Saint Mary's opens intercultural leadership center
By KATIE RAND
News Writer
The Center for Women's InterCultural Leadership (CWIL) at Saint Mary's officially opened with an Open House for campus faculty and staff Wednesday afternoon.
The center, located in Havican Hall, is in its first year of operation after receiving a $12 million Lilly Grant last November.
The goal of CWIL is to prepare women to become leaders in today's world, requiring an awareness and understanding of the role of culture and gender in society.
CWIL will examine the relationships that evolves from different cultural groups coming into contact with each other. Particular emphasis will be placed on examining the leadership of women in a multicultural society.
"In order to educate women to become leaders in the 21st century, one must provide them with the intercultural skills necessary in an increasingly interconnected world,"said Mana Derakshani, interim director of CWIL. "This reception is a way to get people to come to the center, find out what it's all about, and hopefully they'll feel comfortable to come again and learn."
The directors of CWIL hope to initiate a connection with community leaders, providing an avenue for scholarly and practical work in different fields. This will provide the opportunity for students to learn leadership skills and exchange ideas. The CWIL is looking into the possibility for students to work on long term projects with community leaders, extending their growth and leadership skills.
For now, however, the main focus is spreading the word about the Center.
"Later in the semester we'll hold more student-oriented events, pizza or something, to get women at the College to come and find out what CWIL is,"Derakshani said. "I've spoken to [student body president] Michelle Nagle and BOG, and we're looking into how to get the students more involved."
Wednesday's Open House was primarily for faculty and the students of CWIL's two Fellows, Richard Ya–ez and Marcia Maust.
Ya–ez holds a joint appointment with the English Department and serves as writer-in-residence. He brings a wealth of intercultural experiences to the Center, having spent many years living in the borderlands of the Southwest.
Maust works with the Department of Anthropology and Social Work. She too contributes much to the center, having spent 25 years outside of the United States.
Both fellows will help design and participate in the many seminars and workshops that CWIL hopes to sponsor.
Many campus faculty such as Dana North, director of Residence Life, and Ted Billy, English professor, came to find out what the Center will offer the Saint Mary's community.
"[I'm] very happy with the turnout," Derakshani said.
Contact Katie Rand at
rand8903@saintmarys.edu
All News Stories for Thursday, September 27, 2001
