Virtual Convocation to Feature Social Justice Address, Young Alumnae/i Achievement Award
Virtual Convocation to Feature Social Justice Address, Young Alumnae/i Achievement Award
Professor of Sociology Eileen Leonard will be the featured speaker at Vassar’s Fall Convocation September 2, at 3:30pm. The virtual event will be streamed live on the Vassar Convocation website and the College’s Facebook page.
Leonard’s address is titled, “Crime and Inequality: A Social Justice Perspective.” She began her Vassar teaching career in 1975 after receiving her PhD in sociology from Fordham University. Leonard’s courses include: Introduction to Sociology, Criminology, Working Class Studies, Women Crime and Punishment, and a course on Gender, Social Problems and Social Change, which is taught at a local women’s prison to a combined class of Vassar students and incarcerated women.
Other speakers at the event will include President Elizabeth Bradley, Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana, Vassar Student Association President Prashit Parikh ’21, Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life and Contemplative Practices Rev. Samuel Speers, and Steve Hankins ’85 P’13 ’17, President of the Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College (AAVC).
Hankins will announce the awarding of the 2020 AAVC Young Alumnae/i Achievement/Service Award to Olaf Carlson-Wee ’12. The award is presented annually to a graduate of the last 10 years for extraordinary service to Vassar or for exceptional personal and professional achievements. Carlson-Wee is a pioneer in the cryptocurrency field and was an early investor in Bitcoin. In 2016 he started his own cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund, and in 2018 Forbes magazine selected him to its 40 Under 40 list of influential young people in business.