By Maggie Russell ’25

The idea of getting to talk to Jane Fonda was in the back of my mind from the start of my Signature project during my senior year. As I have learned more about her career in movies and her political activism, she was someone that I always found interesting (especially given our shared connection to Emma Willard). Never, over the course of all those years, did I imagine that I would get the chance to not only meet her but also speak with her at length, one-on-one. 

My project focused on how students at Emma Willard experienced and perceived historical events while at school. One of the events that I studied was the Vietnam War. While Jane was no longer a student at Emma Willard during the war, her publicity and activism were hard to ignore. My conversation with Jane was greatly inspirational, and we talked about all the things that led Jane to activism.

Every time I talk to alumnae, I am struck by how the Emma experience has changed over the years. One thing about this that really stood out to me when talking to Jane was how she reflected on her time on Mount Ida: she confessed that her appreciation for Emma grew after graduation, whereas my peers and I seemed to see the value in our school while we were students. Even though my graduation was under a year ago, I already understand more of what Jane meant about the post-grad appreciation for all the things I had the privilege of taking advantage of in high school. There are so many elements of the Emma experience that I only really began to understand the specialness of after graduating and starting college.

Having the opportunity to speak with someone whom I have been inspired by for so many years is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I will forever be grateful for it. 

 

 

Maggie:

What is it like for you to be back on Mount Ida now, nearly seven decades later?

Jane:

It is shocking. I mean, if you had told me then that I would be invited even to come back, not just one time, but many times, and to be a Commencement speaker—forget it! But, yes, as I’ve grown older, I think about it all the time. I think about Emma Willard at least once a week or more, remembering the hallways and the dorms and those little rooms with one small bed, one little closet, and one very small desk—period. And I loved it. It wasn’t cool to say you liked it at the time, but I realize now how lucky I was to have come here. It’s great to be back!

Maggie:
Where does Emma Willard School fit into your overarching view of women’s history?

Jane:

Well, let’s start from the beginning: a woman named Emma Hart Willard really had to fight to found this school. The simple fact that it wasn’t considered a necessity for girls to be educated at that time should tell us just how far we’ve come today and how meaningful this school is in that history. Here we are, look at the state-of-the-art science building on this campus of a school for girls and all the myriad other ways we’ve grown since I was here—it’s wonderful, it’s beautiful, it’s profound, and I’m proud. I’m so proud I went here, but I’m also so proud of what’s happening here.

Maggie:

I know that my time at Emma has been influenced by the community that’s here and the diversity of our student population, as well as all the people I’ve met. How important do you think it is to meet people from different backgrounds and walks of life?

Jane:

I want to first relate it back to Emma Willard in my day. We certainly were not diverse at that time—it was a school of white girls and, my very first year, I believe, one of the school’s first Black students lived in Hyphen Hall on my floor. So, I think it’s wonderful that the school has so much diversity and so many international students now. It’s extraordinary because you learn so much from people who come from all over the world. And you can actually live with them and talk to them and find out how their countries work and what their culture is like. I’ve been here just a few hours and met girls from Somalia, from Nigeria, from South and Central America—I mean, it’s just amazing. I wish we’d had that.

Maggie:

I have seen that you really highlight the importance of female friendships in your work and throughout your life; what advice do you have for other Emma students about forming and keeping the kind of friendships that can last a long time?

Jane:

It’s nice to think that they can last a very long time; I had two very close friends and both of them have since passed. If your friends are really there for you, if your friends are women who tell you the truth and who keep you honest and who are good role models for you…there’s nothing more important than that because girls relate to each other differently than boys do and women relate to each other differently than men do. We’re not afraid to say: ‘I’m in trouble, can you help me? I need a hug. I need some advice.’ Men don’t ask for help; they’re too scared it reveals a vulnerability or makes them look ‘unmanly.’

Women aren’t burdened with those kinds of issues. There is a metaphor that men relate, kind of, side by side. Looking out of cars, sitting at sports events—not to say women aren’t doing that, too, mind you—but imagine two men sitting together looking forward. Women sit like this, opposite each other. We’re looking into each other’s eyes. Even if you haven’t seen your friend for years, when you meet again, you drill right down to the soul right away. I had a friend named Carol Bentley, who was my roommate for a couple of those years I was here. And, sometimes, I wouldn’t see her for 15 years. But, when we got together, it was like we’d just go right down to that bedrock soul level and catch up and communicate. And that’s why women live longer than men!

Maggie:

I know a lot about you from your activism and, in that sense, your history of championing many different causes—where did you find that passion and the drive for that kind of work?

Jane:

First off, don’t think if you’re ignorant of a problem, you’re innocent. But, if you know about the problem and you don’t do anything, you’ve become part of the problem. I was not a person who paid attention to things, to problems. I didn’t even know where Vietnam was at the beginning of the war. I would guess most people didn’t know. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want to be put in a position where I had to get involved, but I allowed myself to be ignorant for a long time.

Then, in 1968, there were these American soldiers who had fled Vietnam and they found their way to Paris, where I was living at the time. They had experienced the fighting firsthand and they were against the war. They had no money but they needed help, they needed doctors, they needed clothes. This was right about the time that Barbarella came out, so they found their way to me and they told me about the war. I didn’t believe it. So, they gave me a book (“The Village of Ben Suc”) by Jonathan Schell, and that was it. I realized I was going to have to leave France. I was going to have to leave my husband (French director Roger Vadim). I was going to move home because he wasn’t going to join me in this effort.

And that’s what I did: I became an activist. I helped soldiers who were going to Vietnam or were coming back from war. And when you focus on an issue and really drill down, you begin to learn all these other things. Peeling back the layers of the Vietnam War, I learned about imperialism, about racism, about how patriarchy persists, and what happened to women in Vietnam. It all just blew my mind open. I wanted to leave Hollywood but they told me: “Fonda, we’ve got plenty of volunteers—we don’t have movie stars.” So, I became a full-time activist, part-time movie star.

 

 

Maggie:

That’s very moving for me to hear. I’ve always looked up to you personally for your work in climate justice and feminism—how did those issues become the focus of your activism?

Jane:

There was a chain of causes that led me to climate change. The war ended, and my focus turned to corporate control of government and the economy. By that time, I had also embraced becoming a feminist and so I then focused on empowerment of women. And I ultimately realized the great challenge to us, specifically, to women, is the climate crisis. If we don’t do something about it there will be no future for us.

I read Naomi Klein’s book (This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs. The Climate), and I realized I had a platform, but I wasn’t using it. What should I do? I was depressed, I really was depressed. But her book pointed me in the right direction, and I started to take action. So, I went out and got arrested every Friday! Suddenly, I wasn’t depressed. I was doing something about it.

And, I want to make this point, because it’s really important for you: it was 2018 when I decided to commit everything to the climate crisis, and it was because of a young girl. Greta Thunberg—I’m sure you know who she is—said, “Everyone is looking for hope—look for action.” Hope and optimism are great but what are you doing to make things better? Hope is a muscle like the heart, you have to take the opportunity to exercise it. And, you don’t know for sure that it’s going to work, but the cause is worth fighting for!

Maggie:

My last question for you circles back to your memory of your time at Emma Willard: Revels is such a big tradition here and I know you were a Morris Dancer. What was that like for you?

Jane:

I knew it was an old tradition, but in the years since I’ve come back, I’m surprised by everyone asking me, “What were you during Revels?” It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but I guess it has become a big deal! I think that’s what’s funny about getting older: you look back on experiences you’ve had in a different way and, as I said, I think about my experience at Emma Willard often now because it’s an experience not many people have had. And you realize you were blessed to have these opportunities in life.

You know, I sort of resented certain traditions when I was here—we were required to go to chapel every Sunday, and I resented it. Yet, looking back, I’m grateful now. It was a dedicated period of silence, of reflection, of beautiful music. It all adds up and a lot of things come back to me sitting here in the old chapel, and it’s very inspirational.

My father sent me here; I didn’t have a choice, but thank God he did his research! So, I live in gratitude for Emma Willard and I’m glad that you seem to have an appreciation for this school. We’re very fortunate!

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This article was originally written for the Fall 2025/Winter 2026 edition of Signature magazine.

Interested in experiencing opportunities like Maggie and Jane experienced at Emma Willard? Visit our Signature and Experiential Learning pages to learn more about projects like Maggie's, or contact Admissions today!