Six Smith alumnae noted for their civic engagement and activism will gather on Saturday, Oct. 19, to discuss "Smith: A Private College With A Public Conscience," a theme Smith's new president, Carol T. Christ, has set for her administration.
The panel discussion, which is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible, will take place at 3:30 p.m. in Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall. It is part of the weekend of festivities marking Christ's inauguration.
Participants in the panel discussion are Linda Smith Charles, deputy director of human resources at the Ford Foundation; Julia Erickson, executive director of New York's City Harvest; Katrina Gardner, Peace Corps worker in Nepal; Molly Ivins, journalist and author; Shirley Sagawa, former executive director of Americorps; and Gloria Steinem, writer, editor and activist.
Linda Smith Charles, Smith Class of 1974, assumed her present position as deputy director for human resources at the Ford Foundation in 1999. Previously, she had worked at Bell Laboratories and AT&T. She has been active in a number of philanthropic and civic activities over the years and is a member of the college's diversity board of counselors.
Julia Erickson, Smith Class of 1980, is the executive director of City Harvest, the largest and oldest food rescue program in the world. Before assuming her current position, Erickson was associate commissioner for public/private initiatives at the New York City department of employment. Last year, City Harvest collected nearly 16 million pounds of food that would Julia Erickson otherwise have been wasted, which it transported to more than 800 community food programs, helping to feed more than 195,000 hungry people in New York each week.
Katrina Gardner, Smith Class of 2000, is in her second year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Baitadi, Nepal, where she teaches in a government-run primary school and has undertaken many other community building activities for the children and families of the village. At Smith, Gardner majored in neuroscience and held internships with the largest public hospital in Quito, Ecuador; at a primary care clinic in New York City; and at the department of labor in Washington, D.C. She was active in the student government association at Smith, serving as its president during her senior year, and subsequently as a trustee of the college.
Molly Ivins, Smith Class of 1966, is a best-selling author and syndicated columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Widely known for her wit and political punditry, she is the former co-editor of the Texas Observer and former Rocky Mountain bureau chief for The New York Times. Her freelance work has appeared in many magazines, and she is a frequent guest on network radio and television shows. She has served on the board of the National News Council and has been active in Amnesty International's Journalism Network and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Shirley Sagawa, Smith Class of 1983, is a co-founder and principal of a consulting firm that defines and guides the social ventures of corporations and nonprofit institutions. She served from 1998-2001 as deputy assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff to the First Lady in the Clinton administration. From 1997-98, she was the executive director of Learning First Alliance, a national organization designed to improve learning in elementary and secondary schools. From 1993-97, she served as managing director and in several other leadership positions in the Corporation for National Service, whose programs include Americorps.
Gloria Steinem, Smith Class of 1956, is a writer, editor and feminist activist tireless in her efforts to promote equality for women around the world. With Dorothy Pitman Hughes, she founded Ms. magazine in the early 1970s, which became an influential forum for feminist issues. She was a founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Ms. Foundation for Women and Voters for Choice. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
Sagawa will serve as moderator for the discussion.
Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and 55 other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women's college in the country.
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