HERS 50th Reception

October 18, 2022

▪ Thank you Gloria for your inspiring opening remarks.

▪ Thank you to Provost Britt Rios-Ellis, whose leadership and
passion for people and higher education is moving Oakland
into its next proud chapter as a leading university for diversity,
equity and inclusion.

▪ Thank you Mark for your insightful comments.

▪ And a special thanks to Dean Elaine Carey and Jennifer Hart
for organizing this special event.

▪ I am so grateful that the OU President’s Office has been able
to co-sponsor this event… and that you have included me in
this special reception to honor the 50th anniversary of the
Higher Education Resources Services – HERS.
▪ HERS.

▪ I like the ring of that. It’s more than a catchy acronym, it’s an
apt reminder to how women must continue to reach out to
each other. To seek mentors and to be a mentor.

▪ Throughout my professional career and personal life, I have
sought mentors – women and men, and I’m so proud to be a
mentor.

▪ Over the years, I’ve developed the concept of a mentor quilt…
a quilt of mentors that includes personal and professional
mentors, and mentors who help with relationships, business,
ethics… and, of course, education.

▪ I like to think that those of us who seek to advance in higher
education as being part of a broad, diverse and beautiful quilt
– a quilt that connects us to those women who have
succeeded…. and a quilt to connect us with those women
aspiring to succeed….those women who will shape the future
of higher education.

▪ I never discard any patch on my quilt… but I wrap myself in
my quilt and it is warm, comforting and empowering.

▪ Having a mentor quilt is one reason I know that women will
succeed….because we simply know how to get things done….

     o …and we share our know-how with one another freely
and selflessly.

▪ But first, we have to ask ourselves some important questions
when it comes to women succeeding in higher education: Are
we facing a glass or concrete ceiling?

▪ Think about these findings from the 2022 Study, “The
Women’s Power Gap at Elite Universities,” authored by the
Women’s Power Gap Initiatives and the American Association
of University Women as part of the Women’s Power Gap
Study Series funded by the Eos (pronounced E-ohs)
Foundation:

     o Since the 1970s, women have outnumbered men on
college campuses and for more than a decade, they
have received the majority of PhDs.

     o Women account for about 40 percent of academic deans
and provosts, but only 22 percent of presidents.

     o Among the report findings: Women feel they must meet
100 percent of the traditional qualifications to be
selected, even as they watch men take a shorter path, in
effect a “glass elevator” to the top, based on potential.

▪ Men believe they’re ready to take a leadership position when
they possess 30 percent of the required qualifications, but
omen wait to have 100 percent before they ever consider
applying.

▪ Why do you think that way?

▪ There may be a glass ceiling, and it may be something that
you can’t control…. But what you can control is your passion
to become an extraordinary leader.

▪ In nearly forty years of professional experience in academic
medicine, industry and university leadership, and a wife,
widow, partner, a mother of six wonderful children and in-law
children, and a grandmother to soon eight of the world’s most
beautiful and amazing grandchildren…. I’ve learned a few
lessons about leadership on the many levels that a woman
leads her life, from the classroom to the boardroom to the
living room.

▪ I called it the eight Cs. I try to think of how to apply these
principles of leadership when meeting a challenge. The eight
Cs include:

     o Have a moral compass
     o Compassion
     o Courage
     o Contribution
     o Commitment
     o Communication
     o Collaboration
     o Creativity

▪ Tonight, I would add a ninth C that is crucial to women’s
success and that is Community.

▪ Events like this HERS 50th reception remind us of how much
we need each other…and how important it is to have a
community of supporters like those gathered here tonight.

▪ Thank you for opening your arms to me …. And I hope we find
a place in each other’s quilts.