The Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice

Shortly after Sissy Farenthold’s death in September 2021, a number of family members and friends approached the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas School of Law, from which Sissy graduated in 1949, to start a memorial fund in her honor. The Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice will celebrate and continue the legacy of one of the Law School's most distinguished alumni by sponsoring cutting edge academic, advocacy, and creative work on a broad range of issues to which she was committed, with a focus on peace, climate and environmental justice, and reproductive and sexual rights.

The Rapoport Center is an ideal home for the fund as it serves as a focal point for critical, interdisciplinary analysis and practice of human rights and social justice. Its aim is to promote the economic and political enfranchisement of marginalized individuals and groups, both locally and globally. It has been centrally involved in preserving Sissy’s legacy by creating a digital archive (including four short films) dedicated to Sissy’s life and career, as well as co-hosting with the Rothko Chapel in Houston an annual lecture in her name. The digital archive can be found at: law.utexas.edu/farenthold/. Please see attachment for additional information on the Rapoport Center and the archive.

Support from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will be instrumental in founding the Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice. The grant will be leveraged to secure additional donations. Funds will be spent on academic and policy research; advocacy; engagement with community partners; creative and artistic production; student internships; visiting lecturers, scholars, and activists; and administrative support for these activities. The fund’s aim is to build collaborative networks for peace and social justice while helping to train the next generation of social justice advocates, with an eye toward benefiting those most negatively impacted–both locally and globally—by conflict, climate change, and racial and gender injustices. We will achieve these results by working closely with University of Texas faculty and staff, students, collaborating universities and organizations, and visiting scholars to ensure proper execution and oversight of all activities under the Sissy Farenthold Fund. All activities will be overseen by the co-directors of the Rapoport Center.