Federico Sanchez: Six role models for Penn's future women

Women at Penn have traveled a long, challenging and ultimately rewarding road since Oct. 13, 1876, when Gertrude Klein Peirce Easby and Anna Lockhart Flanigen made history as the first female students to be accepted to this University.

This weekend, 125 years after Peirce and Flanigen's feat, Judith Rodin -- who, unlike Peirce and Flanigen, was eligible for a Penn degree and the keys to this institution's highest office -- will receive hundreds of alumnae for a celebration of the enormous contributions that Penn women have made in classrooms, newsrooms, courtrooms and boardrooms in this nation and across the globe. The lives of Rodin and many other outstanding Penn alumnae represent themselves the best testimony of the great advances accomplished by women at Penn and beyond in the last century.

Although there are many distinguished female academic leaders in this country, it is difficult to think of any other success story that could rival the enormous visibility and amazing results of Rodin's administration. Her immense popularity among Penn students and the icon-like status she has attained on campus go hand in hand with the dramatic financial, academic and material improvements to this University that bear her signature.

Not satisfied with riding Penn all the way up to an unprecedented No. 5 spot in the latest US News & World rankings of the nation's best universities, Rodin is convinced there's still plenty of room for improvement. While her own achievements are no secret to anyone at Penn, we are often unaware of many distinguished Penn alumnae who have also created change, pursued excellency and risen to the very top by starring in their very own success stories.

One such story is that of Mindy Herman, president and CEO of E! Entertainment Television and a 1982 Wharton graduate. A relatively new cable channel, E! has nonetheless carved a significant audience in the extremely competitive medium of cable television with such hit shows as Fashion Emergency and The E! True Hollywood Story.

While Herman oversees the operations of the ultimate authority on entertainment and style TV coverage, Andrea Mitchell, a 1967 graduate of the College for Women and the chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, has been very busy in the last weeks providing careful analysis on America's new war against terror. This weekend, she'll be out of the newsroom, sharing her insights with fellow Penn alumnae in Wynn Commons as she delivers the keynote address for the 125 Years of Women at Penn celebration.

Not only have Penn graduates thrived in the media, but many alumnae have been trendsetters in the drive to increase the number of women occupying top positions in corporate America. Aerin Lauder, vice president of global advertising for the Estee Lauder Companies -- and a 1990 College graduate -- has been extremely successful in managing one of the cosmetic industry's biggest advertising budgets.

The work of Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, a 1995 Wharton alumna, as Executive Director of the FATE Foundation shows that business can also be a powerful mechanism for creating social change. Okonkwo's mission is the economic empowerment of Nigerian youth by providing them with the skills, networks and financing that are essential for entrepreneurial success. Her activities are complemented by her crucial involvement in the Women's Network for Nigerian Women, which caters to the specific needs of Nigerian businesswomen.

Catering to the needs and defending the rights of American women has been the unrelenting commitment of 1967 College for Women graduate Marcia Greenberger ever since she founded the National Women's Law Center in 1972. As co-president of NWLC, Greenberger has fought and won many legal battles crucial to preserving and furthering the health, employment conditions and educational opportunities of women and their families.

Most important, Greenberger has played a pivotal role in defending one of American women's most vital freedoms: the right to a safe, legal abortion. Whether testifying in Congress against the anti-choice John Ashcroft's nomination for attorney general, or calling on women and men to rise in defense of Roe v. Wade, Greenberger has remained steadfast in her commitment to ensure that American women will not go back to the days of unsafe and ultimately mortal back-alley abortions.

These remarkable women represent only a small sample of the thousands of Penn alumnae that have created change and revolutionized Penn and the world in their own unique ways. Whether lovingly engineering their children's educations at home or passionately revolutionizing a company or an industry in the boardroom, they are all part of an epic history of emancipation, empowerment and success spanning for 125 years -- and hopefully many more to come.

Frederico Sanchez is a sophomore International Relations major from Guadalajara, Mexico.

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