Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Gretchen Purser Appointed Co-Director of Lender Center for Social Justice

Monday, April 18, 2022, By Ellen de Graffenreid
Share
College of Visual and Performing ArtsLender Center for Social JusticeMaxwell School of Citizenship and Public AffairsSchool of Education

Provost Gretchen Ritter announced today that Gretchen W. Purser, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has been appointed co-director of the Lender Center for Social Justice.

Gretchen Purser

Gretchen Purser

To fulfill their enduring mission to develop ethical and courageous citizens, Marvin and Helaine Lender provided a generous $5 million gift to create a multidisciplinary center that would include research support, symposia, and faculty and student fellowships. The Lender Center for Social Justice launched in September 2018. Marcelle Haddix, associate provost for strategic initiatives and Distinguished Dean’s Professor of Literacy, Race and Justice in the School of Education, and Kendall Phillips, professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, were named inaugural co-directors.

“Professor Purser’s perspective on social justice is rooted in her experience using qualitative and multi-method research approaches to better understand the root causes of work and labor disparities and a constellation of related issues,” says Ritter. “Her work on urban poverty, precarity, community-based action, law and punishment, and housing and homelessness will bring a fresh new perspective to the Lender Center’s work with students and faculty to address pressing social justice concerns.”

Purser’s research focuses on work and labor disparities, urban poverty, precarity, social theory, ethnography, community-based action, law and punishment, and housing and homelessness. Purser is also a member of the Maxwell School’s Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration Labor Studies working group, where she is the research director of the program’s Advocacy and Activism working group. In the community, Purser chairs the board of the Workers’ Center of Central New York. Known for her courses that connect scholarly knowledge with real-world experience, Purser received the Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award in 2020 and the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award in 2013. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Purser’s appointment will begin on July 1. She will serve alongside co-director James Haywood Rolling, Jr., professor of arts education in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and teaching and leadership in the School of Education, who was appointed co-director in September 2021. Purser succeeds Phillips, whose term ends on June 30.

“Professor Phillips’ enthusiasm for the Lender Center and its mission has resulted in a four-year track record of quality research and programming, which expanded its reach through virtual symposia and presentations during the pandemic,” said Ritter. “I am grateful for his leadership and the continuity he has provided during these transitions.”

When founded, the Lender Center was administered by the School of Education. When Haddix was named associate provost for strategic initiatives, the administration of the Lender Center moved to Academic Affairs. “In talking to faculty and students across Syracuse University, it quickly became clear that there are vibrant social justice initiatives in almost every college, school and program,” says Ritter. “Given the breadth of these efforts, it makes sense to place the Lender Center under the umbrella of Academic Affairs, where it complements the social difference, social justice research cluster. As part of a portfolio of academic community outreach, the center’s student and faculty-driven programming will be an important way for the University to connect with the community.”

“Working with Kendall Phillips to imagine and set up the center’s initial programs was a great experience, as we each brought our own disciplinary perspectives to the work. Each new co-director brings their life experience and disciplinary lens to the position, resulting in a rich research environment for student and faculty fellows,” says Haddix.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity for continued collaboration with the Lender Center,” she added. “Professors Purser and Rollings offer rich perspectives and I am excited to see what their collaboration brings.”

  • Author

Ellen de Graffenreid

  • Recent
  • Calling All Alumni Entrepreneurs: Apply for ’CUSE50 Awards
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Iran Escalation: Experts Available This Week
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By News Staff
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey

More In Campus & Community

Retiring University Professor and Decorated Public Servant Sean O’Keefe G’78 Reflects on a Legacy of Service

For most of his time as a public servant, Sean O’Keefe G’78 adhered to a few guiding principles: Step up when someone calls upon you to serve. Be open to anything. Challenge yourself. Those values helped O’Keefe navigate a career…

Jorge Morales ’26 Named a 2025 Beinecke Scholar

Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…

Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G

Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…

2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship

For the first time in the 12-year history of the program, both nominees from the Whitman School of Management have been selected as recipients of the 2025 AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship, a prestigious honor awarded to top-performing undergraduate women…

Whitman’s Johan Wiklund Named a Top Scholar Globally for Business Research Publications

The Whitman School of Management’s Distinguished Professor Johan Wiklund was recently listed as one of the most prolific business and economic research scholars globally, according to “What We Know About the Science of Science in Business and Economics? Insights From…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.