Gender Fair - Gender & Sexuality Studies

The NMU Gender Fair was started in 2017 by NMU undergraduate student Madeline Wiles. It has since become an annual student-driven event that fosters diversity and inclusion throughout campus and the Marquette community. Gender Fair staples include the participation of campus and community organizations as well as the raffle sponsored by donations from local businesses. We also continue to explore new ways to develop the Fair.  For example, in 2021, the Gender Fair went virtual as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We maintained a virtual component in 2022 even as the Fair returned to being in person, and we hope to find ways of incorporating virtual projects in the future. Part of the virtual 2021 Fair included faculty presentations, an addition that we have continued to develop with in-person speakers drawn from the NMU faculty as well as invited faculty from elsewhere. And in 2023 we added a multimedia contest for students to showcase their written, digital, and visual art responses to annual prompts. Most recently, at the 2024 Fair we included a collaborative art project created by Fair attendees. You can see the final project in the archived 2024 Gender Fair at the bottom of the page. We are excited to see how the Gender Fair will continue to evolve to meet the needs of NMU students and community members!

The Gender Fair is free and open to everyone on campus and in the community. See below for information about this year's Fair and follow the links at the bottom of the page to take a look at virtual projects, presentations, award winners, schedules, and descriptions from past Gender Fairs.