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LILLIAN ZIMMERMAN

Lillian Zimmerman, an adult educator
with a particular interest in community
development, social policy and
women's issues, has been instrumen-
tal in making Douglas College more
accessible to women.

“She has had a very important role in
surfacing major issues that have an
implication to the College as a teach-
ing institute and as a place where
people work out their lives,” said
College President Bill Day.

“Three. major issues that she has
worked on are the women's
movement, public affairs and the
cultural development of the arts.”

Zimmerman came to Douglas College
in 1971 as a faculty member and now
works oS a programmer in the
Community Programs and Services
Division (CP&S). Although she curr-
ently programs the successful CP&S
Academic area and programs in the
area of the arts, it was her interest in
the women's movement and the
promise of influencing access to post
secondary education for mature
women, that led her to Douglas
College.

“There was a sense of excitement
about community colleges when |
graduated,” says Zimmerman. “! came
because it was the place to go and
because of my own personal experi-
ence as a recent university mature
student.

“Community colleges _— promised
access to people who never dreamed
of going to school, just as | had once
never dreamed of going to school,”
Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman was able to fulfill that
dream and went on to receive a Bach-
elor of Arts at Simon Fraser University,
majoring in Sociology.

 

While working at Douglas College she
earned her Master of Social Work at
the University of British Columbia and
won an award as the outstanding
student in her graduating class.

Although admitting that times have
changed since the early, exhilarating
days of the women’s movement and
community colleges, Zimmerman siill
carries the enthusiasm that led her to
establish one of the first women’s
studies programs at a community
college in Canada.

“We'll never have that sense of ex-
citement again but the next step is
happening now,” Zimmerman said.

“A number of issues have become em-
bodied in the public conscience which
would never have been taken serious-
ly. lssues such as equal pay for work of
equal value were considered radical a
decade ago; that my friend,is an
accomplishment we should never lose
sight of...those debates are taken very
seriously now.”

Zimmerman, considered one of the
“pre-eminent leaders in a number of
fields” by her peers, was seconded by
the Ministry of Education, Post
Secondary, to write a background
paper for policy on Non-Traditional
Programs for Women in B.C. in 1978.

In 1980 she was made a Canadian
delegate to the UNESCO International
Seminar in Frankfurt, Germany, where
she presented her own paper on Non-
Traditional Work and Training for
Women.

As recently as 1984, Zimmerman
received a Travel Study Grant from the
Swedish Government and spent two
weeks studying under the sponsorship
of the Swedish Institute. The topic was
no stranger to Zimmerman, social
policy in Sweden in relation to the
working family.

“A lot of rhetoric is spoken about the
family but very little government policy
is implemented to support it,” Zimmer-
man said.

 

“The women’s movement has always
recognized the importance of house-
work and the family, but now this Real
Women’s group has turned on intel-
lectual trick in logic against feminism
by saying the women's movement
knocks housework. The women’s
movement has never devalued house-
work as an occupation,” Zimmerman
said.

Zimmerman’s work has been well
recognized by the College and her
Dean, Jim Doerr. “She has made
significant contributions, locally, na-
tionally, and internationally on such
issues as the family and the women’s
movement and has developed parti-
cular courses at Douglas College for
women.”

The Community Programmer has
lectured to professional organization-
sacross the country on issues con-
cerning the changing roles of women.
Her work at Douglas College hasn't al-
ways been gratifying. Zimmerman
points out that the “evaporation of the
Women's program was very tough to
watch.”

Still, she credits the College with
allowing her to grow professionally. “It
has been very fulfilling.” Zimmerman’s
programming, on the other hand, has
consistently given Douglas College a
positive image in the community,
providing at times controversy and ex-
citement. (See story this page on
Zimmerman’s most recent accom-
plishment).

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND
HUMANITIES
RESEARCH COUNCIL GRANT
AWARD

| am pleased to inform the college
community that a Strategic Research
Grant in the area of Women and Work,
Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council, in the amount of
$39,980 has been awarded to Lillian
Zimmerman, Community Programs
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