VCU Hosts Fourth Women of Color Conference

By Cassie Williams Jones

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Office of the Provost is hosting this year’s Fourth Women of Color Conference on Friday in Richmond, presented by the American Council of Education’s (ACE) Virginia Network Conference.

The 2012 conference, which is being held at the Downtown Richmond Marriott, 500 E. Broad St., beginning at 8 a.m., will provide a space for women in the academy to unite and build community across racial and ethnic backgrounds, to promote gender equity and to support professional growth.

“VCU is pleased to host the Virginia Network Annual State Conference and the Fourth annual Women of Color Conference. This conference is an outstanding example of the emphasis that the Virginia Network places on professional development for women in higher education,” said Beverly Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., provost and vice president of academic affairs. “I am grateful for the many contributions of the Women's Network at VCU, including Dr. Nakeina Douglas who has provided exceptional leadership in the planning for this conference. We all look forward to the many opportunities to explore and network with the outstanding professionals who will be attending this conference.”

This year’s theme, “Connect, Discover, Empower: Finding Strength and Unity through Diversity,” encourages open dialogue about ethnic diversity, gender and higher education by focusing on the wide range of contexts within which women exist.

The all-day conference will consist of a roundtable discussion, multiple workshops and keynote lunch seminar, featuring Judith A. W. Thomas, Ed.D., special assistant to the president at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. This year’s presidents’ roundtable, which features female presidents from a variety of institutions, includes Dianne Boardley Suber of Saint Augustine's College, Linda Thomas-Glover of Eastern Shore Community College and Dorothy Cower Yancy of Shaw University.

The conference will connect women from across the state to explore commonalities and differences in order to develop practical tools to enhance our everyday lives. In doing so, participants will discover the opportunities and challenges that come with the intersection of race and gender, while gaining an understanding of the perspective of women of color. The network hopes to promote an environment of learning that will empower women of multiple identities to accomplish their goals and succeed in the workplace.

The Virginia Network was founded in 1977, one of the original state networks formed by the ACE Women’s Network. The network has been actively engaged in advancing women’s careers in higher education for more than 30 years.