Women's Center End of Semester Luncheon Fall 2023

By Weslyn Harmon

 

On November 16, 2023, the Howard University Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership (CWGGL) hosted a luncheon to close the semester. This event also served as a symbolic transition of power from our Founding Director to our new Executive Director. The advisory board, faculty, staff, and students expressed gratitude for the dedication and hard work of our founding director, Dr. J. Jarpa Dawuni.

Dr. Anita Plummer, the Associate Director for Research and Faculty Engagement at the Center, and Logan Ford, the student moderator for the event, gave welcoming remarks to the guests in attendance. They began by recognizing the achievements of Dr. Dawuni and introduced our new Executive Director, Dr. Cassandra Veney. Provost Wutoh also administered greetings on behalf of Howard University’s new president, Ben Vinson III, Ph.D., and our previous president, Dr. Wayne Frederick.

The first speaker at the luncheon was Dr. Joyce A. Ladner, the only female acting president in our university’s history, who was also a dedicated civil rights activist in the 1960s. Dr. Ladner emphasized the HU Women’s Center's important role in black women’s leadership, highlighting Dr. Dawuni's tremendous dedication as the founding director, her leadership and vision for creating an inclusive space centered on Black women’s leadership. Dr. Ladner described her close relationship with Dr Dawuni and how she witnessed her perseverance as the director through her impact, drafting the grant proposal, implementing programs to engage students and faculty programming, and recruiting dedicated staff and students.

A video created by Moustapha Hoyeck, the center’s outreach coordinator, showcased the first three years of the Center’s activities. Shortly after, Dr. Dawuni spoke about her upbringing and how she always wanted to be an architect and design things. As she advanced in her career in academia, she continued to find new ways to design and implement unique projects into her courses as a professor, and she brought this same drive to the center's development. Her tenacity and focus come from the unwavering support of her family, who stood beside her as she committed three years to building the center's foundation. Stepping down from the center’s leadership was a personal choice, and she remains confident of the transition to Dr. Cassandra Veney, a courageous woman who exemplifies Black women’s leadership.

In her remarks, Dr. Veney started her speech with a quote from Anna Julia Cooper, the author and educator, stating, “Only the back women can say when and where I enter.” Dr. Veney described how women’s leadership is personified in the home, church, and education. At Howard, the Women’s Center is a manifestation of women who have entered, women who are entering, and women who will continue entering. As the new Executive Director, Dr. Veney plans to expand the impact of the Women’s Center on campus, in the community, and across the globe.
For a full review of the Center's three years of work, click here.