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100 Years of the Vote STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
by Ellie Gates | ’20
In February, we celebrated the centennial of the 19th amendment. I was honored to introduce guest speaker Sharon Hallanan, an attorney and member of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s speakers bureau, who guided us through the history of the women’s suffrage movement. We were particularly excited to learn of New Jersey’s special role in this episode; Alice Paul, a New Jerseyan, was among the most effective advocates for the women’s vote. In 2020, as we celebrate one hundred years since the legal shift that gave women voices, I cannot think of a more appropriate time to reflect upon the place that has fostered thousands of empowered women over the past 160 years. The Academy of Saint Elizabeth self identifies as a space “resolved to empower each of our young women with the compassion and self-reliance that is intrinsic to her femininity.” The unique nature of an empowering, single-sex environment is what allows girls to become fierce young women by the time of graduation. I can affirm that the culture created by the faculty and students at the Academy has had this effect on many women in past generations and will continue to develop 20
LEGACY Magazine | SPRING 2020
strong women for many more to come. This is why I am proud to call the Academy of Saint Elizabeth home. As I prepare to graduate, it has become clear to me that among the many things I have gained during my time here, the most valuable is undoubtedly my voice. As a first-year, I was at a large public high school, and I was quite shy. I would get shaky and nauseous when it was time for a presentation in a class of twenty. I was debilitatingly self-conscious and con-
rooms, these experiences have helped to shape how I view my role in social justice in a broader context. Not only have I grown as a public speaker, but this new self-confidence affirms to the world that my unique female voice matters. One hundred years ago, life changed for American women. The United States Constitution validated the voices of females by acknowledging our right to vote. Women were no longer viewed as property of anyone else, and our votes
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Among the many things I have gained during my time here, the most
valuable is undoubtedly my voice. stantly concerned that my ideas were wrong, that I would be judged. My evolution into a confident young woman began when I transferred into the Academy of Saint Elizabeth. As a senior, I am the co-president of the Women’s Empowerment Club. I’ve also had the privilege to lead the Mock Trial team into two tournaments; the team has grown from six members into a place where auditions are required to compete at all. Far beyond my high school class-
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gave us agency. This empowerment is mirrored in the unique educational community of the Academy of Saint Elizabeth. The Academy breeds strong, smart, mature, sophisticated young women every year, and I am honored to be celebrating the centennial of the 19th amendment among my SEAsters.
Ellie will attend Providence College in the fall, where she plans to study Marketing.
