A new Women In Leadership Initiative is being created on campus.
The goal for the initiative is to create a greater push for women to become more involved on campus and learn the importance of leadership. Kelsey Laro, Executive Vice President for Judicial Compliance, is involved in creating this campus wide student organization, which is focusing on the empowerment of women on campus.
Rachel Carpenter, Director of Student Development and Campus Activities, is creating a link outside of this student organization that will be tied into the idea of promoting women in leadership.
Carpenter has created ties with the Eileen Fischer Leadership Institute (EFLI), which is based in Irvington, and is an organization that promotes leadership in young women in middle school and high school, through self-empowerment, connections with others, and activism within their community. EFLI has recently been interested in broadening their horizon to gaining partnerships with local colleges and universities in order to encourage leadership in college women as well.
“I hope that college women today can grow to be confident in their own unique styles of management and leadership,” Carpenter said. “We are developing students who will be working in an increasingly interconnected world. We cannot escape the importance of how we relate to others in the workplace. I want all of our students to graduate with strong interpersonal skills.”
Pace hosted an interactive discussion exploring Pace’s leadership climate for women, which included female faculty, staff, and some of the students. One of the goals was to determine the desired actions or outcomes that would promote women leadership on campus. Results that can be found from discussions like this one can show what will help in guiding the direction of future participants and partnerships between EFLI and Pace. Overall knowing what the students, staff, and EFLI want out of the program will provide a better base to creating an organization.
Carpenter explains the roles of men and women and how they do not need to fit into a specific role tag, but instead feel empowered to do something for themselves and for others.
“In fields that may be more representative of male perspectives, I want our female students to feel empowered to use their natural feminine leadership abilities, Carpenter said. “Women and men alike shouldn’t have to fit a particular ‘gender leadership mold’. I want our students to feel empowered to be themselves or at least be educated to discuss the topic of feminine/masculine leadership. Only by understanding ourselves, can we begin to communicate what we need (as women) to succeed.”
The idea of creating more involvement on campus is definitely an underlying idea in the creation of the organization, but it is not just that general. The idea that there are already very strong and powerful women leaders on campus, whether they are faculty and staff or students, creates the urge for them to come together and discuss and mentor each other. People working together have greater opportunities for advancement.
The idea of creating a group of these women that can easily be there to help one another as well as any other person that may find interest in gaining experience in leadership is why the organization hopes for great success.
“I would like to create a task force of women on campus to plan programming, host discussions, partner with the community, and explore topics that are relevant to women, feminine leadership, empowerment, and mentoring. While all genders require this kind of nurturing, I feel it is especially important NOT to water down this kind of discussion so it is relative to everyone,” Carpenter said. “I don’t want to alienate anyone, as men are welcome and encouraged to join these conversations, but I would like to see us focus on specific areas within leadership and empowerment.”
The collaboration with EFLI and the campus organization is still in the developmental stage. The hope is that it will soon be up and running. The aim is to provide students with the opportunity to benefit themselves and others through the knowledge of leadership and promoting the campus as a whole with involvement.