Meet Dr. Lyosha Gorshkov, the new director of the Pride and Women’s Center. They have many plans for the upcoming year in this new position. Stay tuned to The Rocket for the full story and to learn more about Dr. Gorshkov.
Posted by WSRU-TV News on Wednesday, October 23, 2019
The SRU Pride and Women’s Center hired a new director to fill the vacancy, and they already have plans to make the campus more diverse and accepting.
Dr. Lyosha Gorshkov is the new director for the center, and they said their plan is to extend the center.
“I am getting to know the campus, and my plan is to go knock on each door to talk to different people and let them know we are here because we need to extend a little bit,” they said. “Our ultimate goal is to bring more students and faculty to the center and provide them with services.”
Gorshkov is from Russia but has been living in the states for five years.
“SRU’s campus is very family and community-like, which reminds me of my alma mater back home in Russia,” Gorshkov said.
They also said that they love how friendly and passionate the people are here at SRU.
Gorshkov is primarily a professor with a degree in Political Science and has been working on LGBTQ+ studies for fifteen years. They also said they have launched a couple of international-organized projects such as Russian speaking pride. They said they most recently taught Russian-Queer politics at Indiana University.
“I have been working over the last 5 years with under-represented communities and some people who are marginalized to bring awareness on the federal level that we have some issues with the LGBTQ+ and female agenda,” Gorshkov said.
Gorshkov also said they have been working on some new plans for campus.
“I’d like to bring some more outside world to the campus,” they said. “I have some connections from other places such as activists, educators, and artists from the big world. I want to bring them for people to embrace the diversity and learn that diversity doesn’t bite.”
Gorshkov said they know that some people are concerned about the existence of the Pride and Women’s Center, and their plan is to extend the center to show everyone how they operate.
“We are not trying to change or break the attitudes of those individuals, but instead we want to embrace everyone,” Gorshkov said.
They said we have people from all walks of life and some for which are under-represented.
“We know there are gaps and prejudices against women, and there is still misrepresentation especially with the LGBTQ+ community, so we recognize that social order has changed, and we need to make sure everyone feels like part of the family,” Gorshkov said.
They said the mission of the center is not to suppress others, but instead to have dialogues and discussions to show that they aren’t trying to steal anything from anyone.
“We are trying to reclaim our place in society,” Gorshkov said.
They said they want to educate people on how to use pronouns and how to be more diverse and inclusive without sacrificing their own identity.
“Look around and see people around you are different,” Gorshkov said. “We can’t be one. We have to embrace our differences in a positive way and that is my goal as the director of the center.”
