Notes from Houston Focus Group - September 21, 2004

Attendees
Carole Bilger (Grad. Educ. '76)
Kappie Boles (A&S '80)
Lisa C. Cohen (A&S '86)
Caroline Cookingham (Commerce '79)
Laura Rowe Crawford (A&S '87)
Elizabeth Cromwell (A&S '97)
Jennifer Embry (A&S '75)
Jennifer R. Gates (A&S '96)
Kate Gibson (Arch. '87)
Leslie Grundy (Parent)
Nina Hendee (Parent)
Janet Palmer Hamel (A&S '74, GSAS '78)
Marjorie C. Hutcheson (Parent)
Shawn Jackson (A&S '88)
Jill Jewett (A&S '80)
Frances Jones (A&S '75)
Isabel Lummis (Friend)
Amy McDonald (Darden '86)
Kris McGee (A&S '86)
Patti Melcher (SEAS '82)
Tina Melo (Law '81)
Nancy Moncrief (Parent)
Katy Murray (A&S '95)
Meg Murray (A&S '89)
Bobbie Nau (Parent)
Maria Pappas (Parent)
JoAnn Russell (Law '83)
Connee Sullivan (Darden '82)
Beth Tilney (A&S '79)
Carolyn S. Utt (Friend)
Martha Walton (A&S '74)
Dana Runge Weatherly (Friend)

U.Va. Staff Members in Attendance
Melanie Benjamin (Assoc. Director of Planned Giving)
Julie Innes Caruccio (A&S '94, Director, Graduate Jefferson Scholars Fellowship Program)
Sharon Davie (GSAS '69, GSAS '72, Director, U.Va. Women's Center)
Robyn Beck Dietter (Graduate Intern, Women in Leadership & Philanthropy)
Megan Hoak (A&S '95, Regional & Reunion Development Officer)
Charlotte Nelson (Asst. Director of Clubs, U.Va. Alumni Association)
Eliza Phillips (A&S '95, Associate Director, Regional & Reunion Development)
Georgia Willis (Commerce '83, BOV Member)
David Wolcott (Director, U.Va. Parents Program)
Jennifer Wyss-Jones (Special Assistant to the Senior VP for Development & Public Affairs)

Notes From Houston

• Do more events like this one
• Bring women faculty and administrators as speakers (e.g., Pat Lampkin)
• Programmatic draws -- community service organizations like Madison House
• Continuing Education Programs -- Summer on the Lawn program
• Women's Travel Program
• Education -- inform women as to the opportunities
• Important to consider timing of events
• Consider communications -- mail vs. e-mail (don't include attachments)
• Outreach to women: meetings -- men like them, women don't
• Board memberships -- travel may be easier for men (i.e., to Charlottesville), because they generally don't have the child care/family responsibilities that women have
• For regional women's events, involve current U.Va. students -- parents' attendance models behavior for their students
• Educate women about volunteer opportunities and then ask them to be involved; also include regional volunteer opportunities
• Need a master list of women for boards, but need to clarify what the job description is; what they need to have, what they are expected to do. Women would much rather know what expectations are, so they can judge if this is something they will/are able put their time into (i.e., full disclosure of expectations--giving level and responsibilities)
• Provide a list of U.Va. women in Houston
• Interest in being appealed to by their department or by other special interest -- not just "class of 1987"
• Effective -- student and/or faculty thank-you calls for gifts
• Women would like to be involved with mentorship opportunities for new graduates
• Start philanthropy early - build into culture (e.g., Texas A&M builds expectation that students will give back when they graduate)
• Women want to be involved FIRST, then ask for gifts and time
• Women respond more to relationships (e.g., peer contact)
• Plan events that build connections and build relationships
• Involve local parents with alumni club events
• Women want networking opportunities and events that involve both the parent(s) and their children

Houston Follow-Up

• Immediately: how to get involved; sub-groups by interest?
• Do Something Grand project
• Groundbreakers' project
• Another meeting -- do meetings 2x/year?
• Discuss giving opportunity -- how should we implement it
• For next meeting, ask each attendee to invite 3 other U.Va. women

Speech By Georgia M. Willis
Good afternoon! WaHooWah !!

What great energy is in this room -- it is so exciting to share the next hour or so with you. Thank you for taking the time in your busy schedules to be with us today.

I bring you greetings from Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, The University of Virginia!!! It is wonderful to have this common bond together, isn't it? ...to have studied at the various schools throughout the years. Look around you and see all those who have matriculated in the many schools at UVA and are now working in their many respective fields.

I am Georgia Willis, a McIntire '83 graduate and a member of the Board of Visitors...and live in Ladysmith, Virginia, a small town about 45 miles north of Richmond. I believe in women and in their abilities to make a difference in this world. I believe in their focus and follow-through, in their attitude to research and then complete a project to the best of their abilities. I believe in women's attribute of multitasking with not a skip in the beat -- any time of day. Women -- you and me. We are a very important segment of this country and in this world, for we are talented and respected in our respective professions --- and we each studied and received a solid foundation at The University of Virginia! Therefore, we are quite important to the growth of The University.

You have asked about my appointment -- this is my second year on the UVA Board of Visitors -- the second of four. Let me tell you that it is awesome to meet in the Oval Room at The Rotunda. The aura is just uncanny knowing that The Rotunda is where the policies have been made for 1.5 centuries by various leaders, and continue to be made there. Can you imagine the first Board of Visitors? Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe -- three Presidents of this country? ....and a wealthy land owner, Cocke, and one who assisted Jefferson in the legislature in securing his Academical Village. I know that you remember Cocke Hall adjacent to Cabell? Well, this is in honor of the fourth member of the first Board who made decisions with Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.

As The University has grown, those four members have expanded to 16, all appointed by the Governor of Virginia. It truly is an exciting time in my life, and I am learning more and doing more than I could ever imagine!

One doesn't know what one doesn't know until placed in a situation demanding the opportunity to learn. Each of you faces that every day -- and those unique opportunities force you to step up to the plate; thus, growing intellectually and personally.

It is the responsibility for each of us to give back in whatever way we can -- each of us does that in different ways. It is important that we are examples to our children encouraging them to do the same -- and also, that we are examples to each other.

You each have different life stories, which are so great. You can each write a book! Since I am the one standing here, though, I'll share with you a little of mine -- that I was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. My dad, as well as a good farmer, was a good teacher in the elementary grades.

At the time of this story, I was 10 years old and wanted to be a nurse. My dad and I were at the top of the silo where we were using pitchforks and were each throwing the silage down through the orifice to the main floor where we would then feed the cattle their evening meal. While up there, he was teaching; he was explaining that one works hard and gets a paycheck for that hard work. He also said we constantly should make sure we earn each penny -- each penny of that paycheck. Gee, do we teach that today to our children?

Anyway, I was receiving my lesson from him that day on earning my pay. My dad stated that no matter what you do in your life -- a nurse, a teacher -- he never mentioned being a banker!! -- "no matter what you do, do it to the best of your ability and make a difference. Remember that you make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give".

I have never forgotten that advice and try my best to do this every day as my life's journey continues. I also want YOU to remember this as your life journey continues. We have no say in when we were born or when we die. We do, however, have a say in how we participate in life's challenges while we live; what choices we make. It is the responsibility of each of us to give. We have been blessed with so much, and there is no value unless we share it.

In training classes, I am always exclaiming the importance of sharing three things -- three things: love, knowledge, and money. If you do not share any of these, then, they are worth nothing. They have no value unless they are shared. Think about that ...and make sure you are sharing your love, knowledge, and money.

Your being here at this "Women in Leadership and Philanthropy" luncheon communicates your loyalty to The University, which gave you a strong educational foundation, and also your awareness of its importance in your life and your career. What are YOU doing to give back? What are YOU doing to make a difference in this world? You are making a living. What are YOU doing to make a life? The time is NOW ! You can make a difference NOW!

For those of you who have taken notes, I encourage you to review them within 48 hours. There is something to be said for doing that after you attend a class or seminar or church service -- because you will cement the information on the second-go-round of review. Otherwise, you are apt to loose the information stored in short-term memory.

For others, I am sure Jenny will place this on the web site, as she has done in the past. In fact, you may wish to log on and review the presentation done this past February in New York City. It zoomed in on leadership and philanthropy also; however, it detailed women leaders at The University of Virginia in the business arena, as well as the academic arena.

My hope is that:

(a) You search your heart to see what skills you personally possess in order to make a difference in this world ...and in the life of The University.

(b) You discover how you personally are able to step up to the plate.

(c) You analyze your life's actions so that you make a living by what you get and also make a life by what you give.

These are my hopes for you.

Thank you for your wonderful Texan hospitality! Thank you for your attention to this important cause -- The University of Virginia! WaHooWah!