September 17, 2004

BOISE STATE WOMEN'S CENTER TO BRING ACTIVIST GLORIA STEINEM TO BOISE IN FEBRUARY

The Women's Center at Boise State University will bring writer/editor/activist Gloria Steinem to campus for a free talk at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Student Union Jordan Ballroom. Steinem travels worldwide as a lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972 and was one of its editors for 15 years. She also helped to found New York magazine, where she worked as a political columnist. Steinem continues to serve as a consulting editor and columnist for Ms. and was instrumental in the magazine's recent move to join forces with the nonprofit Feminist Majority Foundation. Her books include the bestsellers Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean, on the life of Marilyn Monroe. As an organizer, Steinem helped to found the Women's Action Alliance, a national center for information and advocacy in such areas as nonsexist, multiracial children's education and communication among women's groups, and the National Women's Political Caucus, a nonpartisan organization devoted to advancing pro-equality women of all races. She is president of Voters for Choice, an independent bipartisan political action committee that supports candidates working for reproductive freedom. Steinem is also a founding president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, a national, multiracial women's fund that supports grassroots projects to empower women and girls. After growing up primarily in the Midwest where her unconventional childhood included no full year of schooling until she was 12, Steinem graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College in 1956. Following graduation, she lived in India for almost two years as a Chester Bowles Asian Fellow. There she wrote for Indian publications and was influenced by Ghandian activism. As both a writer and an activist, she remains particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems; gender roles and child abuse as the roots of violence; non-violent conflict resolution; the cultures of indigenous people; and in organizing across national boundaries for peace and justice. For more information, call the Women's Center at 426-4259 or visit http://womenscenter.boisestate.edu. -30- Contact: Melissa Wintrow, Women's Center, (208) 426-4259, mwintrow@boisestate.edu  Media Contact: Sherry Squires, communications and marketing, (208) 426-1563, ssquires@boisestate.edu