While introducing the keynote speaker, English professor Nancy Crumbine, Kat Richardson '11 told audience members how Crumbine has become an important mentor and friend.
"She had a peculiar method of teaching in that she expected us, as students, to teach ourselves," Richardson said.
Crumbine asked audience members to reflect on the women who have influenced their lives throughout the event.
"Let us call upon our mothers and our grandmothers, the women who have influenced our lives, those here or on the other side of the veil," she said, before breaking into the song, "I'm So Glad She Sang for Me."
Coming from a family of Dartmouth graduates, Crumbine demonstrated her historical connection to the College through a presentation of family photos that included childhood pictures with her two brothers who both attended the College and her sister, all posing in Dartmouth jerseys that Crumbine's father, a member of the Class of 1937, purchased.
"The rather pathetic irony that half his children weren't allowed into the institution didn't seem to bother any of us at the time," she said, referring to the College's pre-coeducation days. "The family value was to love Dartmouth the maleness was a given."
Crumbine criticized the atmosphere of male dominance that remains on campus, particularly within the Greek system. She praised the Panhellenic Council's revised policy regarding sexual assault that was passed earlier this month.
"The new policy to boycott any fraternity that does not take responsibility for the behavior of its members is the most proactive and clear stand that the women of Dartmouth have taken in the many years I have been here," she said. "Congratulations."
Crumbine emphasized that women should spend time remembering the ideals with which they grew up and always remember who they had hoped to become before they arrived at the College.
"You must make the choice to actually fall through the lines and show up for your life, and by falling through the lines, I mean finding what you really want to do," she said. "Underneath the lines is a whole other reality that will determine whether you will really be useful in this post-apocalyptic world."
The event also featured dinner discussions led by facilitators at each table who promoted "mingling," Burns said.
"We try to do these little things to enhance the all-female community in a positive way it's all about positivity," she said.
Burns recollected how the women seated at her table at her first "Proud to be a Woman" dinner during her freshman winter "ended up chatting until 10:30 [p.m.]."
"The staff from the Hanover Inn had to ask us to leave, because it turns out that they cannot begin cleaning up until everyone has left," she said.
Dinner attendees also received handouts from Link Up offering advice for members of each class from the preceding class including advice from faculty members for the graduating seniors about topics ranging from approaching sorority rush to being a good boss, Burns said.
The dinner featured a performance by Dartmouth's all-female a cappella group the Rockapellas of "Women Gather Crying" originally sung by the all-female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Senior women at the dinner were honored with a yellow rose at the conclusion of the event.
