WKU News

Elaine Weiss, author of “The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote,” visited WKU April 29-30 to kick off a yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Her visit was made possible by generous funding from a 2018 WKU Sisterhood grant and support from the Boyd-Lubker Visiting Scholars Program.

More than 200 WKU students, alumni and community members attended the Boyd-Lubker Visiting Scholar Lecture on April 30 at the Downing Student Union Auditorium, which focused on the passage of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. Weiss also spent time with students in the classroom during her two-day visit.

“We are thrilled with the attendance and community support for this issue,” said Dr. Victoria Gordon, Professor of Political Science at WKU. “Elaine Weiss’ visit was a great kickoff of our yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. I am already seeing the impact of her visit in my students’ work. She helped the students better connect with the topic, and they are further engaging with the lesson and effectively incorporating what they learned into their work.”

Weiss is an award-winning journalist and writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor, as well as in reports and documentaries for National Public Radio and Voice of America. A MacDowell Colony Fellow and Pushcart Prize Editor’s Choice honoree, she is also the author of “Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army in the Great War.”

The WKU Sisterhood is a group of women with shared values who enjoy collaborating to advance the mission of WKU. In November 2018, members voted to provide funding to bring Weiss to campus and to support several programs centered on the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

“The WKU Sisterhood was pleased to support this event and kickoff the yearlong celebration,” said Dr. Barbara Burch, Chair of the WKU Sisterhood, who spoke about the WKU Sisterhood at the lecture. “As an organization of women who come together to advance University priorities through philanthropic engagement, we celebrate the women who gathered together 100 years ago to use their collective voice to ensure women across the nation could vote.”

Members of the WKU Sisterhood also attended a dinner on April 29 and a luncheon with WKU students on April 30 in honor of the event.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the WKU Sisterhood. To mark this achievement, the group has a 100-member goal for the year. For more information on the impact this group has in the WKU community and to become a member, visit wku.edu/sisterhood.