Women’s Center director awarded

OGDEN — Weber State University Director of the Women’s Center Carol E. Merrill received the Athena Award at the Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce 93rd Annual Dinner Awards Friday night. Each year the ceremony honors members within the community who have made a positive impact for the Ogden and Weber areas.
Awards were also given to other members and businesses within the community.  The Rotary Club of Ogden received the Partners in Education Sue Westenskow Award. The Odgen-Weber Applied Technology College received the Volunteer of the Year and the Special Recognition award. Ed Kleyn was the recipient of the honored Wall of Fame.
“The Annual Chamber of Commerce Award is given for service within the community and Carol Merrill has earned the 2010 Women of Business Athena award for her 14 years of assisting women and for the Merrill Academy of Fine Arts in Layton,” said CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Dave Hartman.
Merrill spent the last 14 years assisting single mothers and displaced women. Through the Women’s Center at WSU, women are able to apply for financial aid, attend events on self improvement, and plan for a future that includes education. 
“The Center helps all women of all ages,” Merrill said. “Many of the women helped at the center overcome insecurities, generational change, and are usually nontraditional students,”
The Women’s Center holds several events throughout the year. The center sponsors a single mothers group that is Spanish speaking. A single mother created the group that uses the WSU mission of outreach.
“She is a timid person who has never done anything like this before and now I can’t stop her,” Merrill said speaking of the single mother. “Other women have also used their skills to translate pamphlets into Spanish to help the Spanish speaking community.”
All of the center’s programs are also available to men. The center will be holding a program that focuses on battling body image this spring to help both men and women. 
“I see women helping women,” Merrill said. “I see an empowerment of women who invest within themselves the belief that they can achieve their dreams and goals. I came from a family who discouraged me from going to college. After my husband passed I was encourage by other women to go to school. I graduated and was still encouraged to go on and get my Masters degree.”