Local women honored, engage in discussion

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="236"] Elizabeth Ann Seton[/caption] The annual Conference on Women and Gender was held at Seton Hall University on Feb. 12. The conference, Open to both SHU students and the public started three years ago and has steadily increased in both size and impact. There were three individuals who were honored with awards at the event. The first, Women of the Year award, presented by the Provosts’ office, was given to Bernadette Wilkowski. The award is given to outstanding leaders who have made a huge impact on women in the SHU community. Wilkowski has been at SHU for more than 30 years and currently works as an academic specialist for the Educational Opportunity Program's Center for Learning, Instruction and Assessment. “As a professional woman, I try to inspire, challenge and empower young women at Seton Hall with kindness and compassion,” she said upon being honored. The additional two awards were presented by the Women and Gender Studies Program. The two winners were selected from a number of essays, one is a high school student and the other is a current SHU undergraduate. The high school winner of the Elizabeth Ann Seton Center for Women’s Studies award was Aeva Karlsrud, a junior at Delaware Valley Regional High School. While, the SHU winner was Toni-Anne Fajardo, an accounting major with minors in English and fine arts. Also, the conference places emphasis on formal discussion. “The conference is designed to be a forum for rigorous, thoughtful, critical examination and discussion of gender issues across time and cultures,” said Dr. Karen Gevirtz, associate professor of English and co-organizer of the conference. The conference started at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. consists of three – one hour and 15 minute sessions of discussions. The topics range from “Undergraduate roundtable on Intersectionality: Gender/Race/Ism” to “Gendered Faith? Christian Feminism and Women's Vocation.” Linda Karten, a senior director of strategic marketing at SHU, attended this year’s conference.“It provides a forum for people to discuss issues that affect us all and help us gain an understanding of what women have experienced,” Karten said. “The conference exceeded our expectations. We registered 260 people: up from just over 200 in 2015 and approximately 120 in 2014,” Dr. Gevirtz said. Karten said even after a month after a conference, they still feel the inspiration they drew from it. Zachary Wohl can be reached at zachary.wohl@student.shu.edu.