Meet Our Scholars

Wandi Che was born and raised in China. Since childhood, Wandi witnessed her mother fighting for girls’ education rights in a conservative area. Although her mother eventually gave up due to the overwhelming pressure, she has profoundly influenced Wandi to care about others and things beyond oneself. Wandi is determined to carry on serving more people in need.In high school, besides being holding leadership positions in several school clubs and the student government, Wandi began to actively engage in feminist and queer activities and activism outside of school, despite all the political pressure and difficulties along the way. She devoted substantial efforts to building the queer community and raising public awareness on queer and feminist issues, in a homogeneous culture of conformity. She volunteered at Beijing LGBT Center, Third China Women’s Film Festival, and Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China. Based on her experience, she co-founded Audre Lorde Feminist Club to bridge the gap between different communities and extend the impact to high schools and colleges. Moreover, Wandi has been actively involved in social justice advocacy including national campaigns against gender discrimination in the college recruiting process along with other activists.At Duke, Wandi plans to major in Women’s Studies and International Comparative Studies to better understand transnational feminist and queer theories and issues. She works at the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity at Duke, volunteers at Dove House for homeless women in Durham, and goes to all kinds of events and activities on campus and in the local community. In the future, Wandi aspires to become a leading activist in feminist and queer activism in China.