Dr. Jill Ker Conway at the 10th Anniversary of the First-Year Program

In May of 2002, the First-Year Program at Holy Cross completed its 10th successful year. As part of events to commemorate this milestone, Dr. Jill Ker Conway, President Emeritus of Smith College, addressed First-Year Program faculty, students and alumni/ae in a lecture titled "Liberal Values in Twenty-First Century Lives."

After graduating from the University of Sidney, Australia in 1958, Dr. Conway moved to the United States in where she earned her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1969. She taught at the University of Toronto for nine years before serving as the university's vice president from 1973-1975. In 1975, she became the first woman president of Smith College. Throughout her ten-year administration, she received 16 honorary degrees from colleges and universities around the nation. Dr. Conway is the author of many books, including the first First-Year Program common reading in September 1992, The Road to Coorain, which chronicles the hardships of Dr. Conway's family life in Australia, including the deaths of her father and brother.

The First-Year Program's anniversary celebration also featured a series of panel discussions. Professor Royce Singleton of the sociology department, professor Predrag Cicovacki of the philosophy department, and professors Helen Whall and James Kee, both of the English department, were among the speakers.

Since 1992, the First-Year Program has received national attention and achieved enormous success including, improved classroom performance, more campus leadership, more community service and higher retention and graduation rates.

Related information:

# Holy Cross First-Year Program