Gender Center Leader Retires, Built Foundation for Equity at UTD

Dr. Aekta Malhotra BS’07, MS’09 felt alone on campus when she transferred to The University of Texas at Dallas. That changed, however, as soon as she found the Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein Women’s Center, now the Galerstein Gender Center (GGC).

The center became a home on campus where Malhotra could study, find support and meet friends. She developed a UT Dallas family with Lauren DeCillis, the center’s founding director, as one of her campus moms.

“Through Lauren, I found mentorship and support,” said Malhotra, now a Plano psychiatrist. “The center was a fantastic refuge. It was a one-stop shop that provided services you couldn’t find anywhere else.”

The center has provided educational programs, counseling, scholarships, wellness initiatives and a nurturing environment for faculty, staff and students since opening in 1996. After 25 years as director, DeCillis retired in March, leaving a model for how to address evolving gender equity issues, said Dr. Yvette E. Pearson, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Under DeCillis’ leadership, the center, which was formerly a women’s center, expanded its mission to include equity for members of the LGBTQ+ community. As a result, UT Dallas has gained national recognition as one of the top universities for LGBTQ+ inclusion,” Pearson said. “Innovations such as the LilyPad lactation rooms and advocacy for parenting and child care resources have all been hallmarks of her leadership.”

The center recently recognized DeCillis by naming its resource library in her honor. The Lauren DeCillis Resource Collection includes a broad range of books on feminism, women’s rights history, gender and LGBTQ topics that students, faculty and staff members can borrow.

The center is named in honor of the University’s first woman to serve as dean, Dr. Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein, who oversaw the School of General Studies, now the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (IS), from 1975 to 1987.

“As a lifelong advocate for women’s rights and equity issues, my mother would be so impressed with Lauren’s accomplishments in building the GGC from the ground up and expanding its mission to address not only the needs of women on campus but also those of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Lauren Busch, daughter of Dr. Carolyn Lipshy Galerstein

DeCillis launched a number of firsts at UT Dallas, including a faculty mentoring program, sexual assault response team and health initiatives such as bringing a mammogram van and flu shots to campus.

Over the years, the center added increased programming to address the needs of the LGBTQ community, including advocating for including gender identity and gender expression to the University’s nondiscrimination policy, Safe Zone Ally Training and gender-neutral, single-occupancy restrooms.

In 2019, UT Dallas, for the first time, earned five out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index, a benchmark of Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization that works to create safer, more LGBTQ-friendly learning environments at colleges and universities. In 2020 and 2021, Campus Pride named UT Dallas one of the nation’s “Best of the Best” LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.

“The powerful teamwork of our staff who partnered with University leaders to fuel these relevant projects made a lasting impact on our growing campus that was challenged with issues of gender equality,” DeCillis said. “Safe Zone Ally Training and, more recently, Culture of Equity Training became vital and recognized cornerstones of campus life at UT Dallas. Our campus is proud of UTD’s ranking of five out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index, noting that we are one of the best state and national campuses for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Lauren Busch, Galerstein’s daughter, said her mother would be proud of the center’s accomplishments.

“As a lifelong advocate for women’s rights and equity issues, my mother would be so impressed with Lauren’s accomplishments in building the GGC from the ground up and expanding its mission to address not only the needs of women on campus but also those of the LGBTQ+ community,” Busch said.

Dr. George Fair, IS dean and former vice president for diversity and community engagement, said he is grateful for DeCillis’ service to make UT Dallas a more welcoming and inclusive campus.

“Over the years, Lauren adapted the center to meet the campus community’s evolving needs, including expanding the center’s mission to serve the LGBTQ+ community,” Fair said.

Dr. Jessica C. Murphy, dean of undergraduate education, professor of literary studies and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair for Undergraduate Education, said DeCillis was one of the first people she met when she interviewed for a faculty position at the University. At the time, Murphy had an infant at home and needed to use a lactation room. DeCillis took her to a LilyPad location. The welcoming environment influenced her decision to join the University.

“It was such a wonderful memory because I felt like there was a community at UT Dallas, that you could belong somewhere and that there were people who cared — and they were hilarious,” Murphy said. “That memory has been a nice, warm feeling I’ve kept with me for many years.”

DeCillis said she is grateful for her experience as the center’s director, and for the partnerships and friendships she developed over the years.

“While my biological family is small, I came to understand true kinship through my years at UT Dallas, where friends and colleagues became family,” DeCillis said. “A simple thank-you would never be enough to the evolving faculty, staff, students, advisory board members, community and corporate partners, and esteemed donors who envisioned this welcoming environment where all feel honored and heard. They have been the most unforgettable years of my life.”