ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
April 14, 2005
Black alumnae gather for Simmons conference
Charmane Higgins
More than 300 black alumnae descended on Simmons
College in Boston, last weekend, to attend the black alumnae/i
symposium entitled, “The Power of Our Presence, Past, Future.”
College President Daniel Cheever welcomed the alumnae, faculty
and staff and asserted that the symposium was destined to be “...one
of the handful of key events in Simmons history.”
Among the guests participating in the weekend activities were
Gwen Ifill ‘77, moderator and managing
editor of “Washington Week” and senior news correspondent
of “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer,” Ann Fudge
‘73, chair and CEO of Young & Rubicam, and Rehema
Ellis, a national NBC news correspondent.
Playwright and performance artist Anna Deavere Smith
shared her take on the power of black women today during Friday’s
opening plenary session. Smith is perhaps best known as the author
and performer of two one-woman plays about racial tensions in
American cities – “Fires in the Mirror” and
“Twilight.”
That afternoon panel experts shared their knowledge on topics
ranging from the politics of race and gender, raising children
of color and financial well-being. Joan Wallace Benjamin,
PhD, president and CEO, Home for Little Wanderers and Gail
Snowden ’78 School of Management, vice president
for Finance & Operations at the Boston Foundation were among
the panelists during the concurrent workshops.
Alumnae from the 60s to the Class of 2006 were inspired and challenged
by Saturday’s opening plenary speaker, Carla A.
Harris (HBS, MBA ’87). Ms. Harris is managing director
at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. She has received numerous
accolades, including being named to Fortune magazine’s list
of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America,”
Black Enterprise magazine’s “Top 50 African-Americans
on Wall Street,” and Essence magazine’s list of “The
50 Women are Shaping the World.”
During the plenary session entitled “Our Stake in America’s
Foreign Policy,” Walter C. Harrington, former ambassador
to Nigeria and Senegal and Simmons College Warburg professor along
with native Bostonian Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas
‘63, diplomat-in-resident at the University of Central Florida
discussed their views on emerging global issues.
Ambassador Elam-Thomas noted that the 2005 Black Symposium would
provide a heightened interest in Simmons College and its ability
to prepare women to be successful in a host of careers. “Simmons
College gives young women a sense of self and sisterhood where
the network can be beneficial for life,” she observed.
Other noteworthy workshop presenters included Teri Williams,
executive vice president, OneUnited Bank; Nadine Thompson,
president and CEO, Warm Spirit; Barry Gaither, director and curator,
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and special
consultant, Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and Dr. Lynda
Morris Parham, senior staff psychologist, Danielsen Institute,
Boston University.
Keynote speaker Gwen Ifill ’77 engaged the symposium audience
with her often humorous reflections of her student years at Simmons
College up to her current career as an accomplished political
reporter.
Ms. Ifill holds two of the most highly respected posts in her
field. She is moderator and managing editor of “Washington
Week,” the longest-running public affairs program on public
television, and senior correspondent for “The News Hour
with Jim Lehrer.” “Every woman has a hammer in one
hand and hope in the other for the life she wants to build,”
Ifill stated to the audience of alumnae and current students.
Boston native, Rehema Ellis ’74 hosted Saturday’s
evening gala at the Boston Plaza Hotel. Ellis had been a news
anchor at WHDH-TV in Boston, working weekend newcasts, and “Urban
Update,” WHDH-TV’s weekly half-hour news broadcast
since 1990. Ms. Ellis has worked as an NBC News correspondent
based in New York since 1993. When asked what her Simmons education
has done for her, Ellis responded, “We were taught that
we didn’t need to look to a man for the answers. We could
be women empowered, courageous and determined not to take no for
an answer.”
Gina Patterson, Class of 2006 remarked what the symposium meant
to her as a current Simmons student. “This weekend has given
me a chance to connect and network with alums. It gives me hope
of what I can become. It’s been a great experience.”
Sonia Carter ’87 a nutritionist at ABCD Headstart remarked
how she benefited from the symposium as well. “Every workshop
has been for my own professional development. I’ve benefited
from the connection and networking with the alumnae.”
At the conclusion of the symposium Ellis proudly announced the
legacy that the college’s black community left at the culmination
of the weekend. During the course of the day the nearly 300 alumnae
and guests spontaneously raised over $50,000 for the Black Alumnae/i
Symposium 2005 Legacy Scholarship.
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