Registration has opened for the third annual Honoring Women Veterans Conference, which takes place June 2 at the University of Evansville (UE). The conference, which celebrates the dedicated women who have served our country, is being hosted by UE in partnership with the Military Family Research Institute (MFRI), Evansville Vet Center, the VA Evansville Health Care Clinic, The Women’s Hospital, Ivy Tech Community College Southwest, and Tri-State Women Veterans.
The event provides information about military benefits, networking and career information, and exhibits by area businesses and service providers. After lunch, the conference provides an afternoon of spa treatments such as facials, manicures, and massages. Attendance is free for all women veterans, who must register by May 21.
Speakers include Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Irene Trowell-Harris, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Women Veterans, and Chief Master Sergeant Sandra Dye, community outreach specialist at MFRI.
Dye, an Air Force reservist, currently serves as first sergeant for the Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and recently returned from a three-month deployment to Incirlik Air Base,Turkey. She said she was honored to speak at the event because it gave her a chance to reflect upon the unexpected challenges and benefits that women in the military face.
“How could we have known how this decision would influence everything in our lives, would provide opportunities beyond our wildest dreams, would allow us to travel to so many exciting places, and give us so many learning experiences?” she said. “But above all, how could we have known that this decision would afford us the friendships and bonds that last a lifetime?”
More than 1.8 million women are veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, women comprise 14 percent of active duty forces and 18 percent of Guard and Reserve forces.
Last year’s Honoring Women Veterans Conference drew 110 participants who ranged in age from 19 to 101 years old and traveled from as far away as Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
Women veterans who wish to attend this year can learn more here. Members of the media seeking more information should contact Kristen Lund, UE director of news services, at 812-488-2241.