Luncheon honors women of color

The sixth annual Women of Color Day was held yesterday at the Penn Tower Hotel to commemorate both the beginning of women's history month and to recognize the dedicated efforts of women in and around the University community. About 500 people representing various ethnic groups and all levels of the community and the University gathered in the ballroom to listen to several speakers describe their struggles of being women of color both in society and at the University. Women of color, according to the banquet's public relations coordinator, Yanina Carter, are "not just blacks." The awards celebration also recognized women of Latino, Native American and Asian-American backgrounds. Anu Rao, director of staff and development at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, declared yesterday the anniversary of "20 years of women making a difference at Penn" and asked the audience to honor all women at the University and in the world. "Women must work together against racism, sexism, homophobia and classicism," Luz Martin, the coordinating assistant of the Women's Studies Program, said in her speech. Martin, who is Puerto Rican, suggested that "we need to look into our histories [and] instill in our children an appreciation for the diversity of human life." Graduate student Pika Ghosh spoke about her experiences as an undergraduate at Colby College in Maine and her first semester at the University -- the only years she has been away from India. Ghosh, who described herself as one of two token Indian students at Colby, said she learned to take advantage of the diverse community at the University, but only after stuggling with discrimination due to the color of her skin. Lani Guinier, a black law professor, compared the findings of Thurgood Marshall to her experiences at the Law School. There is a "stigmatic injury" at the University, Guinier said. She said that although she was "at Penn" she was "not of Penn." The women in the ballroom concurred. Guinier also stressed self confidence as a way to fight the stigmatism and rise above the advantage that some whites have by being of the majority. Sharon Parker, senior associate provost and director of multicultural development at Stanford University, was the keynote speaker. "We share the responsibility for change," Parker told the group. "All is just when we are in harmony." Parker continued by saying that minorities are growing strong in the U.S., and as a result must bind together and learn from each other "across the boundaries of race" to defeat racism. Otherwise, she said, "we are lulled into accepting the ways things are." Awards were given to outstanding minority women undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.