During finals week at Barnard, one of the few remaining liberalarts women s colleges in the U.S., the pristine green campus inupper Manhattan is uncharacteristically hushed. Young women in the student center barely look up from their booksand laptops. One who does take a moment away from her studiesis Barnard student government president Jessica Blank, who willshare the stage at this year's commencement ceremony with PresidentBarack Obama. I ve been having serious anxiety actually as I try to write myspeech, Blank said.
Every time I think I have a great draft, Ithink to myself, oh well, I m going to be saying this in front ofthe president of the United States, so I think it needs to be tunedup a little bit more? Barnard President Debora Spar said the White House has not said whyPresident Obama asked to speak at this year s ceremony, but shespeculated that he will use the occasion to talk about renewedpolitical battles over women s issues, such as abortion andcontraception. Clearly and somewhat shockingly, women s issues have reallyrisen to the fore in this election year, she said. I suspectthat he and the White House are looking for an opportunity toreally say something big about the current state of women in theUnited States. Barnard, one of the elite Seven Sisters women s liberal artscolleges, was founded in 1889, to offer women a classical liberalarts education at a time when elite men s colleges of the IvyLeague were closed to them. It has graduated many well-known women, from the lateanthropologist Margaret Mead and the writer Zora Neale Hurston tomedia tycoon Martha Stewart.
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