Graduate Profile: Shannon Garrett
Shannon Garrett was the first person to graduate from Alma with a women’s studies minor. Her interest in women’s issues stemmed from a freshman-year feminist philosophy course.
“The class was life-altering and legitimized the feelings of gender bias I’d experienced growing up,” the 1994 graduate says.
“The program helped me to discover, develop and effectively use my own voice to speak about the injustice and inequities I witnessed in the world around me.”
The philosophy major is the field director for the Michigan office of The White House Project, an organization dedicated to advancing women’s leadership. Garrett works around the state to train women from all political parties to run for office.
“The program helped me to discover, develop and effectively use my own voice to speak about the injustice and inequities I witnessed in the world around me. ”
“I left Alma College committed to advancing women’s leadership and improving the lives of underserved populations in both my professional and personal work,” she says.
“The women’s studies program equipped me with the skills and values essential to the work I’ve done with a variety of progressive advocacy organizations, unions, elected officials and political campaigns.”
“Through my current work, I hope to help create more representative governments throughout the state that will find solutions to the serious economic, employment and social problems we currently face,” she says.
Garrett was attracted to Alma by the small class sizes and the surrounding community.
“I felt at home the moment I stepped onto campus and have never questioned my decision to attend Alma,” she says.
“Alma allowed me to be more than a number, unlike my friends who went to larger universities felt, and let me mature into adulthood at my own pace. I appreciated the low student-to-instructor ratio and the quality of education that comes with genuine access and quality face-time with professors.”
While at Alma, Garrett wrote and edited the opinion section of The Almanian student newspaper, worked at the Heritage Center, lived at the MacCurdy House and was a member of Kappa Iota.
