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Interim Chair of the DNC, Donna Brazile, and former Republican Presidential Advisor, Mary Matalin, will be speaking at this year’s CWBC Colloquium on the topic, Women in Politics: Political Leadership Today. The discussion will be moderated by Paula Ebben, BC ‘89, the co-anchor of WBZ-TV News.
“The CWBC Colloquium was established by the Council of Women for Boston College in order to foster discussion of contemporary issues approached through the lens of women's leadership,” remarks Professor Mary Crane, Director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts. “We hope that the Colloquium will spark campus-wide conversations on women's leadership.”
In partnership with the Institute for the Liberal Arts, the CWBC launched the Colloquium last year with their inaugural speaker, Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Speakers are typically chosen by the CWBC Advisory Board, a group of BC faculty and administrators chaired by Professor Crane and CWBC Chair Kathleen McGillycuddy. The Board works with various speaker’s bureaus for ideas about potential candidates and topic ideas.
“The idea for getting Donna Brazile and Mary Matalin came from someone at the Washington Speaker's Bureau, and the Board decided that it would be very interesting to have them speak about a month before the election—especially since it seemed likely that there would be a woman candidate for president,” continues Professor Crane. “Donna Brazile is a Democrat (and interim chair of the DNC) while Mary Matalin is a Republican—so we thought it would be interesting to have two viewpoints on women, leadership, and the presidential election.”
As for what the goals of this politically-themed Colloquium are, Professor Crane adds, “We hope the two speakers will talk about their careers in politics, their experiences as women in leadership positions, and their thoughts on the current presidential election. We think it will be inspiring for BC students to hear from three successful women, one a BC alumna, and to get their thoughts on the first presidential election to feature a woman as the nominee of one of the two major parties. We hope that the Colloquium will provide a model for constructive discussion across party lines.”
One-on-one friend dates, English Breakfast tea (with milk, no sugar), thrift shopping, and living on Newton (two years running) are life.
