UWM as a non-traditional student at UWM in 1987 and found a sense of connection at CWS, which promotes research and course development about women and gender-related issues. After earning her Master's in Sociology with a concentration in Gender and working in non-profit organizations, she returned to CWS as staff. Now she teaches Introduction to Women's Studies and works with interns. Kathy encourages students to join the College Feminists to find a sense of feminist community and turn to the LGBT Resource Center or Women's Resource Center for support.

"For any new students on this campus, traditional or non-traditional, especially for women students, they should really seek out the Women's Resource Center because in my experience, there's no better way for a woman student to find her way on this campus."

To learn more from Kathy about CWS, contact her at kmdillon@uwm.edu.

"College life has to involve an intense intellectual life, both within and beyond the classroom."

After living throughout the world, it's no wonder that Patrice Petro became the Director of UWM's Center for International Education (CIE). The Center is the umbrella organization for all international activities on the campus: the Global Studies major, the International Studies major, Peace Studies, Study Abroad, International Student Services, the Institute for Global Studies, and the Institute for World Affairs. Patrice was born in New York, grew up in southern California, received her PhD at the University of Iowa, wrote her dissertation in Europe, and joined UWM's English faculty in 1986. Patrice chose UWM because it was "the cutting edge place for work in feminist theory and film studies."

"You have to try to make connections so that your college experience is rich and you forge relationships that are lifelong."

If you would like to learn more from Patrice about the CIE, contact her at ppetro@uwm.edu.

"It is important to keep connected to something."

As a non-traditional and transfer student, Suzy Roundy-Schmidt said it was "hard to figure out where you belong." Suzy is a senior at UWM majoring in Criminal Justice and pursuing certificates in Women's Studies and LGBT Studies. She found her niche as a volunteer and then Project Assistant at the WRC and is involved in transgender activism. The mother of two daughters, Suzy is also the President of the Milwaukee chapter of NOW (National Organization of Women) and is starting her own business as a personal organizer. Suzy's ambition is to work enough to support herself financially and still have time to continue her advocacy work.

"One of the things I like at UWM that I don't necessarily have other places is the diversity of people and the ability to learn from so many."

To learn more from Suzy about Milwaukee NOW, the Criminal Justice Programs, Women's Studies and LGBT certificate programs, or transgender activism, contact her at roundys2@uwm.edu