THE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE
ANNOUNCES
GRANT FOR UNIFEM STUDENT CHAPTER AT CNR
NEW ROCHELLE, NY, February
2, 2006 – The College of New Rochelle (CNR) School of Arts &
Sciences (SAS) announced that it has secured a $2,000 grant for its
UNIFEM Student Chapter, from the Blessings Fund of the Dominican
Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs. UNIFEM (United Nations Development
Fund for Women) is the women's fund at the UN. It provides
financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and
strategies to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality. The
grant will cover transportation and lunch expenses for six interns to
work at non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as UNICEF-USA, Human
Rights Watch, UNIFEM New York, Human Rights First, Dominicans at the
UN, and Safe Horizon.
“NGOs such as UNIFEM
are leading global efforts to address the needs of women,” said Dr.
Anne McKernan, Associate Professor of History at CNR and Director of
the College’s International Studies Program. “This grant will help make
it possible for CNR students to volunteer their time and energy to
mission-driven organizations such as UNIFEM that are committed to
helping women. CNR’s heritage as the first Catholic college for women
in New York State makes this a particularly important initiative for
us.”
CNR’s project seeks to
provide outstanding undergraduate female students with:
-
Knowledge of contemporary issues related to gender
and social justice
-
The opportunity to apply theoretical course work to
practical advocacy work
-
An affective experience that fosters a sense of
empowerment as agents of change and strengthens leadership skills
-
A network of practitioners who can help shape their
futures, professionally and as citizens of the world community
UNIFEM was created in 1976
by a UN General Assembly Resolution, following a call from women's
organizations attending the 1975 UN First World Conference on Women in
Mexico City. It has worked to help improve the living standards
of women in developing countries and to address their concerns. CNR
alumna Margaret Snyder SAS ’50
was chosen its Founding Director.
Placing the advancement of
women's human rights at the center of all of its efforts, UNIFEM
focuses its activities on four strategic areas: (1) reducing feminized
poverty, (2) ending violence against women, (3) reversing the spread of
HIV/AIDS among women and girls, and (4) achieving gender equality in
democratic governance in times of peace as well as war.
In addition to Ms. Snyder,
a number of CNR’s alumnae have gone on to careers in international
advocacy work, including:
Kathleen Cravero Kristoffersson SAS ’76
Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery for the UN
Development Programme
Meg Gardinier Lawder SAS ’81
Managing Director of Education and Community Partnerships at the U.S.
Fund for UNICEF
Losira Okelo SAS ’96
Program Director of iEARN (International Education and Resource
Network), a non-profit organization that empowers young people to
engage in online collaborative educational projects with their peers
across the globe
Jacqueline Maxwell SAS ’50
Former UN Liaison for the International YMCA
The School of Arts & Sciences, established in 1904, continues its
tradition of enrolling only women. It offers undergraduate degrees in
all traditional disciplines of liberal arts and sciences and a number
of professional fields. A core curriculum is required, and dual-degree
programs, interdisciplinary studies, independent-study options and
flexible honors programs are also offered. SAS alumnae include: Wen Chen, scientific editor of Neuron magazine; Mary O’Connor Donohue, lieutenant
governor of the State of New York; Mercedes
Ruehl, Academy- and Tony-Award winning actress; Anne Marie Sweeney, Co-chair, Disney
Media Networks Unit and President, Disney-ABC Television Group; and Aulana Pharis Peters, the first
African-American woman to serve as an SEC Commissioner.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
The first Catholic
college for women in New York State,
The
College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order.
Today,
it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three
schools
which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult
learners),
the School of Nursing and the Graduate School. The main campus of
the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of
New York City. The College maintains five other campus locations
in New York
City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu
