6.9.23

Shocker Lookback: The lasting influence of Gloria Steinem’s 1984 speech at WSU

When Madeline McCullough, ‘86/14, agreed to photograph a forum board lecturer on campus in 1984, she never imagined that 39 years later her images would become a hot commodity.

“I get this email in late March. It’s from the Asia Foundation, and they are going to honor Gloria Steinem at the 2023 Lotus Leadership Awards,” said the senior instructor at the Elliott School of Communication. “They’ve heard from Gloria Steinem’s office that I have photographs of Gloria from back in the day. Would I share some digital images for the gala?”

McCullough was amazed, to say the least. In the nearly four decades since Steinem visited WSU while promoting her book Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellion, McCullough had lived quite a few lives, with Wichita State being the common thread between her past and present.

“I took Gloria’s photos as an undergrad in 1984. Since then, I’ve moved to Missouri and back. I’ve had two children, I’ve gotten married, I’ve gotten divorced. I had a whole career in the advertising industry as a copywriter, and I earned my master’s degree,” she recalls. “I’ve had all these things happen to me that ultimately led me back to WSU.”

McCullough remembers well the political activist’s tour of WSU, from their breakfast at the (now-closed) Brint’s Diner downtown to Steinem’s speech for an overflow audience in Duerksen Hall.

“She packed Wilner Auditorium, and I know not everyone in that audience was a radical feminist,” she said. “When you bring speakers of substance that really give students something to think about, new perspectives, isn’t that what college is all about?”

How the times have changed

Since graduating with her bachelor’s degree, McCullough has seen the university grow, evolve and progress. She recalls a professor from her undergraduate studies, a mentor she “adored,” who told her, “McCullough, you’re a good shooter, but I’ll never have a woman in my photo pool.”

“That’s what Gloria Steinem was talking about. But we didn’t get this far because we waited for someone to offer us opportunities,” said McCullough. “We got here because we fought for them and had leaders like her to tell us that we could.”

Although she never saw herself joining Wichita State as faculty, she jumped on the opportunity when it arose. An Elliott School instructor asked her to pick up a class – just one class – and she was immediately taken with teaching. Her return to campus has been full of surprises, like an organization reaching out three decades later and four states away for her old photographs.

“I used this opportunity to tell my students: Take your undergraduate time seriously,” said McCullough. “Don’t discount the opportunities that come your way, because you just never know when something is going to come back around.”