With only an hour until the event starts, Tifton native and Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus is coming to Valdosta State University for her presentation: “How Women are Changing Legislatures: Politics, Policy and Process.”

The Women and Gender Studies program is hosting the event, however, Dr. Catherine Oglesby, head of the program, is the reason for her coming.

She said she brought Titus to campus to inspire women wanting to go into politics while also hoping students gain knowledge in the “importance of the political process”, ways women can make a difference in a “traditionally male dominated” practice, and how much of a “lasting” impact women can make when they “participate in numbers.”

Dr. Oglesby explained that the discussion presents “the ways increasing numbers of women have been motivated since the election of 2016 to enter politics at every level, from local to national,” as well as how women being involved in politics can positively impact politics as a whole.

She chose Titus because “her interest in and work on behalf of issues vital to justice for women and other vulnerable populations, and the fact that she spent over three decades as an academic professor seemed to make her an excellent choice for the WGST lecture series.”

Dr. Oglesby also took into consideration her own history training in Southern culture and history as well as Titus’ southern roots when deciding to ask her to take part in the lecture series.

According to Titus’ website, the Congresswoman from Tifton, Georgia, taught classes in both Nevada and American government from 1979 to June of 2011.

She’s been involved in politics since 1988, when she was elected as the district seven representative in the Nevada State Senate.

Titus is currently in her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. She is also on several subcommittees in the house.

While this presentation is geared more towards females, Dr. Oglesby “empathetically [and] unequivocally” encourages male students interested in politics to attend as well.

“It has become axiomatic among women who work for social justice that until men, in numbers, hear and understand the realities of gender inequality and gender injustice, divisiveness will continue to undermine change and the aim of achieving genuine equality,” Dr. Oglesby said.

She also said it’s important for male students to attend as it speaks “directly to the need for men to understand and take seriously issues that concern women, and for men as well as women to promote gender justice.”

Congresswoman Titus’ presentation will start tonight at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

Written by Maria Sellers, Staff Writer.

For more News, click here