2007-2008 Meeting Dates

Luncheons are held in the Harry S. Downs Center for Continuing Education, Room 101  12:00 noon - 1:30 pm $12.00 Please note that due to dining services policy, we must confirm in advance the number we expect to serve at the luncheons.  If you RSVP, we expect that you will attend and pay for your meal.  Please be sensitive to these policies and our obligations to pay for the number of attendees guaranteed.  We always welcome walk-ups but may only be able to accommodate those without reservations on a space available basis.  The Women’s Forum mission strives for a wonderful meal, the company of colleagues, and a superb speaker.    Thank you for your continued support.

RSVP to Terri Taylor-Hamrick at (678) 466-4475 or territaylor-hamrick@clayton.edu STUDENTS ONLY who wish to attend and hear the speaker without lunch should RSVP to territaylor-hamrick@clayton.edu or call (678) 466-4475.  Faculty and staff who attend the program must pay for their attendance  whether or not they choose to have food.  Exceptions are permitted only for students who can attend to hear the speaker only. Women's Forum officers and members sponsor a small number of students at each luncheon to further our mentoring mission.  For more information, contact Liz Wellington, Student Initiatives Chair, lizwellington@clayton.edu

September
September 18 Lieutenant Colonel Stephanie L. Stephens	The first Clayton State University Women’s Forum Luncheon of the 2007-2008 academic year is being held in conjunction with the University's Constitution Day activities.  This year's theme is:  The Patriot Act:  Balancing National Security with Civil Liberties.        Lt. Col. Stephanie Stephens attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.  As the honor graduate of her Airborne School class at Fort Benning, Georgia, she was the first woman in the Army to achieve that distinction.        Her J.D. degree was earned at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law.  After completing the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course, she served as trial counsel at Fort Stewart, Georgia and as Chief of Administrative Law at posts in Korea.  She completed the Judge Advocate Graduate Course in Charlottesville, Virginia, earning an LL.M. in Military Law, with a specialty in Administrative and Civil Law.  During the course she wrote a thesis entitled Combat Exclusion: An Equal Protection Analysis, arguing that exclusion of women from combat violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.       For two years, she served as an Associate Professor of Law in the Administrative and Civil Law department teaching claims and federal labor-management relations.  Following additional training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, she held posts at Fort Monroe, Virginia and at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.       In her current position, she serves as the Executive Officer for the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia. She is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.
October
October 31 Trick or Treat with Women's Forum Marilyn Haas           Mystery Guest	Join us at a special Halloween Women's Forum Luncheon     Marilyn Haas is CEO, President of Elements of Design Graphic Studio and Creative Director.  As the publisher of arts&expressions® Magazine, she has achieved professional success as a graphic designer and publication  editor.  Her story has a fascinating twist.  She will share with you a personal revelation which changed her life forever.      Our Mystery Guest brings a tale of challenge and surprise... intrigue and intensity.  Step out of our Forum and into an action movie... our Mystery Guest will transport you to places you've never been and only imagined.  Take the journey... and for more... the complete story is a new book -- available for purchase following the program.
November
November 1 - 14 Online Auction November 14 Chili Cook-Off	Our annual auction supports the Women's Forum Scholarship Fund.  Thanks to your donations and bidding wars, we continue to provide scholarships to students and staff members as well as building an endowed scholarship. Makes your mouth water -- or your eyes!  Don't miss this event which gets more delicious every year!
February
February 21 Dr. Evelyn Wynn-Dixon	Dr. Evelyn Wynn-Dixon was born in Atlanta.  She was the oldest of seven siblings and was reared in a historically black community called Peoplestown. She attended the Atlanta Public School system at a time when there were only five high schools for people of color and was raised in a very loving home with hard working parents.  Upon completing high school with honors, she attended Fort Valley State College; however, she dropped out at the age of nineteen due to pregnancy. Upon returning home, her mother passed away, leaving her alone with a newborn child.       She courageously stepped up to the plate to assist her father in caring for her young siblings.  Nearly two years passed before her father remarried.  She also married her best friend and to this union, there were three more children born.  The marriage ended, and she was left alone yet again to raise four children on her own.       Life dealt her some harsh blows, and she felt as though she was left with nothing.  The teachings of Dr. King, her church and of her parents stood up with her when she thought she was standing alone.  She finished The Bryman School, worked for Dr. Runnette Flowers as her nurse, and after a long period of working, she was determined to attain higher education.       Dr. Wynn-Dixon graduated from Atlanta Metropolitan College with an A.S. in Social Work/ Philosophy, Georgia State University with a B.S. in Social Work/ Certificate Gerontology and Philosophy, Master of Science in Social Work/Gerontology and earned a Ph.D. in Public Health from Hamilton University.       Dr. Wynn-Dixon was recently elected as Mayor of Riverdale.  She is truly involved with and committed to her community.
March
March 18 Cynthia Kirkland Cathy           March is Women's History Month	Cindy graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in Christian counseling from Georgia  State University in conjunction with the Psychological Studies Institute. Cindy served a four-year term on Clayton County, GA’s school board and serves on the board of trustees for Psychological Studies Institute.      Cindy’s husband Don “Bubba” Cathy is senior vice president of Chick-fil-A, Inc., one of the largest privately-held restaurant chains in the country with more than 1,300 restaurants.   He is president of the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House® concept, a family dining concept which operates 11 full-service restaurants offering table and counter waitress service, self-service dining and drive-thru window service.  Dwarf House®, Inc. has also developed a new dining concept called “Truett’s Grill® ” with locations in the metro Atlanta area. Bubba is vice president of Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Foundation®. In this role, Bubba oversees the WinShape Homes, WinShape Wilderness, and WinShape Retreat.       WinShape Homes was established to provide loving, nurturing homes to children who are victims of circumstance and need a secure family environment in which to grow and mature.  The 11 homes are located throughout the southeast and can accommodate up to 128 children.  WinShape Wilderness desires to be the premier team development outfitter, providing corporate clients, various groups and individuals with adventure experiences to stimulate physical and spiritual transformation.       WinShape Retreat had its beginnings when the Cathys hosted a group of missionaries on furlough at Berry College in Rome, Georgia in 1999.  They sought to share and support the missionaries, whose work too often relegates their marriages to the back burner.  The Cathys decided to bring a permanent place of nurture for marriage to fruition. Over the next two years, the WinShape Marriage Retreat in Rome took shape. A collection of 1930’s era dairy buildings were transformed into idyllic guest rooms for retreat attendees. Cindy took on architectural and decorating duties, devising color schemes and rounding up just-right furnishings. By 2006, the center was welcoming 8000 guests annually.
April
April 16 Marcia Garrison Taylor	Marcia Taylor is president and chief executive officer of Bennett International Group, a company she acquired with her late husband G.D. Garrison in 1974.  For more than 30 years, she has overseen the company’s strategic growth into an international transportation and logistics industry leader with six primary business lines. Ms. Taylor developed Bennett and its related entities into a multi-faceted system of innovative transportation related companies involved in such diverse modalities as drive away, manufactured housing, heavy-haul freight, logistics, warehousing, port services, international freight forwarding and transportation related insurance.  In addition to her work at Bennett, Ms. Taylor also serves on the Executive Board of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association and has received numerous recognitions for her professional and civic accomplishments, including Entrepreneur of the Year (Venture Magazine), Industry of the Year (Henry County Chamber of Commerce), and most recently named the #1 Woman Owned Business on the Top 25 Woman Owned Business List for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.