Edie Danielle, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
What brought you to DePaul?
For me, it was the wide variety of courses across all disciplines and a variety of major and minor options. I think what’s really beautiful about DePaul is how you can be in one college and still be able to take a bunch of different classes and explore where your interests are within different sectors.
Outside of the classroom, what does your life at DePaul look like?
Human rights and social justice work are a big part of my life. Specifically, how transformative justice can be applied to the classroom. Last September, I co-founded a local organization, Youth International, with a fellow DePaul student. Our organization works closely with Women’s All Points Bulletin and strives to amplify the voices of K-12 students and build human rights culture through education, advocacy and empowerment. In just a few short months, we’ve been able to interact with students in Chicago Public Schools and provide space for them to discuss difficult topics they’ve experienced like gun violence, mental health issues or racism. With CPS students, we also put together a report titled “Voices of Our Children Mental Health Report,” which we sent to a United Nations committee. The report highlights the significant mental health challenges facing young people, particularly in Chicago communities.
I also work as a LGBTQ Studies Student Program Assistant and participate in the Calling-In Team, led by Ann Russo, professor and director of The Women’s Center, where we go into different classrooms and departments across DePaul and lead workshops on how to handle conflict in a healthy and positive way. It’s been really meaningful work for me.
In addition, I’ve worked in DePaul Athletics for three years, mostly on gamedays as a student marketing assistant. It’s a lot of fun to attend different sporting events such as basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer, work with creative and talented people on the athletics marketing team and experience the high energy of fans at games.
What has been your favorite class at DePaul?
During the spring 2024 quarter, I took a class called, “Do Say Gay: Banned Books and LGBTQ+ Freedoms,” which was part of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science’s HumanitiesX collaborative. It was taught by Heather Montes-Ireland and Barrie Jean Borich, and it really inspired a lot of the work I do now. The culmination of the course was a curated art exhibition that found a home at Chicago’s Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, which serves as a community space and repository of Midwest LGBTQ+ history. We made local news and it brought up a lot of conversations that I believe are meant to be had about book bans and how LGBTQ+ literature is being silenced and erased in some ways. The class really fueled my passion for archival work, and I hope to explore that area more in graduate school.
What would you like to do in your career following graduation?
Although I’m walking this June to receive my undergraduate degree, I’m actually in the combined degree program here at DePaul, so I’ve been taking my first year of graduate classes this year as a senior. So, I’ll continue at DePaul next year to earn my master’s degree. It’s been grueling, but very rewarding, because I’ll finish two degrees quicker than if I did an undergraduate and graduate program separately. I’ve been part of a cohort of classmates, and we’ve really bonded. Everyone is very supportive, and I’m very grateful for that.
Following DePaul, I eventually want to get my Ph.D. and work in higher education.
What would be your advice to someone starting DePaul this fall?
I would tell them to explore every single opportunity that they can, even if you don't think it'll work out in the way you want it to. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that everything I've done at DePaul has led me here. Without those experiences, I wouldn't be the person I am today.