Abigail Disney explores storytelling and structural change at 20th anniversary Gondwe Lecture
Filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney engaged Gettysburg College students in conversations about storytelling, economic inequality, moral courage, and social change during a two-day visit culminating in the 20th anniversary of the Derrick K. Gondwe Memorial Lecture on Social and Economic Justice.
For filmmaker, philanthropist, and activist Abigail Disney, storytelling can do more than illuminate an issue. It can challenge assumptions, foster empathy, and help people imagine—and work toward—a different way forward.
Disney brought that perspective to Gettysburg College during a two-day visit featuring a documentary screening, conversations with students and faculty, and the 20th anniversary of the Derrick K. Gondwe Memorial Lecture on Social and Economic Justice.
The visit invited the campus community to examine economic inequality, human dignity, moral courage, and the relationship between storytelling and structural change.
“When you make a documentary, you have zero expectation anybody will see it,” Disney said. “But it has all my heart because you can move people distances emotionally and morally and spiritually, and that’s why I love doing it.”
Students, faculty, and members of the local community attend the 20th anniversary Gondwe Lecture featuring filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney.
In “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” Disney examines economic inequality through the experiences of Disneyland employees while considering larger questions surrounding corporations, wealth, and workers. Bridget Hallinan ’30, who attended both Disney’s documentary screening and the Gondwe Lecture, was particularly struck by Disney’s message that human worth should not depend on extraordinary achievement.
“At one point, Disney described that the people at Disney World worked hard, but weren’t great innovators or geniuses,” Hallinan recalled. “Yet they were still deserving of human dignity and having their basic necessities met.”
Disney, who won an Emmy for her documentary “The Armor of Light” in 2017, continued the conversation during an Oct. 1 luncheon in the Atrium with students and faculty before delivering the 20th anniversary Gondwe Lecture, “Of Storytelling and Structural Change: Film, Philanthropy, and the Fight for a Fairer Economy” in the newly renovated College Union Building (CUB) Ballroom.
Supported by a generous endowment from the Keefer family, the Gondwe Lecture honors the legacy of Derrick Gondwe. Gondwe was the first Black person to receive tenure and be named full professor at Gettysburg, founded the Africana studies program and International Relations Council at the College, and served as a model and mentor to many younger faculty members. Three generations of the Gondwe family were in attendance at the lecture, with Derrick’s son Jevon offering remarks about his father’s continuing legacy and impact more than two decades after his passing.
Three generations of the Gondwe family attended the 20th anniversary lecture, including Derrick Gondwe’s son Jevon, who offered remarks about his father’s legacy.
Disney carried that legacy of seeking structural and cultural change throughout her visit, encouraging students to question familiar narratives and consider how those narratives shape their understanding of economic and social systems.
“We are where we are because people chose to bring us here,” Disney said. “If you get a critical eye toward something you were accepting all along once, then it’s easier for you to look a little more deeply…toward the accepted narratives.”
“Being willing to speak about injustice and imagine a better world is necessary for change.”
– Tamiah Williams ’28
For Hallinan, who is considering studying public policy, those conversations demonstrated the value of examining complex issues through multiple academic lenses. This year’s special anniversary presentation of the Gondwe Lecture was organized by Africana Studies, Economics, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Cinema and Media Studies departments also sponsored the movie screening and luncheon.
“Having this dialogue about wealth inequality allows students from economics, Africana studies, communications, public policy, women and gender studies, and many other departments to see a new perspective on their studies and on how different disciplines can intersect,” said Hallinan of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Tamiah Williams ’28, a double major in Africana studies and psychology with a minor in educational studies, found particular meaning in Disney’s discussion of moral courage and “moral ambition.”
“Being willing to speak about injustice and imagine a better world is necessary for change,” said Williams of Mount Vernon, New York. “What some people may see as ‘childish’ idealism can be the beginning of meaningful change.”
A Gettysburg College student asks Abigail Disney a question following her presentation at the Gondwe Lecture.
Williams also connected Disney’s message to her own aspirations to work as a psychologist in a school or juvenile detention setting.
“I believe strongly in community, and to me, success means pulling each other up so everyone around me can succeed alongside me,” she said.
Those student reflections embody the continuing purpose of the Gondwe Lecture, which for 20 years has created opportunities for the Gettysburg community to engage questions of social and economic justice from new perspectives.
“Abigail Disney’s visit demonstrated how the lecture can continue Dr. Gondwe’s legacy by encouraging students to question existing systems, engage with difficult issues, and have the courage to imagine and work toward something better,” Williams said.