VCU to serve as satellite site for national women’s teleconference

By Lissette Linares

From March 27-29, Virginia Commonwealth University will serve as one of three satellite sites in Virginia to host "Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, Women’s Solutions: Shaping a National Agenda for Women in Higher Education." The teleconference, broadcast from the University of Minnesota, will promote a national conversation with students, faculty and staff about women’s progress in higher education and future goals.

"Women in the U.S. have achieved a noteworthy level of success in many areas of society," said Diana Scully, Ph.D., director of the VCU Women’s Studies Program. "Their access to and influence on higher education has been tremendous, but there is still much work to be done. This conference is encouraging a national dialogue to ensure the future of women in higher education."

VCU will broadcast the opening session and keynote address of the conference on March 27 at 1 p.m. in the Commonwealth Ballroom of the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave. The broadcast will be followed by an informal or caucus discussion of women’s issues, as well as those that apply to the VCU community, which will continue on March 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Johnetta B. Cole, Ph.D., Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women’s Studies and African-American Studies at Emory University, will deliver the keynote address. Cole made history when she became the first African-American woman president of the nation’s foremost institution of higher education for African-American women – Spelman College in Atlanta. A nationally recognized administrator, researcher and advocate for people of color and women, she has served on the boards of major corporations and assisted President Bill Clinton in the formation of his first administration.

On March 29, VCU and universities across the nation will send a summary of the issues and goals discussed in the informal caucus meetings to conference headquarters, to be included in the national simulcast of the closing session at 11 a.m.

For more information or to participate in the caucus discussions, call 828-4041.