The Next Generation

By Emily Hung ’23, April 1, 2022

IC students take part in Women in Leadership experience in Seneca Falls.

Students in front of a sign marking the location of the first convention for women's right

The day-long leadership experience for women took part at historic Seneca Falls.

(Photo by Michelle Lenhart)

Seneca Falls, New York is a seminal location in the history of women’s rights. The first women’s rights convention in the United States was held there in 1848.

On March 26, as part of Women’s History Month, Ithaca College’s Office of Student Engagement (OSE) organized a Women in Leadership Experience for current Ithaca College students filled with inspiring activities about the past, present and future of women’s leadership stories.

Michele Lenhart, director of the Office of Student Engagement, and a trio of Student Leadership Consultants (SLCs) spent months designing engaging activities and preparing all the logistics.

“Every student who attended shared meaningful learning moments and being able to spend the day together in Seneca Falls will hopefully create lasting memories for everyone who participated,” Lenhart said. “This year’s event made me feel so happy to be able to bring back this unique opportunity to IC students.”

“I grew up with many strong female role models, so being able to participate in something that appreciates the female experience was really gratifying.”

Linnea Carchedi’s ’23

The SLCs led workshops and brought together speakers for the “What’s Your Perspective” Women’s Leader Panel, moderated by Hailey Aldrich ’22. During the session, Ithaca College faculty and staff members spoke about their experiences as woman in society.

Megan Parker ’23, led an empowerment workshop that wrapped up the activities for the day, and felt it was a meaningful experience. She guided participants through an exercise in which they answered questions, such as former teachers who made the most impact on their lives and what plans they had to give back to the world.

Parker also selected several journal entries from former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice” for participants to reflect on and write about.

“I knew I wanted to do something related to women empowerment,” Parker said. “We thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to use those journals.”

Woman standing in front of a museum display

In addition to workshops, participants also visited the Women's Rights National Historic Park and Museum.

(Photo by Emily Hung '23)

Linnea Carchedi’s ’23, workshop was called “The Power of Language: Restructuring Headlines.” Participants were shown headlines about women from published articles and asked to identify why they were problematic. Then they had the chance to rewrite each headline.

In explaining the purpose of her workshop to the group, Carchedi says her goal was to show how women are often misrepresented in the media and the way they are depicted.

“I wanted to bring a fresh take on the way we reclaim narratives,” she said.

Carchedi also enjoyed being able to work with Lenhart and other SLCs on planning the event.

“I grew up with many strong female role models, so being able to participate in something that appreciates the female experience was really gratifying,” she said.

“To be able to talk about being a woman at the place where the first women’s rights convention was held was so inspiring to me. What made the event even better were the open and honest conversations that we had. When it was time to leave for the day, I felt inspired and proud to be a woman.”

Megan Parker ’23

In addition to the workshops, participants toured the Women’s Rights National Historic Park and Museum and listened to a talk inside the Wesleyan Chapel where the Seneca Falls Convention took place more than 150 years ago. They stood under the same roof where women’s rights leaders and abolitionists such as such as Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass gave speeches pushing for women’s equality and suffrage.

“To be able to talk about being a woman at the place where the first women’s rights convention was held was so inspiring to me,” Parker said. “What made the event even better were the open and honest conversations that we had. When it was time to leave for the day, I felt inspired and proud to be a woman.”

So did the participants. Mayzie Rosenthal ‘25 says she hopes to attend similar events in the future and form meaningful connections with women with similar drives as her.

“Being able to have this opportunity to go to this event is so meaningful to me,” she said. “It was a very enjoyable experience being surrounded by other people who share similar values and passions.”