09/19/2007
OXFORD, Miss. The status of women in the state is the
focus of lunch lecture programs Sept. 24, Oct. 22 and Nov.
5 at the University of Mississippi.
The purpose of the free, public events is to bring women’s
issues to the community’s attention for dialogue during the
current gubernatorial race, said Mary Carruth, director of
the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies
“In 2006, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research rated
Mississippi yet again among the worst states for women in
terms of economic status, employment, education level and
health insurance,” Carruth said. “While the series analyzes
social problems, it will also point to solutions for
solving the challenges women and their families face. And
we hope it will increase the number of women voters on Nov.
6.”
Attendees are welcome to bring a brown bag lunch to the
noon programs, which are sponsored by the Isom Center. The
opening event in the series is set for the Johnson Commons
Ballroom, with the final two scheduled in the Student Union
Ballroom.
The first program, titled “Challenges to Women’s Rights in
Mississippi,” is to be presented by Nsombi Lambright,
executive director of ACLU of Mississippi. The second
event, “Mississippi Law and Intimate Partner Violence,” is
to be presented by Debbie Bell, UM professor of law..
The final presentation is the panel discussion “Women’s
Status and Political Participation in Mississippi.”
Panelists are Kay Cobb, retired Mississippi Supreme Court
justice; Marianne Hill, policy analyst at State
Institutions of Higher Learning in Jackson; Donna Yowell,
director of the Mississippi Commission on the Status of
Women; and Lena Wiley, executive director of the Interfaith
Compassion Ministry in Oxford.
For more information or assistance related to a disability,
call 662-915-5916. To learn more about the Isom Center,
visit