Mae Jemison speaks at Butler



Dr. Jemison spoke on a wide range of topics ranging from diversity, current events, role models, her personal history and career path as well as the environment. Jemison talked about being an entrepreneur and starting her business. She defined entrepreneur as “A person who wants to make a lot of money doing it their own way, and who is not broke enough to change.” Astronaut Mae Jemison, the first Afro-American woman in space, served as a Peace Corps Medical Officer in Sierra Leone.

Mae Jemison speaks at Butler

First woman of color in space speaks at Butler

By Tim Maurer
Dawgnet Staff Writer

Sunday, April 2, 2006, 21:44 EST

As the first woman of color to fly into outer space, Dr. Mae Jemison shared her experiences on diversity and life speaking last Tuesday night at Clowes Memorial Hall.

Currently the director of the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries, Dr. Jemison continued Butler's Celebration of Diversity Distinguished Lecture Series.

Dr. Jemison spoke on a wide range of topics ranging from diversity, current events, role models, her personal history and career path as well as the environment.

She started the speech by going through Tuesday’s "USA Today" and mentioning the day’s top stories, making the point that there is a lot going on in the world currently.

She ended this part of the speech by thanking the audience for “sharing some of your time” and saying “we can never get a single second back.”

Jemison then addressed the topic of diversity, and said “We have not attained full diversity.” She acknowledged that there have been advancements and said that the problem of diversity could be solved by “taking advantage and developing the individual.”

She continued by discussing what a role model is and made the point that a role model is a person whom others learn from.

“Be careful who you hang out with, they can affect you,” Jemison said.

In the next part of the speech she noted the fact that she always wanted to go into space while growing up on the south side of Chicago. During this time in history, she said, “People did not care if I existed.”

Nevertheless, she did not let attitude “limit (her)self due to someone’s limitation.”

As a child, watching the Apollo and Gemni astronauts gave her the desire to go into space. She also expressed a desire to be a dancer or doctor during her childhood. During college she studied classes for both careers.

Jemison then moved on to talk about the environment. She made the point that Earth should be treated so that the atmosphere will continue to support people and the need to reduce waste. She did mention the idea of balance, and the need for both the environment and the economy. She contends that the economy is being favored at this point.

Jemison then talked about being an entrepreneur and starting her business. She defined entrepreneur as “A person who wants to make a lot of money doing it their own way, and who is not broke enough to change.”

She then returned to the theme of time and agreed with the attitude that there are no stupid questions, but encouraged people to “Use your time wisely.”

Sophomore Danny Gardner enjoyed the speech.

“She talked in a very conversational tone, and she talked about a lot of things I think people need to be aware of like improving the world,” Gardner said.

“She had a lot of good stuff to say. I liked how she talked about how our time is what we make of it, and when she said ‘We have a finite amount of time, but infinite possibilities,’” Junior Andi Montgomery said.

The Celebration of Diversity Distinguished Lecture Series concluded on Friday night with “Race Rules-Democracy Matters” at Clowes Memorial Hall.

When this story was posted in July 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world.

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Changing the Face of Hunger In his new book, Former Congressman Tony Hall (RPCV Thailand) says humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism. An evangelical Christian, he is a big believer in faith-based organizations in the fight against hunger. Members of Congress have recently recommended that Hall be appointed special envoy to Sudan to focus on ending the genocide in Darfur.

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Chris Dodd considers run for the White House Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress.

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First Amendment Watch Maine Web Report hit with Federal Lawsuit Website wins trademark suit against Jerry Falwell

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PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

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History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

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RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

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Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

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