Anita Hill - "Believing: The First Step to Change"

The Clayman Institute for Gender Research presents its flagship Jing Lyman Lecture series to recognize trailblazers who contribute significantly to gender equality over their lifetime. This year’s event also marks the 50th anniversary of the Clayman Institute. 

When Anita Hill testified against then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991 with allegations of workplace sexual harassment, she made history by bringing a conversation usually shrouded in shame and handled behind closed doors into the public consciousness. Her intrepid testimony, challenging one of the country’s oldest and strongest institutions, inspired others with similar experiences to share their stories and come together to create change. Inciting moments like these make clear the power and impact of a single story, a single voice, a single action. When the time comes, will you be brave enough to stand up for the things that matter? It has been over 30 years since her testimony, and the fight for gender equality continues. This Jing Lyman Lecture Series event will leave you with the information, inspiration, and motivation necessary to confidently grab the baton and do your part in the cause that sparks your fire.

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Speaker Biography:

The youngest of 13 children from a farm in rural Oklahoma, Anita Hill received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1980. She began her career in private practice in Washington, D.C. Before becoming a law professor, she worked at the U.S. Education Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1989, Hill became the first African American to be tenured at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law, where she taught contracts and commercial law. She has made presentations to hundreds of business, professional, academic, and civic organizations in the United States and abroad. Hill is Senior Advisor to the Provost, Brandeis University, and Professor of Law, Public Policy and Women’s Studies, Heller Graduate School of Policy and Management. 

Hill’s book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence, is the winner of the 2022 ABA Silver Gavel Award for Books. It is a new manifesto about the origins and course of gender violence in our society; a combination of memoir, personal accounts, law, and social analysis; and a powerful call to arms from one of our most prominent and poised survivors. Her previous book is Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home. She has also written an autobiography, Speaking Truth to Power. With Emma Coleman Jordan, she co-edited Race, Gender and Power in America: The Legacy of the Hill-Thomas Hearings.

Hill’s commentary has been published in TIME, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Ms. Magazine. She has appeared on national television programs including Good Morning America, Meet the Press, The Today Show, The Tavis Smiley Show, and Larry King Live. Hill has received numerous honorary degrees and civic awards. 

This event is free and open to all. Advance registration is recommended. This is an in-person event on the Stanford campus. 

Note: past events have reached capacity, so do register early. 

Questions? Email us at gender-email [at] stanford.edu (gender-email[at]stanford[dot]edu)

Co-sponsored by Office of the Provost, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Stanford Law School.