What do a country music songwriter, a race car driver, a mother of twins and founders of the Reinhardt Lions Club have in common? They are all Reinhardt students and recipients of the Lettie Pate Whitehead scholarship who celebrated each other earlier this week at a luncheon, representing approximately 80 diverse women as this year’s honorees.
The scholarship, funded by the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation “supports deserving young women in leadership development, enhancing their educational experience and helping them develop a sense of duty to others, which was one of Mrs. Whitehead’s greatest legacies” shared Dr. Tom Yannuzzi, vice president for advancement and community engagement. The women participated in a mini-leadership program lead by Dr. Yannuzzi and actively shared details about their interests, leaving them to identify their differences – and their similarities. Dr. Yannuzzi encouraged them to seek every opportunity to know one another and stressed the importance of communication in leadership.
Lydia Laucella, Reinhardt’s assistant director of the center for innovative teaching and engaged learning (CITEL), and coordinator of the scholarship program, emphasized upcoming sessions and networking opportunities for the recipients. Ms. Laucella knows a bit about women in leadership – she is about to defend her own doctoral dissertation on the subject! Who better to lead this program?
The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation is a public charity that provides support for the education of female students. More than 200 colleges and universities in only nine states-Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia receive funding from the foundation. More than $767 million has been awarded since the Foundation was chartered in 1946.
President Mark A. Roberts addressed the honorees. “The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation exists to support students like you – students who are eager to share their talents and move themselves, and others, forward. Reinhardt University and the Foundation are proud of you and your accomplishments. We all look forward to experiencing your leadership as you move through and beyond Reinhardt, and to witness your impact on our world.”
Learn more about the scholarship’s namesake, Lettie Pate Whitehead, in our Reinhardt Magazine.
