Civil rights champion honored with Phillips Award

Atwood took to the Assembly Hall podium and, in an emotion-filled moment, first acknowledged her mother, seated alongside sister Lesley Atwood ’75; P’03 in the front row. With a wavering voice she said, “She, along with my father, taught me from an early age to believe in equality and justice and particularly to value education.”

Atwood continued to speak with passion and purpose to the gathered students, faculty, staff and trustees about the right to vote, the promise of a truly inclusive America and how Exeter prepared her for work as an advocate. “It was at Exeter where I first became politically engaged,” she said. “I learned at Exeter that if you want to act on your most deeply held values and beliefs, nothing has to stand in your way.”

Forging her identity

Atwood arrived at Exeter in 1976 in the middle of her upper year during the Academy’s transition to coeducation. “Being at Exeter in the early years of girl students,” she said, “certainly helped forge my identity as a radical feminist.” Atwood went on to study political science and Spanish, earning a joint degree from Denison University, and, in 1984, graduated from Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. For eight years she worked as a public defender in Keene, New Hampshire, before accepting positions with a policy-level focus.

As New Jersey’s deputy attorney general in the division of civil rights, Atwood helped draft policy to protect battered women, designed anti-bullying initiatives and led community outreach efforts to heighten overall awareness of civil rights. In the late ’90s, while president of NOW New Jersey, she advocated for same-sex marriage. Many called her efforts “crazy,” saying, “Not in our lifetime.” They were wrong. Atwood was instrumental in adding gender identity to New Jersey’s law against discrimination.

After a move to Mississippi, Atwood took up her advocacy work at the Southern Poverty Law Center as director of the Mississippi Youth Justice Project. Her tenacity helped reform the juvenile justice system in the state. One of her biggest accomplishments was forcing the closure of the Columbia Training School, a notorious youth detention facility.

Next, as legal director at the ACLU, she canvassed, ran phone banks, wrote, and spoke on radio shows and at forums in support of many causes, among them racial justice, women’s rights, criminal justice, voter rights, LGBTQ rights, pay equity and free speech.

Heartfelt thanks

Wilson concluded her introduction of Atwood saying, “Your name, ‘Bear,’ is short for ‘Boo Boo Bear,’ a term of endearment coined by your elder sister and now your legal name. When people ask you, “Is your name bear like teddy?” you say, “No, bear like grizzly.” We are ever grateful that you live up to your namesake and never back down from a tough battle. Bear, the world is a freer, more equal and more just place because of you.”

Atwood shared her sincere gratitude for her Exeter experience saying, “At Exeter, I thrived in an environment where you were expected to push back, ask questions and hold true to moral and ethical ideals. This award, forged in the crucible of those ideals, honors the values I learned from Exeter, so thank you.”

She also entreated the students saying: “Voting rights, civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, they’re all connected. Ours is an intersectional struggle. … We all need to learn how to watch for signs that democracy is in peril, but also how to show what’s happening to others.”

The John and Elizabeth Phillips Award was inaugurated in 1965 at the behest of the Academy Trustees and the Executive Committee of the General Alumni Association. Honorees of the award have contributed significantly to the welfare of community, country and/or humanity, beyond volunteer service to the Academy.