Campus leading ladies give freshman women take-charge tips

Times have changed since Judith Rodin started her career in academia as a Penn student in the 1960s. "Those were the days when women had an 11 p.m. curfew and had to wear skirts to dinner," Penn's president said. "But we have come a very, very long way." At a dinner for freshman women interested in leadership Tuesday night, Rodin discussed the challenges women face in the workplace. Sponsored by the Women in Leadership Series, the second annual Freshman Women's Dinner brought together about 30 female leaders from a variety of campus organizations to mingle with about 120 freshmen. "You need to overcome the challenges of being in an environment where there are still many preconceptions about women," Rodin said in her keynote address. "It is indeed hard for a woman to become a successful leader." As the first female Ivy League president, Rodin said she has had to fight the traditional stereotypes of women in leadership positions. "My own journey has been pretty amazing to me," Rodin said. "There are a lot of firsts that didn't feel like triumphs, but felt kind of depressing because there were so few women doing these types of things." Rodin noted that gender disparity is still a very real problem in our society. "When I became president of Penn, it was listed as another first," Rodin said. "When the New York Times wrote it up, they commented on what I wore. I was not pleased." Rodin said she was happy to see how far women have come at Penn since her student days here. The freshman women said it was good to see the different positions that their peers across campus hold. "It was really encouraging to see all these leaders from all these different groups," College freshman Julie Hanlon said. "And what's more, they're all in multiple groups, and honor societies and sororities -- it was very inspiring." According to College junior Jessica Linden, a member of the WILS Planning Committee, the turnout for the event was much better than expected. "We were so nervous to have this event on Halloween, but I'm so happy to see so many freshmen wanting to get involved," Linden said. The Women in Leadership Series was founded in 1998 as a forum for discussing opportunities available for females. College freshman Jessica Kennedy attended after her experiences at a summer business internship led her to realize that women were often stereotyped. "I thought it'd be a good opportunity to see how other people faced the same obstacles," Kennedy said. "Judy Rodin is such an exceptional leader, and it's just good to hear another's experience." And the upperclassmen also appreciated the chance to hear Rodin's speech. College senior Meredith Chiaccio was one woman invited to the program on the basis of her leadership experience. "We were just saying that we wished we had this our freshman year," Chiaccio said. "And if there were any person to speak about pioneering, it would be [Rodin]."