Helping women finish their education. Creating leaders.

The Conference of Women Legislators (COWL) has established a scholarship fund to assist mature women (age 25 and older) who wish to continue their undergraduate education. The goal of the scholarship is to focus on deserving, qualified women whose educations were interrupted due to family concerns and economic problems. Particular consideration will emphasize women who have shown leadership promise through community service.

The one year undergraduate scholarship will cover tuition, books and fees up to $2500 per year, including summer school. Applicants for the scholarship must meet certain requirements to be eligible. In addition to being a woman 25 years of age or older, she must be an Illinois resident and plan to attend an accredited on-campus school in Illinois for at least six semester hours (online college are not eligible).

The scholarship application instructions, application & Waiver of Confidentiality can be downloaded from the COWL website.

Application materials must be postmarked no later than April 15, 2016 to be considered and all applicants will be notified by May 31, 2016. COWL Scholarship Program is for the 2016-2017 Academic Year.

Women left their mark on early Illinois history

Many people recognize the name of Jane Addams from high school history textbooks, but few know much else about this incomparable woman of 19th-century Illinois history. And she was hardly the only one.

Few opportunities awaited Illinois women in that era. In 1900, only 16.3 percent of all Illinois women were employed, with the exception of housekeepers. They were clustered in a handful of occupations, including teaching; 74 percent of all teachers were female.

Still, women made a noticeable impact. Social clubs to promote reading, art and education were common, while the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, headquartered in Evanston, called for limits on alcohol. Monmouth is believed to have been home to the earliest women's political club in the nation. The Illinois Federation of Women’s Clubs, established in 1894, called for free access to reading for all citizens, and created small traveling libraries in storage trunks that were shipped to communities without public library service. Read the entire story on qconline.

Post-blizzard, Sen. Murkowski notes that only women turned up to run the Senate

Something was a little different in the Senate on Tuesday morning. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski noticed it.

The Alaska Republican was one of only a few lawmakers in the Capitol building following the weekend blizzard, and it was her job to handle the formalities of delaying Senate business until her colleagues could get back to work. After finishing a bit of parliamentary business, she described what she saw in the ornate chamber.

“As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.” Read the entire story in the Washington Post.

It’s a first – women elected to Illinois Farm Bureau Board

For the first time, two women have been elected to the Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors.
District 1 – which includes Kane, DeKalb, Lake and McHenry counties – will be represented by Michele Aavang of McHenry County.

Meanwhile, District 5 – which includes Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall and Will counties – will be represented by Tamara Halterman of rural Mazon.

“I think it’s important for a woman to be on the board because women are just as involved in farming operations as men are,” Halterman said. “It’s time we have a woman on the board.” Read the entire story in the Kane County Chronicle.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois bringing STEM opportunities to girls

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois robotics program has had great success so far this year.

During recent FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournaments for 9-14 year olds, four of ten competing teams won awards and one squad qualified for the state tournament. A team of older girls in the FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) league starts competition in January and has been busy giving demonstrations of their robot design and programming skills – including marching with their scene-stealing “candy cannon” in several holiday parades. GSSI is also gearing up to host a Jr FIRST LEGO League Expo (a science fair style robotics event for students age 6-9) for the southern Illinois region. GSSI’s “robot revolution” is indicative of the Girl Scout movement’s ongoing commitment to bringing girls relevant, exciting opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Read more.

Court to Hear Whether Women Should Register for Draft

Whether Thursday's historic decision to allow women in all combat roles may require them to register for the draft faces its first test next week when a federal lawsuit challenging the male-only registration gets its day in court.

The case, National Coalition for Men vs. the Selective Service System, will be considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday.

The court date coincidentally occurs just days after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter opened all military combat roles to women, a decision he said may affect whether women are required to register for the draft.

"It may do that," Carter said. "That is a matter of legal dispute right now, and in fact litigation."But Carter said the outcome of the court case won't affect the Pentagon's decision to move forward. Read the story in its entirety on Military.com.

Big news from the Pentagon: All military jobs will be opened to women who qualify for them

All military jobs will be opened to women who can qualify for them. No quotas. Based purely on the ability to do the job. Here is an expert from a speech by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on December 3 about women in the U.S. military service:

"This means that as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before. They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that previously was open only to men. And even more importantly, our military will be better able to harness the skills and perspectives that talented women have to offer. 

‘No exceptions’ was the recommendation of the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. While the Marine Corps asked for a partial exception in some areas such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support, reconnaissance, and others, we are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force."

Read the speech in its entirety.