Once again Kathleen Cravero is returning to her alma mater to grace it with her talents, on the occasion of the School ‘s Centennial Celebration, the Human Rights Symposium “Children Impacted Worldwide by HIV/AIDS”. On Thursday, April 2, 2004, Kathleen will deliver the keynote address, “A Generation at Risk: Children and HIV/AIDS,” which will be followed by a panel addressing associated religious and health concerns. She graduated from The College of New Rochelle in 1976 as a double major in French and Philosophy.

Kathleen was one of ten intrepid women who entered the Honors Program in January, 1974, when it began operation, graduating with the Honors diploma, among other honors, in the Program’s first graduating class. In her junior year, she applied for a semester internship in the non-governmental secretariat of the United Nations, designing Honors contracts with Dr. Margaret Bedard, CNR Professor of Sociology, in which she made use of her expertise in French. Her experiences in the UN’s NGO office over four semesters confirmed her interest in social problems that transcended national boundaries. She went directly to graduate school, earning a PhD in Political Science from Fordham University, while remaining continuously involved with UNICEF. When it became clear that the challenge of dealing with world health issues for children and women was her vocation, she enrolled in a Masters degree program in Public Health at Columbia University.

In the course of working at the United Nations, Kathleen has been assigned to several agencies, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, serving in Burundi, Uganda, Chad, New York, and Geneva, and traveling to over 45 countries, passionately advocating with intelligence, courage, and compassion for basic human needs for those who could not represent themselves. She has published papers, written articles, arranged conferences, and made presentations to draw the attention of government leaders and fellow citizens to often overlooked problems and solutions. Regardless of how busy she was dealing with global health issues and how heavy her responsibilities became, Kathleen always made time to respond to requests from her College, writing articles, appearing at functions, advocating for the education of women and children as well as their health, networking, and speaking about her work and what it means to be a woman in the man's world of international politics.

For her service and for her professional and personal reflection of the ideals of the College, she was awarded the Ursula Laurus citation in 1996, and in 2001 received the College's new award, Woman of Achievement. The department warmly and gratefully recognizes its alumna, Kathleen Cravero.

“A Focus on Women and Aids,” an article written by Janet Fleischman and Kathleen Cravero in honor of International Women’s Day, appeared in The Boston Globe (March 8, 2004).