March is Women’s History Month and the Louisiana Center for Women and Government has organized several events at Nicholls to commemorate the accomplishments of some outstanding women in the community. The annual Women’s History Month luncheon will be held tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Cotillion Ballroom. At the luncheon, the Woman of Achievement Award will be presented to both a Nicholls student and a faculty or staff member. The nominees are chosen because of the contributions each has made to Nicholls. The nominees are then voted on by a committee of women from around the state.
The keynote speaker will be Karen R. Carter, D-New Orleans, who will address the National Women’s History Month theme for 2004: “Women Inspiring Hope and Possibility.”
A reception called “A Celebration of Women in Louisiana Politics” will be held on March 12 from 4 to 6 p.m. It will be a meet-and-greet with women who have changed the face of Louisiana politics. Guests at the reception will include Judge Joan Bernard Armstrong, who was the first female judge in the state, and Diane Winston, the current chair of the Louisiana Women’s Caucus. There will be several other elected officials also in attendance. The reception is co-sponsored by the Louisiana Women’s Caucus.
The Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony will be March 13. A coffee reception will be held in the Plantation Suite of the Bollinger Memorial Student Union at 10 a.m. followed by an awards ceremony and luncheon in the Cotillion Ballroom at 11:30. Gov. Kathleen Blanco will be the keynote speaker at this event. Hall of Fame inductees Laura Badeaux, of Thibodaux, and Velma Callais-Rogers, of Golden Meadow, will be present to receive their awards.
Badeaux is an associate professor here at Nicholls. She teaches business and communication skills to students enrolled in the seven-days-on and seven-days-off program in petroleum services. She is a former president of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government, the Lafourche Commission on Women, the Louisiana Federation of Democratic Women and Volunteers for Juvenile Justice in Lafourche Parish.
Rogers is a retired educator who has worked as an assistant principal at Larose Lower Elementary School and principal at Golden Meadow Junior High School. She later worked as office manager and adviser in Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s lieutenant governor campaign. She also helped organize the first Conference of Louisiana’s Elected Women Officials, and was the first woman member of the Golden Meadow Rotary Club.
Rose Harris, director of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government, is very excited about all the events, especially Blanco’s visit. “We are excited, not only because she is the first woman to be elected governor, but also because of her long history of public service,” Harris said. “I’m sure she’ll have plenty to share with us.”
Blanco’s history of public service includes serving as the first woman to represent Lafayette in the state legislature and the first woman elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission, where she served as chairperson in 1993 and 1994. She was also elected to the office of lieutenant governor where she worked to promote Louisiana as a top travel destination.
Harris, who has been at Nicholls for nearly two years, says that she finds Nicholls, “very new and very exiting.” She is working hard at establishing new programs and staging events like the ones this month. She said she also works with the social sciences and history departments to make the Louisiana Center for Women and Government a friendly place where students can get involved. She wants the students to know that she is still taking applications for Women and Government internships, which are open to all students, no matter their majors.
Additional information about the ceremonies or the Louisiana Center for Women and Government can be found at its website, www.nicholls.edu/lcwg.
