< Back Steven Arms David and Jan Blittersdorf Frank Bryan Mary Cushman David Marvin Raymond J. McNulty Lindsey Melander Miriam E. Nelson Germain Njila David Perez Andrew Siebengartner Bridget Thabault John Todd Mary C. Watzin Jody Williams		JODY WILLIAMS Class of 1972, College of Arts and Sciences Jody Williams describes the years she attended UVM as “a time of tremendous social upheaval: the war in Vietnam, the re-emergence of the feminist movement, the civil rights movement. All those things, together with a liberal arts background, helped reinforce me as a person who wanted to do different things with my life, but I was totally unclear what those ‘different things’ might be.” She came to Burlington from Brattleboro, Vermont, with the intention of majoring in Spanish and changed majors four times before ending up in psychology. After graduating, she assisted an oral surgeon, taught English as a second language, worked as a temporary secretary, and finally found her calling when she started organizing opposition to U.S. involvement in Central America. This led to her becoming the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which in only six years achieved its goal of an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. For her work Williams was honored as a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Returning to UVM to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1998, she urged graduating seniors to “find what makes a difference for you… Don’t be afraid of your choices. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Have the courage to try to figure out what brings you joy, so through your joy you can bring it to everybody else.” “I always believed that the work we were doing in the ICBL was tremendous,” Williams says. “It still is. The Nobel Prize did not change my perception of that at all. But it certainly did change my access to many things and has helped provide me with an international platform from which to work on many things that concern me about the planet.”