February 4, 2008
Anthony legacy dinner honors women leaders
june.avignone@rochester.edu
It was an epic battle, and Susan B. Anthony was on
fire to win it.
Back in 1898, only men were able to enroll at the
University. Anthony made it her personal battle to change that.
When she stood up against University President Rush
Rhees and male trustees to win admittance of women, Anthony gained ground
for strong, intelligent women everywhere, says Nora Bredes, director of the
University’s Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership.
The decision to admit women into the University was made by the trustees on
Sept. 8, 1900.
In remembrance of the activist’s contribution to
women’s education, the 2008 Susan B. Anthony Legacy Dinner will be
held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, in the May Room of Wilson Commons. The
annual event, which is open to the public, also honors the activities of
students, staff, faculty, and alumnae. The cost of the dinner is $30.
Lois Giess, former president of the Rochester City
Council, will receive this year’s Susan B. Anthony’s Lifetime
Achievement Award. Giess, who served on the council from 1986 to 2007,
worked previously as a public health nurse in Rochester’s city
neighborhoods. She is a 1963 graduate of the School of Nursing.
Giess says her many years serving as a hands-on
political leader and neighborhood activist for the Rochester community was
directly fed by her years as a public health nurse in troubled areas of the
city.
“Nurses in general look at a problem on their
hands, assess the situation and the patient’s problem, and move on
the assessment to make things better, in reality,” says Giess.
“Teaching a nine year old how to administer her own insulin shot
after coming into a home and assessing the severity of a situation teaches
you how to appraise and react to issues in the larger social scope as
well.”
Although officially retired, Giess remains concerned
about the high drop out rate among city kids in Rochester’s schools.
She plans to remain close to the issue through her connection with the Ryan
Center in the northeast section of the city.
The evening program also includes the presentation of
the 2008 Distinguished Women Leaders at the University of Rochester Award.
The new award for mid-career women who have contributed to women’s
education will go to two University professors, Sandra Schneider,
professor of emergency medicine at the Medical Center, and Judith Smetana,
professor in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology.
Smetana is a developmental psychologist who has won
international respect for her work on how children and adolescents
construct their moral universe and on adolescent-parent relations.
Schneider, a known advocate for health issues that concern women and
founding chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, is the author of
the book You Can!, a guide for women in academic and emergency medicine.
“Strong, principled, and brilliant women like
Lois Giess, Susan Schneider, and Judith Smetana, indeed all of our
awardees, remind us again that Susan B. Anthony was right to fight on for
women’s education and equality,” said Bredes.
Student award recipients include Lauren Jewett
’09 and Julianne Nigro ’09 for Susan B. Anthony
Scholarships; Meghan Gilligan ’08 for the Susan B. Anthony Prize;
the Fanny Bigelow Prize for Eliza Kaye ’09 and Robin Levy
’08; and the Jane Plitt Award for Susan Storey ’08.
The Susan B. Anthony Legacy Dinner is sponsored by the
Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership and the UR
Women’s Club. Seating is limited. For further information on table
rates and reservations, contact (585) 275-8799 or visit
www.rochester.edu/SBA.
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