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ALUMNI PROFILE
CCW Honors Carolina Gonzalez
’87 By Alex Sachare '71
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![Steve Rivo '93](images/gonzalez1.jpg)
Carolina Gonzalez '87,
who sits on the editorial board of The New York Daily News,
was a member of the first Columbia College class to admit
women. PHOTO: CHRIS TAGGART |
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Carolina Gonzalez ’87, only the second Hispanic to
be named to the editorial board of The New York Daily News, was
honored with the 11th annual Columbia College Women Alumna
Achievement Award at a Lerner Hall reception on March 13.
Gonzalez has covered education, immigration and Brooklyn
community news for the Daily News for the past five years.
She holds a master’s in comparative literature from UC
Berkeley, and among her academic honors are grants from the
University of California, the Mellon Foundation and a Fulbright.
She has served as a regional director for the National Association
of Hispanic Journalists and is the organization’s
representative on the Accrediting Council for post-secondary
journalism programs. She also is on the advisory committee for
Dominicans 2000, a community-based organization researching the
Dominican community in the United States.
Speaking of her decision to attend Columbia, Gonzalez said,
“The school was infused with a tradition that I wanted a
piece of, but my research was incomplete. On the first day of
classes, I saw all these TV cameras on campus and I didn’t
know why. Then a reporter came up and asked, ‘How does it
feel to be part of the first class of women at Columbia?’ I
had no idea!”
Gonzalez credits the breadth of her Columbia education with
helping to prepare her for her career as a journalist and enabling
her to make the most of opportunities along the way. “The
experience at Columbia set the tone for what I’ve tried to do
for the rest of my life,” she said. “That is, make sure
I am prepared, no, over-prepared, to take advantage of the gifts we
get through serendipity.”
The keynote speaker at the CCW reception was Patricia Ireland, who
served for 10 years as president of the National Organization for
Women. She now is a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and consults on
equal opportunity and communication strategies and advises clients
on how to avoid the high costs of discrimination and harassment in
the workplace.
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![Steve Rivo '93](images/gonzalez2.jpg)
Keynote speaker Patricia
Ireland (right), former president of the National Organization for
Women, was introduced by CCW Executive Committee member Patricia
Ireland '92, no relation. PHOTO:CHRIS TAGGART |
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Ireland stressed the changes that have been made on behalf of
women in society across the past two decades and the need to be
continually vigilant. “We changed the language, we changed
the culture, we changed the world — and we changed Columbia
College,” she said, drawing a laugh from the audience of more
than 100. “We’ve made tremendous progress. But progress
is not equality, progress is not irreversible, and progress is not
inevitable.”
Founded in 1989, CCW is an organization of students, alumnae,
faculty and administrators dedicated to furthering professional and
personal opportunities for the growing community of women
associated with Columbia College.
A special presentation was made to Jerry Sherwin
’55, outgoing president of the Columbia College Alumni
Association, for his support of CCW over the years.
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