September 22, 2022 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Brenda Feigen ’66, a co-founder with Gloria Steinem of Ms. magazine, will be the featured speaker at an event on the Vassar College campus on September 29. The event, titled “Claiming Our Power,” will be held in Room 300 of Rockefeller Hall at 5:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

During the event, Feigen will accept the Spirit of Vassar Award from the Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College (AAVC). The award is one of the AAVC’s highest honors.

Feigen, a feminist activist, Los Angeles-based women’s rights attorney, and film producer, is a pillar of the modern Women’s Movement. Part of a small minority of women graduating from Harvard Law School in 1969, Feigen launched a class-action suit against the Harvard Club for barring women from membership—spurring the club to admit women just before the case went to trial in the early 1970s.

Around the same time, she and Gloria Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine. Feigen became a founding Director, along with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project. In 1970, Feigen was elected National Legislative Vice President for the National Organization for Women (NOW) where she focused on getting the Equal Rights Amendment passed by the U.S. Senate.

“Brenda has been involved in every major women’s rights issue in modern times—plus she has expanded her interest to not just women’s rights but other rights,” noted Dr. Amy Pullman ’71, chair of the Alumnae/i Recognition Committee of the AAVC Board. “She’s done so much through the years that she could have been honored at any time.”

About Vassar College

Vassar College—based in Poughkeepsie, New York—is a coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college where perspectives cross, ideas intersect, and passion burns bright. Originally founded to provide women an education equal to that once available only to men, Vassar was the first all-women’s college in the nation to become coeducational when it opened its doors to men in 1969. Vassar fosters an intellectual openness and independence in students, who meet each other as equals, and are encouraged to absorb diverse thought and impassioned dialogue that give them the insight and confidence they will need in a complex world where they will make important contributions. Consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country, Vassar is renowned for pioneering achievements in education, for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the beauty of its campus.

Vassar College strives to make its events, performances, and facilities accessible to all. Individuals with disabilities requiring special accommodations must contact the Office of Campus Activities at least 48 hours in advance of an event, Mondays–Fridays, at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available. Detailed information about accessibility to specific campus facilities can be found on the Accessibility and Educational Opportunity website.

The Vassar campus is located at 124 Raymond Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Press Contact

Larry Hertz, lahertz@vassar.edu, 845-518-3098, 845-437-7938 (Vassar College)