Dr. John Allred, Vice President for Enrollment at Black Hills State University, announced the appointment of two leadership positions on campus. Gail Johnson is the new Director of Student Financial Aid and Kathleen Fitzgerald-Ellis has been selected as the Director of Student Success.
 

Woodburn Hall on Black Hills State University campus was lit up in purple and gold colors recently in honor of the 100-year anniversary of women’s right to vote. This event was part of a nationwide Forward Into Light Campaign put on by the Her Vote. Her Voice. delegation appointed by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
 

Black Hills State University will light up Woodburn Hall in purple and gold Wednesday, Aug. 26 as a part of the nationwide Forward Into Light Campaign. Although these are the University’s former school colors, tonight BHSU will be using the purple and gold to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th Amendment, which gave women the constitutional right to vote.

The right to vote forms the foundation of meaningful participation and leadership.  Most of the South Dakota colleges and universities that women lead today were established decades before women had the right to vote in the United States.  Thankfully, these institutions were open to women seeking college degrees well before ratification of the 19^th Amendment.  It took nearly 70 years to achieve women’s suffrage – and it took another 70 years from that pivotal moment in history for a woman to hold the top leadership position in any of the colleges and universities founded in the 1860s and 1880s.  Four of us are “first” female presidents within the last decade.