May 3, 2015

A seminal figure in the feminist movement, Steinem works across the country and around the globe as an advocate for equality. She co-founded Ms. magazine, which was the first U.S. magazine to put such issues as domestic violence and sexual harassment, among countless others, on the cover of a women’s magazine.

“Gloria has been a revolutionary for over fifty years, breaking ground on issues like access to contraception, sexism in the workplace, and her current focus on the intertwined nature of sexism, racism, and economics,” said Bennington College President Mariko Silver. “Given her extensive influence on social issues across the globe, Gloria is the ideal person to speak to our graduates about the purposeful evolution of work over a lifetime.”

"First, I love commencements. They are personal and communal, an end and a beginning, more inclusive than anything religious, more full of hope than anything about history -- altogether, they may be the most moving ceremonies on earth. Second, President Mariko Silver and her family have always been part of my chosen family so it's personal for me, too. Looking forward!"

Parke Haskell ’15 will be the senior class speaker.

 

About Bennington College

Bennington College is a liberal arts college in southwestern Vermont that distinguished itself early as a vanguard institution within American higher education. It was the first to include the visual and performing arts in a liberal arts education, and to integrate work in the classroom with work in the field. To this day, Bennington stands apart in requiring that every student—every winter term—get a job, complete an internship, or pursue an entrepreneurial experience. Bennington students work intensively with faculty to forge individual educational paths around their driving questions and interests. The College graduates small classes of tested students, regardless of chosen field, who are notably confident in their capacity to engage and succeed in the world. 

 

About Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, editor, feminist activist, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1972, she co-founded Ms. magazine, and remained one of its editors for fifteen years. She continues to serve as a consulting editor for Ms., and was instrumental in the magazine’s move to be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. Ms. Steinem has founded and served in leadership positions for organizations such as the Women’s Action Alliance, the National Women’s Political Caucus, Choice USA, and Women’s Media Center. As a writer, Ms. Steinem has received the Penney-Missouri Journalism Award, the Front Page and Clarion awards, National Magazine awards, an Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing, the Women’s Sports Journalism Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, and most recently, the University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism. She lives in New York City, and is at work on a book about her more than forty years on the road as a feminist organizer, due out later in 2015.