Park Alumni Center, sitting on the banks of Lake Raleigh.

A ticket to this year’s Sisterhood Dinner, held on February 29, 2016, had a bit more cachet than usual due to tickets selling out two weeks earlier than expected. In addition, ten extra tables brought total event attendance to about 600 NC State faculty, staff, students and guests, filling the State Ballroom in Talley Student Union for an evening celebrating women and their accomplishments.

Hosted by NC State’s Council on the Status of Women and led by Director of Staff Diversity Deb Luckadoo, the Sisterhood Dinner has grown and flourished as a symbol of NC State’s support of the achievements and potential of all women. The program includes a silent auction, a reception with beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres, a student performance, a full buffet dinner, guest speaker(s) and the presentation of the annual Equity for Women Awards, the winners of which are selected by a committee from nominees solicited from the campus community.

This year’s program featured Christine Kidd, a junior in Political Science, performing a voice solo of “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked with accompanist Ariadna Nacianceno on piano. Instead of a single speaker, the featured guests were a panel of distinguished women discussing questions around the theme LEAP (Lead, Empower, Act, Prevail) which was chosen to connect with the February 29 leap year date: NC State Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Susan Nutter (speaking on the theme of “Lead”), Sr. Vice President and Chief Customer Service Officer at Duke Energy, NC State Engineering alumna and former NC State trustee Gayle Lanier (speaking on the theme of “Empower”), Executive Director of A Place at the Table Maggie Kane (speaking on the theme of “Act”), and Academic Advisor in Exploratory Studies and Academic Advising Services, Lecturer in Communication and Advisor in Greek Life Melinda Sopher (speaking on the theme of “Prevail.”)

We congratulate this year’s Equity Awards for Women nominees and winners:

Nominees: Students

• Jasmine Alsaied
• Dawn Culpepper (winner)
• Shannon Dwyer
• Farah Hamouda
• Karli Moore
• Jen Wiles

Nominees: Staff

• Joyce Barron
• Susan Colby (winner)
• Dr. Katherine Titus-Becker
• Bonnie Yarboro

Nominees: Faculty

• Dr. Lorena Bociu (winner)
• Dr. Laura Clarke
• Dr. Nancy Creamer
• Dr. Victoria Gallagher
• Dr. Lisa McGraw
• Kathleen Rieder
• Dr. Carrie Thomas

For the first time, the Sisterhood Dinner achieved Certified Sustainable Event status by encouraging guests to walk, carpool or use public transportation to the event, featuring reusable centerpieces, functional souvenirs, paperless programs and health-conscious, restriction-sensitive menus.

At the end of the program, the Sisterhood Dinner organizing committee presented a farewell gift to Director of Staff Diversity Deb Luckadoo, who has served as liaison to the Council on the Status of Women and overseen the planning of the Sisterhood Dinner for the past four years. Dr. Luckadoo will retire in June after a career of service to NC State. Dr. Luckadoo has two daughters who graduated from NC State. Her husband, Dr. Tim Luckadoo, vice provost for campus life in the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, will also retire in June.