12:48 p.m., June 2, 2010----University of Delaware student Meghan Wallace, a rising senior majoring in political science and women's studies, will attend the 2010 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders June 3-5.

THIS STORY

E-mail

Print

Twitter

The conference will feature internationally known speakers, the Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony, and dynamic workshops. Now in its 25th year, the conference is expected to draw more than 450 campus leaders to the University of Maryland at College Park.

“I hope to get much out of this opportunity. I am excited to hear from all the speakers and I am just as excited to network with outstanding college and career women from all over the country,” Wallace said. “I am so grateful to have this opportunity, thanks to a scholarship from the Newark Branch of the American Association of University Women.”

Since 1985, the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders has provided a platform to help thousands of college and university women develop leadership skills, network with other student leaders, and interact with women who hold leadership positions.

Hosted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the conference offers women students the opportunity to gain real-world lessons during a fast-paced, two-and-a-half-day experience focused on enhancing student leadership.

AAUW is among the world's leaders in philanthropic support for women's higher education and is committed to ending the underrepresentation of women and girls in leadership and key professional positions. NASPA, the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice, affirms the commitment of student affairs to educating the whole student and integrating student life and learning.

The Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony pays tribute to women leaders who have made extraordinary contributions in their professions or in their communities. This year's awards will be presented on Thursday, June 3, to the following individuals:

• Dorothy Height (in memoriam), chair and president emerita, National Council of Negro Women;
• Christina Lagdameo, deputy director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;
• Patti Solis Doyle, partner at Utrecht & Phillips, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and the first Hispanic woman to lead an American presidential campaign;
• Marie Tillman, founder and chair of the Pat Tillman Foundation; and
• Nomfundo Walaza, chief executive officer of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

Approximately 50 workshops and presentations will be held on Friday, June 4, with offerings ranging from “Sexversations” to “Elect Her: Empowering College Women to Run for Student Government,” a session about a new AAUW initiative to expand the pipeline of women running for elective office.

During the “Increasing Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” workshops, conference participants will learn how their peers have put AAUW's 2010 research report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, into practice. The AAUW report provides compelling evidence about the environmental and social barriers that continue to limit women's participation in the science and math fields. Twelve AAUW-funded Campus Action Project teams from around the country have developed programs to address some of those barriers.

Each attendee will receive a free copy of Secrets of Powerful Women, a collection of 24 essays focused on secrets to success -- from personal tales of missteps to power pitfalls, power surges, and powerful beginnings. Attendees also will have a chance to hear from some of the book's contributing authors: Michelle D. Bernard, president and CEO of the Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women's Voice; Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations at AAUW; Marie C. Wilson, creator of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day and founder of the White House Project; and Laurie Westley, national director, government relations and advocacy for Girl Scouts of the USA. Westley will also give Friday's keynote address.