HAVERFORD, Pa. - On the weekend of January 24 and 25, five members of the Dickinson Athletics Community traveled to Haverford College to participate in the Snell-Shillingford Symposium hosted by the Centennial Conference. Dickinson Swim Team's Tori May '26, Field Hockey's Taylor Morrow '26, and Women's Lacrosse's Olivia Rizzi '26 (the Snell-Shillingford Intern), Carson Cerow '27, and Assistant Coach Taylor Blick were invited to participate in a conference dedicated to empowering women in sports in our conference and beyond. 

In 1999, Jen Shillingford (Bryn Mawr College's Athletic Director at the time) began this symposium to encourage young women to enter the field of coaching. Having been inspired by her mentor, Eleanor Frost Snell - a pioneer in athletics at Ursinus College - Shillingford enacted a conference to inspire young women to lead with confidence and to contribute to a largely male field. The symposium has since grown to push women to enter athletics in any capacity by facilitating conversations between female athletes at colleges within the Centennial Conference to enact change on their campuses. Through starting initiatives and programs, participants can begin to mend problems they see on their respective campuses.

With the theme Elevate, the Symposium's program reinforced the message that women can and should rise to their fullest potential despite setbacks or societal factors that may inhibit them. On Saturday, life and mindset coach Megan Weisheipl kicked off the speeches with a presentation focused on shifting mindsets and understanding the power in failure. After, Dr. Amy Wilson, the Managing Director of Inclusion at the NCAA office, took a historical approach to educating participants on the history and importance of Title IX, and how rules and guidelines under this precedent are actively shifting every day. Saturday's speeches concluded with an imaginative speech from Swarthmore Women's Volleyball coach Harleigh Chwastyk. Coach Chwastyk gave a speech on "The Many Hats of Coaching," supporting her talk with actual objects and tools coaches use on a day-to-day basis.

    Sherryta Freeman, Lafayette College's Athletic Director, kicked off Sunday's events with a speech on how to lead, be unafraid to ask questions, and move up in the world of athletics through networking and hard work. The weekend's events concluded with a research presentation from the Centennial Conference's very own Anna Goorevich. A PhD student at the University of Minnesota, Goorevich's research focuses on menstruation in sport, gender equity in athletics, and the gendered nature of coaching. After a weekend of inspiration and conversation, invitees from all Centennial Conference schools left the symposium with a plan to enact change on their own campuses through programs, special game nights, and other initiatives.