Dover Branch Activities

AAUW Dover Branch Calendar
2009

Monday, February 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. - Our speaker for Black History Month is author Kathleen Doyle who will speak about her book on Louis Redding and Collins Seitz. Meeting place is Wesley College Student Center room 206.

Monday, March 15, 2010 at 7 p.m. - We will have a panel of business women. Meeting place is Wesley College Student Center room 206.

Monday, April 19, 2010 at 7 p.m. - We will have a wine tasting at Pizzadeli Winery on Peach Bottom Road, just north of Felton light on US 13 and just below Wilson's auction.

Saturday, May 1, 2010 from 8 a.m. to Noon - Dover Days fundraiser for our youth scholarships. We sell donuts, bagels, muffins on the Old Green in Dover.

Monday, May 17, 2010 at 7 p.m. - We will be awarding our high school seniors their schlorships and will have some entertainment. Meeting place is Wesley College Student Center room 206.

Dover Branch Scholarships

Three areas fall under the area of Scholarships.  Anne Mace Coordinates Youth Scholarship Awards.  Funds from Dover Days are utilized in concert with proceeds from several trusts (or donations in memory of) deceased members to award scholarships to graduating Kent County high school seniors who are planning to attend college. Candidates apply via essays which are judged by a panel of Branch members according to strict criteria.

Returning Women's Scholarships are coordinated by Connie Bailey. Funds from the NASCAR event and other sources have been used to award scholarships to women who are returning to college after a hiatus due to family or other needs.  Again, an application and strict judging process is followed.

EF funds are generated by our Silent Auction in December and by individual donations from Branch members. Nadine Noble (this year assisted by other Branch members) coordinates EF for Dover Branch.

President’s Message

Happy Anniversary to AAUW! Our Founding officially took place on November 28, 1881. That makes us 125 years old! In Delaware, both Dover Branch and State AAUW represented proclamation signings by Mayor Speed and Governor Minner respectively.

Nationally, eighty-six years after women received the hard-fought right to vote, we will see a record 16 women US Senators and 70 women Representatives convene with the 110^th Congress in January. Yes, it’s a far cry from equal representation, but gender and ethnic diversity have never been this strong in our elected bodies – and quality as well as quantity is important.

For example, Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) will be the first woman Speaker of the US House of Representatives – the most powerful position in that chamber – and “two heart-beats” away from the Presidency. Women are poised to head up powerful committees in both houses: such as Senator Barbara Boxer on the Environment and Diane Feinstein on the Senate Rules & Administration Committee.

Nationally, a record number of 2431 women ran for state legislative seats. Sarah Palin of Alaska became the newest female governor (increasing the total number to nine including our own Ruth Ann Minner), and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano is head of the National Governor’s Association.

Two important questions are raised: Why so many women elected in 2006? And, Why have we never elected a woman President?

The apparent answer to the first question is that women with experience and qualifications are only now coming through the pipeline – and they connect via the Internet! The answer to the second is more complex.  Various 2006 polls (Gallup, CBS/NY TIMES, Hearst) consistently show that over half of Americans believe that a woman could be elected president. Other countries are way ahead of us.

True, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice holds our top cabinet post and heads up foreign affairs, and she is joined by women in similar positions in the U.K., Israel, Greece, and Nigeria. In national elected positions, popular Angela Merkel is Germany’s first woman Chancellor; moderate socialist Michele Bachelet is Chile’s first female president. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia is the first woman president in all of Africa and is helping put former president Charles Taylor on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Former dissident Han Myung-sook is now South Korea’s first woman prime minister. Ireland, Finland, and Latvia all have woman presidents. Mozambique and New Zealand have woman prime ministers and 32% of New Zealand’s parliament is women (up from 13% in 1984).

So, isn’t it time for a woman president in the USA? Exploratory committees are being formed by early hopefuls for the 2008 presidential contest. Let’s hope they include women of both political parties. And let’s hope that AAUW helps keep that pipeline full!

Progress is here, but Equity is Still an Issue!

Dorene Petrosky, Ph.D.

(Sources: Forbes list of 30 most powerful women in politics; Center for Women In Politics, Eagleton Institute, Rutgers University; NYTimes; Wash. Post)

 

Book Club Schedule

9/22 The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer
at Nadine Noble’s home

10/27 Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan
at Jean Hitchens’ home

11/24 Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile
at Anne Mace’s home

1/26 The Elegance of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery & Alison Anderson
at Ginny Welgan’s home

2/23 The Woman Behind The New Deal: The Life of Francis Perkins by Kristin Downey
at Ann Alexander’s home

3/23 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
at Laura Kelly’s home

4/27 Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
at Minnie Hill’s home

5/18 Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
at Linda Duncan’s home
(Note: This is the 3rd Tuesday)

6/22 The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
at Shirley Dunham’s home