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WME Author is Featured Alumna Speaker at Vassar College’s 19th Annual Kente Cloth Ceremony
Dr. Claudia Thomas, America’s First African American female orthopaedic surgeon speaks to graduates on achieving Diversity. ROCHESTER, NY (May
27, 2008):
Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC announced over this past weekend
that Dr. Claudia Thomas, America's first black female orthopedic
surgeon, was the featured alumna speaker at the African American
Alumnae/i of Vassar College’s (AAAVC) 19th annual Kente Cloth
Ceremony. The Ceremony took place on May 24, 2008. Dr. Claudia
Thomas, a 1971 Vassar graduate, shared her message of
championing diversity in this country, with the goal that all
facets of American society proportionately represent the gender
and ethnicity of its population.
Alumnae/i representing four decades of the AAAVC, an
organization that Dr. Thomas helped create, were on hand to
bestow the ceremonial cloths. During the event, senior students
of African descent were invited to say a few words of thanks to
those who helped them through their Vassar journeys. The
ceremony was moving and inspirational to all members of the
Vassar community.
In April, Dr. Thomas received the American Academy of Orthopedic
Surgeons (AAOS) 2008 Diversity Award for her “preeminent role …
in the black community and also in the field of orthopaedics.”
She has been acknowledged for her role in increasing the number
of minorities and females within the orthopaedics profession.
Today, Dr. Thomas’s work includes reaching out to schools in her
local area (Florida) to build relationships with the students,
demonstrating the opportunities available through education and
perseverance.
Dr. Thomas's autobiography,
God Spare Life, chronicles her journeys and struggles
(which included surviving a life-threatening illness, a natural
disaster, and life as an activist and student at Vassar in the
late 1960s, among many other things). For more information on
Dr. Thomas’s incredible story, visit her website and blog at
www.GodSpareLife.com. |
