SFU to Host Blair County’s First Female Commissioner

The SFU Center for the Study of Government and Law will welcome Blair County’s first female commissioner, Donna Gority, to campus on March 9.

The event will take place at 6 p.m. in DiSepio 214 and is part of SFU’s celebration of Women’s History Month. Gority’s address is titled “My Life and Times as a Woman in County Government.”

Gority’s speech is the first event in SFU’s Women and Politics Initiative. This initiative was recently launched by the center, which plans to host an event annually.

“The event is designed to address issues and topics that are of particular interest to women and to assist those who seek to enter public service,” said Joe Melusky, professor of political science at SFU and director of the Center for the Study of Government and Law.

English professor Robin Cadwallader is working with Melusky to coordinate the Women’s and Politics Initiative. “I am trying to increase interest in a women’s studies program at SFU, and I want students to know that women’s studies is more than just literature, history or sociology,” Cadwallader said.

“Women’s studies comprises every facet of a woman’s life, and politics is—or should be—important to all women.”

This is not Gority’s first visit to SFU. She was present during the University’s Democratic Mock Convention in 1984, shortly after being elected a Blair County commissioner for the first time.

A Democrat, Gority served as a Blair County commissioner for 28 years. Blair County borders Cambria County and includes Altoona, Hollidaysburg and several other communities.

The event is open to members of the University and surrounding community. It is a CES event.

For more information, contact Melusky or Cadwallader.