Protecting and preserving our environment was an important issue that motivated Madeleine Kunin, Vermont’s first and only female governor, to get involved in politics in the early 1970s.  The women’s movement was another important influence, and Madeleine’s vision was that she would be one among many women to become involved in governing Vermont and the United States.  Today, the environment is still an important issue, and according to Madeleine, women’s involvement in politics should be, too.  In speaking with students at The Renaissance School in Shelburne this past Monday, she pointed out, “About 51% of the people in our country are women.  As a democracy, shouldn’t about 51% of the people in our government be women?”

Throughout her visit, Madeleine asked questions of the students, acknowledging that many of the questions were tough, even for college students.  The fourth, fifth, and sixth graders were eager to respond in this real-life opportunity to use what they learned over the course of the school year, having studied our system of government and the presidential election in the fall.  Madeleine connected her personal experiences with the children’s studies; for instance, comparing the different political offices she held.

“Campaigning to be elected to the state legislature involves campaigning in your own town where people know you, while campaigning for lieutenant governor was more challenging since it is a statewide office.”  She also commented on current events connected with the children’s studies: Obama’s successful presidential campaign—“People are not born great speakers; they can learn to do it”—and the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court—“There are nine justices on the Supreme Court, and all but one of them is a man.   Besides being another woman on the Supreme Court, Sonia would also be the first Hispanic justice.”

Madeleine and her family immigrated to the United States from their native Switzerland when she was 7 years old.  She helped the children to connect with her life story, describing her family’s voyage to the United States on the SS Manhattan—a very crowded boat—and her first taste of American food—apple pie à la mode.  She also told the story of her cousin Irene, who had arrived earlier in the United States and met Madeleine and her family when they arrived.  One of Irene’s first comments was, “Madeleine, you’ve gotta have coils (curls).  All the goils (girls) in America have coils.”

Madeleine’s mother taught her that anything was possible in America.  “When we moved to the United States, this was still the Land of Opportunity.  The only thing we needed to make our dreams come true, and this is still true today, was education.”  Every person has dreams, and for some young girls, participating in traditionally male-dominated sports, such as football, hockey, and baseball, is one of them.  Madeleine encouraged the children to learn about women who have taken on this challenge, like the women portrayed in A League of Their Own, who worked together in the first female professional baseball league.   Madeleine also acknowledged the difference between being allowed—there are no rules excluding women from participating in professional baseball leagues, for example—and being accepted, noting that women have to be strong to handle the teasing.

“One of the great things about this country,” she told the students, “is that once you’re a citizen, you are equal to every other citizen, whether you were born in this country or not.”  This prompted a question from sixth grader Adrian Kelly who asked, “Is it fair that in order to be elected president, a citizen must have been born in the United States?”  While Madeleine acknowledged that a constitutional amendment to remove that requirement would probably be a good thing, she also pointed out that it wouldn’t be easy:  “Our constitution hasn’t been changed much since it was written over 200 years ago, although it has been amended over the years.”  This led to a discussion of citizenship and the right to vote.  Madeleine mentioned both the 15th Amendment, which gave black men the right to vote, and the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.  “When our country started, it was a democracy, but not a democracy for everyone,” she noted.  “One of the great things about our country is that it keeps changing and getting better overall.”

Sam Edwards-Kuhn, a fifth grader, asked Madeleine about the toughest things she had to do in her work.  Madeleine responded, “It’s hardest in times like these, when money is tight, to decide whom to leave out.  You can’t please everyone, and people disagree about lots of issues, so you can’t make everyone happy.”  In her own work, Madeleine approaches these challenges by working to improve people’s lives and to make things better.  She continues to focus on education and environmental issues, and she expresses her hope that our government can move toward reflecting, more equitably, the proportion of women citizens in our country.

At the end of her visit, many of the students approached Madeleine with slips of paper and pens, asking for her autograph.  Madeleine also inscribed two copies of her most recent book, Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, for the children.  When asked what she would remember from Madeleine’s visit, sixth grader Shea Monsey wrote, “I think that Madeleine would want us to remember that you can make a difference if you try.”  Fifth grader Lucy Pappas echoed this sentiment, “I want to remember that Madeleine did something that cleared a path for people to do what they want, without judgment from other people.”