Point Loma Nazarene University students, staff, faculty and community members were serenaded by the iconic melodies of Dolly Parton inside Crill Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 17. The crowd of about 100 gathered for the first event of the Illuminate Speaker and Engagement series: Stories, Work, and the Way Forward.
The Illuminate Speaker and Engagement series, put on by Kerry Fulcher, PLNU president, is a new string of events happening on campus this year. The series is designed to provide a space for conversation and practical application of “the Way of Faithful Tension — a commitment to Spirit-led, Scripture-shaped discernment that resists easy answers and false choices,” according to the PLNU website. The premiere event was a panel discussion centered on conversation around clips played from the documentary “Still Working 9 to 5.”
The event was a panel moderated by Lindsay Lupo, dean of the School of Humanities, Arts and Public Engagement at PLNU. Joining Lupo was Barbra Bry, former journalist and San Diego council member; M. Vanessa Jackson, retired senior loan officer and executive assistant for local politicians; Taylor Dunne Wolf, executive director of Capitol Impact; and Camille Hardman, producer of the documentary. They brought together varying perspectives on what it looks like to be a woman in the workforce.
The documentary examines the legacy of the movie “9 to 5,” which satirically portrays the working conditions women faced in the 1970s through the stories of three secretaries. The documentary wove together the experiences of the film’s leading actors, history of the Equal Rights Amendment and reflections on how being a woman in the workforce has changed since the movie was released. The clips shown at the event explored a range of issues surrounding women’s rights and equality in the workplace.
The night began with appetizers and mingling outside of Crill before going in to hear from the panelists. Charlene Pate, professor emerita of composition and literature at PLNU, mingled before the event and said the array of panelists piqued her interest.
“Just to actually see how they pull it all together and what they do with the event [was] interesting,” Pate said.
Overall, the night was organized around 10 clips from the film, with a pause for questions in between each one. The clips and questions highlighted the wage gap, sexual harassment in the workplace, promotions and more. Pate, who remembers seeing the original “9 to 5” movie, said she was interested to see how the themes in it would be talked about.
“I felt it was a good portrayal of what it was for women to be working,” Pate said, speaking about the original movie. “[Parton] is such a funny person and she had such a great sense of humor that she was able to bring light to some serious content.”
Blake Bridges, a third-year environmental studies major, was in the crowd before the event. An email that Fulcher sent out inviting community members to the event interested him in the evening.
“It seemed really interesting because one, Dolly Parton, just passed away,” Bridges said. “But also the conversation around women in the current 21st century workforce [sparked my interest].”
The interest in the topic, plus extra credit offered for one of his classes, brought him into Crill. Similar to Pate, he was interested in how the night would be organized with the mix of documentary and panel discussions.
Lupo, who asked the questions during the panel, said that she wanted to ensure the event was a space for open-ended, thought-provoking conversations, rather than an echo chamber.
“I had a group of amazing women to help plan this,” Lupo said. “It was a really deliberative process and really intentional process.”
To prepare, the planning group met over Zoom calls for two months to come up with the questions together. The planning had started before Parton passed away on Aug. 25, 2026. Lupo also met with panelists over lunch beforehand to get to know them and better shape her questions.
One of the women who helped plan the event was Linda Beail, professor of political science at PLNU. She also spoke about the world her students are going out into. She said the event excited her because it brought to light something she believes people need to discuss.
“Students are about to go out into these fields and this world and you don’t want to be discouraging and depressing … but you also don’t want students to go out and not be forewarned. I don’t want you to just naively assume that everything’s great now,” Beail said.
Jordan Horey, a fourth-year political science major, attended the event and said she was very moved by the stories from the panelists and the clips shown.
“I think we have a lot of division within communities and within individual areas and groups and these kinds of events and hearing powerful women talk about allyship and togetherness,” Horey said. “That’s something that inspires me that it’s something we can keep moving towards.”
Horey said she left the night realizing how much she has yet to learn about the history of women in the workforce and was grateful that PLNU had put on this event. Details about upcoming events for the Illuminate Speaker and Engagement Series have not been released.
Grace Chaves