With elegant vases overflowing with vibrantly colored tulips on each elaborately set table, hundreds from around the Charlottesville community gathered yesterday afternoon to honor a long-time public heroine with the presentation of two awards that celebrate women's leadership.
The Emily Couric Leadership Forum, an annual event to honor the late state senator and sister of University alumna and NBC's Today show host Katie Couric, was held at the Omni Hotel on Main Street yesterday. A six-member selection committee chose one local area female high school senior from among 10 finalists to receive the $5,000 Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship. In addition, attorney and author Caroline Kennedy, son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, was presented the Women's Leadership Award.
Members of the selection committee hail from various Charlottesville organizations that "represent different aspects of Emily's life, different passions," according to Joshua Scott, two-year representative from the Center for Politics who worked for the late state senator. Scott noted that Emily had "shared our passion for getting young people involved in politics," so the Center was a fitting addition to the committee.
The committee also features a student representative from the Curry School, current fifth-year Lianna Moss, which reflects Emily's emphasis on education.
Moss said the committee looks for "someone who is vivacious, who does have charisma but not just that ... also an extra-special something that you almost can't put your finger on," an unnamed trait that Moss said Emily Couric possessed.
Katie Couric, who introduced Caroline Kennedy and conducted an hour-long interview with the Award recipient in front of the multitude gathered in the Omni ballroom, said she was pleased the award would be presented to someone whose passion for education resembles that of Emily's.
Kennedy's most recent contributions to her community are evident in her work as Vice Chairman of the Fund for Public Schools in New York City, which has fostered partnerships and organized benefits to promote literacy and fitness programs as well as support public education, according to a press release by Payne, Ross & Associates.
Couric noted that Kennedy's "curriculum vitae is ridiculously impressive," as she also serves on the Commission of Presidential Debates and as NAACP Legal Defense Fund Director. She heads the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and is a member of the selection committee for the Profiles in Courage Award, which annually honors an American who has acted on deep moral convictions rather than succumbed to political pressures.
"Caroline ... is in my estimation a 'profile in courage' herself," Couric said. "She's handled the privileges and pressures of her last name with unbelievable dignity, humility and humanity."
Couric announced she would conduct an interview with the Award recipient because Kennedy does not "relish the opportunity" to give speeches. Couric discussed everything from the American education system to Kennedy family traditions, at times asking hard-hitting political questions which at one point prompted Kennedy to joke, "You told me you were going to ask me [questions] like what my favorite color was."
"What's happening to our educational system ... is really a national crisis," Kennedy said, emphasizing the need for both the public and private sectors to contribute financially to educational programs.
Kennedy talked extensively about her own family's emphasis on education and especially her mother's love of reading. She added that a family custom required her and brother John to memorize a poem of their choosing. Couric asked Kennedy to recite a childhood favorite, and Kennedy quoted Edna St. Vincent Millay from a poem she memorized at three years old.
Kennedy added that poetry has become a genuine interest and has often served as a "wonderful source of strength" in times of personal tragedy, and that it served the same purpose for her literature-loving mother. Kennedy recently published a collection of her mother's favorite poems in a book titled, "The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis."
"We never got lectures about [education]," Kennedy said. "That curiosity was just woven in. ...We were all just expected to do our best."
Couric shared her own perspective on dealing with tragedy, noting that a favorite Thomas Jefferson quote, "The earth is for the living," has helped her focus on how passed loved ones, including her husband, would want her to live.
"To really honor the people you love, you have a responsibility to have a rich and happy life," Couric said.
The conversation turned to politics as Couric mentioned the perceived difficulty in identifying courageous figures in the modern political world -- especially those considered for the Profiles in Courage award. The honor was most recently conferred upon Ukranian President Viktor Yushchenko, who survived poisoning while promoting a more democratic agenda against great odds.
Kennedy recognized the universality of leadership despite the singling out of a particular person.
"Everyone has a responsibility to get involved in the political process," Kennedy said.
Couric reflected on her late sister's words of wisdom as she noted, "When you're running for office, you have to be willing to lose," which liberates a leader and clarifies his or her convictions.
At least two of the scholarship finalists will be attending the University in the fall: Era Kryzhanovskaya of Covenant School and Monticello High School's Katelyn Mendoza. Kryzhanovskaya and Mendoza had their own thoughts on the definition of a great leader and the unique obstacles that woman leaders face today.
"The ceiling is being lifted [for women]," Kryzhanovskaya said. "But that doesn't mean there isn't a ceiling anymore."
Kryzhanovskaya noted that Emily Couric was a family friend who attended her childhood birthday parties. She said it was an honor to be "put in a category that she exemplified" in being selected for an award that celebrated young women's commitments to serving the community. She described Couric as one who was passionate and brought people together, willing to negotiate on both sides of the political aisle.
"Everything about her ... is an example for me," Kryzhanovskaya said.
The Covenant School finalist said she hopes to get involved at the University in club volleyball, Take Back the Night and volunteer work at the University of Virginia Medical Center, seeking to do her part "even among 7,000 women."
Mendoza said she wants to "have a big role at U.Va. as my time goes by there" and is looking to get involved in a variety of organizations. In addition, Mendoza is looking to "bring diversity I know U.Va. wants" and simply "have an influence, in any shape that it takes."
Couric listed several ways in which her University education and work with The Cavalier Daily has allowed her to serve as a leader in journalism. Besides honing her writing skills and teaching her to work under a deadline, Couric said her college career "increased my comfort level with people I didn't know" and her "ability to interact with people in a sophisticated way."
"All those cocktail parties were beneficial," she laughed.
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