Photo of Senator Tammy Baldwin via The City Pages.
BY: SOPHIA CASTEN, SUMMER 2020 COLLABORATOR AT POWER IN PLACE
Historically Women's College (HWC) graduates and current students have longed for equal representation for gender minorities in all facets of professional life. Specifically, representation of women and other gender minorities in politics is dear to the hearts of many HWC attendees and alums as the United States becomes increasingly political. In 2016, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton brought attention to the Historically Women’s College education as a proud Wellesley College graduate.
Before Clinton’s time in office, many other HWC graduates graced the political world with their poise, worldliness, and passion for intersectional women’s rights. The first woman to become Secretary of State, before Clinton, was Madeleine Albright. Albright also graduated from Wellesley in 1959 and truly set the stage for women in Cabinet-level positions to come. Some other notable HWC graduates in office include, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Smith College Class of 1984. She became the first openly gay senator in 2013 and continues to fight for women’s rights within the LGBTQ+ community. Senator Baldwin is still proud to be involved in the lives of Smith College students and often works with them in her D.C. and Wisconsin offices.
Coming from my home state of Arizona, former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (Scripps College Class of 1993), became a beacon of hope, light, and strength when she survived an assisnation attempt in 2012. Just two years after the near-fatal shooting, Giffords became a gun control activist with a focus on women’s rights. She repeatedly advocates for decreasing gun violence because as she told The Atlantic, “gun violence is a women’s issue.” [1] Representative Giffords’ story is one of the many reasons I focused on applying to HWCs during the end of my high school career.
Like many other women and gender minorities, I was terrified after the 2016 election. I feared for what was to come for all women and gender minorities. I thought back to the strength of Representative Giffords, Senator Baldwin, and Hillary Clinton. I also thought back to the women of color who graduated from HWCs, such as Elaine Cho, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Ruth Davis, whose legacies were seemingly obsolete after the election of Donald Trump. I was motivated to keep the legacies of HWC graduates alive and be a part of a network that continues to make history in the face of adversity.
References
[1] Westcott, Lucy. “Gabby Giffords Says Gun Violence Is a Women's Issue.” The Atlantic. 16 June 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/gabby-giffords-calls-gun-violence-a-womens-issue/372876/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share
Sophia Casten is a rising junior at Smith College majoring in Government with a certificate in Reproductive Health Rights and Justice. Sophia is a yoga teacher and a Community Health Organizer at the Smith College Wellness Center and is committed to spreading inclusive wellness practices. Some of her interests include reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ rights advocacy, and public policy reform.