they can advance professionally, develop personally, and provide leadership in their communities, the nation, and the world. Mrs. Kati C. Machtley is the Women’s Summit founder and director. More than 1,000 people attend the daylong event, featuring inspiring keynote speakers and workshops, every year. Hochberg became the first female vice president at Bryant, serving as vice president of public affairs from 1975 until she retired in 1977. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in May 1977. Hochberg is remembered fondly as a “cheerleader” for all of the Bryant
pins to graduation that cheekily read: “Ask me where the Women’s Center is.” Another woman to make a longlasting impact on Bryant was Clarissa Patterson, who worked at Bryant from 1955 to 1994. From a secretarial studies teacher, Patterson became a professor of business administration, and later, a dean of undergraduate faculty — the first woman to become a collegewide administrator. She worked with
community, especially women. “She was Vice President Lowell Smith to bring a ‘sponsor’ before we even had that qualified women teachers to Bryant. language,” says Toby Simon, director of The campus is more diverse and Bryant’s Women’s Center renamed in inclusive than ever, thanks to enthusiashonor of Hochberg. in honor of Hochberg. tic female activists and their male The creation of a women’s center in colleagues who supported their efforts. 2002 provided a vital hub devoted to Roberta “Berta” Hysell, retired women’s issuses, and offering education director of the Intercultural Center, about a wide variety of topics that affect was “extremely skilled” at making interwomen. It was largely the fruit of an national and multicultural students feel activist movement of faculty and staff on welcome, Lyons remembers, while creditcampus, led by Terri Hasseler, Ph.D., ing Judith McDonnell, Ph.D., professor professor of English and Cultural Studies, of sociology, with making LGBTQ and Bryant Center Director Rich Dankel, (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and says Simon. One of the ways they drew questioning) students feel comfortable on attention to their cause was by wearing campus. McDonnell co-founded Bryant
Pride in 1992 alongside Rosanne Dana, retired assistant director of counseling services, and students Michael Chagros ‘92 and Eric Albee ’93. Lyons and Langlois note that they’ve seen the dynamics between students change drastically over the years. As teachers, they’ve been able to effect change in their own small worlds of the classroom through purposeful role reversals. Langlois adds that when she started, all female faculty would be called “Mrs.” — irrespective of whether they held a Ph.D.— while male faculty would be called “Doctor,” even if they held a master’s degree. The Bryant culture has evolved to more gender-neutral terms,
she notes, and women as students, administrators, and campus leaders are very much the “norm.” Today, a variety of annual events celebrate the diversity and contributions of women at Bryant, and provide a forum for exploring issues facing women in business and society worldwide. Kimberley Donoghue is a writer/editor in the Office of University Relations at Bryant. Sources used for this story include: Bryant College: The First 125 Years; “Women at Bryant: a History 1863-present (2009)” by Jillian Emberg ’12 and Jessica Komoroski ’11.
A 150 -Y E A R T R A J E C T O RY O F S U C C E S S
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