Spectrum - Volume 20 Issue 16 January 15, 1998 - Local AAUW sponsors equity conference

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Local AAUW sponsors equity conference

By Jill Elswick

Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 16 - January 15, 1998

The sixth annual Educational Equity conference sponsored by the Blacksburg branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will be held at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center (DBHCC) on January 27 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Service-Learning Center of Virginia Tech has contributed $3,000 toward the cost of the conference, whose keynote speaker is journalist Peggy Orenstein, author of Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-esteem, and the Confidence Gap . The contribution comes from an "Empowerment of Women and Girls" grant to the Service-Learning Center from the Jesse Ball DuPont Fund.
Attendees will break into six different sessions addressing the following topics: "Gender Equity and the Law," "Service-Learning Projects," "Women are Born Leaders: How to Encourage Leadership in Girls," "How to Make a Science Project Girl-Friendly," "Issue of Race and Gender in the Classroom," and "What is a Gender-Fair Classroom?"
A roundtable of middle- and high-school girls will issues of educational equity and female leadership. A question-and-answer session with Orenstein will conclude the conference.
Teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, pre-service teachers, parents, and the business community are encouraged to attend the conference. The registration fee, including lunch, is $12 per person before January 20; after this date, the cost is $20. Students are admitted free; however, to receive an information packet or to attend the lunch, the registration fee must be paid.
For more information or to register, please call 1-5182.
[Editor's note: An article about other recent uses of the "Empowerment of Women and Girls" grant and about similar initiatives at Tech will be printed in a future issue of Spectrum.]