Phenomenal Woman Conference

The Joan P. Schaupp Women's Center hosted the 11th annual Phenomenal Woman Conference, with a focus on advocating, empowering, and supporting women. The day-long event held on April 18 in the Bemis International Center combined a lunch with keynote speaker with break-out sessions and a musical wrap-up performance. This year's keynote speaker was Jerene Mortenson, mother of Greg Mortenson who is co-author of the New York Times bestseller "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . One School at a Time." He founded the non-profit organization "Central Asia Institute," which promotes and supports community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. His mother spoke to the approximately 150 attendees at the conference about the importance of education and the successes her family has celebrated in educating girls in the Middle East.

Those in attendance could then attend three out of the nine workshops, ranging from topics such as healthy nutrition, men sharing stories about the phenomenal women in their lives to a session on theater and social activism.

The day ended with a musical performance by Galynne Goodwill, who also presented the workshop "Take what You Need, Leave the Rest.