A Note from our Scholarship Recipient Chanell Haley

In the fall semester, I successfully passed my comprehensive exams and will be moving ahead in my program to dissertation phase! My dissertation will focus on barriers and facilitators that influence breastfeeding initiation in African American women living in Tennessee.

With so much going on in the past year, two things that helped me push through a stressful semester were staying connected with my loved ones and remembering to practice self-care. If 2020 has taught me anything it is the importance of making time for others as well as ourselves.

I would like to thank AAUW Murfreesboro for their continued support as I continue my academic endeavors.

Events of Note

Branch Bingo Night

Join us for a night of virtual bingo and literal fun!

We will meet from 6:30-7:30 Thursday evening, Feb. 11 for virtual bingo, fellowship and prizes. A Zoom link will be sent out the week of the event. Join us if you can.

Betty Friedan's 100th Birthday: Moving the Legacy Forward

February 4, 2021 | 7:00-8:15 p.m. EST | Click here to register. 

Author of The Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Friedan co-founded the National Organization for Women (1966). She was born on February 4, 1921, and died on February 4, 2006. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth, Veteran Feminists of America has gathered some powerful voices - including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gloria Steinem - to reflect on how Friedan and the Second Wave women's movement changed the world - and what the future holds for feminists. 

Rutherford ATHENA 2021

International Athena Award Nominee
Lee Anne Carmack

Lee Anne Carmack has been instrumental as AAUW Public Policy Chair to coordinate membership engagement and advocate for laws that would promote gender equity on the local, state, and national level.  She tirelessly worked during this election year to ensure that voter registration and voter access was available to everyone in our community.  As a Start Smart/Work Smart instructor, she has scheduled sessions to teach women who are entering the work force on how to negotiate salary as well as career women on how to negotiate for salary increase and promotions.  She had a career in manufacturing, primarily with General Motors Saturn Division where she was a part of a female-led team who contributed to GM winning the President’s Council Award.  As a businesswoman, Lee Anne co-founded Blue Moves Modern Dance Company which celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2019.  She has used her leadership talents to improve the quality of life for women and girls in our community and emulates the eight principles of Athena.
 

Athena Young Professional Nominee
Dr. Adelle Dora Monteblanco

A sociologist, teacher, and writer, Dr. Adelle Dora Monteblanco is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Middle Tennessee State University. An accomplished junior scholar, Dr. Monteblanco studies reproductive environmental health with the aim to improve birth outcomes and nurture healthy communities. Because the climate crisis will exacerbate extreme heat exposure to a large portion of the global population and there is growing evidence that extreme heat exposure can increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes (e.g., preterm birth), Dr. Monteblanco’s research advocates for the expertise of maternal health workers and the safety of pregnant people.

Athena Scholarship

The Rutherford ATHENA Award Program will award its annual scholarship at the 2021 ATHENA Award luncheon and ceremony on Thursday, June 3, 2021, at Embassy Suites Murfreesboro. The scholarship amount is $3,000. 

In addition to the annual scholarship, Pinnacle Financial Partners, a perennial sponsor of the Rutherford ATHENA Awards, is offering a one-time $1,500 scholarship for a second deserving applicant. These funds were allocated from last year’s Patron Sponsorship, where unfortunately, the Patrons reception was cancelled due to pandemic precautions.

Complete rules and general information about the Rutherford ATHENA scholarship process, including the scholarship application, are posted on the ATHENA website.

2021 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) Recipient to Attend in May

In 2020, our branch nominated and MTSU student Ms. Brianna Guydon was awarded to attend the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) at their annual May conference.  Due to the pandemic, the 2020 conference was canceled.  However, this year, Brianna will be able to attend the 2021 NCCWSL virtual conference in May.  We look forward to supporting her in this endeavor and hearing about her experience at the conference.

Member Spotlight

For more than 30 years, Ayne Cantrell has been an active participant in all things AAUW. As a life-time member of the Murfreesboro branch, Ayne often serves as the “go-to” person for the history of the organization (do you know that the branch has been giving MTSU scholarships to women since the 1960s?). Ayne serves more formerly to help branch leaders mind their “Ps and Qs” as the parliamentarian in charge of by-laws and operations record keeping. She has led both local and state AAUW organizations as president and held most other offices at one time or another. She was the first branch nominee for the Rutherford Cable Athena Leadership Award. Presently, she is Vice President of the Middle Tennessee Fund for Women and Girls and AAUW-Tennessee Membership Chair.

Ayne says, “I joined the branch after attending one meeting. As a feminist and member of the MTSU English and Women’s Studies faculty, I was naturally committed to supporting women and girls and found that AAUW-Murfreesboro was a way I could make a difference for them in my community. Also, I had experienced gender discrimination myself—being paid less than my male colleagues, and (can you believe it?) I had to have a male co-sign a loan when I wanted to purchase a new car! Yes, I know we have come a long way since then, but there is much more to do for women and girls. Still women are paid less than men, sexual harassment exists in our schools, and too few women are in leadership positions in government and business. That’s why AAUW supports the Paycheck Fairness Act and Title IX and exposes gender barriers in the workplace. AAUW’s mission and the opportunity to share important work with like-minded, intelligent, interesting women are the reasons I remain an AAUW member.”