Spring 2012 - Clarion University

The
first Clarion Women’s
Conference was chaired by
Anne Day. I saw her rise from
the mists inside the Magee Hotel,
Bloomsburg, Pa., at the first Women’s
Consortium Conference held there.
“Look at the women here today from
your campus,” the organizers said.
“Find those with the most experience because
they’ll know the politics at your institution. Ask
these women to teach you. All Clarion eyes
turned to behold Anne Day. She probably said
something like, “Yes, I certainly do know!” followed by a
hearty laugh. She quickly became our leader, a woman
we trusted and supported. When doubts crept in, she’d
say to us, “Oh, but you’re good. You really are.”
“a difference i noticed in the past 20 years is an increased awareness
of sensitive issues on campus. the Wgs Program provided a forum that
allowed people to have not “polite” discussions. For example, there was
no outspoken support for LGBTQIA issues 20 years ago. The influence of
having a Women studies center on campus paved the way for support
of other underrepresented groups. and women aren’t invisible in their
academic disciplines anymore.”
“the success of the program is because of dr. deb’s character. she is the
“perfect diplomat.” it is because of her the idea of ‘gender studies’ took
off. she can see the bigger picture.”
~ Myrna Kuehn, Ph.D.
Communication Chair, ws Founder
“in my academic career, which began in 1988, the years at clarion were
a highlight due to the dynamic and varied group of feminists involved in
the creation of the Women’s studies Program. the dialogue and process
that we engaged in to develop the program were personally enriching
and led to a successful program design.”
~ april Katz, MFa
art, ws Founder
“the Wgs Program has done an outstanding job in its programming
and curriculum development. twenty years ago, when i served on the
Ws advisory council, i was a second year graduate student who was
preparing to go into higher education as an english professor. the
Founding committee chair, dr. Kathryn graham, and the program provided
me with a sound foundation for incorporating Wgs into my courses as
an english professor, especially my literature courses. long live the Wgs
Program!”
~ Brian roberts, Ph.D.
english, ws advisory Council
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