Hillary Clinton praises strength of Penn women

The first lady spoke to the Trustees Council of Penn Women yesterday. More than 420 lucky students joined the Trustees Council of Penn Women -- and a few dozen reporters -- yesterday to hear an address by first lady Hillary Clinton. Approximately 100 of the students in attendance were specially invited "student leaders," selected by the Office of Student Life, the United Minorities Council and Greek organizations. The other 320 included slightly over one-fourth of the 1,200 students who entered a Connaissance-run ticket lottery last week. Despite the delays caused by Secret Service inspections, the crowd had packed the 900-capacity Zellerbach Theatre by 12:30 p.m. As they waited for Clinton to appear, students chatted excitedly, the Counterparts a cappella group performed and some old friends reunited. While local photojournalists exchanged friendly greetings in the theater's rear, members of the Trustees Council -- which celebrates its 10th anniversary this week -- embraced and caught up on old times. And although Trustees Council members range in age from their late-20s to their mid-70s, many of those in attendance were friends from their college days. Before introducing the guest of honor, 1969 College for Women graduate Terri Gelberg and Midge Rendell, who graduated a year later, noted that they had been roommates and sorority sisters. Clinton's last visit to the University was in 1993, when she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree as Commencement speaker. Yesterday, the pale blue-clad Clinton immediately warmed up to her audience, joking about meeting University President Judith Rodin at "some other Ivy League school" -- Yale, where Rodin was once provost and Clinton attended law school. And she spouted Quakerisms like a regular Penn guru. Clinton began by telling the story of Carrie Bernham Gilmour, the first female graduate of Penn's Law School. Gilmour, who gained admittance in 1881 after repeated attempts, was a model of how women can "chart our own futures," Clinton said, noting that the same message is appropriate to the Trustees Council, which represents 40 different career paths. To laughter and applause, Clinton then informed the audience that she was a big fan of Ben Franklin. "Perhaps he had foresight? that his school would one day educate women, for one of his pseudonyms was a woman's name," she told the audience. "It was 'Silence Dogood'." Beyond being amused by the tongue-in-cheek irony of their University's founder, the audience members were also impressed with Clinton's knowledge of the obscure tale. "Wow, she really did her homework," said Trustees Council member Mary Hadar, assistant managing editor at The Washington Post and a 1965 College of Women graduate. And Allison Cannady-Smith, the event's administrative director, confessed she didn't know all the Penn stories the first lady did. "I can tell you," the 1991 Wharton graduate said. "I didn't provide [Clinton] with half that stuff." After wowing them with her wisdom, Clinton held a question-and-answer session for the large audience. The question topics ranged from phonics to the late Princess Diana -- and as former council chairperson Elsie Sterling Howard marveled, answers were entirely off the cuff. "We said, 'Oh, we'll have the questions written down for you,' and [Clinton] said, 'Absolutely not! Set up the microphones, and whatever the question, I will answer it'," she said.