Cabrini to present state senator with Ivy Young Willis Award

MELISSA STEVEN

ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

MS727@CABRINI EDU

Strong activism in the world is an essential part of the Ivy Young Willis Award, an idea that Cabrini College reiterates yearly with the presentation of this award to a woman. The 2005 recipient will be Pennsylvania State Senator Connie Williams. The award will be presented on Thursday, March 17, at 7 p.m. in the Widener Center Lecture Hall.

The Ivy Young Willis Award started in 1992 at Cabrini College and is awarded to women who have made, and continue to make, creative and progressive contributions to improve the climate and conduct of public affairs. The award was cre- ated by Ivy Young Willis’ husband, William Willis, a retired political science professor from Temple University, and his daughter, Martha Dale, the director of alumni affairs at Cabrini College.

Ivy Young Willis was a teacher, school administrator and reading consultant in the Pittsburgh school system for over 20 years. She was a member of the League of Women Voters and World Affair Council in Philadelphia. She took a lifelong, lively interest in public affairs.

Dr. Jolyon Girard, history and political science professor, said that Willis set up a small fund and wanted a department to compete for an award that would honor their mother. Their goal, he said, “was to bring women of substance to the college to serve as role models to our students.”

Dale said that they chose Cabrini to host this award because of its small-school atmosphere and she is very pleased at how the school has handled the award.

In 1992, Cabrini presented the first Ivy Young Willis Award to Constance Clayton, school superintendent of Philadelphia. Cabrini promised to uphold the privilege of seeking out an individual each year to bring to the campus and present to the community about their contributions in the world.

Soon after the first recipient was announced, the award became more international as the 1993 recipient was the President of Nicaragua, Violetta Chamorro. Then Chai Ling, a Chinese civil rights activist, who led stu- dent protests in Tiananmen Square in the People’s Republic of China.

Girard explained that their method of choosing a recipient is quite simple. “We go out and literally find people of substance, women, who have made some contribution of significance to their community,” Girard said. However, they do not all have to be involved in politics. The 2003 recipient, Trudy Rubin, was a foreign policy columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and in 2000, Happy Fernandez, president of the Philadelphia College of Art won the award.

There is no formal committee that chooses the nominees. Girard said that what he does is nity colleges, 41 percent of faculty at baccalaureate and master’s degree institutions, and 33 percent of faculty at doctoral-level institutions. The earnings gap between male and female faculty is largest at doctoral-level institutions and smallest at community colleges without faculty ranks.”

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 establishes the fact that equal pay for male and females will be instated. However, an example such as Schwarze’s experience proves that some institutions do not adhere to these laws as most Americans assume they must.

Dr. Kathleen McKinley, a sociology professor, states that determining whether or not there is a pay gap can be difficult. “At private institutions, salary and compensation data is often difficult to obtain from the administration, making it almost impossible to know if gender inequalities exist. Clearly, what is not known cannot be challenged.”

According to Cabrini’s academic affairs office, professors are hired according to their qualifications and work experience.

Dr. Jonnie Guerra, vice president for Academic Affairs, said, “SinceIhavebeen atthe college,bothmaleandfemale faculty members havebeen hired at payrates that reflect-