Opening session of the Scholar and Feminist Conference XVII, featuring welcoming remarks from Ellen V. Futter, President of Barnard College; opening remarks from Temma Kaplan, Director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women; and keynote addresses by Ruth Messinger, Manhattan Borough President and Hazel Carby, Critic, Yale University. Papers presented or name of session: "Prospects for Race and Gender Relations in New York"; "Racism in the Academy".