Words of Hope Help Another WLP Fall Symposium Soar

Words of Hope Help Another WLP Fall Symposium Soar
By Dave Scheiber, USF Foundation
TAMPA – An hour before she would rivet the sellout crowd at the 13th annual USF Women in Leadership &
Philanthropy Fall Symposium, bestselling author and keynote speaker Jeannette Walls sat inside a small room inside
the Hilton Tampa Downtown and offered a few words of support to a visitor who had stopped by for a quick
meeting.
Keynote speaker Jeannette Walls
WLP Endowed Scholarship Recipient Shari Zamani had just
done a final run-through of the speech she would deliver to
a luncheon of a thousand-plus attendees – the event’s largest
crowd ever – and admittedly she was feeling a bit nervous.
“Don’t look at the crowd – that can be intimidating,” Walls
counseled the USF senior with a smile. “Just focus on a single
person in the room and talk right to them.”
In retrospect, Walls’ advice of making a personal connection
was particularly fitting, given that both women soon did
precisely that with their uplifting, humorous and insightful
speeches at the Oct. 19 gathering – connecting directly with
the audience by relating their unique life experiences linked by
one shared element: hope in the face of hardship.
Considering that WLP has delivered hope in abundance to hundreds of female USF students through invaluable
scholarship opportunities – millions of dollars of support over 13 years – there couldn’t have been a better
sentiment to underscore. And that message carried extra meaning coming
at the final WLP Fall Symposium for USF System President and WLP
co-founder Judy Genshaft, PhD, who will be retiring in July after 19 years at
the university’s helm.
Walls’ intimate tale emerged poignantly and with her trademark wit in
the retelling of details from her acclaimed New York Times best-selling
memoir, The Glass Castle. She recounted her life growing up in extreme
poverty of West Virginia and “running from her past” and the shame of
her parents’ eventual homelessness on the streets of New York City, as
she built a life as a national TV celebrity reporter.

But Walls explained how she came to face her fears and embrace the family dysfunction from which she tried so
hard to hide, becoming a stronger and more self-aware person as a result. Her father’s promise that the family would
one day live in a “big glass castle” never materialized, and his Christmas “present” of the planet Venus to her as a
child may have been empty on one level. But she came to regard both as irreplaceable gifts.
“It was a priceless treasure,” she said of her father’s planetary present in a family that had precious little money and
was constantly on the run. “It is whatever we choose to make it. You can say that about so many things in life. I think
you can say that about the glass castle.”
“Dad never did build us a big ol’ fancy mansion,” Walls continued. “But I believe – I choose to believe, because it is a
choice – that he gave us something much more valuable than a fancy mansion to live in. And that was hope … the
belief that I deserved something more than what I had. And I believe that’s what this afternoon is about. It’s not
just giving these young women scholarships – it’s giving them hope.”
Then there was Zamani, who never lost it – in
spite of dealing with considerable self-doubt, fear
of failure and an unplanned disruption in her
education.
WLP Endowed Scholar Shari Zamani providing her inspiring testimonial.
As it turned out, she needed no help overcoming
her jitters to deliver a heartfelt and inspiring talk.
Speaking with poise and power, the public health
major wasted no time commanding the room by
revealing not only that she was the first woman in
her family to attend college but had never actually
graduated from high school. She went on to
describe how she had struggled with academics and
how one day as a junior she left class to get some
water. “And I just kept walking. I left school … and
never went back.”
She worked for three years, waiting tables, bartending and earning her cosmetology license, yet always felt that
there was something else in store for her. Overcoming a fear of failure, Zamani got enough courage to apply
to Hillsborough Community College. She heard that the school offered an assessment test that would allow her
admission to college, without a diploma or taking the GED. She passed and suddenly a new world opened up for her
– with the realization that she enjoyed and excelled at math, and that many of her past academic problems were due to
dyslexia.
Zamani went on to graduate from HCC with the top GPA
and as class Valedictorian, and had no doubt that she would
continue her education at USF as a junior transfer. “I chose
USF because of the quality and variety of its academic
programs, the diversity of the student body and, in all honesty,
because the president of the university was a she.” Cheers and
laughter erupted as Zamani gestured to a beaming President
Genshaft and continued to hold the audience’s rapt attention.
Revealing she is on track to graduate in December with a 4.0
GPA, Zamani expressed gratitude for all of the scholarship support she has received from USF and WLP and once
again addressed the President.

“Dr. Genshaft, it is a supreme privilege to be the student speaker at your final WLP Symposium as President,”
she said. “As the leader that has made USF what it is today … as a founder of WLP, an organization that has
had a tremendous influence on my college career and my life … as an amazing role model and a true Woman of
Leadership & Philanthropy, I’d like to say thank you – for everything.”
It was one of many highlights at WLP’s signature event, which raised an unprecedented $320,000 Friday.
Speakers included WLP Chair Carolyn House Stewart, Esq. ’74; community leader and philanthropist Pamela
Muma, talking about The Pamela Muma Women’s Health Center that will soon open its doors at Tampa General
Hospital; and WLP Executive
Director India Witte.
There was also the presentation
of WLP’s Community Leadership
Award to Liz Kennedy ’80 and
WLP’s Lifetime Achievement Award
to Liana Fernandez Fox, PhD ’80 &
’98. Each expressed their gratitude
following stirring video tributes.
“The lives that Liana and Liz have
lived really exemplify what WLP is all
about – women elevating women,”
Witte said.
Of course, Genshaft’s final moment
at the Symposium podium as USF
President was especially memorable,
and was greeted by a prolonged
standing ovation.
Liana Fernandez Fox, PhD ’80 & ’98, Jeannette Walls and Liz Kennedy ’80 savoring the moment.
“As part of WLP, we share a common
goal,” she said. “That is simply to create and support opportunity to develop the next generation of women leaders
… It isn’t any one grant or any one initiative. It is the community that we build – a community that represents
everyone in this room, and especially to help women be all that they can be.”
And, as the Symposium message also underscored, a community built on the power of hope.

A Brief Question and Answer Session With Jeannette Walls
Prior to her luncheon keynote address, Walls spoke about WLP scholars and the power of education in
their lives – and her own. Here is a sample of what Walls had to say:
Q. What was it like talking to some of the WLP scholars about their thoughts for the future?
A. “It’s so inspirational. And I think one of the things I love about this event is that it doesn’t feel like a charity.
It feels like giving these young people the tools that they need to become better people and contribute to society.
And in talking to these kids, I saw myself a little bit. Struggling to get an education – it’s not easy. I almost had
to drop out of college because I was a thousand dollars short. And I had trouble asking people for help. I didn’t
know the avenues or if there were organizations like this to assist me. But to talk to these young people and hear
their stories, and hear about the obstacles they overcame, it’s inspirational for me. I was telling them, because I
completely believe this: The struggles you’re going through right now will make you better down the road. The
fact that you’ve had to work so hard to get where you are, you understand what it is that you want and why you
want it. This will be very useful to you one day.”
Q. Talk about the importance of education to you when you’re in a place of adversity.
A. “When pulling people out of poverty, there’s nothing more important than education and a sense of selfesteem,
and the two often go hand in hand. Once you get an education, you’re going to feel better about yourself.
If you don’t feel good about yourself, you’re not going to get an education. They’re interwoven. But if you have
the tools to better yourself, and the belief that you deserve something better than maybe what you grew up with,
then you can achieve just about anything. But I think one of the troubling things about poverty and hardship
is that it does not down your self-esteem. You think you’re not as good as the rich kids. And I think one of the
wonderful things about WLP is that says: ‘Of course you are! And we’re going to open some doors for you. We’re
not going to do the walk but we’ll open those doors so you can get in.’ And that is life changing.”
Q. How did you get over your fear of stepping into the world, coming from such a challenging
childhood?
A. “I always felt a little bit of the imposter syndrome myself. I think that these young people I’ve talked become
identified with that – do I deserve this wonderful life that I’ve somehow found my way into? I told them, ‘Not
only do you deserve it, do you deserve it more because you worked so hard for it. And the important thing is I
really believe that when they reach a certain point, they will turn around and help other people. And that’s one of
many reasons why what is being done here is so important. It’s not just these scholars that we’re helping. It’s all
of the people they’re going to help. This is such a grassroots endeavor that says, ‘We are going to make this world
a better place.’ And it is education that is the great equalizer.”
Q. What did going to college mean to you?
A. “A lot of my classmates didn’t seem to know why they were there – it was just what you did after high school
– but I knew why I was there. I calculated down to the dollar what each class was costing me. One time, one of
my classmates asked me, ‘Do you want to skip class today?’ And I said, ‘Why would I skip class? Am I going to
get a refund?!’ College is so important to those of us who have been out in the world and understand what it’s
like to not be college educated. In fact, I was thinking not going to college because I had a job, but I’m so glad
I did. I’d be making apologies for the rest of my life. As soon as people hear you have a college education, it
changes everything.”