'Night of Empowerment' authenticates strength of diversity, representation
Published 02.19.2023
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![Bright lights, empowering city! The CAC marquee beams with the promise of the event and reflects Penn College's proud co-sponsorship.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507290_PCTo.jpg)
![Alison A. Diehl, executive director of the college's Clean Energy Center, networks with Alix Norte (center), a community member who supports the Clean Energy Center's impactful programs, and Shaqira S. Drummond, a 2022 business administration: marketing concentration graduate who created promotional materials for Night of Empowerment.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507296_PCTo-400x400.jpg)
![A gray-suited Richards – introduced by Mayor Slaughter (standing at right, with Stanley Cary, community outreach specialist at UPMC) as "Williamsport's own" – strides to the stage to join the other panelists. The special agent talked about the foundation that his local upbringing provided.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507341_PCTo-e1676838389826-400x400.jpg)
Penn College's Ashlee Massey and Lycoming College's Jordan Golding, Black Student Union presidents on their respective campuses, involved the panel and kept the questions flowing from the students in the audience. Those students were also the focus of a pre-show VIP networking opportunity in the theater's mezzanine, which put them in direct interaction with area employers and their potential future careers.
![Massey, a human services & restorative justice student at Penn College, and Golding, studying history and political science at Lycoming, did a great job asking questions and engaging the impressive panel.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507487_PCTo-400x400.jpg)
![Work by artist/muralist Marcellus and vintage photographs, on loan from the African American Museum in Philadelphia and displayed in the inner lobby and on the second floor, intensify the spirit of the evening.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507481_PCTo-400x400.jpg)
![Woods talks about how important it is for the community – especially students just beginning their own journeys to hoped-for success – to see successful professionals who look like them.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2023/02/7507534_PCTo-400x400.jpg)
Saturday's program – envisioned by its organizers as an annual event – was arranged by the office of Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter, Penn College and Lycoming College, UPMC, the Pennsylvania Chamber for Black Owned Business, and the newly formed Williamsport Representation Council.