Shifting Perceptions

Celebrating the Spectrum of Leadership

The RAs and ASCMC will be sponsoring several Athenaeum events to promote dialogue on issues relevant to students and our campus climate. We hope to foster a greater sense of inclusivity and community at CMC by celebrating the bold leadership of women, gay men and lesbians.

Upcoming Events in this Series

February 28, 2012: Fran Lebowitz, author of Metropolitan Life (1978), Social Studies (1981) and The Fran Lebowitz Reader (1991). She has made several guest appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and Law & Order and starred in Public Speaking (2010), a Martin Scorsesse documentary that highlighted her lengthy career of social commentary and speaking engagements. Lebowitz was once kicked out of school for “non-specific surliness” but now makes a career out her witty, critical dialogue.

February 29, 2012:  Dan Savage, author of Savage Love advice column, which includes frank and humorous discussion of sexuality and relationships. Alongside husband Terry Miller, Savage founded the It Gets Better Project, a movement dedicated to help reduce suicide among LGBT youth. The project has video contributions from widespread sources ranging from President Barack Obama to the San Francisco Giants pro baseball franchise.

March 28, 2012: Hoda Abou-Jamra, CEO & Founder, BioExec Institute and CEO, Boston BioCapital (Dubai & Boston). Abou-Jamra has been hailed by the New York Times as one of the leading women in private equity in the Middle East. 

April 16, 2012:  Tony Kushner, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. He was also the co-author of the screenplay of Munich (2005), a five-time Academy Award nominated film portraying the events surrounding the terrorist attacks of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics, and the reaction from the Israeli government.

*All upcoming events are evening events at the Athenaeum unless otherwise indicated. Reservations can be made at the Athenaeum’s website.

Additional Events in this Series

April 9th, 2012: Nick Altemose, DPhil student in statistics at Oxford University, Marshall Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellow, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, Angier B. Duke Scholar, and Rhodes finalist. His fields of interest include genomics and bioinformatics. Nick came out as gay while a student at Duke University after a difficult childhood in a conservative Christian community in Southern California.

Past Events in this Series

September 14, 2011:   James Stewart, Pulitzer Prize-winning business columnist, The New York Times; author, Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff (2011) and DisneyWar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom (2006); "Leadership and Ethics" at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.

September 15, 2011:   B.D. Wong, actor; author: Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man (2003); "All the World's a Stage: From Exclusion to Inclusion" at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.

October 24, 2011:  Rick Welts, President of the NBA Golden State Warriors and former President and CEO of the NBA Phoenix Suns. Welts originally worked for the Seattle SuperSonics before serving the NBA in various capacities including Chief Marketing Officer and he helped found the WNBA in 1996. In May of 2011, Welts became the highest-ranking executive in men’s sports – and perhaps professional sports’ highest-profile figure – to come out as gay. CMC was the first college to invite Rick to speak following his coming out; “A Gay Man's Journey Through Men's Major League Sports” at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.

Please contact Greg Zahner (gzahner12@cmc.edu) for more information.

The events in this series have been generously supported by:
• The M.M.C. Athenaeum
• The Women and Leadership Alliance
• The Kravis Leadership Institute
• The President's Office
• CMS Athletics
• The Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children
• The Robert Day School of Economics and Finance
• The Dean of Students Office
• The Center for Writing and Public Discourse
• The Dean of Faculty Office
• The Queer Resource Center