Lisa Madigan '84

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan '84 addressed the Upper School assembly on March 8 as a special guest of the Latin Alliance for Women (LAW).

As an alumna, Madigan's sense of comfort on the Wrigley theatre stage was apparent. She talked about her time at Latin and her experiences growing up in a political Chicago family. Madigan's father, Michael, is the Speaker of the Illinois House if Representatives, a position he has held for nearly 25 years.

After Latin, Lisa went on to Georgetown University in Washington, DC where she said her eyes were truly opened to the meaning of civil service. She was fortunate to work for and with long-time Illinois senator Paul Simon, who she called one of the greatest men she has ever met. He was a great leader, an inspirational governor and someone who really felt it was his job to make the world a better place. She eventually returned to Chicago and got her JD at Loyola.

Madigan also discussed her job responsibilities as the leader of the Attorney General's office. Working with her staff, the Attorney General acts as an advocate to protect consumers, safeguard children and communities, preserve the environment, uphold Illinois’ open government laws and defend the rights of Illinois’ most vulnerable residents. Madigan touched on some of the things she has worked on lately, including improving the sex offender registry, creating the identity theft hotline and prosecuting the Dave Matthews rock band for dumping 800 pounds of waste product out of their tour bus and onto a sightseeing boat on the Chicago River.

In her role as a prosecutor of sex offenders, Madigan is keenly aware of the lure of the Internet. To cover this subject, she showed a clip from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart that mocked the false sense of popularity sites like facebook.com and myspace.com can foster. Madigan's words of wisdom to myspace users...the internet is forever. She warned students that anything and everything they post to the Internet now will be available for eternity to everyone from college admissions officers to job interviewers.

Lisa Madigan and Ingrid Dorer Fitzpatrick

© 2008 The Latin School of Chicago

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