By Regina Stracqualursi ’15
As an effort to promote leadership among women, Siena College once again brought a speaker to campus as part of the annual St. Clare Leadership Lecture Series: Ours to Do Women Leading the Way.
This year’s featured guest was Diana Hayes, J.D., Ph.D., emerita professor of systemic theology at Georgetown University. As the first African-American woman to earn a pontifical doctorate in theology, Hayes encouraged those in attendance to take a step out of their comfort zones. During her speech titled, "Standing in the Shoes My Mother Made: The Makign of a Womanist Theologian," Hayes shared the significant role her mother(s) played in empowering her to speak for and with Black Christian women as she works to eradicate all forms of oppression. She spoke about her own faith journey moving from Methodist to Roman Catholic and from practicing law to becoing a woman theologian.
“Dr. Hayes is the epitome of a servant leader,” said Spanish major Tessa Biskup ’16. “She brings out the best in others through her stories and advice. She speaks from the heart and has so much wisdom to share with the world. Dr. Hayes truly motivates everyone with whom she speaks to work to instill change in their communities.”
The Ours to Do initiative was created in 2011 as an effort to empower, motivate, and encourage all women studying at Siena College to become effective leaders. The lecture series was created to honor St. Clare of Assisi's legacy of servant leadership.
“The lecture by Diana Hayes was particularly important on the 25th anniversary of Sr. Thea Bowman's death as a Black Catholic woman,” said Director of the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Woman Shannon O’Neil, Ph.D. “To have her commemorated in this way, with a talk by a womanist theologian, was powerful.”
Each year, the lecture series partners with the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women to provide two Siena women with the opportunity to attend a spring break service trip.
Biskup and psychology major Katelynn McDowell '15 were the recipients of this year’s scholarship. They were presented with this honor at the lecture. As scholarship recipients, the women were able to travel to the Dominican Republic during spring break where they lived with the Bernadine Franciscan Sisters for one week.
