Phillis Alvic (left) and Betty Powell (right) attended and presented at the women's conference multiple times. Powell, a WKU graduate, is the dean of the college of arts and sciences at Queens College in Charlotte, NC. Alvic, Lexington, is a weaver devoted to crafts and education.

The women who ran the conference "threw their whole heart into doing it," said Caracco, and as a result , it was a huge success.

Pictured above: Lou-Ann Crouther, member of the first women's studies conference committee, is currently an associate professor in the English Department at WKU.

The committee members were eager to initiate a Women’s Studies Program immediately, but they realized that in order for women’s studies to be accepted at WKU, they would have to change the culture of the University because many faculty and administrators did not consider women’s studies a legitimate academic discipline. So in order to demonstrate to the WKU community the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary nature of women’s studies, Carraco and her committee decided to sponsor a women’s studies conference. But first they had to raise money to fund the conference, since they did not receive any direct financial support from the University. Crowe applied for and received a grant from The Kentucky Foundation for Women, and Geddes contributed the fees from several workshops she conducted.

The theme of the first conference was “Bridging the Gender Gap” and focused on the disparities in male and female styles of communication. The women who ran the conference “threw their whole heart into it,” said Carraco, and as a result, it was a huge success. From 1988-1995 volunteers continued to staff and secure funding for annual Women’s Studies Conferences. Participants came from throughout the United States and as far away as Belgium, South Africa, and Italy to present their research and to hear such esteemed scholars as Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and Annette Kolodny. Over the years, themes for the conferences varied, but the purpose of the conferences remained constant: to establish women’s studies as a legitimate academic discipline and to enlighten the university community about women’s issues.