Southern Vermont College names Anita Hill to board
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By PATRICK McARDLE Staff Writer - Published: November 20, 2009
BENNINGTON — Brandeis University professor Anita Hill, who rose to national prominence in 1991 during the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has been appointed to serve as a member of Southern Vermont College's board of trustees, the independent college announced on Thursday.
Hill gave a presentation entitled "Choosing America's Better History: The Supreme Court, Civil Rights and the Promise of Citizenship," in Bennington in April as a speaker at the Four College Issues Forum at the Southern Vermont Arts Center.
The forum is a cooperative venture between Southern Vermont College and Bennington College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Williams College in Massachusetts.
Hill was invited to Vermont by Karen Gross, president of Southern Vermont College, who worked with Hill when they were both law professors. In a statement, Gross said she looked forward to working with Hill again.
"Professor Hill brings a wealth of talent, experience and wisdom to (the college.) She understands the needs of vulnerable and first-generation students and brings extraordinary sensitivity to conversations on contemporary social issues. She also has a strong interest in health care and health care delivery systems and can help shape the future of (the college's) many health care initiatives," Gross said.
There are about a dozen members of the college's board of trustees. Members include local business leaders, a doctor and a dental surgeon.
Wallace Altes, the board's chairman, said in a statement that he was "honored" that Hill was joining the board.
"She is a scholar of the first rank, an eloquent advocate for those who too often do not have an advocate and a role model for all young people," Altes said.
Hill is a faculty member at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Boston.
She has taught law and social policy for 25 years and is considered an authority on race and gender issues, particularly in the workplace.
In April, Hill said it was her experience testifying during Thomas' confirmation hearing that drove her to look more closely at the issues of civil rights and liberties.
"It was very, I guess, shocking to me was the fact that people had rights, that were written in law, that were being adjudicated in the courts, and they didn't even know about it. They didn't even know they had those rights," she said.
She also spoke about the importance of appointing more than just white men to the U.S. Supreme Court so that the freedoms of U.S. citizens could grow to meet the needs of its increasingly more diverse population.
"Now, more than ever, a progressive evolution, I believe, of our definition of rights and liberties is essential not only to what we are as a country but to what we want to pass on to the next generation," she said.
Hill received her law degree from Yale University and a degree in psychology from Oklahoma State University. Her professional career includes stints as a special counsel to the assistant secretary of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and adviser to the chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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