Former CEO of Playboy Enterprises Christie Hefner '74 spoke in Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Friday about her career and how her experiences at Brandeis have shaped it. The talk was part of the Student Union's "Influential People Embodying the Brandeis Spirit" series.

Hefner graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English and American Literature. She wrote for the Arts section of the Justice and worked with Upward Bound, a program in which Brandeis students tutored high school students in neighboring towns, Hefner said.

Hefner began working at Playboy Enterprises after graduating from Brandeis. She held the positions of CEO and chairman of the board from 1988 to 2009, becoming the longest-serving female CEO of a public company, Sarah Geller '13, who organized the event, said in her introduction. Hefner is now the executive chairman of Canyon Ranch Enterprises and a director of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.

Hefner began her talk by saying that "it's always a pleasure to be back at Brandeis," explaining that she takes note each time she returns of what has changed on campus and what has remained the same.

It was Brandeis' "combination of intellectual curiosity and commitment to social justice" that first attracted her to the school, Hefner said.

Hefner's "interest in activism" while at Brandeis "infused" her professional interests, which primarily include journalism, law and politics, she said.

She said that though recent graduates may not have much freedom in choosing what they do professionally because of the economic climate, the skills they gain at Brandeis can help them learn the most from their jobs.

Students' "commitment to always wanting to learn" is a "gift" from the school that comes with an "obligation" to use their skills "for not just their own happiness but for [the benefit of] the society they live in," Hefner said.

Executive Senator Shekeyla Caldwell '14 began the question-and-answer session by inquiring about the "hardships" Hefner has faced as an "entrepreneurial woman."

Hefner explained that her time at Playboy Enterprises helped her gain the "ability to make change when the margin of error is quite small" and taught her that one can be a "creative risk-taker" while still being cautious with resources.

In response to a question from a student about the future of print journalism, Hefner explained that there is not a "one-size-fits-all answer."

She said that the "least challenged" form of print media is long-form, visual journalism, a category that includes Rolling Stone, Vogue and Playboy.

However, Hefner said, "newspapers were in trouble before the Internet" because they were operating under a "bad business model" that devalues news by obtaining the majority of revenue from advertisers rather than from consumers.

Mitchell Schwartz '14 asked Hefner whether she felt that Playboy provided young girls with the wrong message by encouraging them to emulate Playboy models rather than an entrepreneur like Hefner.

Hefner replied that she does not have a problem with the magazine's founding values of celebrating beauty and femininity and providing a venue for men to admire and respect beautiful women.

In response to a question from a student about whether Playboy's message contradicts the "advancement and empowerment of women" that Hefner supports, Hefner said that she does not find the magazine's photography demeaning. Though she understands objections to the content, what people see in the magazine is a reflection of what they bring to it.

Hefner said that Playboy in many ways "ben[ds] over backwards to humanize the women" who model for them by telling their stories in the pages of the magazine.

In an interview with the Justice, Hefner said that the Brandeis spirit is "a way of thinking about life when you're a student just beginning to make work choices and life choices." This specific focus of the "Influential People" series "push[es speakers] and, therefore, the dialogue to really explore what Brandeis itself and its spirit represent," Hefner continued.

The series, she said, "may offer [an] interesting ability to compare and contrast about how different people have interpreted [the Brandeis spirit], what it's meant to them and how what they learned and what they did at Brandeis infused the rest of their lives."

Geller said in her introduction that the goals of the "Influential People" series, which commenced last semester with an event featuring retired Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Mitchell and Prof. Anita Hill (Heller), include "having a conversation, engaging, probing, leaning and hopefully being inspired."

In an interview with the Justice, Geller said that Hefner was chosen in part for her "spirit of giving back to the community, both at Brandeis and in other communities." One of the goals of the series is to "see where [students'] futures can go," she said.

The event was co-sponsored by the Hiatt Career Center, the Business Program and the Department of Student Life.