With the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state being heavily anticipated, many have questioned whether the appointment of women to high government offices will become a growing trend in politics.
Rice will be the second woman to hold this high office behind Madeleine Albright who served under the Clinton administration. Rice, however, will be the first African-American woman to serve in the office.
“A number of glass ceilings have been broken here,” Kirsten Kiledal, director of speech studies, said. “It is no longer an anomaly to have women at high echelons of political power.”
In this particular case, we're moving beyond gender. Previously, we've had a woman and an African-American in the office, but Rice combines these two and breaks a whole new barrier.
In fact, many female graduates of Hillsdale College have transcended the barriers of tradition and gone on to pursue a political career.
Sarah McCollum, a 2004 graduate, is now working in California as legislative assistant in the governor's office of planning and research.
She said that, on the one hand, women have to work hard to prove their professional credibility, but that women are definitely making headway in the political arena.
“We're at the point where women have to work slightly harder and then when you prove that you're credible, you're good to go,” she said.
Current Hillsdale women are also stepping up to the plate in politics with internships and summer jobs.
One example of this is junior Bristen Brickles who held an internship this past summer with Michigan Congressman Candice Miller and worked closely with her to deal with the concerns of her constituents in the 10th Congressional District.
She said that her experience as a woman attempting to break into politics has been a bit intimidating, but that role models such as Miller and Rice have allowed her to overcome any insecurities and pursue her goals.
This semester, junior Katherine Yockey is trying her hand at the political game and is interning in Oklahoma for Congressman Ernest Istook. She has also worked on Michigan Congressman Nick Smith's campaign and recently attended the Inaugural Ball for President Bush.
“I have worked with a lot of people that have been very encouraging to me personally,” she said. “But when I tell them my political aspirations are to be president, that's where I usually lose them.”
According to the most recent Gallup poll (June 2003) on the subject of women's qualifications for president, they have reported that 87 percent of Americans said they would be willing to vote for a woman candidate for president if their party nominated one.
However, this percentage is lower than a 1999 Gallup report that 92 percent of Americans would look favorably on a woman presidential candidate.
Kiledal said she agreed political barriers were breaking in the 21 st century but that tradition still plays an influential role in determining the credibility of a candidate.
This quest for women in high office began long before the past few decades, however. Victoria Claflin Woodhull became the first woman candidate in 1872 when she was nominated by the National Radical Reformers. While her presidential campaign was unsuccessful, she did open the door for later nominations.
In fact, since the 1870's there have been a number of female presidential candidates, including the current whisperings of a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in 2008.
Brickles said she thinks a woman president is a possibility within the century, but she added that she had strong reservations about Hillary Clinton being the first to fill that role.
“It's finding the right woman at the right time,” Kiledal said. “She also has to be against the right candidate. We certainly wouldn't want to choose her simply because she is a woman— that would be just as bad.”