Women Through the Decades: 1980s

Jul 8, 2019

Thousands of women have attended Xavier since the doors opened to them in 1969. They had different experiences depending on the decade they attended. The women highlighted here represent those alumnae who leveraged the benefits of their Xavier education to reach their goals and lead fulfilling, productive lives that inspire others to follow their dreams.

JODI ALLEN | 1987 BSBA Management Info Systems
Chief Marketing Officer, The Hertz Corp. | Former P&G VP and General Manager, North America Hair Care  | Xavier Board of Trustees | Xavier Athletics Board

Jodi Allen (pictured above left with her mentee) came to Xavier on a tennis scholarship and left with the kind of business skills needed for a successful career and a promising future. Joining P&G right after graduating, she excelled in multiple roles and divisions for over 30 years, from Business Intelligence and Global Business Services overseas to North America Baby Care and Hair Care.

Along the way, she never lost sight of the value of her Xavier education, made possible by the women who came before her—or her impact on those women who came after. She continues to give back to the University as a mentor to students and a member of the Board of Trustees and Athletics Board.

“I am so very thankful for all the Xavier women trailblazers who came before me. They created amazing opportunities for people like me. Xavier has impacted my life, and continues to, in so many positive ways ... most importantly via the friendships I’ve built over the years.”  

PAMELA ZIPPERER-DAVIS | 1987 BSBA Accounting | 1989 MHA
President and Owner, ZD Management | Past President, Women of Excellence | President’s Advisory Council | Donor, Zipperer-Davis Scholarship Fund, Women of Excellence, All for One Fund | Mentor

By the time Pamela Zipperer-Davis arrived, the novelty had worn off. It was the mid-1980s, and women had been enrolling at Xavier for nearly 15 years. The campus was welcoming, and she found no barriers in either her undergraduate business or graduate hospital administration programs.

In gratitude for her education, she gives back now in many ways—as donor, mentor, preceptor, Women of Excellence member—because she is passionate about promoting and supporting Xavier women.

“I never noticed any difference in being a female student at Xavier in the ‘earlier’ years of women being admitted. About the only thing was that it was obvious that women’s restrooms were sort of tucked in, after the fact, in Alter Hall, and you could tell Alter was built in the day that there were not as many women on campus.”