Taylor Hall, UWI to launch ‘Colour Me Woman’
IN its 66 years of existence, 53 of which women have boarded there, Taylor Hall has never had a female hall chair. For this academic year, however, the hall’s administration is placing a keener interest in female development, with the rolling out of the ‘Colour Me Woman’ developmental programme. The programme will be officially launched on October 21 and will run until May of next year.
“We believe that the efforts to assist our young women must be deliberate and purposeful,” said Shadelle Hill-Lawrence, the programme coordinator.
“The programme will therefore facilitate the 140 females living in hall, and at different intervals we will also have members of our commuting students’ cohort joining as well.”
She explained that the programme will be focusing on self-clarity, mental, sexual and reproductive health, self-care, intimate and social relationships, networking, leadership and career development. The programme will also include an outreach initiative.
“’Colour Me Woman’ is for the young woman who is moving past the stereotypes of society. She is learning and understanding who she is and who she can and will become. She is using the pressure placed on her by family and communities and she’s translating it into motivation towards becoming the best version of herself,” she noted.
Athol Hamilton, the hall’s student services and development manager, felt it was especially important to enhance the development programme for women this year.
“Halls and the Office of Student Services and Development have a mandate to look after students outside of classroom learning,” he said.
“We use many different approaches, as we have many different target groups. And while we implement several programmes for both genders, there are certain peculiarities specific to males and females, which cause us to have to tackle them separately.”
Hamilton says that by the end of the academic year the women will benefit from sessions geared to improving their overall readiness for the world after university.
“We’re looking at getting them more involved in leadership,” he said. “We want to improve their self-confidence, speech, dress, writing skills, etiquette and public speaking skills. This is in keeping with our mandate of producing distinguished graduates.”
He said that because participation in the development programmes is not mandatory, the aim of ‘Colour me Woman’ is to get the students excited and interested.
“We tried to make it more attractive, we gave it a name, and we think carefully about how we market it, and who we use to deliver the messages.”
Hill-Lawrence said the hall has produced a number of influential women, many of whom she hopes to get involved in the programme. These include Lisa Hanna, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Fae Ellington, Krystal Tomlinson, Verene Shepherd, Janella Precius, Emily Shields, Paula-Ann Porter Jones and Dahlia Harris.
— Candiece Knight
