Category Archives: Branch Events

Tribute to Charlotte Divitci November 2024

Charlotte Marie York Divitci, a cherished sister, grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 18, 2024, at Alamance Regional Medical Center. Her legacy of love, laughter, and kindness will forever echo in the hearts of all who had the privilege of knowing her.

https://www.marshallmemorialfuneralhome.com/obituaries/charlotte-divitchi 

Born in Marshall County, Alabama, Charlotte was the beloved daughter of the late Marvin Judson and Loudell Kirby York. She shared an extraordinary 54 years of marriage with her soulmate, Nezih “Nick” Divitci, whose passing in 2021 marked the end of a love story that was a true testament to devotion, partnership, and unwavering support.

Charlotte’s academic and professional journey showcased her dedication to education and her passion for inspiring others. She earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Montevallo University and a Master’s degree in Library Science from UNCG.

Early in her career, she embarked on an exciting chapter in Washington, DC, where she worked in the FBI secretarial pool and had the unique distinction of receiving a performance review written and signed by J. Edgar Hoover.

She later moved to Atlanta, where her love for teaching flourished. She touched the lives of countless children as an educator in the Kirkwood neighborhood. Charlotte continued her career in academia as Registrar at Greensboro College and as a librarian at Wake Forest University School of Law and Guilford College, where she fostered a love of learning and curiosity in everyone she met.

A long-time member of Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church, Charlotte found solace and community in her faith, attending services when possible until her health began to decline. As an active member of the American Association of University Women, she championed education and equality, inspiring those around her with her unwavering spirit. She worked tirelessly alongside her husband, Nick, to support the Democratic Party. Their shared dedication to civic engagement, from volunteering at polls to participating in campaign events, was a reflection of their commitment to creating a better world.

Charlotte’s vibrant personality was as multifaceted as it was memorable. Her beautiful singing voice, magnetic storytelling, and playful alter ego, “Flossie,” brought joy and laughter to many gatherings. She cherished her role as an assumed grandmother to Morgan Maner, attending countless school and sporting events and sharing most holidays.  She showered her with unconditional love and created memories that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Charlotte is survived by her devoted brother, Ronald “Ron” York; her beloved granddaughter, Morgan Maner; and a close-knit circle of loving cousins, including Paula Jessup and her family, as well as Morgan’s parents, Cindy and Hal Maner. She is reunited in eternal rest with her husband, Nick, and her parents, Marvin and Loudell York.

A celebration of Charlotte’s life will take place at a later date in Alabama. Her family invites all who loved her to honor her memory by embracing the values she held dear: kindness, community, and a passion for learning. Charlotte’s light will continue to shine in the hearts of those she touched, and her legacy of love will forever remain a source of inspiration.

Intersection UNCG camp for 4th through 6th grade girls

Tuesday June 16 through Satuday June 21st

Registration and complete details available April 5th.

Tentative schedule will include:

Tuesday through Friday: Pop Tech Music, Animation, Technical Theatre, App and Web Design, Maker Space for Projects with robotics, electronics, and coding.

Saturday: Student Showcase for parents, families, guests

 

 

Find Your STEM April 5, 2025

Find Your STEM conference for 6th through 12th grade students.

Saturday April 5th, 2025, 9 to 2: Registration Open

PRORAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Experience interactive sessions in UNCG’s state-of-the-art labs.

• Enjoy lunch at Fountain View Dining Hall.

 

• Learn from UNCG faculty and AAUW Teen Near Peer Volunteers.

• Visit the new Bryan School of Business Google Cyber Security Center.

 

UNCG Parking Map

Tentative Schedule for April 5, 2025

Description:

Find Your STEM is a unique event for high school students, and those preparing to enter high school. The model is to have attending students engage with near peer mentors who will be the voice of STEM at their level. 

The pre-registered attending students, approximately 72, will be greeted by over 30 teen and adult volunteers upon check-in at 8:30. Parents are encouraged to come in and observe the conference. A networking continental breakfast is served while students get their nametags, t-shirts, and other swag/memorabilia of the event. There will be a photo-shoot area for groups who want to have a special memento. During the breakfast and check-in period, teen presenters will give their two-to-three-minute explanations of their STEM experiences in middle and high school. Posters will be engaging with photos and bullet points, especially for programs that are available free in our North Carolina Triad Region. 

Following a brief welcome plenary session, attendees will break into groups, be issued their lab aprons, and proceed to one of the assigned chemistry labs to start their hands-on activities such as titrations and chromatography, techniques that are used across many fields of science. Each student will experience several high school and college level laboratory techniques and experiments, assisted by upper-level high school and undergraduate level college instructors. 

Attendees will then take a campus tour of the science and technology buildings and enjoy lunch at the Fountain View Dining Hall. While in the dining hall building, students will have the opportunity to visit the E-Sports arena.

Following lunch, the group will walk to the Bryan School of Business and Economics. 

UNC Greensboro’s Joseph M. Bryan School for Business and Economics is the first university in the state of North Carolina to receive $1 million in grant funding and wraparound support from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund.  

The Find Your STEM conference is expected to conclude at 2:00 p.m. Volunteers will accompany students back to the free parking areas at Walker and McIver Decks. As they walk across campus, they will experience Science Everywhere, a family friendly event that is also part of the NC Science Festival. 

Find Your STEM brings middle and high school students to an event that is designed especially for them.

Goals and Desired Outcomes

Find Your STEM on Saturday April 5, 2025 is designed to encourage high school students, and those preparing to enter high school, to take science and technology classes in preparation for careers in STEM fields. The model is to create an engaging environment with hands-on activities as well as one-on-one networking with near peer mentors.  

Our desired outcome is to have 72 attending students, 12 to each chemistry lab, who will work in pairs with instruction from upper-level high school and undergraduate college lab assistants. 

Total attendance, teen mentors, and adult volunteers will be between 100 and 150.

Six teen near peer mentors will be selected to present posters that describe and demonstrate how those students “found their STEM”. This poster session is a key component of our effort to create a conference type event in the atrium where attendees will network and ask questions of those who have more recently experienced the transition to high school STEM courses in preparation for college and beyond. 

Our attendees will benefit from the collegiate atmosphere including: 

– interactive activities in state-of-the-art college freshman labs with activities such as titrations and chromatography – skills that are used across the sciences. These labs are in the UNCG Nursing and Instruction Building. The activities are designed to have students use instrumentation and equipment that is typically introduced at the college level. Teams of 12 will rotate through 35 minutes in each of three labs over a 2-hour period. 

 – Attendees will use a passport to visit each of the six poster presentations in the atrium lobby. There will also be online tools including a MailChimp Find Your STEM Newsletter which will track each attendees e-visits to tools and narratives on “finding your STEM. 

– After the college-experience luncheon, attendees will proceed to the Bryan School of Business and Economics to learn about the unique UNCG Spartan Cyber Security Center including the cyber academy which will be open to high school applicants. The purpose of highlighting this particular academic center is to show students that technology translates across all fields of study and offers opportunities outside of science and engineering.

– post event surveys and interviews will help us plan future Find Your STEM events which are currently in its eighth year.  

 

On Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 6:54 AM

Tribute to Suzanne Goodell November 1 2024

Suzanne Goodell joined AAUW Greensboro Branch in January 2020. Although she was a member for less than five years, her impact was significant. Suzanne’s community engagement was widespread, and she immediately joined the Diversity Equity Inclusion committee. Decades before Suzanne became a member of AAUW, she wrote on her LinkedIn page the following:

“When I was in college, I learned a profession that would go the way of pay phones and floppy discs: Medical Record Administration. I mastered a wide range of (now useless) techniques to manage tons of paper records in a variety of healthcare settings. But I also learned the core principles of today’s hottest topics in healthcare: health information management and Health IT. Through it all, the EHR was the Holy Grail.”

We will miss Suzanne’s energy, enthusiasm and passion.  Included in obituary provided by her family are the following:

Suzanne’s career was in Health Information Management and nonprofit administration in several locations, ending in Greensboro, NC, at Cone Health. She excelled in her field and in mentoring others. She was known for her smile, outgoing personality, positive approach and zest for life.
Suzanne’s passions were her children and grandchildren, social justice, giving women a better opportunity for success, and many creative endeavors.
Suzanne’s final wishes were to thank those who had been so kind to her and her family throughout her journey. She also wanted everyone to go out and do something kind for someone else.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/greensboro/name/suzanne-goodell-obituary?id=56695168 

The Goodell family would like to thank everyone for their cards, calls, meals, prayers and overwhelming support during this time.

 

Tribute to Margaret Curtis January 2022

We extend our sympathies and gratitude to the family of 20-year AAUW Greensboro member Dr. Margaret Curtis who passed away at her home on January 24, 2022. Margaret was our friend. She was a tireless champion of educational access and equity, especially in the STEM fields. For more on Dr. Curtis’ legacy read here.
Margaret was a lifelong student and educator. She attended Howard University, where she earned bachelor and graduate degrees before earning her doctorate in genetics. During her distinguished academic career, she taught at schools in Germany and in the U.S. at Fitchburg State, Livingstone College, Albion College, where she served as provost, Lawrence University, where she was dean of students, and Bennett College. She also worked closely with the National Science Foundation (NSF) evaluating, initiating and managing programs promoting STEM education.
Dr. Margaret W. Curtis, 75, of Greensboro, North Carolina and formerly of Tyaskin, departed this life on Monday, January 24, 2022, at home surrounded by her loving family members and in prayer with her pastor. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1946, to the late Marian B. Williams and Theodore Wright. She was raised by Alexander Williams.
Margaret was a lifelong student and educator. She attended Wicomico County public schools and graduated from Salisbury High School where she served as senior class president. She attended Howard University where she earned bachelor and graduate degrees before earning her doctorate in genetics in 1976. During her distinguished academic career, she started out as a secondary school teacher in Washington, D.C., teaching at Coolidge, McKinley, and Academy of Notre Dame High Schools before moving on to teach at universities around the world, including universities in Hohenfels, Germany and Nuremburg, West Germany. She later pursued her love of teaching as a professor at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts, Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and Bennett College in Greensboro. As a college administrator, she also served as a professor and Provost at Albion College in Albion, Michigan and Dean of Students at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She worked closely with the National Science Foundation (NSF) as both an evaluator of college programs promoting STEM programs for minorities and the initiator of the NSF funded Minority Access to Research Careers Program and Biomedical Research Support Program for women in science at Bennett College.
Left to forever cherish loving memories are: her loving sisters, Patricia Dees, Arlene Collins-Day (William), and Tina Dixon; adoring nephews and nieces, Jessica (Taron), Aaron, Learned (Amina), Michael (Andriel), Almena (Rodney), and Lauren (Reier); great and great-great nieces and nephews, Asha, Alyse, Marcellus, Chloe, Aaliyah, Jordyn, Noelle, Kalani, Justin, Dune, and Darwin; cousins, Jermel (Vinely) and Theresa Jefferson; a dear life-long companion, Dr. William C. Curtis; close friends, Clifford Curtis, Joan Williams-Thomas, and Dorothy Colson; a host of other cousins, relatives, and friends, whom she loved dearly and who loved her dearly.
A service honoring her life will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at 1 PM at Cassie Coote-Brown Memorial Chapel, 909 East Market Street, Greensboro. A viewing will be held a half hour prior to the funeral service. A second service will be held on Saturday, February 12, 2022, at 11 AM at Lewis N. Watson Funeral Home, P.A., 1618 West Road, Salisbury. A viewing will be held one hour prior to the funeral service. Interment will be at Freedman’s Methodist Church Cemetery, Tyaskin.
All services will be streamed live from the funeral home websites. Professional services are entrusted to Brown’s Funeral Home and Lewis N. Watson Funeral Home, P.A.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations, in her honor, to Bennett College or St. Francis Episcopal Church in Greensboro.

November 17, 2022 2nd Annual Phenomenal Women in STEM Event

On Thursday, November 17, 2022, AAUW Greensboro in collaboration with the Nehemiah Community Empowerment Center and ApprenticeshipNC hosted the 2nd Annual Phenomenal Women in STEM event.  The event celebrated Women in Apprenticeship Day during National Apprenticeship Week. National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a nationwide celebration where industry, workforce, education and government industries come together to showcase the value of Registered Apprenticeship.

 

As part of the Women in Nontraditional Careers initiative, the event focused on the enrichment and empowerment of women and minorities in STEM related career fields.

The event featured the following speakers:  Dr. Danielle Harrison, Interim Director –

GuilfordWorks, City of Greensboro Workforce Dev. Board

                              

Dr. Holly Pore, CTE Director – Guilford County Schools

 

 Keynote speaker:  Dr. Sherine Obare, Dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Tiffany N. Jacobs, AAUW Greensboro – Women in Nontraditional Careers Committee Chair served as moderator.  Tiffany is the AAUW North Carolina Diversity Chair and an AAUW National Inclusion & Equity committee member.

The guest speakers shared information on topics such as:  the benefits of apprenticeship programs, the need for more diversity and equitable access to career opportunities, and how apprenticeship can be a pathway to a thriving career for both students and adults; while helping to close the skills gap and meet industry needs of employers. Each of the speakers also shared their personal stories of how being an African-American female impacted them in their career pursuits and leadership roles.

 

The event was a huge success!  Among the attendees was Congressional Aide, Giovanni Gerald, who attended on behalf of Representative Kathy Manning of North Carolina’s Congressional District 6.  Congresswoman, Kathy Manning sent a letter of support for the event and Gov. Roy Cooper issued a State Proclamation in recognition of National Apprenticeship Week.  Pat Ashe, AAUW NC President, issued a Proclamation in support of National Apprenticeship Week on behalf of AAUW of North Carolina.

 Submitted by:  Tiffany N. Jacobs (See proclamations attached)

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Sisters of Mine – report from August 24th preformance

  

The hall was filled to standing room only for the Greensboro Branch’s celebration of Women’s
Equality Day. The theatrical production of “Sisters of Mine” was resurrected for the August 24 th
performance, after being hijacked by Covid at the Governor’s Mansion in 2020. Each actor
portrayed a North Carolina woman’s struggle to gain the right to vote. But the theme of equality
for women went beyond 1920 to the present-day challenges for women. The performance ended in a standing ovation, with the line “Maybe someday we’ll have a woman president!”
getting the greatest reaction from the audience. Refreshments and a reception followed, with
continuing conversations among the guests about equity for women in today’s cultural climate.

Cast of Shared Radiance Performance

Jamila Curry, Sheryl Davis
Robin Gentile, Patsy Hawkins
Cynthia Reichelson, Sherri Raeford
Chappell Upper, Ruan Walker
Sarah Wilson

Director, Sherri Raeford
Stage Manager, Sarah Wilson

November 12, 2024 Membership Meeting

Women in Nontraditional Careers Panel Discussion

Featured Guest Speakers will be posted as confirmed:

Morgan Joyce, a local Welding Instructor and Firefighter

Day Coker
AC by Day C
Independent Business Owner · Lead In Home Service Technician · HVACR Technician

November 14 2023 Membership Program

On Tuesday, Nov. 14th the AAUW Greensboro Branch hosted a panel discussion on Women in Nontraditional Careers. The US Department of Labor defines a non-traditional career as one in which 25% or less of those employed across the field are women.

Tiffany Jacobs - panel moderator

The panel discussion was moderated by Tiffany Jacobs, AAUW NC DEI Chair. The panel of women consisted of:

Greensboro Branch - Women in Nontraditional Careers panelistsToday, women make up just a third of the manufacturing workforce and only 8% of the construction workforce overall, a percentage that has remained stubbornly constant.

Each woman spoke about:

  • Their personal background/journey towards their current position and how being a female impacted them in their leadership role.
  • Things women may struggle with such as inclusion and belonging, imposter syndrome, etc. and how to overcome and support women in dealing with those issues.
  • The benefits of mentorship in education and training programs and the need for more diversity in high demand industry sectors and career roles where women are vastly underrepresented.
  • How early exposure to STEM-related careers, career exploration and/or apprenticeship can be a pathway to a career for students who otherwise might not know exactly what they want to do after HS.
  • Words of encouragement to inspire women and girls to pursue nontraditional career pathways and opportunities.