Meet this week’s Campus Celeb: Joey Mercado! As a Women’s Center Student Coordinator and Gender and Women’s Studies major, Joey serves an incredible activist on campus. He is also a floor governor in Freeman and is a super involved student here at Conn! This week we met up with Joey to hear about all the awesome work he’s been doing over the course of his three years here.
Class Year: 2016
Hometown: Northwest Chicago, Illinois
Major: Gender and Women’s Studies
Extracurricular Involvement: Women’s Center Coordinator, Unity House Monitor, Freeman Floor Governor
You work as a coordinator for the Women’s Center here at Conn, can you tell us a bit about what your role is there? I’ve been working to create a brand name for the Women’s Center and collaborating with other groups. My main job is specifically about branding digital media and working to keep the center up and running. I also do a lot of behind the scenes stuff in terms of event planning and budgeting. I collaborate with SAC, Residential Life, Planned Parenthood and a lot of other organizations. One of our huge goals for the center is helping people to recognize women’s issues both on and off this campus and I work very hard as a coordinator to make that happen.
What has been your favorite event at the Women’s Center? My favorite event by far was “Sexism in the Classroom.” I collaborated on the event with Olivia Dufour and it really inspired me to become more involved in the Women’s Center and take further steps to get the Women’s Center on the map. People asked questions they wouldn’t have been able to in other parts of campus and it was very moving for me and everybody involved.
Do you have a favorite spot on campus? I’d have to say, my room is probably my favorite spot. Second would of course have to be the Women’s Center and third would probably be Ruane’s Den. I would be devastated if they closed that place down. Their coffee is the reason I’m so broke.
Do you have a favorite professor here at Conn? Profesor Rotramel in the Gender and Women’s Studies Department. My favorite class from her was Queer Studies. She challenged me to think beyond just my personal experiences and really changed my world perspective. It was that class with her that made me become a Gender and Women’s Studies major.
What’s your guilty pleasure? I’m a Gender and Women’s Studies major and am very critical when it comes to gender, sexuality and race. I used to be obsessed with these shows called Adventuretime and Workaholics which don’t exactly handle these issues the most respectfully.
What’s your most embarrassing story? I was in Harris and was getting distracted by someone passing by me and was walking with this water bottle filled with ice. I was drinking it but I wasn’t paying attention and all the ice came and spilled all over my face. It was bad.
What would be your advice for an incoming first year? I would definitely say to relax and have fun your first year but also keep your eye on the ball and set time aside for homework. Try to go home as much as possible because we’re a residential community and it’s really important to take care of yourself and get those breaks in.