Nhya East
The Tilles Atrium was filled with faces beaming with excitement and a feeling of achievement was spread across the room on Thursday, March 10th. Everyone present had either worked towards helping a young woman accomplish something admirable by serving as a role model or were themselves being honored. According to C.W. Post Provost, Dr. Paul Forestell, these women all had “the whole package.” And what package was that exactly? Great achievement on the campus of C.W. Post.
The night was entitled “Making Your Mark: A Celebration of Women & Their Achievement” it was the Fifth Annual Women’s Achievement Dinner. A total of 49 young women were nominated from faculty or advisors to be honored as women of achievement and were given the opportunity to network amongst each other, eat great food, and participate in raffles. The dinner began at 5pm and after a welcome from Provost Forestell, Barbara DeMatteo, a guest facilitator, then started a networking activity. Each woman at the table was respectable in her own right but this activity gave them a chance to get to know one another if they hadn’t already. The activity was successful to many, especially sophomore, Angela Calise. “I really enjoyed it! I got to meet new people and network and I got to meet that I’ve known about because they were student leaders as well, but I never got to go up to them,” she said. Dinner then followed before Nassau County District Attorney, Kathleen M. Rice, began her speech.
As the first woman District Attorney on Long Island, she started by saying that she was no stranger to hard work and overcoming adversity. Although in many ways women have prospered in jobs and other areas, just like any man, there is still a pay discrepancy and woman are still paid 70 cents to every dollar a man is paid. The women in the audience, who are about to step out into the work force, found her advice about persistence to be very useful to them. “I thought she was a very powerful speaker,” said junior, Arianna Liveri, “She engaged the audience really well and I admire her accomplishments.” Some of those accomplishments included a heroin awareness program for parents, school children, and teenagers, as well as her receiving the United States Attorney General’s District Award.
The evening ended with a presentation of certificates to all the women nominated for their achievements. Two women were from our very own Pioneer staff, myself and Editor-in-chief Samantha Bishal, and we were joined by others like Ashley Deal (ACP President), Michelle Fucich, Eileen Lorito, and Amanda Ostapow – just to name a few. “It was a lovely event that expressed encouragement and support of our [campus’s] female student leaders,” said Ashley Deal. Finally various raffle items were given away from sponsors like Princess Nails & Spa, Starbucks, and the Tilles Center, among many others.
Speaking on behalf of myself and those I spoke to, the dinner was a great experience and a good chance for women on this campus to meet others like them who are just as driven as they are. The C.W. Post Employer Advisory Board and The Division for Student Success hosted a well planned program and I left reminded of Eleanor Roosevelt’s wise words: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” It was a great feeling to be acknowledged for doing something great with my time here.
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