Thank you everyone who contributed to this wonderful event! 

Last year was a complete success and those in attendance were able to listen to the wonderful stories and advice of Lesley Visser, Melissa Ludtke, and Victoria Arlen. Without you, this event would not have been possible! 

WOW we have reached 50%! Thank you so much for donating to our event. We couldn't provide the support, encouragement, knowledge or power to students, especially women, interested in pursuing a carrer sports media without you! 

We are very excited to announce our next keynote speaker:

ESPN's Victoria Arlen

Victoria Arlen’s life drastically changed in 2006 at the tender age of eleven when she developed two rare conditions known as Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. This was an incredibly rare scenario and Victoria quickly lost the ability to speak, eat, walk and move. She slipped into a vegetative state in which doctors had written her off as a lost cause. Victoria spent nearly four years “locked” inside her own body completely aware of what was going on just unable to move or communicate. Doctors believed there was little hope of survival and recovery was unlikely. Victoria, however was not ready to give up. In 2010 after almost four years she began the nearly impossible fight back to life. Learning how to speak, eat and move all over again.

Victoria went on to exceedingly defy the odds and not only recovered but has since become an accomplished Motivational Speaker, Actress, Model, and Swimmer. Her swimming resume includes three Silvers and a Gold medal from the London 2012 Paralympic Games as well as multiple World, American and Pan American Records. In April 2015, Victoria made the transition from professional athlete to sportscaster and joined ESPN as one of the youngest on air talents hired by the company and reports/hosts for various platforms.

In 2016 Victoria’s endless hard work, training, determination and perseverance delivered results when she got out of her wheelchair and began walking on her own despite the lack of feeling in her legs.

In 2017 she continued her journey of movement, competing through the semi-finals as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars Season 25.  Victoria is also carrying out her dream of helping others, serving as the Founder and Co-Chair of Victoria's Victory Foundation.

As her journey continues she has penned her auto-biography, LOCKED IN that released in August of 2018. At just twenty-four years old Victoria has become world famous not only for her story and accomplishments but for her message:

“Face It, Embrace It, Defy It, Conquer It”

Our Third Annual Women in Sports Media Symposium is this Friday, April 26, so we hope to see you there! 

For more information, visit our website.

We have reached 30% of our goal and we couldn't be more thankful to those who have donated to our event. THANK YOU!! 

And.....We are excited to announce two of our keynote speakers! 

Pro Football Hall of Fame's Lesley Visser and Award-winning Journalist Melissa Ludtke! 

Lesley Visser is the most highly acclaimed female sportscaster of all time. She is in six halls of fame, including being the first woman enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, along with being elected to both the sportswriters and the sportscaster halls of fame.  She is the only female sportscaster to have carried the Olympic torch; the only woman to have presented the championship Lombardi trophy at the super bowl and was the first woman on the network broadcasts of the Final Four, Super Bowl, NBA Finals and the US Open.  She was voted the outstanding female sportscaster of all time by the National Sportscasters of America. She began writing for the Boston Globe 45 years ago after she won a prestigious Carnegie grant, given to only 20 women in America who wanted to go into jobs that were 95 percent male. After 12 years with the Globe, covering everything from the NFL to Wimbledon to the World Series, she has worked for CBS, ABC and HBO. This is her 29th year at CBS.

When Melissa Ludtke was 26 years old, she challenged Major League Baseball in federal court – and she won. The charge was gender discrimination. In pursuing her rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, women sports reporters gained equal access to team locker rooms where their male colleagues had worked for decades. From then on, girls who loved sports and wanted to report on games knew they could. 

Melissa is an award-winning journalist who worked at Sports Illustrated, Time, CBS News and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she edited Nieman Reports. She received the 2010 Yankee Quill Award for lifetime achievement as a journalist and was awarded fellowships at Harvard University, Radcliffe College, and the Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism where she studied and wrote about social issues with an emphasis on women, children and families.

Click here for more information!

More to come......Thank you! 

Hi all!

Our fund-raising campaign is off and running and with your help we will reach our goal!

The Women in Sports Media Symposium is now in its third year of existence at UMass. In those three years, we have put together informative and eye-opening presentations of what it’s like to be a woman in the sports media world that we live in today. With the help of pioneers like Melissa Ludtke, Keri Potts, Patricia Mays and Atlantic-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade, we have successfully shared their experiences and created a learning environment for the UMass student body.

With your help, the Symposium will continue to grow and teach UMass students about the importance of equality in the journalism field and in our society as a whole. Please consider donating to our cause and helping us strengthen our message to the students and faculty in Amherst.

We appreciate your time and support!

Sincerely,

The Women in Sports Media committee