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MELANNE VERVEER Profile of a Political Activist BY TAMARA STADNYCHENKO Melanne Verveer was born and raised in the coal mining regions of western Pennsylvania, an area rich in the history of early Ukrainian immigration. Of Ukrainian descent herself, Verveer was raised in a home where Ukrainian traditions were maintained; the Ukrainian language, which Verveer understands but does not speak, was the principal language of her parents and grandmother. As a young girl, she attended Transfigura tion Ukrainian Catholic elementary school in Shamokin and St. Mary’s Villa Academy in Sloatsburg, N.Y., a secondary school established and operated by Sisters of the Order of Mary Immaculate — SMI. Following her early education under the supervision of the nuns, she studied languages at Georgetown University in Washing ton, D.C., graduating cum laude in 1966. In 1969, she completed her Master’s degree in Russian studies. Verveer’s early professional activities included tea ching Russian to American students and English to Russian students in the Washington area. During this time, Verveer began working part-time as a community volunteer. Her first major undertaking on the national political scene began in 1972 with the presidential cam paign of Senator George McGovern. McGovern was unsuccessful in his bid for the U.S. presidency, but Melanne Verveer continued working with him until 1975, organizing his campaign archives and cultivating an already strong intrest in issues involving civil liberties and civil rights causes. From 1975 to 1979 Verveer worked for Common Cause, a national grassroots public interest group. In 1980 she was director of cooperative development for the National Consumer Cooperative Bank. In 1981 and 1982 she was chief coordinator for civil rights and urban policy for the U.S. Catholic Conference. As legislative director for Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Ver veer worked on emergency job legislation and on un employment compensation reform. From 1988 to 1993 she was executive vice-president for People for the American Way, an organization founded by Hollywood producer Norman Lear and others concerned by the growing power of an ultra-conservative Moral Majority. In her capacity as executive vice-president for the organization, Verveer was involved in several major civil rights and civil liberties controversies which emerged during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George Bush and worked diligently to oppose Senate confirma tion of Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clar ence Thomas. In 1992 Verveer took a leave of absence from her position at People for the American Way to work on the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. She had met Bill Clinton when both were students at Georgetown Uni versity and had, since that time, become a close per sonal friend of the Clintons. Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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