Shortly after the 1991 Senate Confirmation Hearings, Anita Hill was asked about the correct pronunciation of the word “harassment.”

She responded with, “I would like to pronounce it ‘dead’ by the end of the year.”

And although strides have been made to that end, Hill said sexual harassment is “an ongoing problem and must be addressed as such.”

A crowd of nearly 1,000 people, including Iowa State President Martin Jischke and Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill, filled the Sun Room and South Ballroom of the Memorial Union Monday night as Hill spoke for the Strong-Minded Women Awards.

Dr. Ruth Mandel, holder of the 1997-98 Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics, introduced Hill, saying that after seven years, it remains “increasingly clear that we’re only beginning to deal with sexual harassment.”

Hill agreed, saying progress has been made in the area of protection against harassment, but that there are still many “gross and egregious” occurrences being allowed by society.

“I think we are at a point now in our society where we are missing the point,” she said.

Hill said her progression in research, writing and speaking since the hearings has helped her find her voice about sexual harassment.

“Not only do I feel I have a right to speak about it, I have an obligation to speak about it,” Hill said

Hill said the hearings pitted “race-people” against feminists, so the discussion centered around Clarence Thomas’s race and Hill’s gender, as if “my race didn’t matter, and his gender didn’t matter.”

“[The senators] accepted him as a member of the ‘club,'” she said.

Now, Hill said sexual harassment is still a difficult issue, but an increasing amount of Americans are accepting “cultural excuses” for behavior.

“Sexual harassment is not an easy claim to pursue, against the president or anyone else,” she said, referring to the recent Paula Jones lawsuit against President Bill Clinton.

Hill said the Jones case expresses an incorrect view of sexual harassment.

“People think that is how sexual harassment plays out in the lives of day-to-day women,” she said.

“I am here to tell you that is not the case. Most don’t come out of Washington; most aren’t against the president,” Hill said.

Hill also spoke about issues of race in American society. She referred to an anonymous letter she had received that read minorities and women were responsible for the “ruining” of America.

The letter called for admitting three European immigrants for every one non-European. Although the audience laughed as she read the letter, Hill said she takes these sentiments very seriously when working toward a national conversation on race.

“We can laugh, and we can chuckle about how ludicrous this letter is, but these people have got to participate if this is going to be effective,” she said.

After the hearings were over, Hill said she was characterized as a “traitor to black people,” and to black men in particular.

She said she “realized there was a lot missing of me in the way the story was portrayed.” She discovered that she could not divide herself between her race and her gender.

Hill said she still believes that the law can protect people from harassment and discrimination.

“I have a strong belief in the law and a strong faith in the law,” she said.

“In the American society, the law is our secular gospel. As long as any of our stories are left out [of the law], none of us are safe.”

After years of speaking and reflecting on the hearings, she said she would testify again against Thomas.

“People ask me, ‘Would I do it again?'” she related. “Now I say simply, ‘Yes, I would do it all over again.'”