UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 28, Page 1
April 23, 1992
Women of Promise urged to lead others, blaze own paths

     It was 53 years ago next month that I, along with two other
women, received the LLD degree with 86 male members of the graduating
class of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Who spoke and
participated at that graduation? I have no idea. So, I wonder what I
can say to you that you will remember 50 years from now? If I say
something to impress you, okay. If not, I guess we've all had a
pleasant dinner."
     With those remarks, Roxana C. Arsht, Delaware's first woman judge
and benefactor of the Academy of Lifelong Learning, opened her speech
to the Women of Promise Dinner, held last week at Clayton Hall. The
annual event honors women graduate students who are outstanding, not
only academically but as members of the University community.
     Arsht told the gathering that she grew up in a home where she was
always taught "the world does not owe you anything. You have to get an
education. You have to be able to support yourself. "
     "After law school, you had to clerk for six months with a lawyer
preceptor. It was an unpaid position. I got to know my husband (also a
lawyer) during this time. When we were dating, and my law firm handled
one side of a case and his the other, we weren't allowed to talk about
the case.
     "We got engaged, got married and professionally nobody wanted me.
His firm didn't hire females. So, I had two children, a house in the
country, a coal stove that I cooked on and a well we pumped water
from. In the winter, I'd melt ice cubes so Sam could have his cup of
coffee and shave.
     "I got busy with other things-the Visiting Nurses, Planned
Parenthood, which then was just called Birth Control, and the Red
Feather. When the children reached their teens, someone suggested I
open my own office. Sam said he would stake me, but before we got to
it, Judge Nelson Sr. called and said they were short of money and
short of help in Family Court, and would I come down a couple of days
a week and help out.
     "I was sworn in in l962, and I became their call girl. They
called every Monday morning and said they were swamped. I ended up
working five days a week for nine years. It was fascinating.
     "I became the first woman judge, and for 12 years was the only
woman on any court. If you've been a token, then you know what it's
like to keep being dropped in slots."
     Arsht concluded her remarks by urging those attending to
remember, "We can't put our thinking out for others to do, like we do
our laundry and dry cleaning. Do not follow where the path may lead,
go where there is no path and leave a trail for others to follow."
     The Women of Promise are chosen by their deans from among
first-and second-year master's degree students and doctoral students.
They are escorted by tenured women faculty.

     The 1992 Women of Promise include
          Siobhan Armstrong, sports science;
          Adrienne Berney, history;
          Betty Davis Best, art history;
          Sandra Cloud, animal science;
          Candy Cortes, business administration;
          Wanda Czerwinski, urban affairs;
          Elizabeth Daubert, educational studies;
          Reina Dickerson, nutrition and dietetics;
          Marjorie Eldridge, urban affairs;
          Nancy Goss, linguistics;
          Marilyn Halstead, nursing.
          JoAnn Hill, art conservation;
          Mary Katherine Hutchinson, individual and family studies;
          Lucille Keefer, individual and family studies;
          Tatiana Kostova, economics;
          Sanja Kutnjak-Ivkovic, sociology;
          Anne Reilly Krach, chemical engineering;
          Lynn Lambert, computer and information sciences;
          Natalie Lehmann, finance;
          Jennifer Marino, political science;
          Elizabeth McGrath, educational studies;
          Kathleen Ogilvie, life and health sciences.
          Renee Raborg, marine studies;
          Carla Ray, business administration;
          Karen Reed, animal science;
          Xiaoping Shao, mechanical engineering;
          Susan Stabile, English;
          Lynn Van Pelt, nursing;
          Lynn Walker, chemical engineering;
          Wendy Whipple, physical education;
          Antonia Wijte, marine studies;
          Sara Wright, accounting;
          Rebecca Wykoff, urban affairs; and
          Deborah Yaissle, educational studies.

     The Women of Excellence dinner is sponsored by the Commission of
the Status of Women and the Office of Women's Affairs. President David
P. Roselle delivered remarks and presented certifications of
recognition. Joan DelFattore, chairperson of the commission and
associate professor of English, delivered welcoming and closing
remarks.
     -Beth Thomas