Shredding the Moral Fabric of Our Nation
October 11, 2026
The current political administration in the United States seems to have an insatiable hunger for spectacles that, too often, involved bloodshed and death. From the War on Iran that included bombing a school where more than 100 young girls perished, to ICE agents wantonly and with malice shooting and sometimes killing people on the streets of our major cities, to the less-lethal but nonetheless distasteful spectacle of a fistfight on the White House lawn to “celebrate” the nation’s 250th birthday, our leaders appear eager to reinforce their power through cruel, brutal displays of physical harm to others.
Now comes, if possible, an even cruder, more savage idea that more rational people pray will never come to fruition: a declaration of an intent to livestream for all the world to see the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan. What kind of leaders think it appropriate to make a show, a form of entertainment, out of the official killing of a human being? Leaders who have clearly smashed whatever remained of their already-damaged moral compass.
Yes, to be clear, Nidal Hasan committed a terrible, horrific crime. He is a self-proclaimed terrorist who shot and killed 13 people and injured 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. He admitted the crime, was convicted by a military jury of all charges, and sentenced to death in 2013. A lengthy mandatory appeals process ensued until this month when the Pentagon confirmed the death sentence would be carried out by firing squad in December.
While there is no justification for Hasan’s murderous rampage, the issue of the morality of the death penalty continues to be a serious matter of debate and concern. The Catholic Church has long questioned the death penalty, and in 2018 Pope Francis I specifically amended the Catechism of the Catholic Church to prohibit the death penalty as an offense against human life. This is the specific passage from the Catechism:
Capital Punishment
2266 The State’s effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. the primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.67
2267 Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.
Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, [Francis, Address to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, 11 October 2017] and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
This section of the Catechism goes on to address other life issues including abortion and euthanasia, both of which are strictly forbidden in Catholic teaching. By including the death penalty, the Church took an important step toward reinforcing the dignity of all human life.
Pope Leo XIV reinforced this teaching on October 10, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, when he wrote on X (Twitter to us old folk…):
“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption. #NoDeathPenalty”
The impending execution of Nidal Hasan might never have reached headlines, however, but for the pronouncement by Secretary of Defense (or, as he prefers, War) Pete Hegseth that the execution would be “public,” and then the Pentagon announced that “public” means livestreamed for all the world to watch. That announcement brought an immediate and furious response from many religious, political and public leaders, including Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who issued the following statement sharply condemning the decision of the U.S. government:
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan. Our God is the God of life. In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: ‘do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.
“I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.”
The backlash to the announcement of the livestream has grown in the last few days, including many major religious organizations and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Even those who are advocates for the death penalty are drawing the line on the public spectacle.
Another case also fuels the national debate: the “botched execution” of Christa Pike in Tennessee. Pike was sentenced to death for murdering her classmate 30 years ago. But when the execution was underway, despite numerous efforts to inject her with a fatal dose of pentobarbital, she did not die. She was hospitalized, recovered, and is now back in prison while debate rages about whether her sentence should be commuted or whether she should go through the execution once more.
Archbishop Coakley was right to decry the harm to the moral fabric of our nation that the potential livestream of Hassan’s execution would impose. More to the point, the existence of the death penalty at all in this day and age is a tear in that fabric that we must mend before the fabric shreds entirely. Our bloodthirsty culture needs more rationality, fewer spectacles of blood and gore. We need more voices promoting an end to violence, rather than supporting state-sponsored violence. No death penalty ever stopped subsequent murders. Those who would harm others learn nothing from public spectacles, and in fact, may find them weirdly incentivizing to commit mayhem as we know from the tales of many mass shooters who crave fame.
Justice will not come until we find a way to achieve peace in this nation. Our moral duty is to work for an end to violence in all forms, including official violence.
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October 4, 2026
Recently, while scrolling around the internet as is a habit of mine, I came across some information about Trinity that seemed quite wrong. Upon further probing, I learned the source of the misinformation: “Claude did it.” Claude? I had no idea who Claude was until that moment when I learned that Claude is the name of the (fill in the blanks: agent, chatbot, large language model, a.k.a. artificial intelligence) created by the company Anthropic.
(Ok, Claude didn’t really do it on its own, it simply facilitated writing something about Trinity by vacuuming data from the internet and producing a misleading statement; the human element failed to proofread before posting.)
Welcome to the new era of the Technology Revolution! Artificial intelligence fills the news these days, and inescapably fills our screens — Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, the original ChatGPT, Claude, Meta’s Muse, you name it, the AI space is already crowded and we’ve only just met these strange new phenomena.
Upon learning that AI is already in use around campus (yes, I know about student use, more on that in a minute) for administrative purposes, I did a quick survey of faculty and staff this summer (AI Survey Summer 26) and was startled to learn this: a fairly large number of faculty and staff are already using various AI tools for everything from organizing routine tasks to developing course syllabi to writing emails to doing research, and more. And, yet, our faculty also are deeply concerned about student use of AI tools to write papers or otherwise do what some might call “cheating” but others say is simply helping out with the assignment. As I delved into the topic, I learned that this is a nationwide struggle not only in higher education but throughout K-12 education as well.
So, how do we solve a problem like Claude? I absolutely want Trinity — our students, faculty and staff — to be fully conversant with all of the latest developments in technology, especially since many of the professions our students will enter (e.g., healthcare, business, education) already use AI tools. At the same time, I need to know how Trinity as a learning community with a very special mission makes sure that we keep AI under control and in perspective, not allowing AI to take over our own thinking and writing, research and teaching processes.
As I mused on all of this, Pope Leo XIV issued the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, a brilliant exposition of the Church’s social justice teachings and how those teachings should inform our work with Artificial Intelligence.
As I spoke with faculty and staff colleagues about the challenges we face in the AI age, we agreed that this is a topic that needs a large and ongoing community conversation. So, we have done several things that are in the early stages of organization, and as we move through the year we will have numerous opportunities to engage on these issues:
1) We have formed a faculty/staff Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (Task Force on AI Organization) with project teams organized around topics including the use of AI in curricula and pedagogy, AI in administrative work, AI in faculty research, recommended AI platforms, and further development of the policy statement on Academic Integrity and AI. More than 50 faculty and staff have volunteered to serve on this Task Force, a great showing of institutional engagement! Most important, this group will formulate a statement on Trinity’s philosophy about Artificial Intelligence rooted in Trinity’s mission and values.
2) We will engage students in this discussion first through a survey that Dr. Rachel Poirier is developing with input from the Task Force. We will share the results with the campus community, and those results will inform our work going forward.
3) I will soon be calling our first Campus Conversations of the year and that will include discussion of AI and the work of our Task Force.
4) At Alumnae Reunion on Friday, October 23, we will have a panel discussion about Magnifica Humanitas with our campus scholars Dr. Jeannine Marino, Dr. Steven Gable, and Dr, Stephen Thorne, and special guest Dr. Stephen Schneck who will also speak about religious liberty in an earlier program. Students will also be part of these panels, which are also part of our America250 program.
5) We will invite speakers to campus throughout the year to lead professional development programming for faculty and staff on topics related to AI, and we will be happy to include students in such programming as well.
Why should Trinity faculty, staff and students care about any of this?
First and most important, AI is already reshaping all of education — how students learn, how faculty teach, how writing and research are changing with AI tools. Knowing how to use AI — and knowing how to avoid its dangers — should be central to our work as educators and students.
Second, as a Catholic college, we should heed the Pope’s call to be sure that our embrace of technology does not damage our humanity, and that is not something we can take for granted. We must always act to reinforce the fundamental principle of social justice to uphold the life and dignity of every human person.
And that leads to my third concern: if you look at the photo below — all the tech titans gathered at the White House last week — you may notice that there are only two women and no persons of color at that powerful table. While those powerful men signed a pledge saying that they would regulate themselves in the development of AI, we know from long experience that the world simply cannot work that way. When women and people of different races, ethnicities, economic strata and life experiences are excluded, the resulting products and processes will not serve all the people well. We need our Trinity students, alumnae and alumni at those tables as far as possible — and to get there, we must study and learn everything we can about this new technological revolution so that we can join in, participate, influence and guide its development for the good of all people, not just for the powerful few.
I will share much more on this initiative in the days to come, and I welcome your comments and ideas on the best ways for Trinity to learn about, engage with and have community impact on AI in the future.
Continue reading →Read comments (0) Add CommentThe President, The Press, and We The People
September 20, 2026
[UPDATE: On Monday, September 21, 2026, the three media outlets (CNN, MSNOW, Politico) and their White House correspondents sued President Trump and his aides for violating their First Amendment rights by banning them from the White House. In solidarity, all major television networks refused to provide pool coverage for White House events on Monday, and news photographers from the New York Times and other newspapers also joined in a photo blackout in solidarity with their colleagues. I will provide another update as events unfold this week.]
The current President of the United States has had some unusual ideas about how to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the world’s oldest continuing Democracy. A bloody fight on the White House lawn? Check. A grand prix car race around the U.S. Capitol? Check! An effort to paint the Reflecting Pool “American Flag Blue”? Well, ok, I guess. A triumphal arch hiding snipers and munitions? Really? Whatever.
Abolishing Freedom of the Press? Draw the line and hold it right there! The President reveals his woeful ignorance of American history — and the Constitutional duties of his office — when he now declares that certain news outlets (MSNOW, CNN, Politico) are banned from the White House because he does not like their reporting. The man who swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” that includes First Amendment Freedom of the Press actually said in an interview, ““There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”
What??? Honest to goodness, that’s actually what’s right about this country! Freedom of the Press — and its close sibling, Freedom of Speech — means that reporters and everyday citizens are free to express themselves in whatever way they wish, positive or negative, and our government may not intervene to repress, constrain, punish or stop the speech or reporting. The First Amendment is really quite simple: reporting and speech in the United States is free, open and not subject to government censorship or restraint.
Above all else, the First Amendment freedoms are what we should be celebrating in this year of America250 because those freedoms of speech and expression gave life to our nation and have supported this experiment in freedom for two and one-half centuries. First Amendment freedoms are the bedrock of our way of life. For any president to attempt to put an end to those freedoms is an offense against not only the media outlets, but an offense against all citizens, We the People — WE are the beneficiaries of the careful stewardship of free speech and press. WE are responsible to sustain those freedoms for future generations.
Presidents since George Washington have complained about negative press coverage; it goes with the territory. Democrats and Republicans alike have complained, confronted, decried and bashed the news media. Leadership in a free country means accepting a large dose of criticism, questioning, skepticism, and yes, at times, even unfair or biased reporting that distorts reality. The solution is not to ban reporters but to provide the facts as clearly and consistently as possible. Presidents have big bully pulpits, they can answer charges and correct the record as often as they wish. What they cannot do is trample on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The President’s churlish fit of pique against select news outlets occurred, ironically, one day after Constitution Day on which Trinity faculty and students gathered to consider the very issues now crowding the front pages. Dean Tom Mostowy gave a great overview of the creation of the Constitution, and then Newsroom Director Chaz Muth and journalists with the Trinity Times discussed the history and current state of press freedom (slide from Mr. Muth’s presentation on the right, and photo by Phil Reese below; see full slide decks from the 9/17 program on the website).
Following the program, several of the student journalists asked me for my thoughts on why press freedom is important — and of course I had to underscore the fundamental importance of a free press to sustaining all of our rights and privileges in a free society. Then they asked me what I thought about student press, and my answer is the same: student press and media are extremely important to the life and health of our campus community, and student journalism is vitally necessary to sustain an open, honest university. I am so proud of the Trinity Times and the work of our student journalists!
I noted that I was a student journalist for the Trinity Times “back in the day” and I learned the ropes of both journalism and the politics that naturally accompany good reporting. I didn’t mention this story in the interview, but I remembered it later on: one day when I was a student editor, the Trinity Times published something critical of the student government. The President of the Student Government stopped me on the hallway to complain bitterly and loudly, about the Trinity Times, “I love you most of the time, but sometimes you piss me off.” [direct quote, sorry for the slang…] That stung, but we didn’t change our story. Then, a year later, when I became the Student Government President, the roles were suddenly reversed, and I learned what it felt like to be the object of constant press criticism. Ugh. Not fun. But I learned to accept it as part of leadership.
Later on, as President of the University, I’ve had to deal with all kinds of media and, often, criticism and negativity. As a leader, I know that coping well with criticism — and, at times, even news stories I think are unfair — is part of my responsibility. If a reporter really gets facts wrong, I might call the reporter to discuss it, or even write a letter to the editor or op-ed. That’s how we do it in a free society.
What no leader can do — whether a Student Government President or University President or President of the United States — no leader can demand that the press stop doing their job, that only positive stories may be published, that journalists are banned from the premises for doing their job —- which is a job they do so that We, the People, can stay informed.
A President cannot be a “snowflake” melting into a puddle of tears and complaints when the news is negative. The strength of a leader is most obvious in the hard times, the trying moments, the times when learning from criticism and moving on reveals the qualities of the leader.
Most of all, a President of the United states must uphold and cherish the Constitution and Bill of Rights, especially the First Amendment. In the current case involving CNN, MSNOW and Politico, lawsuits will surely come and courts will most likely rule against the President’s actions. But frankly, it should never get that far. He should rescind his ban on the reporters and grow up, take the criticism and move on. THAT would be truly presidential.
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September 11 – Voices of Trinity Echo Across 25 Years
September 10, 2026
(Collage of some of the Trinity messages and memories from September 2001)
I have written extensively about the events, meaning and impact of that terrible day — September 11, 2001. Just last week, I happened to come across my files from that time, and rather than opining once more on the memories and meaning of that tragedy, on this 25th Anniversary I want to share some of the messages I received at that time from alumnae and colleagues across the nation and around the world. The tapestry of these messages speaks to the hope and resilience of our great Trinity community, and some of the messages seem quite prescient in their comments on the evils spawned by that act of terrorism.
Before sharing some of those comments, I also want to lift up in memory and prayer those members of our large Trinity family who perished that day, including:
Ted Brennan, son of Gail Gallagher Brennan ’58
Sarah Clark, teacher at Backus Middle School and member of Trinity’s ETLI program
Jeffrey LeVeen, husband of Christine Friedmann LeVeen ’69
Laura Longing, niece of Nancy Phelan Wallace ’60
John Thomas McErlean, son of Agnes Inglesby McErlean ’56
Theresa Caggiano Nelson, niece of Joan Formato Ferrante ’63
Frank Skidmore, cousin of Sr. Mary Hayes, SND, ’57
Gregory James Trost, son of Marie Tinsley Trost ’61
May the blessings of the Trinity continue to give strength, hope and support to their families.
On September 11, 2001, the Trinity community rallied to support each other and those who suffered so much loss in this tragedy. I wrote to our alumnae and friends, and in response, I received dozens of messages of pain, heroism, affirmation and firm resolve to find solutions to the causes of this great tragedy.
Below are excerpts from some of the messages, keeping the authors anonymous save for their class years:
A member of the Class of 1975 wrote:
“I was in Crystal City watching the World Trade Center on television — literally not believing my eyes — when I felt a thump, like a heavy door slamming. It was the Pentagon… Since that terrible day, I have struggled to catch a glimmer of what this will mean to us… I have a horrible feeling that we are embarking on what future generations will study as a 100 Years War… West against East, the Enlightenment against the Dark Ages. No doubt conventional military responses — ground troops and bombings — will wax and wane, but will we have to somehow assimilate to constant danger?…Will we move from inconveniences like getting to the airport three hours early to diminution of our liberties in fundamental ways? We must guard against that at all cost, and as the nation’s attention turns, as it will, to other matters, we must be careful not to confuse dissent with sedition, or to allow unscrupulous partisans to take advantage of the situation to push through a particular agenda.”
A member of the Class of 1983 wrote from the Netherlands:
“As I sit here in the Netherlands on a gloomy day, I can look out my window and see many, many Dutch flags at half mast, put there by our neighbors in solidarity with us Americans and the rest of humankind. … Every time I walk on the school playground, friends and even slight acquaintances from many different parts of the world offer me their deepest sympathy. At first I feel like a fraud, for I haven’t suffered a personal loss, but then, it does feel like a personal loss. I try not to fall apart in the face of their sincerity…. My children’s classmates are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and atheist. They come from every part of the world. My children are lucky to be in this environment, that they can see each classmate for the individual he or she is, not the religion or nationality. I pray that somehow our youngest generations and those to come can learn to see each of God’s children as individuals deserving of our respect, and that they learn tolerance of our differences. The task is the responsibility of each and every one of us. It will not happen if we remain passive, it requires our strongest efforts. It is worthy of our strongest efforts.”
Older alumnae saw parallels with other national tragedies they experienced as Trinity students:
From the Class of 1945:
“My class of ’45 was in DC on December 7, 1941… We went to the Capitol the next day. In 1945 the lights went out throughout the city on the day we took our comprehensive exams… It was, like now, a very trying time for the nation. I am sure we will gain unity and strength from this horrendous act and will, in time, defeat the enemy.”
From the Class of 1948:
“Having been a Trinity student during WWII, I can truly appreciate the students’ efforts and concern for the people of our country.”
From the Class of 1963:
“So many of my thoughts as a resident of New York this past week were of Trinity and being in Social Hall, watching the black and white TV as we watched the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold, seeing the anxiety of some of the students who wept for their Cuban homeland or feared they wouldn’t live beyond the next few days or weeks. I was still in Washington a few years later when President Kennedy was assassinated and saw how grief can seize a community, and yet how that community can come together, dignified by that grief… All of these events changed our lives and the life of our nation, but our spirit carries us on, and living that spirit is the best rebuke to our enemies.”
From the Class of 1966:
“One of the first things I thought of when the news started to come through was how the Class of ’66 was barely into its freshman year when the Cuban missile crisis erupted — and we all wondered whether DC would get attacked. People were calm and reassuring then, and eventually all was well. Let us hope for the same again!”
From the Class of 2002:
“It seems that the entire world is feeling incredibly frightened and vulnerable…Most of my generation never thought anything as horrific as this could happen in our time. We thought it was what our parents and grandparents had to survive, not us…”
Some alumnae and family members witnessed the horror first-hand.
A member of the Class of 1996 wrote:
“The view from my office was a source of great distress yesterday. I am right across he water as many of you know. The towers appear less than one mile away. Seeing the towers on fire, seeing the plane dive itself into the tower and then hearing, feeling, and seeing the first tower fall was so shocking. People were screaming. The first plane crash was easily dismissed and after gawking at the burning we all went back to work until a co-worker started screaming, “there’s another one! There’s another one!” and BOOM! Seeing it out the window was so surreal.”
From the Class of 1991:
“I was in traffic on 395 Tuesday morning when I saw the plane headed for the Pentagon. So many lives lost in Tuesday’s chaos. So many lives yet to be lost. My heart weeps for all of us.”
From the Class of 1960:
“[My classmate] survived the tragedy. She walked out of an adjacent building to a friend’s apartment … her niece was on the 105th floor of one WTC that was hit. Her husband has been looking for her ever since. The family were about to baptize their infant son. Husband cannot speak of his wife in the past tense…”
From the Class of 1955:
“Our son was 70 feet from ground zero… across the side street from the towers…He heard a crash, looked out his open office door and saw two offices down the window smashed and desks, computers, etc. being sucked out the window… something crashed into his window and he dropped the phone, grabbed his briefcase and ran for his life…down 29 flights of stairs… when he got out of the building, debris was flying everywhere, he just kept praying and running for his life…”
From the Class of 1971, whose office was 2 blocks from the World Trade Center:
“It is hard to put into words what we experienced. My husband felt the heat from the second plane hitting the second tower on his face as he looked to see what had happend. When each building collapsed, it let loose a rumbling tidal wave of ash that took the daylight to midnight in moments. The darkness lasted for more than half an hour and was so dense you could not see across the street…. I woke up Wednesday and Thursday with fear in my mouth and wrestled it down each time. I went out with a purpose on Wednesday and that was to go to Mass which helped.”
From the Class of 1967:
“A classmate wrote that even if we were not directly touched, we could not escape what has happened. Sooner or later, it will reach out and latch onto all of us… I am about to become a grandmother again… I listened for a long time last week to the beautiful young woman who is still my baby girls speak of her fears for her soon-to-be-born child. Her sense of safety and security is deeply shaken for herself and her baby.”
At that time Trinity had a partnership with Elderhostel (now called Road Scholar), an organization dedicated to lifelong learning for older adults.
An Elderhostel staff member in New York wrote to me:
“As I write to you, the fires are burning in the Marriott Wall Street hotel… the prime residential location for the South Street Seaport Elderhostel program. I was on the runway at LaGuardia when the Trade Center disaster unfolded and then they evacuated the airport. Coming out of the building I looked up and saw the smoke covering the Manhattan skyline. It is not a sight I will ever forget.”
—–
Not forgetting is essential even 25 years later. The hatred, murderous forces that spawned September 11 are still prevalent around the world, and, sadly, the spirit of vengeance in our nation has served to stoke those fires and inflame those who would do it all again if given the chance. The last 25 years have been a time of pain, anger and backsliding into authoritarianism in the misguided belief that more power in the executive branch can protect us, all evidence to the contrary. If there is to be any relief from the fears that still haunt us, we must demand more rational thinking and behavior from our leaders. More on that in the days ahead.
Some of my blogs about September 11:
Continue reading →Read comments (0) Add CommentGloria Steinem: A Warrior Who Changed the World
September 4, 2026
In the 1970’s, we Trinity Women were fortunate to be in the second or third wave of a movement for women’s rights and equality not only in the United States but globally. Inheritors of a drive for women’s equality famous for foremothers like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and leaders of the Women’s Suffrage movement, we knew that we still faced considerable odds to advance into positions of power in our society. Women were just about 25% of my class at Georgetown Law in 1974; no woman had yet served on the Supreme Court, women judges were few, and women in law firms rare. Women were even more scarce in medicine and other professions; women were rare in the Senate, House and state legislatures, largely absent from governors’ mansions, and not at all on lists of CEOs for the Fortune 500.
We Trinity Women of the latter quarter of the 20th Century wanted more, and we chose a great women’s college to instill in us the knowledge and abilities we needed to ascend to women’s leadership in a world where we knew we would face rampant sex discrimination. But we needed something or someone else: an inspiring leader, an icon we could admire and even, perhaps, emulate. A number of courageous, determined, brilliant women emerged in the mid-20th Century as leaders of the women’s movement — Shirley Chisolm, Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug —and perhaps the most famous and prominent among them was Gloria Steinem, a powerful champion for women’s rights, a master communicator and advocate for equality and justice. Gloria died this week, but her legacy lives strong in the lives of millions of women whose advancement in the workplace, politics and society is due in large part to her lifetime advocacy for women’s rights.
Among many achievements for women, Gloria founded MS Magazine in 1972, a landmark moment in journalism and the literature of women’s rights. Among the many young women attracted to her amazing new magazine was Trinity Alumna Cathie Black, Class of 1966, also emerging as an exemplary leader in her own right in publishing and the news business. Cathie joined MS as an advertising manager, a challenging job since she had to convince the largely-male world of business decision-makers to pay for advertising in this new magazine that was not a typical “women’s magazine” but rather a statement about advocacy for women’s rights and equality.
I asked Cathie to share some of her memories of Gloria Steinem, and she wrote:
“Gloria Steinem was my first role model when I was a young woman in the seventies and on the advertising staff at Ms. Magazine. We would ask Gloria to go on adverting appointments with us in the hope that she would convince the advertisers (then mostly all men) to take a page in the magazine.
“Ms. was a very hard sell but in time her thoughtful presentations broke the ice and we finally started getting advertising.
“Gloria was a warrior who changed the world for the better for men and women.
“I am honored to have known her.”
Cathie Black’s amazing career aptly illustrates the vision and power of Gloria Steinem’s work for women’s equality. After MS Cathie became the publisher of New York Magazine; then on to serve as president and publisher of USA Today and a vice president of the parent company Gannett; later president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America; and then becoming president and later chairman of Hearst Magazines. Like Gloria Steinem, Cathie has always “lifted as she climbed,” inspiring the next generation of women to achieve even more has always been part of her own work. I had the privilege of working with Cathie on Trinity’s Board of Trustees in the late 1980’s when Trinity was struggling in a rapidly changing collegiate world, and her strategic insights and clarity about our mission were instrumental in moving Trinity forward.
Today’s Trinity Women reap many benefits from the persistence and courage of the amazing trailblazers for women’s advancement. In addition to a role model like Cathie Black, we find inspiration and so much affirmation in the iconic leadership of Nancy Pelosi ’62, the first and only woman to be Speaker of the House; Kathleen Sebelius ’70 who was the first woman governor of Kansas and later Secretary of Health and Human Services; and more recent women leaders like Tekedra Mawakana ’93, co-CEO of Waymo; and Beatrice Peterson ’12, award-winning journalist with ABC News, just a few among so many examples of Trinity women’s leadership.
People sometimes ask me why Trinity persists in sustaining our undergraduate women’s college in the modern world where coeducation is the norm throughout higher education. My response is simple: true equality remains elusive for millions of women in America and globally, and those of us who have received so many gifts of education and opportunity have an obligation to make them even more accessible to the rising generations.
We know that the contemporary climate for women’s equality is under a great deal of stress in this era where the political world opposes any mention of programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. We also know that women of color suffer even more discrimination due to race as well as gender, and women of color are now the majority of students at Trinity. Trinity is one of just about 30 remaining women’s colleges that truly believe in the power of education to change the lives of girls and women, and thereby to change the futures and fortunes of their children and families. For 130 years, the achievements of Trinity graduates have proven the truth of Cathie Black’s statement, often echoed by many leaders, that the education of girls and women is the most powerful tool we have to change society for the better.
We remember Gloria Steinem with gratitude and appreciation for the countless doors she opened for all of us. And we salute and thank the Trinity Alumnae who are trailblazers in their own right, women who continue to educate the future generations of women leaders through the power of their example, persistence and courage, and their selfless generosity of to alma mater.
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