Op-Ed
Our Powerful Alumnae Network | Celebrating, learning from, and expanding our horizons with Columbia alumnae who are making an impact in our world
By Kathleen Crowley, MPH '92, DrPH '13
We are pleased to share news of an inspiring weekend conference held in February, 2018, where we celebrated Columbia’s powerful network of women whose Columbia connections broaden our impact in the world - personally and professionally. The weekend included valuable engagement and development opportunities, eye-opening speakers, personalized workshops, roundtable discussions about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, financial planning, changing or redefining your career, philanthropy and volunteerism, entering politics, leadership in office, and more. The inaugural conference weekend is the vision of the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) and Alumnae Engagement Task Force.
She Opened the Door brought more than 1,000 Columbia alumnae, faculty, students, and staff together from 18 Schools and Affiliates, including Deans of Schools and members of the University Board of Trustees. Current Mailman School of Health Alumni Board members Kavita Bali, MPH ‘01, MPA‘01, Hannah Rosenzweig MPH ‘05, and Kathleen Crowley MPH ‘91PH, DrPH ‘13 represented the Mailman School (see photos below!) Kavita served on a panel entitled Holistic Wealth Management; Hannah moderated a panel entitled Making Our Voices Heard: Women, Politics and Civic Engagement. Kathleen was Conference Co-Chair with Teresa Saputo-Crerend. There were five amazing Keynote sessions and Columbia alumni speakers including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Poppy Harlowe, Abigail Disney, and Barnard College faculty member Leymah Gbowee. Whether you were unable to attend the conference, or would like to relive the inspiring moments from the weekend check out some of the highlights from She Opened the Door:
- Poster contest winners
- Photo album
- Keynotes and session videos
Student Posters Honored Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a second-year Mailman student entered a poster contest and ended up in the chambers of “The Notorious R.B.G.” As a public health student focusing on research, Anna Hoover didn’t think she’d apply her passion for art to her work at the Mailman School. But when the Columbia Alumni Association announced a contest for students to design a poster for the February She Opened the Door Women’s Conference, she saw a unique opportunity to make use of her talents. One can read more at https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/supreme-poster
The conference name is a tribute to Winifred Edgerton Merrill, the first woman to receive a degree from Columbia University, and the first American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. She was awarded a PhD with high honors from Columbia University in 1886, by a unanimous vote of the board of trustees. Merrill was also a member of a committee that petitioned Columbia University to found Barnard College in 1889. On the fiftieth anniversary of her graduation from Wellesley, a portrait of Winifred Edgerton Merrill was presented to Columbia and is inscribed, "She opened the door."
This goal of the conference was achieved - to continue to “open the door” for Columbia women by bringing together alumnae from all 18 schools and affiliates as well as across the decades, past and present. As well as to “open the door” to future engagement across the schools whereby alumni will not just call their “school” their home but will also call the “University” their home.
She Opened the Door included sixteen panel sessions over two days with themes based on health, wealth and happiness. Many of these sessions were videotaped and can viewed by the following links:
She Opened the Door Sizzle Reel
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at She Opened the Door, Columbia University Women's Conference
Abigail Disney at She Opened the Door, Columbia University Women's Conference
Faye Wattleton at She Opened the Door, Columbia University
Click Here to view additional photos