09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College

Girls in Power Camp participants brainstorm about
how to use different types of simple machines to pour
water into a cup without using their hands.
for Lowe. She drove him to Johnson
Memorial Hospital, where she had
previously served a college internship.
When they arrived at the hospital, Letner
explained the situation to the triage
nurse, telling her Lowe appeared to have
a broken hip and collar bone. Lowe was
treated at the hospital for broken ribs, a
concussion and broken collar bone, and
a pin was placed in his hip.
After the accident, Lowe’s friends
remembered that Letner said she was
an athletic training major at Franklin
College. They tracked her down through
the school to send her a thank-you note.
The note congratulated Letner on being
a first responder to the accident, a
comment that particularly sticks with her.
“It was my first time to be a first
responder to something,” said Letner.
“That was pretty cool.”
Bicyclist Donald Lauer said he was most
impressed that Letner turned around to
help out strangers.
“She couldn’t have been nicer,” said
Lauer. She is a great ambassador for
Franklin College. She spoke well for
herself and her school.”
New course to focus on women in leadership
By Samantha Parker ’11
Pulliam Fellow
Franklin College realized women were crucial to the education
equation just eight years after the college’s inception, when it became
the first co-educational college in Indiana and the seventh in the
nation in 1842. That catalyst for leadership and social action had a
profound effect on changing the landscape of Franklin College,
where today the student enrollment is approximately 50 percent
women, and the leadership positions of Student Congress President,
college board of trustees chair and college vice president for planning,
plant and technology are held by women.
Women’s contributions, then and
now, at Franklin College and around
the world, are the foundation for the
Leadership Department’s new
“Women in Leadership” course that
will be offered this spring.
“We will discuss historical attitudes
toward women in power positions as
well as the extensive current research
on women in leadership,” said Bonnie
Pribush, director of leadership development
and course instructor. “We
will also talk about the personal skills
necessary for success in leadership
today, and the impact of cultural
differences.”
The “Women in Leadership” course
evolved from a program last year that
required the college’s major scholarship
winners to meet periodically with
the leadership department director
and work on developing leadership
projects that engaged them with the
college community. The three recipients
for 2008–09 were all women, and
they were inspired by their opportunity
to meet current board of trustees
chair Susan Johnson DeVoss ’65, the
first woman in Franklin College history
to hold the position. The course was
developed in response to the students’
interest and their suggestions made
during the program.
The “Women in Leadership” course
will be offered in two formats: A onecredit
version for Franklin College
students and women in the community
will consist of four weekend workshops,
one reflection discussion and
a paper. An additional two credits will
be offered to traditional Franklin
College students who will meet during
a regular class to discuss class readings.
Four speakers have been selected to
lead workshops: The first is Linda
Carli, an associate professor of
psychology at Wellesley College and
co-author of Through the Labrynth —
The Truth about How Women Became
Leaders. Carolyn Davis, president of
Alliance Coaching and an executive
coach and leadership consultant, is
the second speaker. The third speaker
is Ethlie Ann Vare, author of Mothers
of Invention. Vare will speak to the
Franklin College community in
March as part of the college’s 175th
anniversary convocation series and
Women’s History Month celebration.
The fourth is Juana Bordas, president
of Mestiza Leadership International
and author of Salsa, Soul and Spirit.
WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU AUTUMN 2009 15