VCU to host former deputy counsel to president

By Mary Beth Alford

RICHMOND, Va. – In celebration of the 23rd Annual Living the Dream Program and the life of Martin Luther King Jr., Virginia Commonwealth University will host Cheryl D. Mills, former deputy counsel to former President Bill Clinton. Mills, an advocate for equality in education, will discuss King’s lessons and how they still resonate today. Her talk will be offered at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25 at VCU’s Performing Arts Center, 922 Park Ave.

Currently a senior vice president for corporate policy and public programming at Oxygen Media, Mills oversees Oxygen’s public policy, philanthropic and grassroots initiatives and co-directs the firm’s legal and political programming. Mills gained national prominence for her defense of former President Clinton during the 1999 Senate impeachment trial, becoming only the third African-American to speak from the Senate floor. Her presentation was praised by senators from both political parties and described as "very powerful…everyone was riveted."

Mills is the co-founder of DCWorks, a non-profit organization devoted to the academic enrichment and interpersonal development of underprivileged senior high school students of color. DCWorks’ mission is to help these students achieve their dream of a successful four-year college experience and provides financial scholarships to students who have completed the program.

In 1999, she was presented the Susan B. Anthony Achievement Award by former President Clinton, who described her as "[an] eloquent and effective champion of equality in education" and who "has opened the doors of higher education for under-privileged youth."

She received her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford University Law School in 1990, where she was elected to the Law Review. While at Stanford, Mills co-chaired the third National Conference on Women of Color and the Law. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia in 1987, where she received the Arthur "Pete" Gray Award for outstanding leadership, scholarship and contributions to the university community.

Mills currently serves on the Board of the National Partnership for Women and Families, the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, The Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Foundation Board of Trustees. She also serves on the advisory board of Grassroots.com, a non-partisan political information and action Internet site.

The Living the Dream Program, the week leading up to the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., was created as a means to honor the life and teachings of King. Organizations and businesses in the Richmond area sponsor programs that reinforce King’s ideals and principles of justice, equality and self-empowerment. The VCU event is sponsored by the Office of Community Programs. For more information about this and other Living the Dream Program events, call 828-8824.