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Junior
Maria Ortiz was the recipient of the inaugural Elaine
Gordon Scholarship in Women's Studies, announced Suzanna
Rose, director of FIU's Women's Studies Center. The
amount of the award was $2,500.
The Elaine Gordon Scholarship program was established
in 2000 to honor the life and work of the former state
legislator who for 22 years championed equal rights
for women. A pioneering feminist elected to the Florida
House in 1972, she was a leading advocate on issues
involving health care, mental health, children and women's
reproductive rights. In 1982, she was one of the first
six women inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of
Fame in Tallahassee.
After retiring from the Legislature in 1994, Gordon
worked for FIU as an assistant vice president until
1999. In 1998, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma and passed away last year.
In presenting the award to Ortiz, Gordon's son and daughter,
Brian and Pam Gadinsky, praised the FIU student for
her commitment to and public advocacy of women's rights
and lesbian and gay rights.
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Pam
Gadinsky and Brian Gadinsky award the scholarship
to Maria Ortiz.
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