The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

 


Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, 505-277-5915

April 4, 2006

UNM Law Students Help Organize Conference for Working Women
Woman Coal Miner Who Inspired Film North Country to Speak

Coal Miner turned activist Lois Jenson will be the keynote speaker at the 2nd annual Changing Woman Conference in Farmington, N.M., Monday, April 24.

Organized by first-year law students from the University of New Mexico and a group of Navajo women coal miners working southwest of Farmington, the conference is co-sponsored by the UNM School of Law and International Union of Operating Engineers: Local 953.

The conference is designed to bring together working women who will teach, strengthen, encourage and inform one another about legal and workplace resources. Women in non-traditional fields such as mining are emphasized during the proceedings.

Jenson initiated the first, class-action sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States claiming discrimination and harassment by male co-workers and supervisors at a Minnesota coal mine where she worked for more than a decade. The suit ultimately succeeded inspiring the Academy Award-nominated 2005 film North Country.

Conference registration is $15. An optional Sunday night banquet is an additional $15. For information and to register, call Rosie Kelleywood, 505-598-0418.

 


The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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