Distinguished women alumnae had the opportunity to tell the future United States president via videotape what issues they think are important to American women.
The Women's Center sponsored "Women 2000: Shapers of the World," a forum in which accomplished alumnae were invited to share their experiences with the University community and express their opinions on issues such as healthcare, education and foreign policy, paying close attention to women's concerns.
The videotape of the forum will be sent to the president-elect after Tuesday's election.
All the women invited to participate in the event won the Distinguished Alumna Award over the past 10 years.
The Shapers of the World forum was the culmination of a year-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of women gaining admission to the University, the 20th anniversary of the Studies in Women and Gender major, and the 10th anniversary of the University's Women's Center.
The panelists discussed the issues most important to them, what they feel is the most important characteristic of a president and the future of women in politics.
The majority of the panelists said they felt a good, moral leader is essential to the advancement of women in the first four years of the next century.
Elaine Jones, a panelist who graduated from the Law School in 1970 and is the director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said the new president should recognize what is good for the whole country and not just for his individual party, because "about half of the people in the country will have voted against him."
Women's advocacy also was emphasized by the panelists. Vivian W. Pinn, director of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Insitute of Health and University Medical School graduate, said advocacy has greatly advanced the field of women's medical research.
Kathryn C. Thornton, a University graduate, professor and an astronaut for NASA, said women's advocacy is important but certain issues should not be labeled women's issues because it excludes the male half of the population. She said she thinks they should be called "family issues."
"It upsets me to call education, healthcare and child care women's issues because they belong to all of us," Thornton said.
Jones said women have greatly progressed in recent years and will continue to do so in the future.
"In the 19th century we were chained to pedestals. In the 20th century we got the vote, and in the 21st century we will have the first woman president," Jones said.
Most of the panelists agreed women will continue to become leaders of the world. But Hanan Ashrawi, who founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen's Rights and is active in the Middle East peace process, reminded the panelists that women in other parts of the world do not always enjoy the same degree of equality as American women.
She said America should be used as a model of equality.
The Shapers of the World Forum also included two smaller panels in which the women discussed issues more specific to their field of study - one about health, science and technology and the other about social justice and human rights.
Third-year College student Meghan Lamb said she enjoyed the panel discussion.
"I thought it was neat to see all these women who have been influential in their field," Lamb said. "It's encouraging to those of us that are part of the masses to identify with these women in some way"
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