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University Communications

Advocate for Women to Open Speaker Series at University of Richmond

September 13, 2004

Marie Wilson, founder and president of The White House Project and former president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, will open the 2004-05 WILL/WGSS speaker series at the University of Richmond with a talk Sept. 28.

Her lecture on "Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World" will begin at 7 p.m. in the Alice Haynes Room on the lower level of Tyler Haynes Commons. The event is free and open to the public.

An advocate of women's issues for more than 30 years, Wilson will talk about her recent book, "Closing the Leadership Gap," in which she argues for "changing society from a system built on the labor of women to one led equally by their vision." Wilson also is co-creator of Take Our Daughters to Work Day. In 1998, she founded The White House Project, which focuses on building a society where women lead alongside men in all spheres.

Wilson's talk is the first of seven events in the series, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL) and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) programs. The series' theme is "Interrogating Limits, Pushing Boundaries: Artists/Academics/ Activists." Speakers include artists who are also activists, academics who are also artists, activists who are also academics, and some who are all three.

All events are free and open to the public. The series is funded in part by the Richmond Quest, the university's Cultural Affairs Committee, and other university departments and programs. For more information, contact WILL at (804) 289-8578 or will@richmond.edu.

In addition to Wilson, speakers include:

  • Okianer Christian Dark, "Change Agents within a Community: Becoming a Flea for Justice," Oct. 6, 7 p.m., Jepson Hall 118. A professor of law at Howard University, Dark also is a litigator and social justice activist who focuses on civil rights, hate crimes, violence against women and environmental justice. She works with grassroots organizations to effect social change and community revitalization.
  • Jennifer Niesslein, Stephanie Wilkinson and Amy Hudock, "Questions Our Mothers Forgot to Ask," Nov. 8, 4 p.m., Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall. The editors of Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers and Literary Mama present a panel on the explosion of publishing for, by and about mothers.
  • Belinda Anderson, "Continuing the Quest for Equal Access in Higher Education," Dec. 1, 4 p.m., Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall. Anderson is president of Virginia Union University, a historically black institution founded in Richmond in 1865. She will discuss VUU's history and current renaissance as well as her own career as an advocate for equal access to higher education. This event is cosponsored by the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement.
  • Appalachian Women's Alliance, "Grassroots Organizing Among Appalachian Women," Feb. 21, 7 p.m., Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court. Back by popular demand, the alliance will present a program of poetry, music and talk, exemplifying its work in combating racial injustice, sexism, homophobia and social inequality in Appalachian communities.
  • Nathan Long, "The Space between 'Boy' and 'Girl': Facts and Fictions," March 29, 4 p.m., Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall. Long is a professor, poet, essayist, playwright and short story writer whose work has appeared in such journals as The Sun, Indiana Review and Glimmer Train. He will talk about intersexuality -- having sexual characteristics between those of a typical male and a typical female -- and the plurality of sexes. He also will read from his novel-in-progress about an intersexual person growing up in rural mid-America.
  • Janisse Ray, "Questioning the Status Quo: Eco-Feminist Challenges," April 11, 4 p.m., Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall. A writer and naturalist, Ray is author of the award-winning "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood," a memoir of growing up poor in the ruined longleaf pine ecosystem of the Southeast. She will talk about the beleaguered Southern landscape and the need to remake a world in which we can be fully human.