Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication
A Special Presentation
by guest speaker
Nancy L. Green, Ed.D
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication
Florida International University
May 30, 2013
President Rosenberg, Provost Wartzock, Dean Reis, Dr. Kopenhaver, students, faculty, staff, family and friends. This is a great occasion!
Lillian has shared through her generous and loving spirit a lasting gift for women in communication. It is a gift that over time will grow in importance and significance for FIU and the world of communications scholarship and leadership.
The Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication will place FIU clearly at the apex of women and media issues. It will be a driving force convening scholars to address issues women are grappling with in the workplace.
It will gather industry and academic leaders to mentor young women who are standing on the edge of achieving great things and students who demonstrate real promise as future leaders in the academy and profession.
For over 40 years Lillian has in her determined, organized and pleasantly persistent way removed barriers to leadership for women and minorities in all of the organizations in which she became involved and work she has undertaken.
She has nudged the shy, bright newcomers and included those who needed a little push to achieve good and even great things.
She has addressed the powerful leaders of industry in tactful and respectful ways and brought about change for women in their organizations, support for journalism education and students’ First Amendment rights.
And, these tough leaders have always had the utmost respect and regard for Lil. The Center will have the power and prestige to continue that legacy.
Lillian always transforms every professional and academic organization into a more welcoming one for women and minorities and puts them on the path to leadership.
Lillian has in her collaborative and thoughtful way set the table for women to excel in a more hospitable atmosphere than it was when she arrived.
She was the first woman president of the Greater Miami Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the first woman president of the Community College Journalism Association, the first woman president of the College Media Advisers and the first woman president of the Student Press Law Center and one of only two women in the 77 year history of the Society of Professional Journalists to receive its highest honor- the Wells Key.
That is rare achievement. The Center surely will carry on Lil’s work and leadership with the same vigor and success.
The Center will be a national focal point for research and a forum for women to exchange ideas, thoughts and dreams. Women from across the U.S and globe will look to the Center for cutting edge thought, dialogue and research.
The bar will be raised on expectations for substantive research leading to progress in resolving the issues and removing the barriers that have prevented women from moving more quickly into positions of leadership in communications organizations and communications education.
As we celebrate this opening we look forward to what the center can accomplish and what it will symbolize to women, and to men – women can be and are qualified leaders who have the skills to achieve excellent results and progress successfully through the ranks while pursuing a consistent and persistent approach to leadership.
The Center’s approach to mentoring, research, leadership, team work and personal growth will enable women to have the courage and confidence to tackle tough issues.
We see men joining in the research, discussion and problem solving on issues of importance to the advancement of women in roles as distinguished leaders in communication and influencers in the profession.
In our shrinking world, we find we are more alike than different from our sisters in communications next door and around the world. The Center can bring the best academic and professional minds from across the world together using the latest technologies.
Women at different in stages in their communication careers as well as FIU students and faculty will benefit from the Center’s work.
That work has already begun and it will increase — from the beginnings of new research and webinars to workshops, lectures, panel discussions, advisory boards and programs that empower women to engage in professional growth.
Lillian’s leadership and mentorship of women and students has been impactful beyond the academy and professional arenas we recognize this afternoon.
Through teacher and student workshops on campus and at regional, state and national meetings for scholastic and community college journalists, advisers and k-12 leaders, Lillian has championed the adoption of the highest standards of journalism and professional ethics and exercise of First Amendment rights.
Many of those teachers and students in her workshops, conference sessions and classes have gone on to study and pursue media careers. Two of her students have won Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting.
As the Center works on professional and academic concerns with undergraduate and graduate students, it should encourage and support those who teach and those who learn in scholastic journalism.
Professionals sharing skills and time with student journalists in classes and mentoring situations can have life changing impact.
The Center can keep an eye on ways to connect with today’s and tomorrow’s youth as Lillian has done thorough out her career.
My charge to you this afternoon is to act quickly to take leadership on the issues that present barriers to the success of women in communication, especially those in the nation’s newsrooms.
Achieving equity in the marketplace is the goal!
Women have outnumbered men enrolling and graduating from journalism schools since 1977.
Today women compose slightly more than 1/3 of newsroom staffs in the U.S. and 40 percent around the world. But less than a 1/3 are in any role directing others.
In a recent survey of 175 heads of U.S. journalism and communications schools, 77.6 percent of survey respondents identified their gender. Slightly less than a third were female.
A snapshot of the status of women in communication indicates the Center will have a busy agenda:
At National Public Radio women are leaders with three of the five major shows hosted by women. Women are in network leadership. However, in 2010 of their 12 paid commentators there was only one female- Cokie Roberts.
In 2010 on Sunday Morning Public Affairs shows such as Meet The Press fewer than 14 percent were women.
In 2008 Media Matters reported fewer than 33 percent of cable news guests were women.
The fourth Global Media Monitoring Day (2009) in 130 countries of major media outlets found fewer than 19 percent of women were represented as experts and fewer than 18 percent were female spokespersons who appeared on the news.
The American Society of News Editors reported in 2011 that women comprised less than 1/3 of full-time employees in daily newspaper newsrooms.
Women in other leadership tracks are six percent of sports editors, fewer than 11 percent of radio news directors, 25 percent of all positions in television, and 16 percent of all positions in film.
In 2012 the Women’s Media Center reported that less that 25 percent of the presidential election coverage was written by women.
Women journalism graduates are migrating toward PR, advertising, marketing, on screen, on air and on web positions because there are more job opportunities for them there, according to a 2011 Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research report.
Since the Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism began in 1917, 814 have been awarded the prize. But only 113/ 13.9 percent have been awarded to women. The majority of those have been awarded since 1988 and many are team awards.
Many women in leadership of news media operations today came to their leadership positions from other roles. For example: Gracia Matore, President and CEO at Gannett, Inc. was a long term financial officer at Gannett. When USA Today was looking to move the needle in the early years Cathy Black, an advertising executive, became Publisher.
In many cases women in leadership positions today are not coming from newsrooms. They are coming from Advertising, Marketing and Finance.
The Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication will not lack challenging questions and many opportunities to address them.
Perhaps a priority might be tackling these questions:
What are the best pathways to top leadership positions at today’s and tomorrow’s communication organizations?
How do we prepare women to change the leadership and influencer equation and improve equity for them in the marketplace at a more rapid pace?
The Center is Lillian’s dream to provide opportunities for women in communications to become doers, leaders and role models now and for those who follow.
Today that dream becomes a reality.
A priceless gift to women now and for the future.
Thank you for inviting me to share this special day for women in communication, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and FIU.
Dr. Green is Executive Director for External Relations at Ivy Tech Community College-Richmond. Richmond, Indiana