From the President

From JAWS President Dawn Garcia

Dawn Garcia

President's Letter

Summer 2008

A Toast From the President

Some women I know can’t wait for their “O” magazine from Oprah Winfrey to arrive in their mailbox. That wasn’t me. I have to admit that I’ve never read her magazine or watched her TV show — and she’s certainly never given me a free car. But on a Sunday morning this June, I found myself hanging on Oprah’s every word — and thinking of all of the great women in JAWS.

Oprah was the commencement speaker at Stanford University’s graduation, where I was receiving a master of liberal arts degree. I’d studied part time for five years while working my day job — helping run the Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists — and it was a glorious day of celebration with family and friends. Being a journalist, I wrote my master’s thesis on a journalism topic: the evolution of Spanish-language media in California.

What made me think of all of the great women in JAWS that morning as I sat on a white plastic folding chair in a sea of black caps and gowns in Stanford’s stadium? A few simple but memorable lines that Oprah gave the graduates jumped out at me: