Seven women have recently signed on as founders of the Law School’s Center for Women in Law, with each making a gift to the Center’s work of $50,000. The new founders are Susan Blount, ’81, of New York; Lisa Genecov, ’84, of Dallas; Melanie Gray of Houston; Marcy Greer of Austin; Kathleen Lake, ’80, of Houston; Laura McMahon of Houston; and an anonymous donor from Houston. This brings the total number of founders to thirty-seven. Last spring, the Center for Women in Law hosted a remarkable event: the Women’s Power Summit on Law and Leadership. More than 150 women lawyers from around the country gathered in Austin to participate in a conference designed to address the myriad obstacles facing women today in the legal profession.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave the keynote address, encouraging participants to strengthen the fight for gender parity in the legal profession. Summit participants assessed the progress that has been made, identified the end goals, and drafted the “Austin Manifesto on Women in Law,” a document which resolves to eliminate the barriers that have thwarted the advancement of women in the legal profession for the past several decades.
The Center’s ambition is to become a nationally acclaimed institution dedicated to improving the status of all women in law. For more information on the work of the Center for Women in Law, including information on becoming a founder or otherwise supporting the Center, please call the UT Law School Development Office at 512-232-1939.