Elect Her @ Howard University

by Phoebe Farris, Ph.D

Our branch is pleased to be a co-sponsor of Kristin Tellis and her student committee at this year’s Elect Her: Campus Women Win conference. University Elect Her train­ing workshops are facilitated by the following organizations, She Should Run in Action, AAUW national, AAUW local branches, and universities across the nation. The all day train­ing helps young women who are interested in running for college offices, while also encouraging them to consider running for public office at the local, state, and national level after graduation. This is the first year that an HBCU participated in Elect Her.

Kristin Tellis and her committee members Julie Daniels, Cameron Clarkson, Angel Mills, Tonique Garrett, Erin Keith, and Mallory Lambert led panel discussions and introduced guest speakers Valerie Cunningham, a retired federal law enforcement officer who is now a Commission­er on the City of Laurel Ethics Commission and a member of Laurel, MD Community Emergency Response Team, and The Honorable Marilynn M. Bland, Clerk of the Circuit Court for PG County and former City Council member for District 9, PG County.

Break-out sessions covered topics such as Why Women Should Run for Office, Networking, The Nuts and Bolts of Student Government, and Campaign Strategies. The approximately 40 partici­pating students were enthusiastic, very engaged with the public speakers and student panelists, articulate, and goal oriented. Several attendees are already student officers and almost all are now considering running for many of the student leadership positions offered at Howard Univer­sity.

Students were assisted in choosing workshop themes and public speakers by Howard University Associate Director for Student Leadership, Norkia J. Baker and She Should Run Program Director Julie Daniels who also provided an overview of Elect Her training and current statistics on women in public office in the United States.

As the branch liaison for Elect Her, one of my roles is to develop a list of local AAUW mem­bers who can serve as mentors for training attendees and to discuss with Howard University administrators the opportunities of becoming an AAUW/CU partner member. After the work­shop, several students expressed interest in starting an AAUW campus branch. I hope some of our readers will consider mentoring these young women, helping them to realize their goals of becoming student AAUW members and after graduation full-fledged AAUW members.

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Here is some feedback from Howard student /Elect Her program that our branch co-sponsored.

From: Howard University Elect Her <electherhowardu@gmail.com>
Date: January 27, 2012 1:12:57 AM EST
To: Howard University Elect Her <electherhowardu@gmail.com>
Subject: Thank you for your participation…

Hello,

On behalf of Elect Her Howard Women Win, I would like to thank you for participating as a panelist and facilitator in our training last Saturday. Your presence at this event was not only helpful but, imperative for the young ladies on Howard’s campus to become inspired to run for office. We will be contacting you in the future with all Elect Her Howard Women Win news and events. Please add your comments about the event to the Elect Her Howard Women Win Facebook Page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Her-Howard-Women-Win/317836614921795.

We will be keeping in touch!

Best Wishes,

Elect Her Howard Women Win