[2] De Rivera and a schoolmate approached Ramona Ripston of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee about the possibility of taking action against Stuyvesant.
[2][3] At the trial de Rivera attracted significant media attention; she was dubbed "a crusader in miniskirts", although she lamented the press emphasis on her appearance and attire.
De Rivera ultimately did not attend Stuyvesant because her family moved out of the city shortly after the trial; however, thirteen girls did enroll at the school in fall 1969 under a quota system.
Despite the discrimination faced by these initial students – including verbal abuse and sexual harassment – over 200 girls enrolled the following year after the quota was removed.
[2][6] During her career she "has practiced medicine at refugee camps in Kenya and with displaced earthquake victims in Haiti, at free clinics and in rural Maine, taking her straightforward, no-nonsense style and medical expertise directly to people who needed help the most".