[354] MTSU celebrates women in public service, government for Women’s History Month

MURFREESBORO — The quest for equal pay, the art of professional damage control and the challenges of the public arena are some of the issues at the heart of numerous events at MTSU in March.

“Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government” is the theme of MTSU’s 2016 observance of National Women’s History Month.

Tennessee Commissioner of Veterans Services Many-Bears Grinder will highlight the opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 1, in Room 462 of the James E. Walker Library. A printable parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap. 

Two women whose mettle has been tested in government service will discuss their careers in “Boss Lady: Women Leadership in the 21^st Century, a panel discussion slated for 2 p.m. Thursday, March 17, in the Student Union Parliamentary Room.

Lynda R. Williams, deputy assistant director, Office of Human Resources, United States Secret Service, and Allison Greene-Sands, deputy chief of staff and senior adviser for strategic initiatives, Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Assault Office, will be the panelists.

MTSU alumna Jessica Morrison, assistant editor for government and policy at Chemical and Engineering News, will discuss her career path in the 2016 Women in Science Lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 3, in the MTSU Science Building.

“Equal Dime for Equal Time: Building a Strong Economic Foundation for Tennessee Families” is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 24, in the MT Center’s Ingram Building, 2269 Middle Tennessee Blvd. in Murfreesboro.

This discussion of equal pay for women will include Phyllis Qualls-Brooks, Executive Director of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women; State Representatives John Ray Clemmons and Brenda Gilmore; Sarah L. Smith and Sylvia Hall of the Nashville area office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and Yvonne Wood of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s advisory committee on the status of women in the South.

A panel of MTSU students, faculty and staff will talk about attitudes regarding sexuality and gender they have experienced on campus at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building.

Men will attempt to follow in women’s footsteps at the annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, starting on the sun deck of the Campus Recreation Center. It’s part of the International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. Free food, music and karaoke are scheduled. The first 100 participants will receive a free T-shirt.

Buttons featuring a prominent woman of achievement are distributed on campus during each National Women’s History Month celebration. Benazir Bhutto, the late former prime minister of Pakistan and the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history, adorns this year’s button.

Most MTSU National Women’s History Month events are free and open to the public. A complete calendar of events is available at http://tinyurl.com/zm5acoq. For more information, contact Barbara Scales, director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, at 615-898-5812 or barbara.scales@mtsu.edu.