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In the Series
The Education of Women for Social and Political Leadership
Created in 1966 as part of the University’s 50th Anniversary
celebration, the
Women’s Symposium is the longest
continuously
running program of its
nature in the country and
one of SMU’s
oldest and finest traditions. This
annual forum
brings together
women and men of differing ages and ethnic
backgrounds to
examine and discuss topics of national interest.
The
Symposium
is the product of a year’s work by joint
committees of students,
faculty, and community leaders.
The program features nationally
recognized speakers as well
as topical seminars and workshops
conducted by students,
community leaders, and SMU faculty and staff.
The primary goals of the program are:
1. To encourage women to assume roles of social and political
leadership within their communities;
2. To provide a forum in which women and men may examine
the societal impact of the changing
roles of women; and
3. To provide an opportunity for female and male students to
develop leadership skills within a
multigenerational,
multiethnic model.
The Symposium is designed as a unique educational experience
for the
SMU student leaders who comprise the CORE committee.
The students
develop skills in interpersonal communication;
program planning,
development and evaluation; and time
management. In addition, they
learn the importance of teamwork
and develop the skills necessary to be
effective team leaders
and
team members. They also have the
extraordinary
opportunity to
meet and talk with some of the nation’s most
accomplished leaders.
Since 1966, over one
hundred speakers have been brought
to the
campus
by the Symposium, including:
Margaret Mead, anthropologist
Wilma Mankiller, tribal leader
Maya Angelou, author and poet
Naomi Wolf, author
Hillary Rodham Clinton, senator & former first lady
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Senator
Cokie Roberts, news commentator
John Kenneth Galbraith, economist
Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader
Ann Crittenden, author
Over 400 community leaders, college students and high school
students register
for the Symposium each year. One-third of the
registrants are SMU students,
with the remainder representing
professional and volunteer community leaders,
secondary
school
students, and faculty and students from other colleges
and
universities.