The Citation for Achievement is given to a person or persons whose work embodies the values and ideals of a Sarah Lawrence education, with the understanding that there is no one yardstick for achievement. This year, Women’s History alumna Carole Artigiani M.A. ’79 received the award for her crucial work as founder and director of Global Kids. The following are Carole’s remarks at the award ceremony.

Thank you, Suzanne (Salter Arkin ’60), for your wonderful introduction and for nominating me.

Thank you, Amy Swerdlow, for supporting the nomination — and all of you for giving me this chance to publicly acknowledge this institution I love.

Had I been given the opportunity to attend SLC as an undergraduate, I probably would have declined. To the 1958 graduates of my Baltimore Catholic girls’ high school, Sarah Lawrence was a dangerous place — a destination — for the weird, wild, and wealthy—and also, I dare say, it was rumored to be a hotbed of Communist radicalism.

I later learned otherwise. I met graduates of SLC, who impressed me as smart, informed, creative, and independent thinkers. They had loved Sarah Lawrence, and I envied them.

By then, I was a suburban mother of two perfect children, but I also had traveled, taught history, marched in civil rights demonstrations, and campaigned against the war in Vietnam. By the early 1970s, I had discovered the women’s movement.

And I had never lost my determination to continue my academic studies in history.

A stroke of luck or destiny?

I saw a small blurb in a local newspaper about SLC’s graduate program in Women’s History. I immediately applied for admission, although I was convinced I would be rejected. I was joyful and surprised — and then thoroughly terrified—when I received my acceptance letter.

I arrived on campus in September 1976.

There was good reason to be terrified. Most of my fellow students were younger, well versed in feminist scholarship, and experienced organizers and activists. When I arrived, the faculty included some of the most esteemed scholars and teachers, activists all, contributing to what later became the field of Women’s Studies. Among them were Sherry Ortner, Phyllis Vine, Grace Paley, Jane Cooper, Alice Kessler-Harris, Amy Swerdlow, and, of course, my don and mentor, Gerda Lerner.

This was one imposing group of powerful women.

But I quickly learned my first lesson about a Sarah Lawrence education. My teachers appreciated my experiences and believed I was a capable and promising student. I was far less sure of myself than they were. I worked hard and thrived under their demanding but nurturing tutelage.

I learned to challenge conventional thinking, respect diverse points of view, pose new questions, analyze primary source documents, and even contribute to the development of new theories and methodologies. I studied and wrote about women activists — women hitherto unknown to historians who had literally changed this country: the women of the suffrage, labor, and birth control movements and the first women to run for office after the vote was won in 1920.

These women, like my teachers and my fellow students, inspired and ultimately challenged me to think about ways I also could make a difference — in the burgeoning academic field of Women’s History and also in the larger world. After earning my degree, I worked at Sarah Lawrence for eight years, coaching graduate students and coordinating campus and community programs focused on women’s issues and needs. It was a dream job.

As a result, I could not have been better prepared for the next phase of my life. I left Sarah Lawrence with the courage to envision and create the organization I now lead — Global Kids — that, like Women’s History, incorporates themes hitherto neglected by the traditional social studies curriculum.

They say that experience is the best teacher.

I experienced SLC as an institution that combined student-centered learning, high expectations, and loving guidance by excellent teachers, all with the obligation to apply one’s knowledge in the service of the larger community. That experience gave me the boldness and the model for the establishment of Global Kids, for which you are honoring me today.

I could never have imagined any of this back in 1976. At times, mine has been a difficult journey. I could not have done this without the support of my friends and my beloved family. (It is not easy liking, let alone living with, someone as driven as I have been over the past 17 years.)

For sure, I would not have known WHAT to do or HOW to do it, had I not had the education and experience I was afforded by Sarah Lawrence College.

Sarah Lawrence changed my life. I wanted that to happen. I was ready in a way I would not have been in 1958.

I am grateful to the college and deeply honored by this recognition.