A century of women's education and achievements at the University of Rochester will be celebrated during the Susan B. Anthony Legacy Dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The annual event pays tribute to Anthony's two-year campaign to win women admission to the University and spotlights the activities of student leaders.
The dinner also includes the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Paula Brownlee, a University trustee who was the first woman to head the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). Several women students will be honored for their accomplishments and contributions to University life.
The dinner is sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony University Center and the University of Rochester Women's Club and begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of The Meliora dining center.
The year 2000, which is the University of Rochester's sesquicentennial year, also marks the 100th anniversary of women's entrance to the University. In 1898 trustees voted to allow women to enter if they raised funds to defray the costs of admission. As the deadline approached, Susan B. Anthony pledged her own insurance policy to raise the final dollars, guaranteeing women seats in University classrooms in the fall of 1900.
Brownlee, who received her doctorate in organic chemistry from Oxford University, was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Rochester and taught at Rutgers University and Union College. She was named president of Hollins College in Virginia in 1981, where during her nine-year tenure she was credited with important faculty and academic development initiatives, and building the endowment from $14.5 million to $38.5 million. In 1990 Brownlee was chosen president of the AACU, a post she held until January 1998.
Two students will receive awards sponsored by the University of Rochester Women's Club: Junior Arabela Arafovic is the recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Scholarship, and senior Meredith Tobin will be honored with the Susan B. Anthony Prize.
Other student award winners include junior Emily Bones, who will be presented the Fanny R. Bigelow Scholarship, and senior Veronica Anya Lakner, who will receive the Jane R. Plitt Scholarship.
In addition, the first recipients of the Plitt Scholarship, senior Heather Hall and graduate student Melissa Diaz, also will be recognized.
Tickets to the dinner are $20 can be ordered by calling Jennifer Steward by Jan. 28 at (585) 275-8799.