Here’s a quick look at what the Psychology Graduate Student Organization has been up to this past year and what the group hopes to accomplish in the future:

Last year, the PGSO hosted two successful fundraising events. We operated a booth at the Women’s Works craft fair where we sold a variety of homemade baked goods and unique Christmas ornaments. A portion of the proceeds went to UML’s very own Center for Women and Work. We also donated a portion to a local non-profit called Catie’s Closet, an innovative organization that sets up locations inside of local schools where students in need can obtain donated clothing and other essential items. The PGSO also hosted an Open Mic fundraiser event for this organization, and between that and the Women’s Work fair, we were able to donate a total of $350 and several boxes of clothing. We hope that through events like these they can build stronger partnerships between the psychology department and community groups.

Another of our goals is to foster a sense of community among all of the psychology graduate students. In order to achieve this we will be hosting some fun and informal social events. For example, this semester we have already held a fundraiser at the 99 Restaurant, where people who came to be part of the event had 15% of their bill donated back to the PGSO in order to pay for future social functions.

As part of Lowell’s Women’s Week, the PGSO made and decorated a silhouette of Rosie the Riveter with the theme of ‘We Can and We Will’ which included student signatures and inspiring messages of change. This silhouette was part of a larger, community wide art project for Women’s Week that was displayed at Lowell City Hall.

We have also been collecting books around the psychology department as everyone prepares to move to the new Health and Social Sciences building. We are donating the books to a group called More Than Words, which empowers marginalized youth to operate their own bookstore and embodies many principles of community psychology.

We have also requested that the CSP Community utilize their artistic talents to create a T-shirt design for our department. Anyone is welcome to participate in our contest and submit a design to PGSO@uml.edu by April 8^th! Additionally we would like to encourage students to join us at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference in Amherst, MA from April 12-14. We encourage all psychology graduate students to get involved in any way they can, and everyone is welcome at the bimonthly meetings.

If you would like to participate or have any project or event ideas please email PGSO@uml.edu!