Rosalie Porter Bestowed Honor of Board Emerita

It is a bittersweet moment as we announce that our longtime ProEnglish board member, Dr. Rosalie Porter is stepping down from her position after twelve years. As a board member, Rosalie brought expert insights to the job, and has been an invaluable advocate for the cause of Official English.

Rosalie arrived in the United States at just six years old, unable to speak a word of English. She went on to become an accomplished author, school district consultant, advisor to Congress, fellow at Harvard University, and held many other esteemed positions throughout her career.

Given her background and expertise in education, Rosalie was a longtime advocate for Official English policies at the state and federal level. Her advocacy work included helping overturn bilingual education programs in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts through referendums, each of which was supported by 60% of the voters.

Rosalie was instrumental in Flores v. Arizona, a successful legal challenge to Arizona’s English education law which was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Rosalie had the privilege of testifying in front of the nations’ highest court and was noted by both Justices Alito and Breyer for her expertise in English language education.

We celebrated Rosalie’s achievements with an award recognizing her extraordinary dedication and unwavering commitment to our cause. Upon leaving, Rosalie reaffirmed the important work being done by ProEnglish. Her full statement is below:

My long association and work on behalf of ProEnglish is a logical extension of my decades-long fight for laws requiring the teaching of the English language to children lacking that language.  What has been accomplished in both areas of official language in this country is of public record.  Going forward, ProEnglish must continue to fight for a national language to be established by legislation.  The greatest of good luck to you in your efforts.

A dozen years on the board provided me with an exemplary experience, the close camaraderie of intelligent, well-informed colleagues from all sorts of backgrounds, personalities, regions of the U.S.  We’ve worked very well together – and we’ve had some fun too. 

Your gift to me this past weekend is of such worth.  Planning an event, months after my retirement from the board, to express your appreciation for my years of work—what a rarity.  I could not have imagined such a thing, nor has my stepping down from other organizations ever elicited such a tribute. 

I thank you sincerely from my heart, board members, Ellen and Stephanie.  You have proven in recent times that the entire crew of ProEnglish is better equipped than ever to carry this essential work forward successfully.”

Rosalie leaves behind a remarkable legacy, and we will miss her unique insights, unparalleled expertise, and unwavering commitment to Official English policies. We wish her all the best in the future.