October 5, 1979

Actor and activist Jane Fonda ex-’59 and her husband activist Tom Hayden, lectured on “Critical Issues of the 80s” to rally support for the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), a California-based effort—growing eventually to some 25 national chapters—seeking to turn elections at every level toward local concerns and control. Her life as an actress and activist, Fonda told a capacity crowd in the Chapel, “has a lot more meaning than when I was an empty-headed, superficial student at Vassar.” Describing her organization as “a grass roots political organization to generate discussion and controversy about the energy crisis, inflation and the economic problems before us,” Fonda called on students and faculty to get involved in the policy decisions of the college. “Economic demorcracy,” she said, “means citizen (or student) involvement over decisions that effect them.”

Fonda and Hayden were joined by John Hall, founder of the band Orleans, who performed. In 1977 Hall co-founded Musicians United for Safe Energy, and from 2007 until 2011 he represented New York’s 19th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

The Miscellany News