Women on the Way 35th Anniversary
7/7/2016
By Foundation Staff
St. Petersburg College launched its Women on the Way (WOW) program in 1981 as a resource and support center for women who were entering college in larger numbers than ever before in the history of the United States. The goal was to provide women – many of them the first in their families to attend college – with the skills and resources to be successful in an academic setting.
The effort was spearheaded by Dr. Vilma Zalupski, the college’s first female Provost (Clearwater Campus); Bobbie Hinson, Career Center Director; Helen Gilbart Program Director for Humanities, Fine Arts and Communications; and Maria Edmonds, a psychology instructor who later became an Associate Provost. Edmonds was WOW’s first coordinator.
Since the Summer of 2015, WOW has opened two centers at the Seminole and St. Petersburg/ Gibbs campuses. The Tarpon Springs campus will host the program starting in Spring of 2017. Today, more than 300 women college-wide participate in WOW programs.
