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University Communications

UR'S WOMEN INVOLVED IN LIVING AND LEARNING PROGRAM TO SHARE EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER COLLEGES

March 16, 2001

Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL), a University of Richmond program teaching women's studies, gender issues and leadership, will host 13 other colleges and universities that want to begin similar programs.

Representatives from Georgetown, Sweet Briar, Longwood, SUNY-Brockport and Eastern Michigan will be among the attendees on March 22-24.

Founded in 1980, WILL was the first co-curricular experience of its kind. It was designed to enhance women's college experience through course work in women's studies, gender-related programs outside the classroom and leadership development.

Last year, representatives from 19 colleges, including Dartmouth, Duke and UCLA, attended a previous workshop at Richmond. All plan to use some aspect of WILL at their own institutions, according to Holly J. Blake, director of WILL. Washington and Lee, Virginia Tech, Newcomb College at Tulane, the University of the South and Winona State all have started or intend to start similar programs.

Senior research associate Fern Marx of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, in a two-year study of WILL graduates, concluded that "WILL is an extremely effective vehicle for empowering and transforming female students. Most participants believed that the program contributed in a significant way to their success at the University of Richmond and continued to make a positive impact on their lives after graduation."

Other colleges "would do well to follow the University of Richmond's lead," Marx said. WILL recently won an "exemplary program" award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.