Anticipation filled the Plantation Suit as Rose Harris, director for the Center for Women and Government, revealed the 2003 recipients of the Woman of Achievement Awards.
The Woman of Achievement Award honors a faculty or staff member and a student who has made a difference on the Nicholls campus. The faculty or staff winner of the Woman of Achievement award was Alice Pecoraro, vice president of academic affairs, and the student recipient of the Woman of Achievement Award was Lisa Lawrence, government sophomore from Houston, Texas.
“I felt that the program went well and was very pleased with the turnout. I expect next year’s Woman of Achievement Award luncheon will be an even larger event,” Harris said.
Pecoraro admitted to being excited, surprised and found the entire experience humbling. She did not expect to receive the Woman of Achievement Award because she thought the candidate pool was very strong with many worthy nominees. Upon receiving her award Pecoraro said, “I am much better at giving awards than receiving awards.”
Harris attributes Pecoraro as a very hard working, fair, diplomatic and respected member of the Nicholls staff. Pecoraro feels serving as the first female vice president of academic affairs has been a significant milestone in Nicholls’ 55 years of history.
“I have worked diligently to be an example for women to show them that high leadership positions are achievable. They need to know that gender should not limit their ability to work with a diverse faculty or administration,” Pecoraro said.
Upon her retirement, Pecoraro feels receiving this award will be a significant part of the many fond memories she has of Nicholls. She is very appreciative of her selection and considers this a very high achievement.
“I would like people to realize that from a faculty point of view Nicholls, is a great place to grow as a professional, and from a student point of view Nicholls is a great place to grow as a scholar. Nicholls has a very collegial and intellectual atmosphere. I appreciate the fact that the administration, faculty and staff have the same goal to make the University a better place for students,” Pecoraro said.
Lawrence is a member of the Lady Colonel’s basketball team and member of the Campus Security Officers (CSO) started by the campus police. Her favorite things to do in her spare time are to ride her bike and read about politics in Time magazine.
Her future plans include one day becoming an FBI agent, but her immediate plans once she graduates will be to join the Thibodaux police department.
She admitted to not knowing such an award existed and was surprised to learn that she had been nominated.
“As I was sitting there listening to the background information about the winner I recognized some of it, but I was not certain it was me. When my name was called it was a big shock,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence feels that the Woman of Achievement Award will help her get the “big picture” of the goals she wants to accomplish. She also feels it is not enough to just be an athlete, and that she needs to get involved on campus and help people.
“Personally I help people as much as being a student athlete. Being on the basketball team, I am put in a position to help people. My advice to women who will be new to the NSU campus this fall will be to get involved with as much as you can. It always helps to have good motivation behind what you are doing,” Lawrence said.
“My goal was simply to make people aware of the women who have pioneered the civil rights movement. I feel by presenting new information about women in the civil rights movement at the luncheon, I have achieved my objective,” Harris said.
Lawrence said that Harris and the Louisiana Center for Women and Government “will put women on the fore front, and “give women a chance to be acknowledged.”