Year in Review: Senator Booker, Representative MacArthur hold discussion with Alice Paul Institute’s Girls Advisory Council
Council members meet year round to advocate on behalf of issues related to women’s equality
The birthplace of Mt. Laurel native and noted suffragist Alice Paul had notable visitors this year when Sen. Cory Booker (D- NJ) and Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) stopped by the Alice Paul Institute in August for a discussion with the organization’s Girls Advisory Council.
The two elected officials took a quick tour of the Alice Paul Institute before engaging in a roundtable discussion with the girls, which focused mainly on the experience of the girls with the Girls Advisory Council, as well as the two officials’ work in Washington, D.C., concerning women’s issues.
According to Kris Meyers, director of programs at The Alice Paul Institute, the Girls Advisory Council has teenage girls meet year round to network with others, attend conferences and workshops and ultimately advocate in the community on behalf of issues related to women’s equality.
The elected officials also had an additional connection to the Alice Paul Institute, as Booker has co-sponsored an act in the U.S. Senate that would posthumously award Alice Paul with the Congressional Medal of Honor, with MacArthur also introducing similar versions of that act in U.S. House of Representatives.
Upon his visit, Booker praised the girls at the Alice Paul Institute for carrying on Paul’s legacy.
“Part of the thing that speaks to me is how you are all are raising the consciousness of others, because most of us are very comfortable where we are, and we don’t think about the injustice in the world until people … call to our consciences,” Booker said during the meeting.
