10/9/97
Editors, news directors: Gloria Steinem is available for telephone interviews before her speech at Ohio University on Tuesday, Oct. 14. To arrange an interview, contact Richard Polen, assistant to the vice president for university relations, at 614-593-2097. Steinem also will take questions from the media during the book signing that follows her speech.
ATHENS, Ohio -- Feminist icon Gloria Steinem opens Ohio University's
Kennedy
Lecture Series at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, with a speech, "Women
and Democracy: The Personal is Political," in Grover Center on the
Athens campus. A question-and-answer session will follow Steinem's
talk, and a public reception and book signing are at 9:30 p.m. in the
foyer of Grover Center. The events are free and open to the public.
Steinem, who spoke at Ohio University in 1975, will focus this time on the status of women during the Clinton era.
Steinem co-founded the international bi-monthly Ms. Magazine a quarter century ago, and continues to serve as a consulting editor and writer. Her interests in race and gender equity, child abuse, family violence and other human rights issues have earned her international acclaim. In 1995, she was the subject of the Arts and Entertainment Network television series "Biography." She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Parenting magazine that same year for her work in promoting girls' self-esteem.
An accomplished author, Steinem wrote the bestseller Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, published in 1992, and Moving Beyond Words, a collection of essays that climbed to bestseller lists in 1994. She also co-produced and narrated a 1993 Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary on child abuse, "Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories."
Aileen Hall, director of the Women's Studies program at Ohio University, predicts a huge turnout for Steinem's speech at Grover Center, which seats 1,600.
"If people want to get good seats, they better get there early," said Hall, who saw Steinem on her last visit to OU. "It was pretty exciting then."
Today, Hall said, Steinem brings back to the university an additional 25 years' perspective and life experiences.
"I think her speech will, in a very clear and accessible way, identify some of the present feminist issues, issues that are of importance to women," Hall said. "I think the community will be brought up to date, if they're not already, on a number of issues."
Steinem's interest in political causes runs deep: She helped found the Women's Political Caucus, a non-partisan organization devoted to advancing pro-equality women of all races in elected and appointed office, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women, a national advocacy group for female union members. She is president of Voters for Choice, a bi-partisan political action committee that supports pro-choice candidates, and is the founding president of Ms. Foundation for Women, a fund supporting grassroots projects that empower women and girls.
The Kennedy Lecture Series brings to Ohio University nationally recognized speakers who appeal to a cross section of the community and stimulate thought on major public issues, cultural affairs and scholarly fields. Other Kennedy lecturers in this year's series include longtime television newsman Daniel Schorr, now a senior news analyst with National Public Radio, on Feb. 10 and famed ice cream-makers and political activists Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, best known as Ben & Jerry, on April 15.