The Heart of WGSS: Kayt Sunwood Receives the President’s Adjunct Award
Kathryn Reichert, CLA Public Information Office
July 8, 2025
Congratulations to Kayt Sunwood, longtime faculty member in UAF’s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program, on receiving the 2024–2025 President’s Adjunct Award. The recognition celebrates her decades of exceptional teaching, leadership, and mentorship within the university and beyond.
Described by colleagues as essential to the program’s very identity, Sunwood has helped build the WGSS program into what it is today. “Her almost 20 years in the University of Alaska system have such breadth and depth that it would be impossible to fully catalog her career accomplishments,” noted Carol Gray, WGSS coordinator. But what is clear is this: Sunwood is an institution.
Her legacy is grounded in both pedagogy and community building. As director of the UAF Women’s Center, she served as a bridge between the center and the WGSS program, helping to turn theory into practice, and conversation into movement. Under her leadership, the Women’s Center became a hub of engagement. “Meetings … grew so large that they filled the Women's Center with people in every chair, three sitting on the floor, and spilling out into the hallway,” Gray recalled.
Sunwood led retreats and committees that guided the transformation of the program from Women’s Studies to Women and Gender Studies, and eventually to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The shift reflected years of intentional work — academic, personal, and collective. “The process was long and deeply meaningful. And she led the effort,” Gray wrote.
Beyond the classroom and the Center, Sunwood has made lasting contributions to public scholarship and social awareness. She launched UAF’s International Women’s Day commemorations, led marches and V-Day events, and collaborated across departments to bring attention to gender-based disparities. One notable achievement was her leadership on the “Now You Know: Behind the Pay Gap” campaign, a campuswide initiative funded by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The project combined research with action, featuring Equal Pay Day events, peer education on salary negotiation, and student-created vignettes.
Still, her heart remains in the classroom. Sunwood regularly teaches the foundational WGS F201X course and recently developed UAF’s first Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies. “Responding to a curricular need, she developed this course from scratch,going above and beyond what is typically expected of adjunct faculty,” said Dr. Seth Jones, former WGSS program coordinator and associate professor of philosophy. “After a successful trial, Dr. Sunwood is now working on the proposal to turn it into one of our regular course offerings.”
Sunwood’s students consistently describe the experience as life-changing. “[She] has provided one of the most supportive, thoughtful, informative, and all-around incredible learning environments that I have experienced in the past eight years I’ve spent in the UA system,” wrote Kori Williams, a psychology major and WGSS student. Katy Kochte echoed that sentiment: “[Her] feedback on assignments [were] also some of the most thorough and well-articulated I have received in my entire academic career, and it clearly stems from her dedication to the subjects and class.”
Members of the WGSS program, including Kayt Sunwood (third from right) hold a sign that reads "Fierce Advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility" after a meeting in March 2025.
For many, her courses are not just academically rich, but personally transformative. “She provided a chance for me to build connections between myself and my peers through virtual class discussions that allowed me to see a wide variety of perspectives on the subject. As a member of the LGBTQ+ population myself, this class was very important to me,” Williams added. “I will be carrying her teachings forward with me into my future academic and professional pursuits.”
The emotional core of Sunwood’s work lies in connection. “I have never had a better online course or been part of a more engaged cohort of students, ever,” wrote Sarah Manriquez, CLA Public Information Officer and one of the WGSS Outstanding Students of the Year for 2025. “What sets Dr. Sunwood apart is her unwavering commitment to the success and well-being of her students. She serves not only as an educator but also as a mentor, consistently going above and beyond to ensure her students feel supported and empowered.”
For Sunwood, the award is not just a personal milestone — it’s a reaffirmation of purpose. “Receiving the President’s Adjunct Award is a tremendous boost and uplifting of my heart and spirit in these tumultuous times when the terms, concepts, theories, and frameworks that craft, shape, and elucidate the sociocultural and political dynamics of our Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program and our daily lives are challenged, denigrated, and delineated for deletion,” she shared. “The honor and privilege to teach WGSS courses, being nominated and supported by colleagues, administrators, staff, students, and community members for this award brings tears of joy to my eyes and convinces me of the importance of doing what I do, and of quadrupling my engagements and efforts in teaching, facilitating learning, and building supportive community(ies).”
Looking forward, her purpose remains as clear as ever: “I hope my passions for connection making, self-reflection, community building, and creating a safe healthy world for all of us inspire students to engage deeply, joining hands and raising voices, lifting others as they/we climb, actualizing the world we envision.”
As she continues her work at UAF, Kayt Sunwood remains a guiding force, reminding us that education can be both a catalyst for change and a call to action.
Join WGSS for guest speakers and departmental updates on the first Wednesday of each month in Gruening 503H from 1:00-2:30p.m. The first meeting of the fall 2025 semester will take place on September 3rd.