Board Members
Anne Petermann
Co-director of Global Justice Ecology Project based in Hinesburg, Vermont
Anne Petermann has been active in the movement for environmental and social justice since 1989.
Anne speaks at United Nations meetings around the world on the social and environmental dangers of genetically engineered trees and second generation agrofuels and how both will exacerbate climate change. She is also a co-founder of the Durban Group for Climate Justice, a global network of organizations and social movements that campaigns for real action to stop climate catastrophe.
In 2000, she won the Wild Nature Award for Environmental Activist of the Year.
To learn more, visit Global Justice Ecology Project.
Helen Scott
Associate Professor of English, University of Vermont
United Academics: AFT/AAUP
Even before I started working at the University of Vermont in 1999, I had heard about Willard Miller’s principled opposition to imperialist war: I read about his participation in a sit-in against the bombing of Yugoslavia, and I heard many anecdotes from anti-war activists about the radical professor and veteran for peace who taught philosophy at UVM. So I was eager to meet him, and sure enough, during my first semester I found myself sitting next to him at a union-organizing meeting. When I introduced myself as a long time revolutionary socialist, Will expressed delight to have another revolutionary on campus. So began a friendship and alliance that touched me deeply.
As a new, untenured faculty member I was frequently confounded by the fact that many of the union activists were the most vulnerable on campus, particularly adjunct faculty, while often those with more seniority and security stayed quiet. Will was one of the exceptions, and it was so important to us all to have a senior colleague who was always willing to stand up front and speak out. When I learned that his refusal to bow to administrative pressures during his long career at UVM had cost him promotion and pay raises, it made my blood boil. Even more so when students repeatedly told me that he was the best teacher they’d had at UVM, that he had changed their life, that they admired his encyclopedic knowledge and democratic pedagogy, and that they looked to him for ethical as well as intellectual guidance.
In addition to our work on the union, Will and I frequently stood together at local anti-war rallies and other left political events. In September 2001 we spoke together on a panel called “Don’t turn tragedy
into war.” At that time of frenzied propaganda for the “war on terror”, it was deeply reassuring to stand next to Will and to hear his historical overview of US imperialism and resistance to it. I remember at the end of his talk he said something to the effect of “Why can’t we all just get along?” And I thought, as long as there are Will Millers in the world, there is hope for humanity.
I really only started to get to know Will and Ann socially in the last few months of his life. I helped to organize a performance of Howard Zinn’s play Marx in Soho as a tribute to him, and one of my fondest memories is the prolonged standing ovation that Will received from the packed audience that night. When Ann asked me to be on the board of the Will Miller Lecture Series, I was touched and honored. It is a pleasure to work with Ann, Anne, Mike, and Fred in order to continue Will’s lifelong struggle against war and for social justice.
More board member bios coming soon.