Sex Ed Advocate Creates Legacy to Empower Women
Susan Wilson, a women’s rights advocate who worked to combat ignorance about sex, donates $1.3 million to Rutgers
Sex education and women’s rights advocate Susan N. Wilson has been leading a movement for decades to empower college-age women, equip young people with knowledge and challenge ignorance about sex.
“The teen pregnancy rate is at its lowest ever in the United States,” Wilson says. “It takes a lot to make a change like that, but I think more and better comprehensive sex education has played a role.”
Wilson was recently recognized for a $1.3 million pledge she made to Answer, formerly the Rutgers-based New Jersey Network for Family Life Education, which trains teachers and provides school districts with reliable information on sexual health. The money will also endow NEW Leadership New Jersey, a program at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) – part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics – that prepares college women for careers in public leadership.
The program, a free six-day, nonpartisan public leadership Institute offered to 40 women from every academic major at two-and-four-year colleges throughout the state, has been renamed the Susan N. Wilson NEW Leadership New Jersey program.
“I used to think there was only so much one person could do,” CAWP director Debbie Walsh told those attending a recent gathering to honor Wilson. “Then along came Susie Wilson. As a proponent of women’s political equality, a fellow political junkie, a person who cares deeply about young people, and as someone who gave me great advice about how to talk about sex with my own daughters.”
The Susan N. Wilson NEW Leadership New Jersey program will serve as the flagship for partners preparing to launch programs in other states. As part of the institute, the women live with elected leaders, learn important new skills, meet with policy experts, and participate in a public policy action project.Thousands of women have already participated across the country in 25 states that have existing programs, Walsh said.
As a member of the New Jersey State Board of Education in the 1970s, Wilson understood the valuable role that public schools played in reducing sexually transmitted diseases and high teen-pregnancy rates.
She helped board members recognize how effective sex education could prevent, rather than promote, risky sexual behavior. And in 1980, her advocacy resulted in the board’s decision to require the state’s nearly 600 public school districts to provide family-life and sex education.
Wilson continued to champion better sex ed programs in the 1980s as executive coordinator of what is now Answer and founded Sex, Etc., a magazine and website written by teens to give their peers accurate information about sex and relationships, that is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
“As we celebrate this milestone and Susie's generous support, we are reminded of how crucial the support of donors is in continuing our mission of providing and promoting comprehensive sex education,” said Lucinda Holt, Answer’s director of communications. “There is much more work to be done, ensuring that all young people across the country, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, sexual orientation, gender identity or geography, receive high-quality sex education, and we are so appreciative of donors like Susie Wilson who continue to support our work.”