AAUW Dialog

Though Suzanne Cook was never really interested in politics, as the feminist movement was becoming more vocal in the mid-1970s, she knew she wanted to get involved.

Her interest in equality originated with her mother, who was born to French immigrant parents in Providence, Rhode Island. Growing up in a family of 12, Suzanne’s mother quickly noticed that even the smallest bit of housework was left for her, her two sisters, and her mother. She was always vocal when she sensed any inequalities, and, while her siblings grew up and perpetuated marriage gender roles in which the husbands bossed their wives around, her mother rebelled by marrying outside French culture. Although Suzanne’s mother never graduated from college, she always encouraged Suzanne to pursue education herself.

Suzanne followed her mother’s advice and earned a college degree, even though in the early 1970s only about 35 percent of women sought higher education. Suzanne was initially drawn to AAUW because she wanted to socialize with other college-educated women. But, AAUW also fit her thinking as she became more aware of the vast gender inequalities that were perpetuated in American society.

After Suzanne became an AAUW member in 1975, one of her friends persuaded her to join the AAUW Action Fund Capitol Hill Lobby Corps. Suzanne had a four-year-old son at the time and would drop him off at a babysitter. One morning, the babysitter asked Suzanne what she did every Thursday morning. After Suzanne explained the mission of Lobby Corps, the babysitter was so impressed with Suzanne’s work that she insisted on watching her son for free.

One of the most memorable moments of Suzanne’s 31-year involvement with Lobby Corps occurred when she visited former Sen. Hillary Clinton’s office. At the time, Clinton’s office was under construction and Suzanne was standing in a narrow corridor, waiting for a meeting with a legislative assistant, when Clinton came walking down the hallway with four Secret Service agents.

Clinton warmly greeted Suzanne, for they had met several months before at the Women’s National Democratic Club. Suzanne told Clinton about the bill the AAUW was lobbying for that week, and Clinton became excited and expressed support of the bill and told Suzanne that AAUW is a wonderful organization.

Suzanne enjoys her experience with Lobby Corps, not only because of the meaningful work, but also because of the community of women that she has met. She appreciates that every week she gets a partner to lobby with and a briefing, and she especially welcomes the in-depth briefings at the national office with Lisa Maatz.

While many have described the work that Lobby Corps does, Suzanne’s teenage son had an especially unique version. When he realized what his mother did every Thursday morning, he said, “So you do just what you do at home: Nag them to do what you want them to do.”

This post was written by AAUW Public Policy Fellow Eliza Horn. Eliza is a senior at Vanderbilt University, majoring in Law & Social Justice as well as Creative Writing. Eliza works at the Women and Gender Studies Program at Vanderbilt and has organized and presented her research at their annual conference.