Wynn Phillips: A Secret Dance Star?
By Brianna Luby, Managing Editor of Digital Content
With the world in recent chaos, it is important to recognize the faculty around us that make the campus so special.
This week’s feature is Wynn Phillips.
Wynn Phillips is the Director of Violence Prevention and an adjunct professor for the women and gender studies department. She started as the VIP Center’s director in March of 2023, and has been teaching since August of 2024.
She is the faculty advisor for four different clubs on campus: Erotic Education Group (EEG), It’s on Us, Her Campus and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In addition, she also hosts hours at the LGBTQ+ resource center.
Working in the VIP center, Phillips helps to offer a ton of resources to students. For more information on the center, check out this previous article here.
Phillips is a Susquehanna University alum, attending the university from 2016 to 2020. Sharing a fun fact with The Quill, she stated she was a member of the belly dancer circle at the time. While the club did not survive after covid, she said she enjoyed her time there.
“It was a really cool place to get together, it was all women when I was there, and especially since some were disabled in a not visible way, to come together and just celebrate. It helped me meet so many people I would not have met otherwise,” Phillips explained.
The group used to consist of three levels, based on proficiency and confidence. Phillips quoted it being a great place to give grace, to both yourself and others: “It was a living and learning community of Susquehanna.”
Phillips remembered SU DanceCorps being supportive as well and even remembers performing during the annual parent’s weekend: “It was a great way to bust down cultural barriers.”
“It was deeply empowering and cool,” Phillips stated, “and low commitment in so many ways to know how to trust your body and feel things. We are going to show people how much joy we get in doing this together.”
Who would’ve known?
For those interested in the Belly Dance Circle and their performances, you can check out the article from 2019, here.
Photo Provided by Alyssa Gehris, 2019.