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Singing the praises of Emory's Unsung Heroines and writers

2013 Unsung Heroine awardees. Back row: Helen O'Shea, Anushka Kapoor, Beth Roberts. Front row: Christal Wang, Patricia del Ray. (Not pictured: Katherine Brokaw)

The Center for Women presented its annual awards for women who have been pioneers and models for other women without major recognition during Women's History Month.  

The Women and Gender Awards ceremony on March 7 celebrated Emory's 2013 Unsung Heroines and student writing awards, co-sponsored by the Center for Women and the Emory Alumni Association.  

The 2013 Unsung Heroines Award winners are:

Katherine Brokaw,administrative honoree

As assistant dean for student affairs and director of academic assistance at the law school, Brokaw has mentored hundreds of women students, helping them develop as attorneys and leaders. She has addressed issues that largely affect women, such as sexual harassment, sexual assault and unintended pregnancies, leading efforts to transform law school policies to help women attain their degrees which accommodating pregnancy and childbirth and implementing flexible schedules for staff. She served two terms of president of the President's Commission on the Status of Women. Brokaw is also a member of the State Bar's Committee to Promote Inclusion.  

Patricia Del Rey,faculty honoree

Del Ray, an adjunct professor of women’s studies at Oxford College, has inspired Oxford students to contemplate their identity and that of others through her "Race, Class, Sexuality and Gender" course.  She has also served as a mentor, confidant and friend to countless students on that campus, offering scholarship and internship information. And she adds teaching at the University of Georgia to her busy schedule. 

Anushka Kapoor, undergraduate honoree

Kapoor helped found Sexual Assaults Peer Advocates (SAPA), which has trained more than 700 students to date in a variety of organizations, including sororities, fraternities, residence hall life and Oxford student groups in ways to help sexual assault survivors on the campus and beyond. SAPA has made it possible for more sexual assault survivors to get help. The organization also has produced training for freshman orientation and has brought service projects to campus.  

Helen O'Shea,retiree honoree  

O'Shea was a member of the nursing profession for over 50 years, joining the nursing school faculty in 1971. She counseled numerous younger faculty members and students. O'Shea was one of only two women on the University Senate's Campus Development Committee, which reviewed all proposals and plans for campus development, including new buildings, renovations and changes to roadways. She was named chair of the committee during a time of significant campus growth and managed the position in a sexist environment.  

Beth Roberts,alumni honoree  

Roberts '78C recently retired from Accenture's Financial Services Practice where she led the North American "Great Place to Work for Women" for her division, was a member of the firm's Diversity Council and was the founding Accenture sponsor for the Susan G. Komen New York Race for the Cure. She currently serves as chair of the board for Friends of Women's World Banking.

Christal Wang,undergraduate honoree

Wang was the only woman in Oxford College's Student Government Association her sophomore year. She asserted that women could be bodyguards for the unofficial campus mascot Dooley as well as men. She also worked to ban degrading words used against women and those with disabilities, fighting for equal rights and representation and working in domestic violence programs.  

The winners of the 2013 Student Writing Awards, designed to highlight and celebrate outstanding student scholarship on issues of importance to women, are:

- Jordan Naftalis, undergraduate

- Diana Click, graduate

- Emily Guiterrez, Honorable Mention, undergraduate

- Diana Louis, Honorable Mention, graduate  

Women's History Month continues with a keynote address, "Confronting the Reality of Sexual Violence on the College Campus," by David Lisak on Thursday, March 28, at 4:30 p.m. in the Oxford Road Building. Lisak is a researcher and forensic consultant who has studied the causes and consequences of interpersonal violence, including the effects of sexual abuse in men, the links between child abuse and violence and the characteristics and motives of rapists.


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