S-CAR Class Inspires Landmark Lawsuit

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) evolving policy of permitting women to serve in a quarter of a million combat positions began in a George Mason University Conflict and Gender class.

Col. Ellen Haring delivers the keynote speech at the second annual “Raising the Bar” fund-raiser.

What she learned in that course, says George Mason alumna Col. Ellen Haring, MS Peace Operations ’09, inspired her to be one of two plaintiffs in the landmark 2012 lawsuit that challenged the DOD policy of excluding women from combat positions. Haring made the revelation during her keynote address last week during a fundraising event for George Mason’s Center for the Study of Gender and Conflict (CGC), a unit of Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR).

“Agreeing to become a plaintiff and suing the institution that you serve is inherently risky and a pretty scary endeavor,” Haring told the crowd of 70 students, scholars from surrounding universities, attorneys, peacebuilding professionals and policymakers at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Patton Boggs LLP, the evening’s sponsor. “But I knew from my Conflict and Gender class at George Mason that plenty of women before me had taken risks that had given me the opportunities that I had benefited from all my life. Now it was my turn to step up and take a risk.”

Haring, a PhD student at S-CAR, explained to the crowd that her actions were inspired in part by taking a course with Mason professor Sandra Cheldelin; the course, offered in collaboration with CGC, sensitized her to “anything in our surroundings that smacked of gender norms and gender stereotypes.” And, as she acknowledged, “when you begin to pay attention you start to see it everywhere.”

These gendered dimensions of everyday life, and how they intersect with conflict, are of particular interest to CGC. The center provides a critical space for reflection on the implications of gender on conflict while simultaneously addressing them through advancement of research, interrupting such cycles of violence and focusing on women serving at the forefront of peacekeeping. The center sits at the nexus of critical reflection and action, serving as a think tank as well as a “do tank.”

History doctoral candidate Zayna Bizri; Mason alumna Julie Anderson, MA ’12; Sociology doctoral candidate Sahar Haghighat; with Elizabeth Mount, executive director of Center for the Study of Gender and Conflict.

Buzzing with networking opportunities, a silent auction, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and camaraderie, the second-annual event called “Raising the Bar” at Patton Boggs increased the center’s capacity to conduct such vital work and to inform and expand wider networks of professionals.

“‘Raising the Bar’ highlights the critical work we are doing, and calls attention to the fact that we are united with leading professionals from around the D.C. area who are passionate about fostering women’s participation in peacebuilding, addressing gendered violence and supporting the work of brave pioneers like Col. Haring,” said CGC executive director Elizabeth Degi Mount. “The evening is a celebration of what’s possible when passion, determination and tenacity are leveraged to do good in the world.”