The Women's Leadership Institute was thrilled to welcome political reporter, television pundit, and author, Eleanor Clift, to Mount Mary University October 5-9, 2020. Eleanor Clift is a columnist for the Daily Beast, an online publication. She writes about politics and policy in Washington. Clift has covered every presidential campaign since 1976. Clift is perhaps best known as a panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group”. 

Formerly Newsweek’s White House correspondent, Clift also served as congressional and political correspondent for six years. In June 1992, she was named Deputy Washington bureau chief. Clift worked at Newsweek for 50 years as documented in her article, The Magazine That Was: Eleanor Clift on Her 50 Years at Newsweek.

Clift and her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, who was a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote two books together, “War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics” (Scribner, 1996), and “Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling” (Scribner, 2000). Clift’s book, “Founding Sisters,” is about the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the vote (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). Her book, “Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics” (Basic Books, 2008) is about the loss of her husband together with an examination of how we deal with death in America. “Selecting a President,” a civics series geared towards high school seniors and college freshmen, written with Matthew Spieler (Thomas Dunne Books), published in 2012, and examines the process that for all its flaws is better than the alternative.

Clift came virtually to campus and participated in 13 separate events to discuss the women’s vote centennial. Through a variety of programs on campus, Clift worked to create better understanding and new connections between the academic and nonacademic worlds by sharing her journey as a political reporter, pundit, and author. These programs included eight guest lectures focusing on Clift's experiences in journalism and politics and how they related to a variety of Mount Mary University courses such as Introduction to College Writing, Introduction to New Media Writing, College Research Writing, Social and Political Philosophy, Communication Theory, and Mount Mary's signature Leadership for Social Justice course. Clift also spoke with students in the Honors Program, the Grace Scholars Program, as well as Arches, Mount Mary's award-winning student magazine and companion website. Clift also headlined a special live stream conversation with event sponsors and donors about the current election, racial injustices, and the volatile political climate and how it relates to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. 

On October 5, the Women's Leadership Institute was pleased to have 295 community members, students, faculty, staff, and alumnae join us for Clift's virtual keynote presentation. This complimentary live stream event featured Eleanor discussing the women's suffrage movement, the women's vote centennial and analyzing the current political and social climates. Following Clift's keynote, Shannon Sims, co-anchor of TMJ4 news, moderated the Q&A session between Clift and the audience.

Watch Clift's Community Keynote

Mount Mary University welcomed Restorative Justice Scholar Fania E. Davis to campus October 7-10, 2019, to explore restorative justice and how it relates to Mount Mary’s founding principle of social justice. As a social activist and civil rights attorney, Davis co-founded the Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth and has received many humanitarian awards. Through a variety of programs on campus, Davis worked to create better understanding and new connections between the academic and nonacademic worlds by sharing her social and restorative justice journey. These programs included two guest lectures focusing on Davis' experiences and how they relate to Mount Mary's signature "Leadership for Social Justice" course, a lunch with our Caroline Scholars, a conversation about restorative justice and trauma with our Trauma Informed Care graduate students, and a workshop for faculty and staff introducing restorative justice practices.

The WLI was pleased to have over 275 community members, students, faculty, staff, and alumnae join us for Davis' community keynote presentation called “Interrupting the School-to-Prison-Pipeline through Restorative Justice” with a moderated Q&A session. At this presentation, participants heard Davis' story and listened to the concepts and development of restorative justice approaches. Discussion included ways to actively engage families, communities, and systems to repair harm and prevent re-offending.

Watch Davis' Community Keynote