Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 21, 1992 TAG: 9202210182
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IT WAS THE ENDING THAT HURT
Laura Dillard was candid - admittedly so - as she spoke Thursday to a standing-room-only crowd squeezed into the Green Drawing Room at Hollins College.The former press secretary to Gov. Douglas Wilder talked of legislators whose lecherous behavior created a disturbing work environment for women at the state Capitol.
She spoke of Virginia Military Institute's all-male admissions policy becoming an off-limits discussion topic between her and the governor because he "knew where I stood."
And she spoke of her disappointment that Wilder appeared to condone accusations that she was fired from her post for making anti-Semitic, anti-black statements.
Dillard's tone had been fairly general and devoid of any too-personal references - until someone asked what others seemed hesitant to ask.
Can you tell us the real story behind your firing?
Dillard, 26, left the press secretary position last August. Her departure was followed a month later with accusations from a top Wilder aide that she was "dismissed" for making anti-Semitic, anti-black statements.
"Anyone who knew me knew that there was no truth to it," she said. "I will always be disappointed that the governor allowed those comments to stand."
"Racial? When I've given two years of my life to Doug Wilder?" asked Dillard, who was working on her master of divinity degree at Yale University when Wilder tapped her for the press secretary post.
The governor's administration "was not happy" with Dillard for publicly accusing Wilder of putting the commonwealth second to his national ambitions the day before he announced his presidential bid, she said. The timing of Dillard's comments - made at the College of William and Mary, her alma mater - was in part a scheduling coincidence.
The talk had been arranged months before her resignation, she said. She even offered to cancel the talk after her departure became public.
On Sept. 12, Dillard spoke openly at William and Mary, blasting Wilder for not meeting his responsibilities as Virginia's governor.
"I felt I had to be honest," she said Thursday.
Of Wilder, Dillard seemed to choose her words carefully.
"We had a great rapport," she said. "I was grateful for the opportunity I was given. Wilder is good for giving people who don't fit the bill an opportunity."
"I was slightly naive about some things but I've learned from it," said Dillard, now a senior public affairs specialist with a Richmond public relations firm. "I enjoyed my tenure with him. Parts of it I was not pleased with."
"I was disappointed with the way it ended."
Dillard's talk was part of Hollins' Women's Symposium, part of the college's sesquicentennial and Founder's Day celebrations.