Conservative Icon, Phyllis Schlafly, Recognized with Honorary Degree from Washington University

    WASHINGTON, May 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- Phyllis Schlafly,
 president and founder of the national pro-family organization Eagle Forum,
 will receive an honorary degree today from her alma mater, Washington
 University in St. Louis. Schlafly is best known as America's most
 articulate and successful opponent of the radical feminist movement by
 leading the crusade against the Equal Rights Amendment from 1972 to 1982.
 She is the author of 20 books, including her 1964 best-selling publication,
 A Choice Not an Echo, and she has been widely credited for igniting the
 conservative movement that eventually led to Ronald Reagan's landslide
 victory in 1980. Phyllis, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington
 University, having received her B.A. in Political Science in 1944 and her
 J.D. in 1978, will receive a Doctorate of Humane Letters.
 
     Despite her obvious and impressive success, Washington University's
 decision to honor Phyllis has received the expected feminist backlash, and
 students have vowed to protest at the May 16th commencement. The school's
 Board of Trustees, unmoved by the threats to disrupt the ceremony, defended
 its unanimous decision last week: "Alumna Phyllis Schlafly's articulation
 of her perspectives has been a significant part of American life...serving
 as a lightning rod for vigorous debate on difficult issues where
 differences of opinion are profound and passionate."
 
     "We congratulate our President and Founder, Phyllis, on receiving this
 great honor today," said Eagle Forum Executive Director Jessica Echard.
 "She has been a true pioneer of the conservative and pro-family movements
 over the past 40 years, and we thank Washington University for recognizing
 her extraordinary achievements and her commitment to preserving America as
 a land of individual liberty and respect for the traditional family."
 
     "Phyllis is certainly no stranger to American college campuses," Echard
 said. "She regularly travels the country and speaks to students about
 diverse topics, but we know that this visit to her alma mater today will be
 extra special."
 
     "As a writer for the New York Times Magazine once said, 'Phyllis
 Schlafly has become one of the most relentless and accomplished platform
 debaters of any gender to be found on any side of any issue,'" concluded
 Echard. "Eagle Forum applauds Washington University for upholding the ideal
 that real diversity includes everyone, even conservatives!"
 
 
 

SOURCE Eagle Forum