A women's leadership forum entitled "VI Women in Leadership: Myths and Realities" will be held on Tuesday, March 29, on UVI's St. Thomas campus. The goal is to increase student awareness of and exposure to Virgin Islands women who hold leadership positions and to empower them to realize their possibilities.
Five Virgin Islands women in prominent leadership roles will take part in the forum. They are Superior Court Judge Audrey L. Thomas, Memorial Moravian Church Pastor Winnel Roberts, St. Croix District Senator Nellie Rivera-O'Reilly, UVI's St. Thomas campus physician Dr. Audria Thomas, and Vice President for Public Relations and Governmental Affairs at Innovative Jennifer Matarangas-King.
The forum - held in celebration of Women's History month which is observed nationally each March - will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.in the first-floor conference room of UVI's Administration and Conference Center.
"We hope that all students, faculty, staff and community persons will join us as we celebrate and culminate Women's History Month at UVI," said lead forum organizer Dr. Doris Battiste, associate campus executive administrator for Student Affairs on St. Thomas.
While the forum is one vehicle for putting young women in touch with today's leaders, Dr. Battiste said it was only a small part of the ongoing effort to highlight the importance of the role women play in the workplace. "Women at UVI comprise over 70 percent of the student population," she said. "And, although women have made major strides in shaping the course of history and in assuming leadership roles, we must continue to mentor and empower our female students so that they can become change agents in our community."
Admission to the forum is free and door prizes will be presented.
The forum is sponsored by UVI's Division of Student Affairs on the St. Thomas campus. For more information contact Dr. Battiste at (340) 693-1120.