Since joining our staff in August of 2021, Taylor Nichols has begun collaborating with students as well as colleagues in many other offices and organizations around Grounds to coordinate our Gender Violence & Social Change program and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. We caught up with Taylor as she prepares to launch her new office after-hours, Tea with Taylor, for the Spring 2022 semester. Read on to learn more about Taylor and the experiences that inform her work. 

Spring 2022: Drop in for Tea with Taylor - Tuesdays, 4-6:30pm!

What inspired your plans for Tea with Taylor?

I remember how world events impacted the work I was doing in previous jobs. I interned at Planned Parenthood during the 2016 election. I started working in Title IX during the height of the #MeToo movement. I worked with students of color during the summer of 2020 where the headlines of police brutality and racial injustice seemed never ending. What all of these moments had in common was that it made concentrating at my job difficult for me but also frustrating. I was often expected to put those feelings of disbelief and grief aside and continue my work like a little machine unfazed by the world around me. I learned quickly that this is how burnout happens.

It was during 2020 that I began doing check-ins with my students. They were so grateful to have a moment to breathe and not feel like machines. I feel like everyone, myself included, needs that. So why not do it with some tea?

Tell us about your path to UVA and the work you’re currently doing for the Women’s Center.

I’ve never been sure about what I wanted to do for a living. Even in undergrad, it took me forever to figure out what I wanted to study. I fell in love with Women and Gender Studies but I still had no idea where that would lead me. I ended up turning to higher ed accidentally and fell in love with working with college students. In my prior capacity, I worked in Title IX and some DEI work and enjoyed it. But I knew that sexual violence prevention education is where I needed to be. And when I saw that tthe GVSC position here included a DEI component, I knew I had to have it. 

Who would you most like to meet (living or dead) for coffee?

Mariah Carey. The queen of Christmas, of course.

What’s something you do that you know you do differently from most people?

I eat pizza starting from the crust. I know it’s sick.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

I love popular culture. Anything pop culture, I’m in. I can talk about it for hours! I try to put dollops of it into the work that I do in the Women’s Center.

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

Student loan forgiveness, lol.