It was an evening full of uplifting 鈥渢he sisterhood鈥� at the ninth-annual AV俱乐部 Tigers Women in Leadership Spotlight Dinner.
Over 300 people gathered in the McInnes Room of the Student Union Building to show support for the student-athlete leaders of the Tigers women鈥檚 basketball and volleyball teams. Each year the event highlights the successes of current and former AV俱乐部 athletes, as well as to inspire continued growth of women in leadership positions.
Event emcees, Ashley Cain and Cassandra Bagnell, began the evening with some opening remarks, and introduced Tim Maloney, executive director of Athletics and Recreation to speak first.
Maloney spoke on how strongly these teams display the AV俱乐部 mandate of combined excellence in both academics and athletics. Maloney was also emotional in discussing how important the room full of role models is for the young women in the audience.
鈥淎t my table there are a couple of grade four and five students surrounded by seven fantastic role models, and if you were to look around the room, I鈥檓 sure you would see hundreds more. And that is so important.鈥�
Celebrating achievement
Following Maloney, AV俱乐部鈥檚 Vice-President of Research and Innovation Alice Aiken began the talk of lifting the sisterhood and stressing the importance of team work and supporting each other, sharing the quote, 鈥渢here is a special place in hell for women who don鈥檛 help other women.鈥�
Head coaches Rick Scott (women鈥檚 volleyball) and Anna Stammberger (women鈥檚 basketball) took the time to introduce their teams, speaking on both academic and athlete accomplishments, highlighted by a bold prediction from Scott.
鈥淎fter six-straight AUS conference titles, we have a bigger goal this season 鈥� we鈥檙e going after the national championship.鈥�
Two of the athletes introduced, Victoria Haworth of women鈥檚 volleyball and Diedre Alexander of women鈥檚 basketball then talked about their time as a Tiger. Each spoke of characteristics learned from being a student-athlete, learning to both win and lose graciously, being prepared, and being a good teammate. Alexander made a great point to close the segment.
鈥淚 learned it鈥檚 not actually all about me, the things you are going to accomplish, you accomplish with your team. Just because I stop putting on the jersey one day, does not mean I鈥檒l ever stop being a Tiger.鈥�
An inspiring keynote
Keynote speaker Marion Brown was a three-year member of the women鈥檚 basketball team from 1985-88. She received a Master of Social Work from AV俱乐部 before completing a PhD in social work at Memorial University. Dr. Brown has been a social worker in Nova Scotia for nearly 30 years, working in many different roles, but mostly related to community responses to youth in care. She has also been a professor in AV俱乐部鈥檚 School of Social Work since 2002.
Dr. Brown began her speech by speaking about how sports celebrate a range of women.
鈥淲e can celebrate all types of women through sport, and the best part about it is that the differences in these women aren鈥檛 divisive; they allow us to lift each other up. Sports celebrate a women鈥檚 body for what it can do, rather than what it looks like.鈥�
Brown then used her time to address all the women in the crowd, rallying them to put an emphasis on 鈥渦pholding the sisterhood, by holding each other up.鈥�
鈥淲e as women are told all the time that we need to be small, in stature, in voice, in positions, in leadership. I鈥檓 here to tell you that you need to be big in everything that you do.鈥�
Finally, in the question and answer period, when asked about the qualities that she mentors in young social workers, Brown gave one final quote that should resonate with everyone who attended the dinner for years to come.
鈥淓mpathy. Look at the people around you and ask, what might life be like for them? A little bit of empathy would make for a kinder world.鈥�