CONWAY, Ark. (April 18, 2007) – From a workplace smoking ban to the legalization of breastfeeding in Arkansas, two Arkansas lobbyists and former Hendrix College students returned to campus Tuesday, telling students about their experiences and successes as lobbyists in the state legislature.
Rosi Smith ’78 and Erin Vinett ’98 each described to students their approaches toward encouraging the Arkansas General Assembly to pass meaningful legislation. Smith and Vinett were speaking as part of Hendrix College’s new Alumni Doing Democracy program, which brings civically-active alumni back to campus.
Smith, who serves as government relations director for the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, offered the perspective of a full-time career lobbyist. Her work was instrumental in the 2006 passage of a law banning smoking in most workplaces, and she has also campaigned for seat belts, graduated driver’s license and children’s health issues. Smith is a veteran of the political system, having been active in Arkansas and national politics for a number of years.
Vinett, on the other hand, is a full-time public defender, an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas–Little Rock law school, and a mother. She serves as executive director of the Arkansas Breastfeeding Coalition in her spare time. When Vinett’s son Thomas was born 13 months ago, she started to meet many other new mothers, which is what kick-started her unexpected side project.
Vinett started hearing stories of women being asked to leave restaurants for breastfeeding. The quintessential story featured a woman who left her table at a restaurant to go breastfeed in the restroom, she explained. When an employee saw her there, the mother was asked to move into a stall to continue.
“No one was arresting mommas, but Arkansas is one of only a handful of states without protections for breastfeeding written into its indecency laws,” Vinett said.
Last October, Vinett joined the newly-formed breastfeeding coalition, and she soon inherited power. In late March, after six months of hard work, her bill passed unanimously, after a very bumpy ride. Vinett, who would never have guessed a year ago that her life’s course would lead her to lobby in the capitol twice a week, relied heavily on veteran lobbyists like Smith to show her the ropes.
Vinett spoke to current Hendrix students as someone with whom students could identify. But even Smith was a newcomer once. As the program wound down, the two discussed their first impressions of the state governing system.
“It was surprising that state-level democracy is so purely a citizen form of government,” Smith said. “You had to know the issues and talk to them yourself. Very rarely did I deal with staff. It was very close and personal.”
Vinett also emphasized the importance of grassroots campaigning. The Arkansas Breastfeeding Coalition had hundreds of members supporting the legislation, and Vinett encouraged each of them to call and e-mail their legislators.
“The value of constituents’ comments cannot be underestimated,” she said. “Their e-mails gave their legislators an instant education, because many of the men did not have any experience with breastfeeding, except for maybe being breastfed themselves.”
Now that the legislative session is over and her bill has passed, Vinett is enjoying her break from lobbying. But the experience has left her toying with the idea of following in Smith’s footsteps and becoming a professional lobbyist.
“It’s gratifying to feel like I’ve tapped into the public squeamishness to advocate for something that is so essential to our children’s health,” Vinett said. “I thank Hendrix for having prepared me. I left school with a sense of idealism. That’s a gift Hendrix has given me.”
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 150 colleges featured in the 2007 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
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Media contact: Mark Scott, 501-450-1462 or scottm@hendrix.edu