Participants joined an icebreaker exercise Saturday morning.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTSDavidson College hosted its 2nd annual Women’s Leadership Conference Friday night and all-day Saturday, focusing on the theme of empowerment. The event brought together women from on campus and in the community. Have thoughts, responses, insights to share? Post them below. |
By CATHRYN WESTRA
DavidsonNews.net
“Can everybody hear me all right?” asked soon-to-be U.S. attorney for
Western North Carolina, Anne Tompkins as she addressed participants Friday evening at Davidson College’s 2nd annual Women’s Leadership Conference. It was a funny question considering that her following speech would express the importance of finding one’s voice.
Ms. Tompkins shared her experiences in working as a U.S. prosecutor who helped find voices for victims murdered by Saddam Hussein when she worked on the tribunal that prosecuted him in 2004.
Ms. Tompkins, the keynote speaker, was one of over 120 women who attended the conference at Davidson College on Friday and Saturday. This year’s theme was empowerment. The gathering included a wide variety of participants from students to women from the community to some who flew in from out of town to attend.
“I’m excited about this conference because it will give me time to think positively about what it is that I want to do and what I need to do right now,” Dr. Pat McEnery said during the opening ceremonies. Dr. McEnery lives in Houston Texas and came to Davidson to be at the conference with her daughter, Grace Fletcher.
One student and one community member were paired at the gathering based on their personal interests. Partners attended smaller group break-out sessions on topics of their choice.
A breakout session at Saturday's conference.
“I thought that given the strong theme empowerment, the conference did a good job of providing advice that is easily applicable to me and my everyday goals” said Davidson sophomore Rachel Mullins.
Rachel, who was partnered with Jean Cunningham, felt that “it was helpful to be able to make connections with women in the community and to see how women of different generations have overcome various boundaries in unique ways that empower themselves. Also, the cake was good!”
Rachel and Ms. Cunningham attended the breakout sessions “Taking Care of Your Body,” “Empowering other Women” and “Mentoring.”
There were more than 15 small group sessions to choose from, and each pair attended three. In addition to smaller groups, the women enjoyed a lunch panel session, tea time and a time for reconnection with closing remarks.
From left, co-chairs Grace Fletcher, Sara Bates and Christie Mason.
Many women said they felt strengthened and empowered by the support attendees provided for one another. Many said they look forward to signing for next year’s conference a year from now. For more information of the conference please e-mail wlc@davidson.edu.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Did you attend? What did you learn or take away from the event? What insights would you share with others in the community? Please leave comments below or send comments to editor@davidsonnews.net.
Conference participants from left Rachel Andeson, Grace Fletcher, Lou Berl and Cristina Shaul during an activity .
I had the privilege of attending the 2nd Annual Women’s Leadership Conference at Davidson College this weekend. What an amazing group of women! I was so impressed with the team of Davidson College students that planned the entire event, the quality of the speakers, and the “meatiness” of the break-out sessions. The theme was empowerment and focused on empowering within, around and beyond. We heard Anne Tompkins, keynote speaker, encouraging us to find our own voice in society, participated in engaging and fun ice breakers, had extensive meal-time discussions, and ended with Mitzi Short’s (’83) creative and yes, I’ll use the word, empowering speech. I also had the chance to see one of my student proteges in action and was so proud of her. For me, the most valuable time spent was interacting with the college students and other attendees. I left feeling inspired and energized and look forward to continuing the relationships that were created or became stronger as a result of this experience.