Monday, November 24 | 12:30-2pm
Location shared upon registration
Audience: UIC Students

Join us as we close out the semester with a hands-on celebration of reflection, creativity, and self-care.

Through guided journaling prompts, art activities, and light movement, students will explore ways to manage stress and reconnect with themselves. Each participant will leave with a self-made “resilience toolkit” they can return to throughout finals and beyond.

[ID: A person pouring water into a garden growing from the top of another person's head, with details about the PERSIST(Σ) Creative coping event above them.]

Tuesday, December 2 | 12-1pm
Zoom
Audience: UIC Students

Take a break with HEALS! We will explore rest as resistance using ideas from We Will Rest! by Tricia Hersey and celebrate ourselves as we wrap up the semester.

[ID: "HEALS Community for Survivors of Sexual & Domestic Violence" in white text over a dark purple background. Below that are details about the HEALS Surviving & Thriving through Finals session. At the right is a copy of the book We Will Rest! At the bottom is a person lying down among clouds and holding a pillow to their chest.]

Tuesday, December 2 | 1-3pm
WLRC, 1700 SSB
Audience: UIC Students, Staff, Faculty

Join us for an afternoon of crafting, creation, and community!

Bring a craft you’ve been working on or experiment with our supplies! Chat with others, sip some tea, and de-stress before finals.

Co-sponsored by Disability Cultural Center and Asian American Resource and Cultural Center.

[ID: Colorful text describing the Creativity Cafe event, surrounded by colorful craft supplies, including yarn skeins, a hot glue gun, a paint palette, glue and scissors, markers, buttons, and two hands knitting.]

Now - November 28
Drop off at WLRC, 1700 SSB

As the colder months approach, Little Sparks and WLRC are putting out a call for winter coats and accessories to support the children of UIC parenting students. Your generosity can make a big difference! Seeking new or gently used:

[ID: A parent carrying a small child, both dressed in winter clothes. Next to them are details about the Winter Coat Donation Drive.]

Meet Nate Chang Sawyer, CCUSC Community Mental Health Intern!

As the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) community mental health intern, Nate offers different kinds of 1:1 student support including but not limited to:

- mental health/therapeutic support
- connections to resources and mutual aid, and
- advocacy support while navigating institutional barriers and academic ableism.

As a Taiwanese-American graduate student with lived experience of mental illness and psychiatric disability, Nate’s work is centered on collaborating with fellow students to imagine and build structures of collective care inside the university.

There are no costs or session caps. Meetings can be scheduled via email (nsawy@uic.edu) for both in-person and remote. Nate’s office is in 4080 BSB.

[ID: Info about services provided by CCUSC Community Mental Health Intern Nate Chang Sawyer.]

Are you a UIC student who is invested in the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC)? We want to learn from you!

The university has committed to hiring a community healer/mental health provider solely dedicated to the cultural centers! And we want your help in figuring out what this person's job should be, what they should do, what values you want them to have, etc.

Come share your thoughts!

- Thursday, November 20, 2-3pm: Latino Cultural Center, Lecture Center B2
- Monday, November 24, 2:30-3:30pm: Disability Cultural Center, 231 BSB

Can't make it? Share your thoughts here.

Questions: Email Nico at ndarca2@uic.edu.  

[ID: An info flyer about the Listening Sessions, featuring a light bulb and a head with a plant growing through its top.]

Help us gather supplies that can be used by families as they try to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Melissa: sanitary napkins, sleeping bags, non-perishable food items, books, and games for children, etc.

Drop-off boxes:

- WLRC, 1700 SSB
- History Dept, 9th Floor UH
- Arts & Exhibition Hall, 400 N. Peoria, Rm 3206
- BCC, 209 Addams
- GSC, 183 BSB
- Odeh Center, 220 Library of the Health Sciences

[ID: Buildings destroyed by a hurricane and volunteers packing supplies. Next to them are details about the "Support Families in Jamaica Emergency Supply Drive."]

Calling all UIC Undergraduate Students! Registration for Spring 2026 classes is open!

Need to fulfill a general education requirement? Looking for a core course for your major or minor? Interested in a brand new special topics class?

The Gender & Women’s Studies Program has you covered! Check out our engaging slate of courses!

[ID: A list of GWS Spring 2026 courses.]

As the fall semester progresses and many of you and your families are being impacted by the actions of ICE and their abductions, WLRC and the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) want to underline our ongoing support to you all. Remember that there are multiple pillars on campus to help you stay resolute in completing your studies.

As you continue to fight the good fight, know that you are not alone in the urgency you are feeling. Our space is open to study, gather in community, and check in with

staff. We are here to support your academic success through the end of the semester and beyond. We will continue to find courage in our solidarity and community, fight injustice, and build spaces of love and care.

Additional Campus Resources:

[ID: "Persevering through the Semester and Beyond: A message of support for our students" surrounded by monarch butterflies and school supplies, all on a purple background.]

Survivors, we are here for you! Please reach out to the Campus Advocacy Network any time you need support, information, resources, answers, and/or advocacy related to safety, healing, or gender-based violence (sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, stalking, harassment, family abuse).

Our services are free, confidential, and open to all members of the UIC community.

We can help you

We're also here for allies! Please reach out to us if you are in a role where you may need to support survivors on campus (instructors, mentors, advisors, student leaders, friends, or colleagues) or have questions about resources, mandated reporting, and more. 

To connect with an advocate:

[ID: A grey t-shirt with "Someone you love is a survivor" painted on it, and a brown tabletop with a few buttons on it. The buttons have messages including "Take a stand," "Survivor," "Love shouldn't hurt," "Feminist," and "Be a voice."]

If you are a student leader, instructor, or supervisor, please consider inviting CAN to speak to your class through our Don’t Cancel Your Class! program, or request a training for your department, college, student organization, or other campus unit. 

[ID: Three students participating in a dating timeline activity on a tabletop.]

Faculty, please include info about us in your curriculum and syllabus:

"If you have experienced sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, stalking, or harassment, there is help available. The Campus Advocacy Network provides free and confidential services to UIC students, faculty, and staff who have experienced or are experiencing interpersonal violence. 

Pregnant and parenting students are also welcome to contact CAN for resources, information, and support.

If you would like to speak with an advocate, please email CAN at can-appointment@uic.edu, call (312) 413-8206 and leave a voicemail message, text (312) 488-9784, or fill out CAN's Ask An Advocate form online at can.uic.edu/ask. To learn more, visit CAN's website at can.uic.edu."

[ID: A CAN team member standing next to a presentation screen and facilitating a discussion on how to respond to a disclosure of gender-based violence.]

Our next few events explore ways to reconnect with ourselves, find peace, manage stress, and make time for activities we love.

How do you plan to reconnect with yourself, manage your stress, and make time for what you love during these last few weeks of the semester?

Check back next week for your responses and a new question!

Last week, we asked, "What's your favorite type of arts & crafts? What are you great at and what do you want to learn?" Here are some of your responses:

Thank you for your thoughtful responses!

[ID: "What do you think?" in yellow block letters inside a yellow-orange frame on a purple-blue gradient background.]

UIC Student Affairs: 2026-2027 Scholarships
Apply by January 29
Applications are now available for competitive scholarships that will support undergraduate students across campus colleges and academic disciplines.

UIC United Faculty: Apply for the Student Fast Fund
The UICUF FAST Fund is now taking applications for grants of up to $500 to support students in emergency financial situations. 

UIC IRRPP: Funding Opportunities for Faculty & Grad Students
IRRPP welcomes scholars from all disciplines and especially encourages those from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

UIC LAS GANAS: Whistle, Pack, Impact
Thursday, November 20 | 4-6:30pm, ARC Think Tank
Come join us in creating whistle kits to help inform and keep our communities safe! 

UIC New Student and Family Programs: Apply to be an Orientation Leader!
Applications due November 23
Orientation Leaders are the face of the UIC community, serving as stewards of the university and helping future generations of Flames in their transition to campus.

UIC Odehmenan Health Equity Center: Flourishing through Movement Liberation: Salsa Night
Friday, December 5 | 4-8pm, 220 Library of the Health Sciences
The evening will involve a presentation on the history of salsa, a salsa tutorial, and hours of open dancing with a live band and Latin American food.

UIC Law Pro Bono Litigation Clinic: Free Name & Gender Marker Changes
Students assist transgender individuals with changing their names and identification documents, prepare necessary court documents, and appear in court on behalf of individuals at hearings. Includes court and document fees.

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR): Family Support Network Hotline Internship
Make a real impact by helping connect immigrant families to critical services, such as Legal Assistance, Healthcare Referrals, Public Benefits, and Citizenship and DACA workshops.

CAASE: Upcoming Events
The Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) addresses the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation through prevention, policy reform, community engagement, and legal service.

Resilience: Upcoming Events
Resilience works to end rape culture and empower sexual assault survivors through advocacy, education, and healing.

Check out what's happening at all our sibling centers this week!

Founded as a direct result of campus activism, the UIC Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change (CCUSC) work collectively to produce knowledge and shift university culture, validating the multidimensional lived experiences of historically and currently excluded communities.

Informed by social justice frameworks, the Centers support students, faculty, and staff as they build a strong identity and sense of belonging, becoming change agents for a more just campus and society.

The Centers connect our communities and design intercultural and engaged-learning opportunities, student mentorship programs, cultural programming, advocacy, collaborative research, and community partnerships.

Through these efforts, the Centers expand the educational and transformational mission of UIC.

In light of actual and potential threats to our communities, both here at UIC and throughout the Chicago area, it's important to know what our rights are when interacting with immigration and other federal law enforcement officers.

WHAT TO DO

UIC's administration has shared official protocols for such interactions on campus.

If you need assistance or suspect ICE presence anywhere in IL, please call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) Hotline: 1-855-435-7693.

[ID: Details about ICIRR's Family Support Network Hotline: 855-435-7693.]

CAMPUS RESOURCES

UPCOMING TRAININGS & EVENTS

We are here for you and will continue to share resources and information with our campus community.

UIC Women’s Leadership and Resource Center
& Campus Advocacy Network

1700 Student Services Building (MC 363)
1200 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 413-1025 ∙ wlrc@uic.edu ∙ wlrc.uic.edu

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