On September 19th, 2014, the legendary Anita Hill graced Spelman College with her presence. Anita Hill was, originally, an attorney in the area of banking law and litigation. For a short period of time, she worked as an advisor to the assistant secretary of the US Education of Department; in addition to both of these roles, she served as the chairman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Bulletin. But despite all of these significant accomplishments, many only know of Anita Hill in relationship to Clarence Thomas– and her allegations of sexual harassment. Ms. Hill, specifically, discussed the details surrounding the battle she endured as a victim of sexual harassment.
As the crowd watched a documentary disclosing the details of Anita Hill’s case against Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, she, indirectly, challenged the audience to speak out against injustices. Hill referenced a hate letter that said, “You should have kept your big black mouth shut, and you could have been married to a Supreme Court Justice.” We live in a society that condones sexual harassment, and Anita Hill rejected this notion in her talk on campus. Nathan Harris, a freshman Computer Science major at Morehouse College from Cleveland, Ohio, says, “ She sparked [an unbelievable] fire.” This fire is one that pushes us, as the AUC, to revamp our voice; This “unbelievable fire” is one that gives us the tenacity to clearly establish sexual harassment as a transgression against women, men– and our society as a whole.
Sexual harassment is becoming increasingly prominent on college campuses worldwide. Being a student in the largest consortium of African American institutions of higher learning increases the chances that incidents similar to Anita’s can happen. As a collective body, we must ensure that, as individuals, we are not suppressing someone else’s ability to feel comfortable. But most importantly, Anita, in display of her own strength, showed us that we must have the power to break the chains of conformity– conformity to any suggestion that sexual harassment is okay.Â