Social Welfare Policy Students Attend 39th Annual Women’s Legislative Briefing

Takoma Park, MD. (February 4, 2019)— A group of Washington Adventist University (WAU) Social Work students recently attended the 39th annual Women’s Legislative Briefing with their professor Shauntia White.

The briefing, hosted by the Montgomery County Commission for Women, took place at the Universities of Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland. The featured speaker at the event was Monica Ramirez, an advocate, organizer, and an attorney who fights for gender equity and against gender-based violence. Ramirez is also the founder of Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

With over 700 in attendance, including elected officials from across the state, WAU students were offered the opportunity to network and engage in work groups. Thus they received information on legislative issues concerning women and families ranging from health care to human trafficking. While students attended seminars, they were informed about bills soon to be presented to the Maryland General Assembly and U.S. Congress.

“As someone who has watched people go unheard and issues go undiscussed, I commit to being a voice,” expressed Bethany Sheridan, Social Work Major. “Growing up in the Adventist Church, the feeling of community is important to me, and I am a student who believes in advocacy.”

Professor White and Department Chair John Gavin encouraged students of the Social Welfare Policy class to attend as an opportunity to begin research into their advocacy and policy papers.

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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s nine graduate and 42 undergraduate programs. The 2017 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.

 Media Contacts

Emeraude Victorin
301-576-0193,
news@wau.edu