Today we mourn the passing of Cecile Richards, a longtime advocate for sexual and reproductive rights and friend of the school.
Richards, who led the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund as president for more than a decade, was a tireless defender of abortion rights. She skillfully guided the organization from 2006 to 2018, amid relentless political attacks on reproductive autonomy.
After starting her career as a labor organizer, working with women earning minimum wage, Richards went on to start her own grassroots organizations, and served in the early 2000s as deputy chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
In 2011 and 2012, she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Last year, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom—our nation’s highest civilian honor—by then-President Joseph R. Biden.
At CUNY SPH’s second commencement in 2018, Richards delivered the keynote address and was presented with an honorary doctorate for her relentless, life-long efforts to increase access to affordable reproductive health care and to build a healthier, safer world for women and young people.
During her address, Richards called upon the graduates to keep in mind what first inspired them to enter the field of public health as they advance in their careers.
“You came to CUNY because you chose to apply your brilliance and your energy to public health and there is no more noble and urgent calling,” Richards said that day. “As graduates you are probably all headed into very different careers and futures but you’re united by this important belief … that health care is not a privilege, it is a fundamental human right and we have to stand up for that every single day. We have to hold that truth up because it’s being tested and threatened every single day.
“You’re going to have to create the social change we need and you’re going to have to make some trouble,” Richards added, referencing the title of her New York Times bestselling memoir.
“Today we lost a giant in the arena of reproductive justice and women’s rights,” says CUNY SPH Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. “We were honored to have her as our commencement speaker in 2018 and to celebrate her career with the honorary doctor of science degree. She inspired all in attendance with her rousing call to arms at a time—like today—when reproductive rights were particularly at risk.”
“Cecile embodied what we are seeking to teach our students—integrity, an unwavering commitment to human rights, and strategic leadership,” says Senior Associate Dean Terry McGovern, a longtime friend of Richards. “While Cecile has passed on, her spirit lives on in all we do to counter misogyny and injustice.
Our thoughts are with her husband Kirk; her three children, Daniel, Hannah, and Lily; and her grandson Teddy.