Penn State’s Schreyer for Women organization hosted an “Evening in Conversation” Thursday night, featuring keynote speakers President Neeli Bendapudi and former Miss America Nina Davuluri.

In an effort to create impactful programming aimed at encouraging creativity, the Schreyer Honors College hosted Bendapudi and Davuluri to start conversations about leadership and breaking barriers.

“[Hopefully] this event can connect with both South Asian and female-identifying communities on campus to foster inclusivity, as well as [start] a larger conversation about women of color in leadership roles,” Schreyer for Women Career Development Director Shreya Gorawala said.

Davuluri took the stage first to share her story. Davuluri attended Michigan for her undergraduate education but found herself not feeling fulfilled by her STEM classes. As she watched those around her graduate and move on to do what they were meant to do, she felt as if she was “searching back for [her] childhood dreams.”

As she reflected on her childhood, she noted she’s typically introverted and shy but finds comfort in speaking and performing, similarly to her experiences growing up as a classically-trained dancer.

Davuluri touched on her experiences competing in Miss America pageants and some of the criticism she’s received and subsequently brushed off to pursue uplifting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for L’Oréal.

She discussed the “impossible, unsustainable, and unrealistic” aspects of the beauty industry and beauty standards but noted her efforts to combat that through her work with L’Oréal and the production of the documentary COMPLEXion, which addresses the ideology of colorism globally. 

Davuluri concluded her lecture with advice for the women in the room, focusing on perseverance and self-confidence.

“There’s always a second way… there’s always a ‘Plan B’ to get to where you want to go.”

“Ask yourself how you want to be remembered,” she continued. “You never know who you’re impacting and how you’re impacting them.” 

Then, Bendapudi began her lecture, speaking about her experience growing up in India and then moving to the United States. She discussed what it was like to be a woman and a person of color in the professional world and her internal struggle as the first female and president of color at Penn State.

Bendapudi recalled she wanted to be introduced as the best candidate for the job, but rather she was often introduced based on her gender and race.

“It’s not true that you cannot be what you cannot see because then you wouldn’t have the first of any kind, but it is true that it’s a lot harder to be something you cannot see,” Bendapudi said.  

Bendapudi concluded her lecture with a reminder that no one is as consumed in what you’re doing as yourself or how you’re perceived, and there’s always time to help others.