BRANCH MEETING – JUNE 8, 2024
10:00 AM – WHITTIER ELKS LODGE
PROGRAM – PONDERING
June has arrived, and it is time for the installation of AAUW’s new officers and the presentation of scholarships to the Myra Long Scholarship Fund recipients. We will celebrate them all! Before we do, though, let’s look back at the knowledgeable speakers we have heard over this past year, to remind us of what is worth pondering, what we sometimes take for granted, and what we are achieving as women.
Our first speaker of the year, Kathleen O’Gorman, described the inhumane conditions of immigrant detainees on our borders. In October, Margo Reeg led us through the upcoming propositions on the March ballot, and November brought us Allen Gittelson, a Magic Castle magician and an expert on memory. He had us pondering how much better our memories could be if we learn to relate unusual images to what we want to remember. The Boys and Girls Club of Whittier offered Gina Lopez as our December speaker. She filled in for Oscar Hernandez and explained their Club’s dynamic programs, causing us to marvel at their accomplishments.
January 2024 was our annual “Meet and Greet,” and it was a hit. We picked up several new members! Our Fund Fellow, Madelene Dailey, followed in February and engaged us with a beneficial PowerPoint presentation on Architecture and Art. She explained how she and her team are making a “sustainable” difference, especially in lower income areas that often get overlooked. The real takeaway: don’t take art nor architecture for granted. If you want change, you have to do something about it! It’s clear Ms. Dailey is a high achiever and likely inspires her colleagues.
In March, we switched gears a bit and looked back in time with Emily Teipe as our guide. She showed us the treatment of women by the medical profession in the 1800’s and early 1900s. She described how a slave woman had been recruited by doctors as a human guinea pig to get over 30 surgeries without anesthesia! Indeed, we have come a long way.
Our April DEI speaker, Brenda Ricards proved this. She revealed her own story, explaining the difficulties of being an undocumented student in the early 2000’s, but now, she has her own podcast, Tamarindo, where she shines a light on political issues, among others, that are important to the Latinx community. She does this through humor and with her co-host.
Others who inspired us this year were the Tech Trek girls who gave us the lowdown on what they experienced at Tech Trek last June, and the Las Distinguidas recipients who received their awards last month, along with the Named Gift Honorees. We are lucky to have such inspirational figures among us. Our June program will offer even more of them when scholarships are given and our new officers are installed.
Claire Koehler, VP Program Director and
Program Committee: Ann Topjon and Christine Heller
