History and Founder

History & Founder
                      
The Women's Symposium was created in 1966 as a part of the University's
Fiftieth Anniversary celebration by the late Emmie V. Baine, Dean of Women
at SMU from 1962 to 1988. The Symposium is the longest continuously
running program of its nature in the country and one of SMU's oldest and
most distinguished traditions. 

The Symposium was designed as a unique educational experience for SMU
students. Students begin the year-long planning process for the Symposium
each Spring. Working with SMU staff and faculty, the students define the topic
and workshop content and then use the next semester and half to implement
the design. After extensive training, students are paired with faculty members
and community representatives to facilitate workshops and discussion sessions.

The annual two-day forum brings together women and men of differing ages
and multicultural backgrounds to examine and discuss topics of national interest.
The Symposium is a 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.

Within the historical formation of the Symposium lie several goals or assumptions
of need. The Symposium's founders recognized:
  • That women students at SMU needed more opportunities to interact with professional and volunteer leaders in the community.
  • That the ability to develop leadership skills in a multigenerational, multicultural setting would provide important models for future community involvement.
Since 1966, over one hundred speakers have been brought to the campus by the
Symposium, including:

Margaret Mead, anthropologist                Wilma Mankiller, tribal leader
Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader         Alvin Toffler, futurist
Cokie Roberts, news commentator          John Kenneth Galbraith, economist

Approximately 500 community leaders, college students, and high school
students register for the Symposium. 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.

For the greater Dallas community, the Symposium is a vital event and, in fact,
promoted the establishment of special programs for women on other university
and college campuses.