Tuesday, March 8, 2011 – Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD) by recognizing the women in leadership positions at the college and the contributions of women in the education sector.
To honour the occasion, Humber launched a first-of-its-kind book on female college leadership entitled Passing the Torch: Meetings with Humber’s Remarkable Women. This anthology highlights the achievements, perspectives, and successes of Humber’s trailblazing women, set in an interview format.
Judy Rebick, a noted Canadian journalist, political activist and feminist, delivered the keynote address on “What Women have Accomplished in 100 Years: Current Struggles, Future and Passing the Torch” at the book launch.
“From the beginning, International Women’s Day was about inclusion in the women’s movement,” said Rebick. “The struggle was not just for economic equality, but for a better life. We have to change our values system. These changes don’t happen overnight.”
For Humber, International Women's Day is an opportunity to gauge the progress toward women's full participation in economic and educational spheres, reflecting on the challenges and barriers that remain, and considering future steps to achieving equality for all women. Passing the Torch: Meeting with Humber’s Remarkable Women is part of an initiative by the college to strengthen equity, innovation and advancement for female students, faculty and employees, so they have opportunities to succeed in all areas of their lives.
“Humber has expanded the 2011 theme for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is: Equal access to education, training, science and technology: Pathways to exceptional opportunities for women,” said Deb McCarthy, Associate Vice President, Human Resources. “Humber College is committed to enhancing excellence among its students and employees. The college will share strategies and tools that will assist women employees and students to pursue and achieve personal and professional success.”
For paralegal diploma student Rabia Jamil, who was volunteering at the event, it was a chance to see social justice in action.
“I got to study feminism in university, and am passionate about social justice and the women’s movement,” Jamil said. “What other day do you really get to celebrate all women? Today was a great opportunity to meet the women of Humber who do so much work behind the scenes. We rarely get to see them, so this was a memorable experience.”
About Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
Established in 1967, Humber is one of Canada’s leading postsecondary institutions. Committed to student success through excellence in teaching and learning, Humber serves more than 22,000 full-time students and 56,000 continuing education registrants. With an internationally recognized reputation for quality learning, Humber offers a wide-range of career-focused opportunities for students to personalize their educational path. Our 150 full-time programs include four-year bachelor’s degrees, two and three-year diplomas, one and two-year certificates, and apprenticeship training.~ As a founding member of Polytechnics Canada, Humber offers students the opportunity to participate in applied research projects that find solutions for issues confronting small and medium-sized enterprises. Humber is one of 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges as identified by the League for Innovation, and the League’s only Canadian board member. Humber finished first in its class in the highly regarded Community College Survey of Student Engagement in 2009 in each of four categories, including Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Effort, Academic Challenge and Student-Faculty Interaction. More than 85 per cent of Humber graduates are employed within six months of completing their studies.
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For more information, please contact:
Andrew Leopold/ Kevin Gonsalves
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
Marketing and Communications
416.675.6622 ext. 4296/5778
Andrew cell: 416.518.8989
andrew.leopold@humber.ca / kevin.gonsalves@humber.ca
