Penn College News

Penn College Event to Celebrate World's 'Gutsy' Women

Thursday, January 13, 2011

A collection of real-life stories from women detailing the gutsy, outrageous and courageous things they've done will be presented by Pennsylvania College of Technology's Student Activities Office and Cultural Life Committee at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, on the college's main campus in Williamsport.

The presentation whimsically titled "That Takes Ovaries" is free and open to the public and will be held in Penn's Inn on the second floor of the Bush Campus Center.

Cecelia Wambach, a professor emerita of education at San Francisco State University and a longtime leader in mentoring young teachers of color, is the scheduled guest speaker. The presentation is dedicated to the late Genelle Gatsos, an advocate of women's empowerment who served the college community as a member of the Academic Support Services staff.

The evening also will feature monologue performances by Penn College students Emily Carella, Hawley, a residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration major; Katey E. Landry, Breinigsville, enrolled in baking and pastry arts; and Camille S. Koroma, a pre-physician assistant student from Reading.

An open-mike event will follow, offering participants the opportunity to share stories about the times they (or the women in their lives) acted boldly. Everyone who speaks will receive a "Golden Ovary" a chocolate egg wrapped in gold foil.

A former nun who volunteered with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement and the Poor People's Campaign, Wambach has decades of experience facilitating workshops for a range of participants on a variety of topics. Among her activities are anti-racism and multiculturalism workshops in urban communities for city personnel (including police and firefighters), seminars to help high school- and college-aged women to become socially active and engaged, and weekends for ministers on how to identify and clarify their roles as community-based leaders.

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