Bria Hilliard

Asst. Features Editor

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” Viola Davis said at the 2015 Emmy Awards show.

It is no secret that women of color are often looked down upon as not good enough or discriminated against because of how their name is spelled on their resume. It is no secret that more often than not, these women are just as qualified as any other person who applied for that same job or internship.

Upon graduating college or even getting promotions within their career, women of color often face obstacles that go unseen by other races and genders. These obstacles include having trouble finding employment, being overlooked for managing certain accounts within their field or even being admitted into graduate schools, just to name a few.

Utica College is making “a bold move for tomorrow” by opening up the discussion to a panel of successful UC alumni who are women of color in an event called “Leading by Example: An intergenerational alumni event for women of color”. This event was created to give the women of UC a better look at the many opportunities life after college can bring. It is an event where women of the Utica College campus will meet successful women who also have walked the paths of this campus and have the opportunity to create new connections and even mentorships.

The event is co-chaired by UC alumnae Ci Ci Holloway ’79 and Professor Emerita of Journalism Kim Landon ’75.

Holloway is the assistant vice president of human resources at Lincoln Financial Media. She graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration. She also has over 20 years of experience in major entertainment companies within Viacom such as MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Showtime, and more.

Landon taught Public Relations and Journalism for 33 years, retiring in 2012. Landon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Utica College in 1975. She received her master’s in newspaper journalism from Syracuse University and reported for several newspapers in Central New York.

“We are very much hoping that this is the beginning of a series of events that become a built-in part of Homecoming,” Landon said. “We want to be sure that there is a reason for these alumni to come back to Homecoming and recognize that there is a segment of homecoming really geared towards their needs. Not just the needs of the alumni of color, but simply because the issues become different.”

UC reached out to a number of alumni across all majors to invite them to the event as well as give them the opportunity to become panelists of the event. This year’s panel will feature:

Ericka Bennett ’00, associate general council of the Roswell Park Cancer institute, former Public RelationsJournalism major.

Lourdes Miranda ’94, G’02, senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, criminal justice major and economic crime management graduate.

Doris Rice ’68, Rheumatologist, former biology major.

Treesa Salter ’88, director of program operations at Tricare Regional Office North, nursing major.

Nancy Scott ’75, president of Powertek Corporation, former Journalism major.

Patricia (Mensah) OwusuAsiedu ’04, marketing program manager at Freddie Mac, former Public Relations major.

Theresa Pauling ’80, chief counsel of immigration and customs enforcement of the US Department of Homeland Security, social work major.

Hon. Michele Woodard ’76, former New York State Supreme Court justice, 10th Judicial District-Nassau English major.

These women are returning to UC to tell their stories as an inspiration to the women of color on the UC campus.

The event will take place in the Library Concourse on Friday, Oct. 2, from 1-4 p.m. This is a free event and all women are encouraged to attend and join the discussion. There will be mentoring sessions between alumni and currents students Saturday morning.

Join the discussion on the Utica College Alumni/ Student Mentoring Program LinkedIn page at utica.edu/ linkedin-woc and register for the Leading by Example event on the homecoming page at www.utica.edu/homecoming.