By: Karley Wajda
Staff-Writer
This International Women’s Day, The Preface spoke to Chancellor Susan Elrod, the woman in charge of IU South Bend. Some of her responsibilities include overseeing the overall campus vision, enrollment, budget and performance on those issues. She also supervises the management of resources and monitors students’ degree completion.
Chancellor Elrod reflected on what it means to be a woman. She said that being a woman is an important part of who she is and that she brings her female experience and perspective to her role.
“I bring an inclusive approach to leadership,” Elrod said. “This approach values input, dialog and collective wisdom.”
Chancellor Elrod wants the women of IU South Bend to know that they are stronger than they believe to be. She said she believes you should just go for anything in life that you feel you cannot accomplish.
When asked what women empowerment means to her, she said she believes it means having a sense of confidence to achieve goals and become successful. She lends a hand to uplift others.
Women empowerment specifically means, “seeing women doing what they want,” Elrod states, “including breaking through the glass ceiling to lead a company or an organization.”
She has a list of women who inspire her, from her grandmother to women that work in male-dominated industries, but she said she appreciates any woman who is fearless when accomplishing her goals.
The chancellor would like to invite students to the next Pizza with the Chancellor to learn more about what IU South Bend has planned for the future. This will be on Monday, March 20 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the University Grill. She would also like to invite all students to her Women’s Leadership Panel, coming up on March 22 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Education & Arts Building Room 1011.