This week I attended the Women in Engineering banquet at the Georgia Institute of Technology. It's probably a bit puzzling as to why I would get a seat at this august event, since the prerequisite was a 3.35 grade point average in an engineering discipline (I do not have one) or a corporate sponsorship (I do).
I sat at a table with accomplished young women and heard the president give well-prepared remarks about the days when this could hardly be considered: women at Tech!
He won my heart by recounting the history that got us to this point. His predecessor in the late 1940s took a female-admission proposal to the Board of Directors and it was soundly defeated. He resolved to try again, and he and his wife enlisted the help of one of the most influential people on campus: the head librarian.
With her help, after a three-year campaign, they were successful and the board agreed to admit women to Georgia Tech.
It always comes back to the library. When I need a solution, that's where I always go.
Georgia Confidential 