Audrey Bilger

In New Essay, President Bilger Makes the Case for Public Writing In a new essay, President Audrey Bilger makes the case that feminist scholars have a responsibility to expand their writing beyond academic venues and engage with the public in accessible ways. The piece appears in ‘Public Feminisms,’ an open-access book published in April by Lever Press.

There was no script for Audrey Bilger’s career. So she wrote her own.

“College presidents have been described as the ‘narrators-in-chief’ of their institutions,” said University of Virginia alumna Audrey Bilger, who this summer will become the 16th president of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and the first woman to serve in that role. “My background as a scholar of literature and teacher in the classroom will be of enormous assistance to me in telling the impressive story of Reed College,” Bilger wrote in email from the West Coast, where she has mostly lived an

The Reed College Board of Trustees has unanimously appointed Audrey Bilger as the 16th president of Reed College. Bilger is the first woman to be selected for the post. She joins the Reed community from Pomona College, where she served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college and professor of English. Bilger earned an MA and a PhD in English from the University of Virginia and a BA in philosophy from Oklahoma State University. She was a member of the English faculty at Obe

Pomona College 2016 Convocation Address, Bridges Hall of Music

Back in the 1980s, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” filled the airwaves, and its colorful, sassy video rotated almost continuously on MTV. In the song, a rebellious daughter returns home “in the morning light,” having enjoyed a night of “fun,” and expresses her unwillingness to be hidden away from the world by marriage. This catchy tune was the perfect soundtrack to a time when it seemed possible to reject stale ideas about feminine propriety and celebrate a girl’s right to pleasure.

The following review of  All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister appears in the spring 2016 issue of Ms. Subscribe today for more reviews and to read our cover story on Lupita Nyong’o!

In the early 1960s, when Sally Ride was a child, her parents gave her a chemistry set and a subscription to Scientific American. They got her a microscope and a telescope, too, and so, from an early age, she learned to ask questions about the universe and her place within it.

In praise of female friendships. Review of The Social Sex, by Marilyn Yalom and Theresa Donovan Brown.

Instead of viewing each other as opposing sides, both faculty and business officers must come together to participate in budget discussions and help ensure that institutions are operating in ways that are financially sustainable, writes Audrey Bilger. In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article on budget issues, Allison M. Vaillancourt, vice president of human resources and institutional effectiveness at the University of Arizona, Tucson, expressed frustration with faculty members who see

Instead of viewing each other as opposing sides, both faculty and business officers must come together to participate in budget discussions and help ensure that institutions are operating in ways that are financially sustainable.

Amy Schumer has earned mainstream success not in spite of her “unflinching” feminism—but because of it.

To lead effectively, as I have learned from the talented people I encountered this year, you need to commit, to be present, open to possibilities, and fully in the mix. It’s not that different from playing in a band.

Jane Austen would have appreciated Amy Schumer’s blockbuster summer rom-com Trainwreck. With its flawed protagonist, who alternately feels superior to those around her and unworthy of love, the film draws on themes that could have come straight out of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. Like Austen, Schumer knows how to give the people what they want: girl meets boy, conflict and misunderstandings arise, but ultimately romance wins out. Less obviously, both Austen and Schumer share a penchant for feminist comedy that calls into question the traditional premises of the heterosexual love story.

The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality is, as President Obama declared in his remarks following the ruling, “a victory for America.” It’s also a major win for feminism.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the broad question of whether marriage is a constitutionally protected right for same-sex couples, a nationwide victory may be less than two months away.

Incomparable visionary leadership. Dream catcher. Learning to pilot a rocket ship.These colorful phrases were among the taglines suggested for the ACE Fellowship during a panel of former fellows and their mentors at ACE’s 97th Annual Meeting last month.

Smiles, hugs and pride abounded as festivities to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the ACE Fellows Program kicked off on Saturday night at ACE’s 97th Annual Meeting with a sold-out dinner and dance that reunited fellows from classes dating back to the inaugural 1964-65 group.

The ACE Fellows Program can be hard to explain. For anyone interested in taking on the challenges of higher education leadership, it sounds too good to be true.