Press Release February 25, 2008

SAN JOSÉ, CA— The San José City College, home to the Janet Gray Hayes Award for Outstanding Community Service, is proud to announce that 2008’s recipient is Rosa Pérez, Chancellor of the San José/Evergreen Community College District. This year’s recognition ceremony and reception will be held on Tuesday, March 25, from 10:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. at San José City College in Technology Center-415.

The award, which was created in 1987 by the Honorable Janet Gray Hayes, is given to a woman of leadership and distinction who has been an inspiration and role model for other women. Chancellor Pérez joins a distinguished list of past recipients, including former San José Mayor Susan Hammer, United States House of Representatives member Zoe Lofgren, and journalist and founder of Latinas Contra Cancer Ysabel Duran.

“I am proud that the award I established has honored so many capable and committed women for the past 21 years,” says Ms. Gray Hayes. “We must never forget how long it took for women to get to vote. Well over 200 years ago, Abigail Adams urged the Constitutional Convention to ‘remember the ladies’ and give them voting rights.

“I established this award to honor the memory of those strong women who have come and gone before us, and to honor the women of today who have worked their way into leadership roles and have inspirited so many.”

“The decision to name Chancellor Pérez as this year’s Janet Gray Hayes Award recipient was a natural choice,” says Lois Lund, Dean of Language Arts and co-chair of SJCC’s month-long Women’s History celebration. “She is a role model for women of all ages and ethnicities, and she embodies everything a 21st century woman should be—strong, informed, compassionate and an advocate for those who most need assistance in today’s complex world.”

“I am honored and humbled to be included with such a accomplished and diverse group of former Janet Gray Hayes Award winners,” says Chancellor Pérez. “I am especially proud to be the first woman working in education to be added to the list of past recipients that have included artists, business leaders, and humanitarians.”

The Janet Gray Hayes Award for Outstanding Community Service is awarded annually as part of SJCC’s Women’s History celebration. The Women’s History Celebration committee researches local women leaders to nominate for the award, and criteria include community involvement or service that benefits women, and outstanding personal qualities or attributes as a role model for women.

For additional information, contact
Lois Lund, Dean of Languague Arts
San José City College
(408) 298-2181 extension 3962
lois.lund@sjcc.edu