Woodrow Wilson Fellow Dale McCormick visits Feb. 7-10

SHREVEPORT, La. (Centenary News Service) — Woodrow Wilson visiting Fellow Dale McCormick will visit the Centenary College campus Monday, Feb. 7 through Thursday, Feb. 10. and will conduct classroom discussions and public presentations during her four-day visit.

Dale McCormick

A carpenter and contractor for 30 years, McCormick was the first woman in the country to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenters' union, and she is a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Union. She is a former state senator for Maine, the first woman to be elected State Treasurer, the co-founder of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (now Equality Maine) and today is the Director of the Maine State Housing Authority.

In addition to meeting with classes and various student groups, McCormick will give two public presentations. Green Technologies Open Forum with national expert Dale McCormick will take place Tuesday, Feb. 8 from 6-7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by Shreveport's Green Mixer group, the presentation will take place at Cohabitat, a non-profit shared workspace located at 610 Commerce Street in Shreveport.

The second presentation takes place Thursday, Feb. 10 in the Whited Room of Bynum Commons located on the Centenary College campus from 7-8 p.m. McCormick will present Building it from Scratch: My journey from LBGT activist, to carpenter, to soccer mom, to Maine State Treasurer to housing and carbon pioneer.

McCormick has spent more than three decades fighting for jobs, economic justice, health care for all, human rights and equality for women. As a young child, she was fascinated with carpenters' tools. That fascination has become a lifetime focus. McCormick was the first woman in the country to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenters' union. She is a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters local 1996, and has been a carpenter and contractor for 30 years.

In 1988, she founded Women Unlimited, a program that successfully trains women on welfare to compete for high-paying jobs in trade and technical occupations. McCormick helped found in 1984 and became the first President of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (now called Equality Maine), which advocates statewide for civil rights and better treatment for lesbian/gay/bi/transgender/and questioning people.

She was a co-founder of Northeast Women in Transportation, which educated women's organizations around the country about the opportunities in the Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act (ISTEA) for increasing the number of women and minorities in the construction industry.

McCormick won a seat in the Maine Senate in 1990 and was re-elected twice in a conservative district. She was elected Treasurer of the State of Maine on December 4, 1996 and served 8 years. In 2005 Governor John Baldacci appointed McCormick as Director of the Maine State Housing Authority.
McCormick has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and has written two books: Against the Grain: A Carpentry Manual for Woman and Housemending: Home Repair For The Rest of Us.

For more information, contact Dr. Greg Butcher, assistant professor of neuroscience, at email or 318.869.5545.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 371 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.