The Student Union and the Office of the President hosted an event titled "Influential Women Embodying the Spirit of Brandeis" on April 13 in the Faculty Club, at which Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) and recently retired Chief Justice Margaret Marshall discussed the experiences that contributed to their careers.Director of Student Advocacy for the Student Union Sarah Geller '13 introduced Marshall, explaining that Marshall, who is from South Africa, led students at the University of Witwatersrand in the movement against the apartheid system, and served as the first female Chief Justice from 1992 to 2010.

President of Students Organized Against Racism Rebecca Miller '13 introduced Hill, explaining that she had served in the past as council to the assistant secretary to the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and as assistant to the chairman of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As both a teacher and a lawyer, Miller continued, Hill has focused on civil rights and women's rights.

Director of Academic Affairs for the Student Union Marla Merchut '12 acted as moderator for the event. She began by asking Hill and Marshall how they entered into careers in law and social justice.

Marshall said that there was "nothing in [her] background" that indicated that she would become a lawyer and a judge or live in the United States.

She became involved in social justice upon witnessing the injustices of the South African apartheid system and realizing that, "neither [her] race nor [her] gender would protect [her] from the heavy boot of apartheid," she said. She had a "love affair" with the U.S. after arriving on a scholarship from Harvard University and because she found the U.S. to be a "law-driven society," chose to attend Yale University for law school to learn more about the country.

Hill spoke of her childhood on a farm in rural Oklahoma as the youngest child of 13. "I had a very unique experience and a very unique view of the world . because of those things," she said in reference to her upbringing. She had intended to pursue psychology after college, she said, but decided to take both the GRE and the LSAT and, after scoring better on the LSAT, chose to attend Yale Law School.

Following Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearing in 1991, in which Hill testified that Thomas, her former boss, had made sexually provocative statements, Hill realized that she had a "different calling," she said, and came to teach at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, then called the Florence G. Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare, in 1997. She said that she had heard from thousands of people after the trial that, "there [was] something missing between law and our experiences." She chose to pursue teaching because it combines these elements in an "interdisciplinary" way, she continued.

In an interview with the Justice, Marisa Turesky '13 said she thought the event "was a beautiful way to bring the community together."

"Having women together talking about women's issues was really nice to see, to build coalitions and alliances. That's the only way we're going to get things done," Turesky continued.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Miller said that, "In the development of the event, we really just wanted to give the student body a chance to get up close and personal with two truly awesome women."

"It was wonderful to see two such inspiring and accomplished women give back to the community as well as enjoy each others [sic] company," she wrote.