March 2019

Welcome to my inaugural newsletter!

Dear Friends:

March is Women’s History Month…so this is a perfect time to launch my monthly newsletter, Boldly Go. Each month I will provide news highlights from Texas Woman’s that I hope will inspire – and even engage – you in our work to change lives.

Educate **a woman, empower the world**

This month I would like to focus on our Institute for Women’s Leadership positioned with a statewide scope. For the past few years, the Lone Star State has invested in the institute and its three centers, which are focused on expanding Texas’ economy and strengthening communities. Specifically, the centers seek to increase the number of businesses owned by women, expand the ranks of elected female officials and policymakers, and prepare more women to lead for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

16-year-old Texas Woman's student accepted into 9 law schools

Haley Taylor Schlitz video screenshot

The institute’s Center for Student Leadership has prepared more than a hundred women over the past decade to lead teams, manage projects, engage in local and national projects, and support charities.

This month, 16-year-old Haley Taylor Schlitz, an interdisciplinary studies student in this leadership program (and also a Center for Women in Business Minerva Scholar), was featured in a number of national media outlets for receiving offers to nine law schools upon her graduation this spring.

If your business is looking for men and women who are prepared to lead, your connection for student internships is Kurt Krause, Director of our Pioneer Center for Student Excellence. To potentially get your full-time positions in front of our nearly 16,000 students and 100,000 alumni, please contact Laura Shackelford, Director of the Career Connections Center.

“Elect Her” program draws community, campus leaders across North Texas

From left to right: Myah Anderson, TWU SGA president; Muhammad Kara, UNT SGA president; Kyra Solis, TWU Health Studies major; posing inside a TWU Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy frame and holding signs which read ‘Texas Woman’s University: Elect Her TWU’ and ‘Texas Woman’s University: running start’.

Our Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy focuses on preparing Texas students to run for office and win ! TWU student Kyra Solis (a senior majoring in Health Studies), right, moderated a panel with speakers Muhammad Kara ( UNT student government president) and Myah Anderson ( TWU student government president and a senior in Nutrition Science) at the nationally recognized Running Start’s “Elect Her” program sponsored at TWU.

The center, led by Nancy Bocskor, is planning a number of activities and exhibits for students and community members who want to polish their political leadership skills, expand civics education and celebrate the 100 ^th anniversary of women’s right to vote. I invite you to follow the development of this space and our upcoming activities!

20 female entrepreneurs win business start-up or expansion grants

Pamela Gilland

Pamela Gilland won a $5,000 microgrant to set up a new cosmetic scissor sharpening business in Denton. She was one of 20 entrepreneurs from nine Texas cities who received $5,000 grants that require small business training courses and approved business plans with the institute’s Center for Women in Business.

If you’re interested in training, networking or access to capital, please email Shannon Mantaro, the center’s director.

TWU's historic Old Main Building to house Institute for Women's Leadership

Institute for Women's Leadership group photo

By the end of this year, the Institute for Women’s Leadership and its three centers will open in our most historic building on our Denton campus. The rotunda entryway will feature a renovated " Winged Victory ," thanks to the generosity of our alumna Nancy Paup and her husband Ted. This Fort Worth dynamic duo is also funding a special Paup Lecture Series that will become an annual hallmark of the institute.

TWU alumna Maj. Gen. Mary Saunders (USAF Retired) leads this institute with strong support from some of the state’s most successful women who serve on its advisory council . The chair of this council, Sue Schrier Bancroft, has invested generously in the institute, which will bear her name. I am planning a January 2020 grand opening for the institute, which will feature a number of interactive exhibits.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The 2019 Thin Line Film Festival will debut a short documentary (Mack Minded) about TWU’s Pauline Beery Mack, Ph.D., dean and research director (1952-1973). She performed pioneering bone-density research on NASA astronauts during the early years of the space program. We partnered with Curious Dog Creative, a local film company, to produce this documentary.

For a sneak peek, check out this Mack Minded promotional trailer

TWU’s ArtsWalk will take place from 5:15-8 p.m. on Thursday, April 4. The event will begin with a lecture by Molly Sherman at Margo Jones Performance Hall and will be followed with “Learning the Land Walking Tours” and other artistic works.