Journalist, change agent and feminist icon Gloria Steinem will speak at Hendricks Chapel today at 4 p.m.

‘An Evening with Gloria Steinem,’ is co-sponsored by the Syracuse University chapters of Women in Communications and Ed2010, a magazine networking group that brings together aspiring magazine editors. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for SU faculty, staff and the general public.

‘Steinem is truly a trailblazer, she reflects a lot of what our organizations are about -furthering yourself in the workplace and having a mission and following through,’ said Sharon Clott, president of Ed2010. ‘She’s a hero to a lot of young women on this campus.’

In 1956 Steinem graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Mass. and went to India on a scholarship. There, she participated in nonviolent protests against government policies. She began working as a writer and journalist in New York City in 1960. Steinem gained attention in 1963 with her expose of the New York Playboy club with the article, ‘I Was a Playboy Bunny.’ The piece recounted her undercover experience as a scantily clad waitress at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club.

Steinem will discuss her experience as founding editor of Ms. Magazine – the nation’s first feminist magazine – and her commitment to the women’s rights movement. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions following her speech.

‘I always knew I wanted to bring Steinem here before I graduated,’ said Mina Markham, vice president of Women in Communications, a student organization at SU dedicated to empowering female communications majors. ‘She started Ms. Magazine at a time when it was hard for any woman to start a magazine – let alone a feminist magazine.’

In 1968 Steinem joined the founding staff of New York magazine and became a contributing editor. She established a column, ‘The City Politic,’ and wrote in support of left-wing causes. During these years Steinem worked for Democratic candidates such as Norman Mailer, John Lindsay, Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy and later George McGovern. She also worked with Csar Chávez in his efforts on behalf of the United Farm Workers.

‘First it was just an idea to bring her to campus. Then it was a possibility. And all of a sudden, it’s happening,’ Clott said. ‘We get to have a Q&A with one of the most famous women in history.’

Steinem co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Women’s Action Alliance. In l972, she helped found the MS Foundation for Women, which raises funds to assist underprivileged girls and women.

Canadian singer-songwriter David Usher penned a song entitled, ‘Love Will Save The Day,’ which includes sound bites from Steinem speeches. The song’s opening contains her statement, ‘It really is a revolution,’ and the ending breaks for the quote: ‘We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned; we are really talking about humanism.’

Her books, ‘Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions’ and ‘Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem,’ are best-sellers.

‘I wanted her to be here so people could learn from her experiences,’ Markham said.

Steinem was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1998, she was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame.

‘It’s truly an honor to have a living legend in our presence,’ Clott said.

Published on March 19, 2007 at 12:00 pm