ELECTION
CONNECTION:
Republican
rundown
Page 8
Breaking the glass ceiling
Interim President Marcia Welsh
File photos by Casey Prather/ The Towerlight
Vice President for Student Affairs Deb Moriarty
Women hold
top -three
TU positions
President-elect Maravene Loeschke
ALISSA KATZ
Senior Editor
An era of women reigning at Towson is upon us, with more
females than ever taking leadership roles at the University.
The positions of president, provost and vice president of
student affairs are all held by women, a first since M. Theresa
Wiedefeld left the presidency in 1947. Furthermore, four of the
University's nine college deans are women.
Nationwide, women are increasingly in the pipeline to the top,
according to a White House project report benchmarking women’s
leadership. But they don’t get there without obstacles along the
way.
Interim president Marcia Welsh said she felt like she had to
work harder to earn her administrative positions because she is
a woman.
"Back when 1 was first starting out [in the 1990s], it was very
difficult," she said. ”1 was a department chair in a medical school
environment, and that was tough. But it keeps getting easier. It’s
not that we still don’t have hurdles. The hurdles just aren’t as high.”
Balancing her position with outside responsibilities
such as family life isn’t difficult for Welsh, who said that
her children are grown and have their own careers.
“The University is not just my vocation, it’s my avoca¬
tion," Welsh said. “I really enjoy being on campus and all
of the activities on campus. Outside I do other things. But
most of my waking hours revolve around the University.”
Vice president of student affairs Deb Moriarty said some¬
one once told her life was about integration rather than
balancing.
“For me, there are not really clear lines, because work is so
much part of my life and my identity, and yet my family is equally
as important," she said. "Since I became a mother, my daughter
became a part of my work life.”
President-elect Maravene Loeschke said women in upper-level
positions are more likely to have grown children, so it becomes a
little easier once a women attains such a position. But it’s still not
easy to balance home life and family.
See ADMIN, page 9
Regents vote against Towson, Virginia Tech
UMCP/UB merger students reflect on shooting
JONATHAN MUNSHAW
Assistant News Editor
The University System of Maryland Board
of Regents voted against the proposed merger
between the University of Maryland, College
Park, and University of Maryland, Baltimore,
on Friday at UMCP.
The decision came after a six-month study
on the possibility of a merger, including a
public hearing at each campus. In lieu of the
merger, the regents encouraged the campuses
to increase cooperation.
See USM, page 11
BRANDI BOTTALICO
Assistant News Editor
Virginia Tech students were sent
emergency text alert Thursday at about
12:30 p.m., which read, “Gun shots
reported-Coliseum parking lot.”
The campus was put on lockdown
for four hours after a suspect fatally
shot Virginia Tech police officer Deriek
Crouse in an on-campus parking lot.
After the suspect fled, a dead body was
reported in a different parking lot called
See GUN, page 8
