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Women's History Month marked with lecture by Ms. editor Marcia Gillespie

Sexism and racism are two “dangerous symbols of oppression that work together. You can’t eliminate just one. In a racist and sexist society, the two often work hand in glove.” So says Marcia Gillespie, editor of Ms. magazine and former editor of Essence magazine, who presented a lecture entitled “Racism and Sexism,” as part of Trinity’s celebration of women’s history month.    The lecture was sponsored by the Women’s Center, the Trinity College Black Women’s Organization, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Women’s Studies Department.    “Women in every part of the world are talked about in the diminutive,” Gillespie says. “We’re girls until the day we die. We’re told that there are certain things we can’t do well. With racism, it’s the same thing. The doors were kept closed from us. Blacks were called childlike. We had to be controlled and contained.”    In her talk, Gillespie encouraged students to go outside of their comfort zone in their efforts to break down racial and gender barriers.    “She’s part of history,” says Laura Lockwood, director of the Women’s Center. “She can speak to oppression in a multifaceted way, and she sees oppression and sexism and racism as being intertwined and still a tremendous issue in today’s society.”

LEARNING		Shannon Stormont '02
		Examining the governing structure of Hartford schools

During her sophomore year, Shannon Stormont ’02 responded to a Quick-Post e-mail that invited any political science major to apply for a spot at the Democratic National Convention. Stormont quickly declared her major, applied, and soon found herself at the convention, where she worked for two weeks with former Presidential Fellow Jim King. 

“There are just so many connections and opportunities, especially if you’re interested in community service or any kind of urban political issues,” she says.

Indeed, Stormont has made the most of the opportunities afforded her at Trinity, distinguishing herself in the classroom, while using her passion for teaching as a catalyst for new research on Hartford public schools and how they are governed.

A Bayside, New York, native, Stormont grew up with Oval Office aspirations, knowing that she someday wanted to be part of effecting change on a large scale. Since then, she says, “I may have modified my goals a little to shoot first for superintendent of schools, but it’s the same idea—trying to do something bigger and be able to bring about change and progress.”

It may come as no surprise that Stormont, a writing associate and Phi Beta Kappa inductee, was selected to be an academic mentor in Trinity’s Vision Academic Mentoring Program (VAMP). VAMP pairs up Hartford Magnet Middle School sixth graders at The Learning Corridor with Trinity students. Each VAMP mentor is assigned two students, creating an extraordinary environment of individualized education and attention.

A groundbreaking senior thesis

Stormont parlayed her experience teaching in a Hartford school into her senior thesis, which examines the past and present governing structure of Hartford schools, looking specifically at city control, private control under Education Alternatives Inc., and the current system of state control.

“My research looked at different strategies for parental involvement under each type of control and student success, as measured by standardized test scores, dropout rates, etc., and tried to draw links between the two,” says Stormont. “Because very little has been written about the recent, yet turbulent, history of Hartford schools, I gathered most of my information from primary sources such as Hartford Courant articles and interviews with community organizers and former school board members.”

Stefanie Chambers, assistant professor of political science and Stormont’s thesis adviser, says Stormont’s thesis will likely be the first published work on this “very new and exciting issue.”

“She’s making a really important contribution,” Chambers says. “It will be very helpful to people who want to understand the changes that have taken place in the Hartford school system.”

Next year, Stormont will teach in Baltimore, Maryland, while she works toward her master’s at Johns Hopkins University. Stormont hopes to eventually go into a career in educational policy, but asserts that a background in teaching is an essential first step.

“I don’t really think you can go into educational policy until you’ve taught,” she says.

She goes on to say that, “Of all the issues I’ve worked with—homelessness and housing, domestic violence, education—education really struck me as the most unfair and, yet, the most hopeful. I see the horrible conditions of our urban schools and the lack of services as a huge injustice, putting many kids at an incredible disadvantage, almost preventing them from succeeding. But I also see a great potential for change if communication opens up among administrators, teachers, and parents. I guess that’s my goal—to make a difference, at first in the classroom for my students, teaching them that they can succeed, and later for kids on a broader scale through policy work and education reform.”

–Michael Bradley