The Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Congratulations to our 2025 GSWS Grads!
Claudia Bellacosa (she/her) is a senior from Rome, Italy double majoring in Economics and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. On campus, she is involved with The WALK Magazine and Penn Fashion Collective. She is passionate about luxury retail, fashion merchandising and marketing, and their intersection with gender norms and women’s empowerment. After graduation, she will be working as an Assistant Buyer at Bloomingdale’s in New York City.
Lex Gilbert is a Communication major at Annenberg with a Concentration in Culture and Society alongside their major in GSWS with a concentration in Global Studies. Throughout their time at Penn, Lex has been dedicated to disability justice, founding an organization called the Disabled Coalition. The organization focuses on advocacy and peer support. In their role as Disabled Coalition president, they spent a few semesters on University Council. They facilitated events featuring disabled guest speakers such as TikToker Spencer West and scholar Sami Schalk as well as presenting at educational conferences such as Weingarten’s 22nd Annual Disability Symposium. They have also presented their research at Johns Hopkins’ Macksey Humanities Symposium and Central Pennsylvania Consortium Conference: Intersectional Perspectives on Gender and Trans Lives. They also attended the conference for the Consortium on High Achievement and Success, an invite-only selection specifically for student leaders.
One of their favorite summers was spent completing research on the legitimization of diaspora through GRIP in Aotearoa NZ, completing a lifelong goal to study abroad. Through this opportunity, they learned about Māori culture and a life lesson or two about the importance of open mindedness. Lex has also devoted countless hours to violence prevention work as a Peer Anti-Violence Educator on campus. After graduating, Lex is excited to leave the East Coast for law school!
Jordyn Harris is an Applied Science in Biomedical Sciences major (concentrating in Medical Devices) while also pursuing a major in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. For all four years, she has worked at Platt Student Performing Arts House and has done research at Penn Medicine Rehabilitation and CHOP. Jordyn has been on stage as a dancer for Onda Latina and as well as running tech behind the scenes for student shows in theater, dance, and a cappella. She served as president of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a sorority for women in STEM, while also volunteering as an advisor and mentor for engineering students through Peer Orientation and Pre-Orientation programs. After graduation, Jordyn hopes to attend medical school while continuing research in engineering and robotics.
Maven Kielska (he/they) is a passionate scholar of trans history graduating with majors in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, Health and Societies, and History. Maven is a member of Phi Alpha Theta (a national history honor society), an undergraduate researcher for the Philly Trans Oral History Project, and a docent at the Mütter Museum. They have recently completed their honors thesis in Health and Societies on AIDS-based homophobia in the media and have gotten three works accepted for publication this year.
Antoilyn Nguyen (they/them) is Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies major with minors in Art History and Urban Studies. As Co-Founder and Lead Organizer for Penn Reproductive Justice, they have fundraised and distributed over 20,000 period products and spoken at various city rallies including Philadelphia Abortion Week of Action 2022 and Period Action Day 2023. Working with Nationalities Service Center, Antoilyn supported immigrant families through pregnancy by accompanying them to prenatal care appointments and distributing resources such as car seats, cribs, and baby clothes. Antoilyn also organizes for Ginger Arts Center, a youth center in the heart of Chinatown that functions as “third space” — nurturing grassroots advocacy, multimedia art, and storytelling. Antoilyn hopes to attend medical school and become a board certified OBGYN to provide culturally informed and gender inclusive reproductive healthcare to queer youth, immigrants, and historically marginalized communities.
Isatou (Aisha) Njie is a graduating senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, with a minor in Psychoanalytic Studies and Language Certification in French. A dedicated member of the Civic Scholars Program, her work culminated in a senior thesis titled “Media, Policy, and Politics: The Making of the Sensationalized Crack Epidemic.” Aisha has held numerous leadership and research roles across campus and beyond. She served on the board of Penn’s premier feminist publication, worked as a Development Intern and Program Assistant at CHILD USA, contributed to the 2024 Good Food Bag Case Study as a Data Analyst with the Netter Center, and conducted oral history research as a Research Assistant with the Trans Oral History Project. She also volunteers with TIMBA, an after-school tutoring program for West African children in Philadelphia, and teaches color guard and dance at Radnor High School.
Outside of academia, Aisha is a committed dancer and performer. She has toured nationally with the Vanguard Cadets, Sacramento Mandarins, Main Line Independent, the Reading Buccaneers, and AMP Winter Guard. A six-time world-class finalist, she has earned two world championship medals.
In her upcoming gap year, Aisha will work as a Registered Behavior Technician, supporting children with developmental disorders. With deep interests in social advocacy, psychoanalysis, and feminist and queer theory (particularly trans scholarship), she hopes to pursue a dual Ph.D. in Psychology and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
Robert Slovikowsky is a double major in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (concentrating in Health and Disability) and Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. His interests pertain to queer and trans health equity: particularly, how homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexuality as the presumptive norm impact queer health outcomes and access. He served as Outreach Chair for UNAIDS at Penn and Community Engagement Chair for the pre-health fraternity Alpha Iota Gamma, organizing healthcare equity and fundraising initiatives focused on the politics of positional and relational acknowledgment, access, and the effects of marginalization on care delivery. He is also a volunteer EMT with Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), using individualized care practices that are grounded in trust, empathetic understanding, and respect. Following graduation, Robert aspires to attend medical school while also engaging in health equity policy reform and activism.
