"Women Talking and Acting: Fierce, Fearless and Wise” is the theme of this year’s Women’s History Month, and perhaps even more so than in years past, it is a theme that speaks directly to today’s world.

“The Women’s History Month Committee at Emory met just a week after Sept. 11,” said Ali Crown, director of the Women’s Center. “Traditionally an uplifting meeting, this first gathering was solemn and filled with sadness. Reflecting on our place in the human chain, we wondered about the conditions that breed terrorism. We spoke of our sense of grief, horror and powerlessness and wondered at the impact of our actions on other peoples of the world.

“And then,” Crown added, “we decided to turn up the volume on women’s voices this spring.”

Headlining the month will be Carol Moseley-Braun, former U.S. senator from Illinois and current ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, who will deliver a keynote address on March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Cannon Chapel. When she was elected in 1992, Moseley-Braun became the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Look for a more detailed preview of the event in the March 18 Emory Report.

But certainly before and even after Moseley-Braun’s address, Women’s History Month offers a wide assortment of events and activities that range from lectures and panel discussions to theatrical performances and art exhibits, to films and conferences. A full calendar of Women’s History Month events can be found at www.emory.
edu/WOMENS_CENTER/whmcalendar2002.html.

“I would just like to acknowledge the work of the Women’s History Month Committee, because this is such an interdisciplinary set of events, with such wide participation from departments and schools, that there is something here for just about everybody’s tastes, avocations and interests,” Crown said.

2002 also marks the 10-year anniversary of the Women’s Center and, by extension, the anniversary of Emory’s official Women’s History Month celebration, since it was the Women’s Center and Crown who championed the event back in 1992. Crown said the Women’s Center will continue to commemorate the anniversary throughout the calendar year.

“It’s gone by so quickly for me,” Crown said. “There have been lots of challenges but also lots of joy. Building a community of women at Emory has been probably what I consider to be my life’s work.”

“We’ve had a wonderful relationship with the Emory Women’s Center during the whole decade of its existence,” said Susan Henry-Crowe, dean of the Chapel and Religious Life and a former member of the Women’s History Month Committee. “Ali has given exemplary leadership and worked closely and cooperatively with Religious Life.”