Controversial former Surgeon General Elders tells Aurora Forum she has no regrets

FRANCINE MILLER

"If I had to do it again, I would do it exactly the same way," declared former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders -- even though she was forced to resign only 15 months after her appointment because of her outspoken views on drugs, abortion and sex education in schools.

Speaking to a full house at Kresge Auditorium on April 14, Elders candidly recalled key moments in her life, both public and private, to moderator LaDoris Cordell, vice provost for campus relations and special counselor to President John Hennessy. The event, part of the Aurora Forum series, was titled "Joycelyn Elders: From Sharecropper's Daughter to Surgeon General."

"I have no regrets that I accepted the post of surgeon general," said Elders, who during her brief stint in the job stirred up much controversy. "In fact, I absolutely did this job as I felt it should be done."

Elders, better known as the "Condom Queen" to her conservative opponents in Congress, spoke about her now-infamous address to the United Nations on World AIDS Day in 1994. Asked if masturbation should be taught in schools as a way to prevent AIDS, Elders replied, "Masturbation is something that is part of human sexuality, and is part of something that perhaps should be taught."

The response proved to be the coup de grâce for her political opponents, who had been pushing for her removal from office, said Elders; President Clinton soon after asked her to resign. She maintains, however, that her remarks were misconstrued as an overt promotion of how-to courses in masturbation rather than advocating an open discussion and education on the subject. The incident, far from leaving Elders jaded, is a continual source of humor for her.

"Well, [masturbation] never got anyone pregnant, it's never given any diseases," said Elders. "And you know you're always having sex with somebody you love," she added, paraphrasing Woody Allen.

Born Minnie Lee Jones in 1933 in Schaal, Ark., Elders grew up in a three-room shack with no running water, broken windows and kerosene lamps. She became interested in public health from an early age -- having seen her mother endure difficult childbirths without medical help and her brother, suffering from a ruptured appendix, forced to ride on the back of a mule for more than 10 miles to reach a doctor. Elders herself never saw a physician before entering college.

At 15, she received a scholarship from the United Methodist Church to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock. Three years later, she entered the Army as a first lieutenant and received training as a physical therapist. Helped by the G.I. Bill, Elders later enrolled in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she earned her medical degree. She developed an expertise in childhood sexual development and in 1978 became a certified pediatric endocrinologist.

From 1988 to 1993, Elders served as director of the Arkansas Department of Health, a position to which she was appointed by then Governor Bill Clinton. Impressed by her work, Clinton nominated Elders as surgeon general in 1993, making her the first African American to hold the post.

During her tenure, Elders placed a priority on health education and universal access to health care. Since then, she said, little has been done to address these issues in a comprehensive manner.

"We do not have a health care system," said Elders, who upon leaving Washington returned to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as professor of pediatrics. "We have a very expensive sick-care system. The sicker you are, the better we doctor you. The only people in America with universal access to health care are the criminals."

The next Aurora Forum is scheduled for May 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium and is free and open to the public. "Public Life in a Wired World" will feature Lawrence Lessig, professor of law and founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, and Pamela Samuelson, co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. Geoffrey Nunberg, a consulting professor of linguistics at Stanford and a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information, will moderate the discussion.