16 Gender, Power, and Space 18 Paris Pix 22 “Late Bloomers” Reunion in print and online

Summer 2006

The CHANGINGNATURE ofFAMILY TIES

Family Diversity Is Here to Stay

10 The Changing Nature of Family Ties

Family Diversity Is Here to Stay BySusanBushey’96 Whenitcomestofamilies,onesize—ortype—doesn’t

fitall.Thetraditionalmoldofhusband,wife,and2.3kidshasbeenexpandedtoincludeavarietyoffamilystructures,evidentinthesealumnaehouseholds.

16 This Place We Know Mount Holyoke’s Architecture Reflects the

Changing Roles of Women ByEricaC.Winter’92MHC’sbuildingsarenotonlyfunctionalandbeautiful,buteachalsospeaksvolumesabouthowsocietyviewedcollegewomenintheerainwhichitwasbuilt.

18 The “City of Light” in Black and WhiteParis Photographs by Alison Harris ’79ByEmilyHarrisonWeirWalkingsomeeightmilesdailythroughParis,thecitythathasbeenherhomeforyears,AlisonHarris’79hascapturedonfilmacityfewtouristseversee.

22 Much Better Late Than NeverAlumnae Late Bloomers Go Forth SlowlyByMarciaWorth-Baker’88Likefall-blossomingflowers,late-bloomingalumnaepeaklaterthantherest.Thosewhoarriveatacallingorcareernotlate,butlaterthanothers,arevividremindersthatgrowthoccursinallseasons.

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On the Cover

Literally bound by their family “ties” are Lois Farquharson Hayes ’49, husband Charles, son Stuart Chen-Hayes (far right), his partner, Lance, and their son, Kalani.

Photo by Ricardo Barros

Volume90Number2|Summer2006

Managing direCtor oF Print and onLine MagazineS

EmilyHarrisonWeir

StaFF WriterMiekeH.Bomann

CLaSS noteS editorEricaC.Winter’92

deSignerBidwellID­­­

editoriaL aSSiStantAmyL.Cavanaugh’06

Quarterly Committee:LindaGiannasiO’Connell’69,chair;KaraC.Baskin’00,SusanR.Bushey’96,MayaKukes’95,MarissaSaltzman’07,JulieL.Sell’83;MaryGrahamD­­­avis’65,exofficiowithvote;W.RochelleCalhoun’83,exofficiowithoutvote

Quarterly deadlines: MaterialisdueNovember15forthewinterissue,February1forthespringissue,May15forthesummerissue,andAugust15forthefallissue.

IdeasexpressedintheQuarterlyarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficialpositionofeithertheAlumnaeAssociationortheCollege.

Publishedinthespring,summer,fall,andwinterandcopyrighted2006bytheAlumnaeAssociationofMountHolyokeCollege,Inc.PeriodicalspostagepaidatSouthHadley,MA01075andadditionalmailingoffices.PrintedintheUSAbyLanePress,Burlington,Vermont.

TheAlumnaeAssociationofMountHolyokeCollegeisanindependentorganizationthatservesaworldwidenetworkofdiverseindividuals,cultivatesandcelebratesvibrantconnectionsamongallalumnae,fosterslifelonglearningintheliberalartstradition,andfacilitatesopportunitiesforalumnaetoadvancethegoalsandvaluesoftheCollege.

CommentsconcerningtheQuarterlyshouldbesenttoAlumnaeQuarterly,AlumnaeAssociation,50CollegeSt.,SouthHadley,MA01075-1486;tel.413-538-2301;fax413-538-2254;e-mail:eweir@mtholyoke.edu.(413-538-3094,dsharpmtholyoke.eduforclassnotes.)SendaddresschangestoAlumnaeInformationServices(sameaddress;413-538-2303;ais@mtholyoke.edu).Call413-538-2300withgeneralquestionsregardingtheAlumnaeAssociation,orvisitwww.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu.

PoStMaSter:(ISSN0027-2493)(USPS365-280)Pleasesendform3579toMountHolyokeAlumnaeQuarterly,50CollegeSt.,SouthHadley,MA01075-1486.

Viewpoints 2Commentsonrethinkingretirement,Christianvalues,protestingglobalization,andothertopics

Campus Currents 4Commencement,helpforlow-incomestudents,vaudeville,listeningforwomen’spublicvoices,seniorresearchandawards,andmorecampusnews

Alumnae Matters 26Reunions,“AlumnaeinAction”activated,technologytakesreunionglobal,Associationactivitiesoncampusandoff,andalumnaeclubs’news

Off the Shelf 36Booksbyalumnaeonwatergar-dens,signsofdivineintercession,thebusinessofchildcare,valuesinaction,theBronxZoo,poetryaboutconflict,andothertopics

Class Notes 40Newsofyourclassmates,andphotosfromreunion

Bulletin Board 78Announcements,bed-and-break-fastguide,andeducationaltravelopportunities

Last Look 80Sister PowerByPresidentJoanneV.CreightonAschairoftheWomen’sCollegeCoalition,PresidentCreightonishelpingtheorganizationleadthechargeforwomen’seducationworldwide.

departments

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viewpoints

Drop the Banners, Pass the Water [Re/“GlobalOutsourcing,”winter]Iwatchwithdismalcuriosityanti-globalizationprotestersasIhavethosewholamentbeingleftbehindbythedigitaldivide.Coulditbethatbothgroupslacktherequiredvision?OutsourcinghasactuallyrevealedahugebusinessopportunityintheU.S.justwaitingtobetapped.Thereisnowagrowingmarketforjobretrainingwitheasilyidentifiablefieldsontheupandothersthatareclearlybeingshippedoffshore.Whyareprivateplayersnotfillingthisvoid?Coulditbethattheyaretoobusyprotesting?

IworkinHRinthebusi-nessprocessoutsourcing(BPO)industry.Globalizationpaysformybusinesssuits,butmanyyearsagoIspentafewmonthsholedupinanashram,readingreligioustextsandeschewing

Coca-ColabecausewewereagainstwhatglobalizationwasdoingtothefarmersofIndia.WhenIgotintotheBPOindustry,ontheweek-endsIworkedforafounda-tionthatsoughttoprovidecleandrinkingwatertoIndianfarmers.Soonedayonatriptoavillage,Iaskedafarmerifhewouldobjecttoprivateplayersenteringthepotablewaterspaceandpro-vidinghimwithhigh-qualitypotablewaterinexchangeforasmallfee(thusfarhisdrinkingwaterhadbeenfree).Heenthusiasticallywelcomedthisidea,agreeingquicklytothefeeprovideditguaranteedquality.HeneverevennoticedtheCokecaninmyhand.

Jyotsna Singh ’93Bangalore, India

Serving a Changing WorldIwasoffendedandsaddenedbytheletterfromJudithVickersAndrews’68

(winter).IthinkMountHolyokehasdoneanexcel-lentjobofmeeting[theneedsof]today’schangingworldandservingandacknowl-edgingitswide-rangingandvariedcommunity.Iamgreatlydistressedbytheself-righteousandjudgmentaltoneofMs.Andrews’sletter,andoftheChristianRightthathasbecomesoprevalentinoursociety.ItdoesnotreflectChristiantolerance,orMountHolyokevalues,asIunderstandthem.And,bytheway,congratulationsforacknowledgingLyon’sPrideandthelesbiancommunity.Beinggayorlesbianisnomoreachoicethanbeingbornblackorwithblondhairandblueeyes,andlikethesetraits,itisneitherevilnorwrong!

Margaret Norton ’58Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Challenge of Alternative ViewpointsIechothesentimentsofRev.Cressell’01inherrecentletter(spring).Iamaborn-againChristian,andthinkthatMHC’sliberalbiaschallengedmetoexaminemyownfaith,andonlycausedittogrowdeeper.Ienjoyedthevarietyofreligionclassestaughtby

finereligionprofessorslikeJohnGraysonandRobertBerkey(whorecentlypassedaway).AndIbenefitedgreatlyfromtheChristiangroupsoncampus,suchasIntervarsityChristianFel-lowshipandCampusCrusadeforChrist.Ithinkfreedomofreligioniskeytoourcul-tureintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.WeasChristiansshouldnotbeoftheworld,butshouldliveinit,andtherebylearntoshineourLightamongitspeople.

Holly Schabacker Daniel ’85Strongsville, Ohio

Retirement? What a Scandal! Ireadthearticleonretire-ment(“RethinkingRetire-ment,”spring)andrealizedIfitrightin!Iturnsixty-fiveinJuneandamrunning—forthefirsttime—foraseatintheOhioHouseofRepre-sentatives.I’veyettoretire,andworkpart-timefortheMentalHealthAssociationofFranklinCountyandtime-and-a-halfbehindthescenesforcandidates,issues,DemocracyforAmerica,AmericaVotes;younameit.Retirement?Never.

Idecidedtorunforseveralreasons.I’vebeenpreachinggrassroots

We Want to Hear From You!

We love getting mail. Send your thoughts, with your full name, address, and class year, to Mieke H. Bomann, Alumnae Quarterly, 50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075-1486 or mbomann@mtholyoke.edu. We reserve the right to edit let-ters, especially for length (300 words is ideal).

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involvementforthirtyyearsanditwastimeformetopracticewhatIpreached.Andthisisnottheyearinscandal-riddenOhiotoletanyRepublicanstandunchallenged.Twelveyearsofone-partyruleinourstatelegislaturehasresultedinallkindsofproblemsandnegativefirsts:firstinfore-closures,firstinbankrupt-cies,collegetuitionsohighthatwearelosingyoungpeopletootherstates,andthelossofmanufacturingjobswithnoeffectiveplantoreplacethem.Let’snotevenmentionthenumberofpeoplewithouthealthinsurance.

SohereIam,acandidateforthefirsttimeattheripeoldageofalmostsixty-five,readytoknockondoorsandtalktothepeopleofmydistrict.CheckoutmyWebsiteatwww.marianforohio.com.Retirement?Hah!!

Marian Lichtiger Harris ’62 Columbus, Ohio

Serial Careers Are the Way to GoIenjoyed“RethinkingRetirement”butwasaston-ishedandamusedathowyoungmostoftheretireeswhoreportedare.Let’ssee:Iretiredfromteach-

ingin1984,butnotfrommyresearchintheEnglishromanticperiod,fromwhichIretiredin2005withmylastpublicationintheKeats-Shelley Journal.AndalthoughIretiredlastyearastheeditoroftheBeloit Poetry Journal(fiftyyearswasenough),Iremainontheedi-torialboardandstillwriteallthereviews.Intheeightiesandnineties,IhadacareerinartsadministrationfortheMaineArtsCommission,andtheninmyeightiessettledintoalong-postponedcareerasafreelancewriter.

I’mspecializinginmem-oirs,threenowpublishedasarticlesandabookscheduledfor2007.Anotherarticle,onwar,isstillout,andI’mjustfinishingabookonmyexpe-rienceofwilderness.Afteralifetimeofeditingotherpeople’swriting,Ifindtheself-indulgenceofwritingmyownexperienceisenor-mousfun.

Totoday’sstudentsI’dsay:Ifallgoeswellyouwillhavealifespanlongenoughforserialcareers.Keepacquir-ingskillsandconcerns.IfHolyokehasgivenyouwhatitgaveme,youwillbeinca-pableofboredom.Marion Kingston Stocking ’43

Lamoine, Maine

Life’s Expanding Third TrimesterThearticle“RethinkingRetirement”byMaryannTealeSnell’86wasrightonthemark.Iwasdelightedtoseemyquoteincluded;butevenmoreimportantwasthearticle’saffirmationofmybeliefthattheusualnotionofretirementisnotapplicabletoeducatedwomenwhohavehadcreativeandinterestingprofessionallives,asisthecaseformanyMountHolyokegraduates.TheQuarterly isanexcellentsourcefortrackingtheuniquelife-cycleissuesofeducatedcontemporarywomenwholeadthewayinmanyareasthroughouttheirlives.Neitherthepopularpressnortheusualnonfic-tionbooksdoesjusticetothissegmentofourchangingsociety.Thankyou,Mary-ann.Let’shavemoreonthe

lengthening“thirdtrimesteroflife.”

Elinor Miller Greenberg ’53Centennial, Colorado

Making a Difference, Vocationally DonalO’Shea’swordsfromhisconvocationspeech(winter“LastLook”)stirredmyheart.Iwholeheartedlyagreewithhisurgingtofindone’svocation,notjustacareer.Vocationisacall-ing,somethingbiggerthanourselves.AsO’Sheasays:“Vocationsareaboutcare,aboutpassionandexcellence,andaboutservice.”Whenwefindsomethingthatgivesusjoy,thatwearegoodat,andthatservesothers,wecan’thelpbutmakeadifferenceinourcommunitiesandinourworld.

Natalie Baxter Strange ’82Norwich, England

“ When we find something that gives us joy,

that we are good at, and that serves others, we can’t help but make a difference

in our communities and in our world.”

Natalie Baxter Strange ’82Norwich, England

Correction:The spring Quarterly article on board of trustees chair Leslie Anne Miller ’73 contained an error. It should have read that Miller served (not serves) as general counsel for the state of Pennsylvania. We regret the mistake.

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National Book Award winner andprolificauthorJoyceCarolOatesbroughtgraduatingseniorsadoseofrealitytherapyinhercommencementaddressonMay28.ShetoldMHC’s590seniorsthattheysharewithotheryoungpeopleacrossthecountrythe“commonexperienceofcomingofageinaschizoidtime,”inwhichwar,politicalandbusinessscandals,andotherdistressingeventsmustbedealtwithwhileplungingintopostcollegelife.“Sothisisthegreatadventurebeforeyou,establishingthepersonal,moral,intellectual,andspirituallifeinaschizoidtime,”shesaid.

StudentspeakerMollieMcDermott’06echoedOates’scommentsabouttheunpredictabilityofmodernlife.“No

matterhowmuchplanningwedo,nomatterhowwellorganizedweare,wecan’tchangethefactthattomorrowisunpredictable,unrehearsed,andthatmuchofitwillbeoutofourhands,”shenoted.However,sheurgedhersistergraduatestoacceptandembracesuchuncertainties.

Oatesalsoencouragedtheseniorstopressaheaddespitethechallengesawaitingthem.“Thereisanexpecta­tionthatayoungergenerationhastheopportunitytoredeemthecrimesandfailingsoftheireldersandwouldhavethestrengthandidealismtodoso,”shenoted.Doingthiswillrequirefaithinyourselfandpersistence,Oatessaid,citingalitanyoffamousauthorswhostruggledincollegeorendured P

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Joyce Carol Oates Urges Seniors to Rely on Their Own Judgment in a ‘Schizoid Time’

Oates

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repeatedrejectionbutultimatelyachievedliterarysuccess.“Americaisawonderfulcountry,butitsmediafocusuponwinners,stars,andcele­britiesdoesn’treallyprepareusforlivingintheworld…Wemustrelyuponourownjudgmentandourownsenseofself­worth,”shesaid.

Shealsoletseniorsinonalittlesecret:professorsreallydocareabouttheirstudents.“Wenevertellyouthatweactuallyloveyou.It’soneofthosesecretsthat’sembarrassingtoacknowl­edge,butwedoloveourstudents,”shesaid.

Oates,whoisRogerS.BerlindDistinguishedProfessoroftheHumanitiesatPrincetonUniversity,wasawardedanhonorarydoctorateattheMHCcommencementceremonies.SowereKittyEliopoulosKyriacopoulos’45,miningentrepreneurandphilan­thropist;HildaChenApuy’44,aCostaRican­ChinesescholarwhoreceivedCostaRica’shighestculturalawardin2004;EricReeves,professorofEnglishlanguageandliteratureatSmithCollegeandanactivistforhumanrightsinSudan;andEugenieC.Scott,execu­

tivedirectoroftheNationalCenterforScienceEducation.

Inall,590seniorsreceivedbach­elorofartsdegrees,andonemaster’sdegreeandtwenty­onecertificatesforinternationalstudentswereawardedatthe169thannualcommencement.

Grant Will Boost Number of Low-Income Students at MHCMount Holyoke willmarkedlyincreasetheopportunitiesforhigh­achieving,low­incomestudentstoenrollthankstoa$779,000grantfromtheJackKentCookeFoundation.Thegrantwillenablethecollegetoexpanditscommitmenttoenrollingtraditionallyunderrepresentedstudentsfromcom­munitycollegesandtostrengthenitsestablishedpartnershipwithHolyokeCommunityCollege.

“Thisgenerousgrantgoesdirectlytoaddressingthebiggestchallengethatwefaceinhighereducationtoday:accesstotop­qualityeducationforlow­incomestudents,”saidPresidentJoanneV.Creighton.

Beginningthisfall,MHCwillimple­menttheCommunityCollegeTransferInitiative.Thisprogramwillincreaseenrollmentoftransferstudentsfromcom­munitycollegesbytenstudentseveryyearforfouryears,throughenhancedoutreacheffortsatHolyokeCommunityCollegeandotherinstitutions.

Otheraspectsoftheprogramincludecreatingafive­weekquantitativereason­ingcourseforHCCstudents,apeermen­toringprogram,andanoutreachefforttowomenveteransoftheGulf,Iraq,andAfghanistanwarswhowishtocontinuetheireducations.

Ofthenation’sthirtytopliberalartscolleges,MountHolyokehasthesecond­highestpercentage—morethan20per­cent—ofstudentsreceivingPellGrants,federalfundsdesignatedforlow­incomestudents.Onaverage,thereare200communitycollegetransferstudentsatMountHolyoke,representing10percentofthestudentpopulation.ThemajorityenrollintheFrancesPerkinsProgramfornontraditional­agedstudents.

Students’ Civil Liberties Resolution Read in U.S. SenateA student resolutiontoupholdcivillibertiesoncampusinresponsetotheUSAPatriotActwasreadontheflooroftheU.S.SenateinMarchbyWisconsinDemocraticSenatorRussellFeingold,inanticipationofthelaw’srenewal.

TheMHCStudentGovernmentAssociationlastwin­terapprovedtheresolution,proposedbythecollegechapteroftheAmericanCivilLibertiesUnion.Generally,itseekstoprotectthecivilrightsandlibertiesofallMHCstudents,butparticularlythoseofMiddleEastern,Muslim,orSouthAsiandescent.Inpart,itcallsforthecollege’spublicsafetydepartmenttorefusetosearcharesidencewithoutawarrant,andnottohandovertolocalpoliceapersonwhomightlaterbeplacedinfederalcustody.Toreadtheentireresolution,visit www.mtholyoke.edu/org/aclu/resolution.html.Fr

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] NewsbriefsAncient Coins, Darfur Topics of Student Web SitesStudents inProfessorofArtHistoryBettinaA.Bergmann’s300­levelseminarlastfallstudiedancientRomancoinsandhelpedprepareanexhibitfortheMountHolyokeArtMuseum.(“HeadsandTales:PortraitsandPropagandaonClassicalCoins”runsthroughthefall.)StudentsalsoconstructedtheirownmuseumontheWeb.AnyonecanaccessthisnumismatictreasurethankstotheVirtualMuseum,asoftwareprogramthatallowsstudentstoimportscannedimagesandplacethemin“virtual”galleries.Checkouttheexhibitionathttp://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/bbergman/arth310-f05/index.html#.

AmorecontemporaryeventisthetopicofaWebsitecreatedbyRachelM.Sposato’07.Outliningthegeno­cidalkillingsinDarfur,Sudan,forProfessorofPoliticsVincentFerraro’sWorldPoliticsclassin2004,Sposatoneverexpectedtheextraordinaryresponseitreceived.TheU.S.LibraryofCongressrecentlysoughtherper­missiontoincludetheWebsiteinits

collectionofInternetmaterialsrelatedtothecrisisinDarfur.Sposato’ssiteexplainsthehistoryofthegeno­cidesandsharestheexperienceofonewomanfromDarfur.SheisalsoworkingwiththeRedCrosstosetupadonationsystemforvictims.VisitherinsightfulWebsiteathttp://www.mtholyoke.edu/~rmsposat/index.html.

A Life Based on Hope Next year’s“com­monread,”assignedtoallincomingfirst­yearstudents,willbeMountains Beyond Mountains,byTracyKidder,thePulitzerPrize–winningauthor.ThebookisaninspiringchronicleofthelifeofDr.PaulFarmer,Harvardprofessor,MacArthur“geniusgrant”winner,andworld­classRobinHood.Hislifedemonstrateshowradicalchange—specifically,curinginfectiousdiseasesintheworld’smostchallengingplaces,includingHaiti—canoccurifequaldosesofknowledge,unmitigatedpersistence,andhopeareapplied.KidderwillbeoncampusSeptember14tospeakaboutthebook.Incomingstudents,facultymembers,andorientationleaderseachreceiveafreecopyofthebook,whichwillalsobeavailableinthelibrary.Alumnaeclubsareencouragedtoreadthebook,too.

Tidbits• Internationalstudents,studentsstudy­ingforeignlanguages,andfolksjustplaintiredofbroadcastnetworknewscannowaccess sixteen international chan-nelsoncampustelevisionsetswithcableaccess.FromAfricanIndependentTVtoSonyTelevisionAsiatoAlJazeera,it’sacinchtostayintouchwithyourhomecountryorareaofinterest.

• Thisyear’sSallyMontgomeryAward,celebratingcommunity-based learning,waspresentedtoEmilyH.Morgan’06,TracyS.Zhu’08,KristineM.Swann’06,andAileenE.Suzara’06fortheirurbanecologyproject,“TheRighttoBreath:AirQualityMonitoringinHolyoke,Massachusetts.”Theprojectwasinresponsetothehighrateofasthmainthatcity.

• Thestudentnewspaper,The Mount Holyoke News,isnowavailableonline.Checkoutthevoicesoftheseuncommonjournalistsatthemhnews.com.

• TheMHCBoardofTrusteesapproveda 5.1 percent increase in tuition, room, and boardfor2006–07.Theannualtabwillbe$44,120.

• InaMarchop­edpieceintheLos Angeles Times thatwassyndicatedacrossthecountry,PresidentJoanneCreightondiscussedthefailings in standardized test-ingaboveandbeyondtheCollegeBoard’srecentgradingblunder.

• Coincidentally,thecollegehasendeditsfive­year,Mellon­supportedstudyoftheimpactofmakingSATsoptionalinadmission.“Ourresearchconfirmedthatwecanmakegoodadmissiondecisionswhetherornotstudentssubmitstan­dardizedtestscores,”saysJaneBrown,vicepresidentforenrollmentandcollegerelations.“Thereisnomeaningfuldiffer­enceinacademicperformancebetweenstudentswhosubmittedtestscoresandthosewhodidnot.”MHCwillremainSAT­optionalintheadmissionprocess.

Senior Symposium Highlights Diverse Passions Upwards of eighty-fivestudentsfromalldisciplinesshowcasedtheir R

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Association Programs are for Students, TooMore than forty alumnae and 130 seniors gathered in March for the Senior Fair. Alumnae representing various career paths and graduate schools offered seniors advice about job hunting, network-ing, and postgraduation expectations. The Alumnae Association also cosponsors the annual Junior Banquet, the Networking 101 workshop for sophomores, and a special first-year event. The goal of these events is for students to build networking and mentoring relationships with alumnae, says Associate Director of Campus Programs Maya D’Costa, who works with various college offices and class boards to create events relevant to each class’s needs. Students said they enjoyed listening to the different experiences of alumnae and found it reassuring that a Mount Holyoke degree yields so many options.

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 �

intellectualpassions,scholarlyresearch,andindependentprojectsatthefirstannualSeniorSymposiuminApril.Buildingontheideaofpublicpresenta­tionsrequiredofstudentsmajoringinthesciences,thisyear’ssymposiumreflected“thediversityofstudentandfacultyinterestandmirrorsinsmallthescopeofhumanachievementandcuriosity,”saidDonalO’Shea,deanofthefacultyandvicepresidentforacademicaffairs.

Presenterswereallottedfifteenminutestodivulgethewaysinwhichtheirquestions,theories,andconclu­sionsabouttheirprojectsevolvedduringtheacademicyear.OntopicsincludingwaterandforestqualityintheQuabbinReservoir,thevisualacuityofjumpingspiders,andpoetryandliteraryindebt­edness,seniorsnotedwhyandhowtheyhadbeendrawntotheirprojectsandtheinsightsandconclusionstheyhadcometounderstand.

“Iamproudofthesestudents,whohavebuiltuponthevibrantintel­lectualfoundationthatMaryLyonlaidalmost170yearsago,”saidMHCPresidentJoanneV.Creighton.Wellattendedbystudents,parents,andmem­bersofthefaculty,thesymposiumalsoTo

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Center StageWhile the end of senior year may feel like a series of one-liners for many, Biz Wells ’06 spent one of her last weekends as a Mount Holyoke student in an actual vaudeville show.

But this production—Side Dish: A Vaudeville Show—is just part of Wells’s vibrant four-year stint both onstage and backstage at Mount Holyoke. In her time here, Wells has impressed audiences, professors, and fellow students in her quest to plumb the depths of theater and film, both theory and perfor-mance, even going to the other side of the world to do it.

“Biz is highly intelligent, very talented, and a wonderful woman. Hands down, she is one of the most gifted students to come through Mount Holyoke in years,” says Joyce Devlin, professor of theatre arts. The rest of the theatre department agreed, giv-ing Wells (and Kristy Matero ’06) the Genevieve Schmich Memorial Award, for “a senior or seniors whose activi-ties have lent most distinction to the benefit of the college.”

Wells also is interested in film, and graduates with a special major, film studies and theatre. In her junior year, she went to Hyderabad, India, to study the “Bollywood” film industry. Wells was eager to study a vibrant film culture, she says, pointing out that each year India produces three times the number of films produced in the United States.

When asked about her accom-plishments and work while a student here, Wells first suggests that a fellow student, Ryan Berman, get the atten-tion. Wells juggled duties as assistant director of Berman’s one-man show, In-Patient, while she was learning the finer points of clowning in Side Dish. The show gets its name from tradi-tional vaudeville, in which the main acts were called entrées, with smaller acts, or side dishes, serving as bridges between them. Wells is one of three clowns in the show, who do a series of vignettes that all knit together, although there is no official plot, she says.

“This is my first time as an actual clown,” Wells says. Comedy is much harder to do than tragedy, she adds, because “comedy has to be reinvented.” An audience can watch a lovers’ tragedy again and again, “but the banana peel only works three times, and then it’s not funny anymore.” People can with-stand bad drama, she says, but bad comedy “is like death.”

Wells will continue her exploration of theater after graduation when she starts an acting apprenticeship with the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville.—E.C.W.

StudentEdge

Biz Wells ’06 takes center stage in A Murder of Crows.

Immigration StandStudents gathered in support of illegal immigrants on May 1 as part of a national boycott against stricter immigration laws. Some of the estimated 125 rally partici-pants on Skinner Green taped signs to their backs declaring “Immigrants are Humans” and listened to a number of student and faculty speakers.

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Students Earn Prestigious Academic Awards Seven students havewonpresti­giousfellowshipsthisyear,includingJosephineR.Giles’07andCaitlinE.Scott’07,whoareamongthisyear’swinnersofthecovetedGoldwaterScholarship.Theawardisdesignedtoencourageoutstandingstudentstopur­suecareersinmathematics,thenaturalsciences,andengineering.

Giles,aresidentofHouston,Texas,hasbeendoingimmunologyresearchwithSharonA.Stranford,assistantpro­fessorofbiologicalsciences,andplansto

studyimmunologyatthedoctorallevel.Scott,fromMoraga,California,workswithMariaA.Gomez,assistantprofessorofchemistry.Sheisplanninggraduateworkincomputationalchemistry.

VivianeS.Callier’06haswonaChurchillFellowship,oneofonlytenawardedthisyear,andMountHolyoke’sfirstever.ThefellowshipwillallowCalliertostudyatCambridgeUniversity’sChurchillCollegeinEnglandnextyear.SheplanstoreturntoAmericathefollow­ingyearforgraduateschoolinbiology.

MelissaA.Yasinow’06,KatieB.Flachs’06,EdanaA.Kleinhans’03,andLindsayR.Chura’06eachreceivedaFulbrightFellowshiptotravelandworkabroadnextyear.Yasinowplanstoteach

EnglishinSouthKorea.FlachswillgotoCanadatoworkonaprojectinvolvingthedeliveryofhealthservicestoimmigrantgroups.KleinhanswillteachinGermany,andChurawillinvestigatetheroleofdietinrelationtofemaleinfertilityatthereproductiveclinicattheUniversityofAdelaideinSouthAustralia.

SportShortsAlumnae Association Scholar-Athlete AwardField hockeyplayerKatieMarquis’06receivedtheAlumnaeAssociationScholar­AthleteAwardattheannualathleticawardscelebration.Marquis,a

It’s been more than thirty years since women took to the streets demanding equality. But for all the progress since then on the home front and in the workplace, the dearth of women’s public voices remains deafening, says Martha Ackmann, senior lecturer in gender studies. She points to numerous national studies showing that men are still relied

on as sources for news stories twice as often as women. Women make up less than 20 percent of newspaper columnists, and are commentators on Sunday morning news shows only 10 percent of the time.

“There is a culture of expertise that equates wisdom with men,” says Ackmann, who adds that the lack of female voices in public debate ultimately lessens confi-dence in women’s leader-ship abilities. In the next eighteen months, she hopes to help turn the tide. Thanks to a grant

from the National Institute of Technology in Liberal Education, Ackmann has engaged technology experts, faculty, and stu-dents at MHC and four other women’s colleges in developing ways to project the voices of undergraduate women through classes, videoconferences, workshops, and the Internet. Students will create a Web site including podcasts, digital

storytelling, and photography on a wide variety of public-policy matters and current events.

The participation of alumnae whose voices are already part of contemporary public discourse is an integral compo-nent of the project, which includes MHC, Smith, Wellesley, Barnard, and Bryn Mawr colleges. At the March kickoff event, Cassandra L. West ’79, editor of “WomanNews” at the Chicago Tribune, shared her editorial experiences. In a first-year seminar Ackmann taught last fall, Priscilla Painton ’80, executive editor of Time magazine, and Jane “Bambi” Bachman Wulf ’76, chief of reporters, met with students for four hours at Time’s headquarters. “We still live in a world in which gender bias undeniably exists,” says Ackmann. “To present students with these great role models excites and inspires them to speak up.”

This fall, at least three classes at each participating college will devote an assignment to some aspect of Ackmann’s project, and alumnae journalists will present their experiences in January videoconferences. By spring 2007, the student Web site will go live with content from the blogging exercises, course work, and workshops. Ackmann hopes these efforts will result in a permanent institutional collaboration.

Ackmann has focused her academic career on women whose stories have been pushed into the shadows of American history. These include her book on the first women astronaut candidates, The Mercury13, and a new project on female baseball players in the Negro leagues of the 1950s. With her own public voice very much in tune, Ackmann hopes her work will stimulate students to fulfill one of the College’s primary missions—purposeful engagement with the world. Check out her Web site at www.marthaackmann.com. —M.H.B. A

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Martha Ackmann with a few of her intellectual interests.

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acareertotalof77points(34goalsand9assists),rankingherthirdinthecol­legerecordbooks.Shewasatwo­timeNEWMACAll­ConferenceSecondTeamhonoreeanda2005NFHCAAll­RegionSecondTeamselection.Academically,MarquisreceivedtheSarahWillistonScholarAwardin2003,theRobertP.SibleyPrizeforEnglishin2002,andwasnamedtotheNEWMACAcademicAll­ConferenceTeamforthreestraightyears.ShegraduatedwithadoublemajorinEnglishandSpanish.

Spring Sports RoundupAll six spring sportsprogramsearnedpostseasonbidsattheteamorindi­viduallevel.The ridingteamledtheeffortbywinningtheIntercollegiateHorseShowAssociationNationalChampionshipforthethirdtimeinMHChistory.Inindividualcompetition,DanielleJohnson’07walkedawaywiththeWalk­TrotNationalChampiontitle,

andNathalieCooper’06earnedOpenFlatReserveChampionhonors.Thetennisteamearneda5­4springrecord,andtennisplayerAngelaHorner’09wasoneofthirty­twoathletesselectedtocompeteattheNCAADivisionIIISinglesChampionships.Thelacrosseteamendedtheregularseasonwitha7­9recordandupsetWellesleyinthefirstroundoftheNEWMACChampionship,15­8,beforefallingtosecond­seededWheatonCollegeinthesemifinals,12­15.CaitlinTaylor’06wasoneoffortyDivisionIIIlacrosseplayerschosentocompeteintheNorth­SouthSeniorAll­StarGameheldatJohnsHopkinsUniversity.ThecrewteamdefeatednationalqualifierSmithCollegeandplacedsecondattheNEWMACRowingChampionship;fourboatsalsoqualifiedfortheECACDivisionIIIRowingChampionships.Membersofthetrackand fieldteamachievedmanypersonalrecordsthroughouttheseason,andseveralathletesqualifiedforpost­seasoncompetition,includingfiveECACChampionshipbids:GraceZeigler’08inthelongjump,ValerieShepard’06inthe400mhurdles,MeghanLynch’08inthe5k,AnnaZimmerman’09inthe10k,andCharissePickron‘08,JenBourdeau‘08,StephanieAlbero’07,andZeiglerinthe4x100mrelay.

BytheNumbersThe Building Blocks of Learning

We’ve lived in the buildings at Mount Holyoke, studied and learned in them, and told stories about them. To add to your next discussion of campus architecture, here are some facts that may surprise you.

Zero: the number of original architectural plans of the Mandelles still at the college (They were stolen.)

One: the number of locked “ghost rooms” in Wilder. In truth, the room was formerly used for storage and was not a dorm room because of the chimney standing in the middle of it. It’s now closed altogether as repairs continue on Wilder’s roof, which was hit by a falling limb from a beech tree last winter.

Two: the width in inches of the dorm-room walls in Prospect

Eight: the width in inches of the walls in Brigham

Fourteen: the number of towers on campus, at Mary Woolley (four), Abbey Chapel (three), and Mary Lyon, Clapp, Williston Library, Miles-Smith Library, Dwight, Kendade, and Safford

Twenty-six: the number of cement stick figures parading around the Rooke Theatre building façade (above)

Ninety-one: the height in feet of Clapp tower, which also features the campus’s highest classroom, at fifty feet

105: the total number of vertical feet cold water travels between buildings to provide air-conditioning

Countless: the number of burnt bricks, foundation stones, shards of crockery, and other artifacts and remnants remaining from the original Seminary building that are scattered around campus, underground

MHC Faculty Honored for Outstanding WorkFour Mount Holyoke faculty members were honored for outstanding teaching and scholar-ship in April. Carolyn Penney Collette ’67, professor of English language and literature and chair of medieval studies (center right), and Vincent Ferraro, professor of politics (left), received the Mount Holyoke College Faculty Prize for Teaching. Janice Hudgings, associate professor of physics (center left), and Donald Weber, professor of English (right), received the Meribeth E. Cameron Faculty Prize for Scholarship.

Alumnae Association Scholar- Athlete Award winner Kathryn Marquis ’06

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 �

By Susan

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When Meg Soens ’77 graduated, she feared she would never be able to have a family.

Soens was struggling with coming out as a lesbian and because of that, didn’t feel she

would ever fit into the traditional family mold of husband, wife, and 2.3 kids.

Yet today—at least from the outside—her family resembles a very traditional one:

two parents, four kids, and a house in the ’burbs. Though both parents in this family

are women (Soens married Celia d’Oliveira in 2004), their goal is like any family’s: to

enjoy life in a loving, supportive environment while adding something to the world.

Soens found that society, at least in her neck of the woods [Massachusetts], is chang-

ing right alongside her and her family.

The Changing naTure of Family TiesFamily Diversity is here to stay

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 11

Soens isn’t the only alumna for whom the traditional family structure doesn’t quite fit. MHC graduates become mothers at differing ages and choose vary-ing ways of having children. They find themselves, as grandmothers, welcoming their grown children and grandchildren into their homes. You name it and there is bound to be an MHC graduate doing it. In their indi-vidual ways, these graduates have created new family structures that work, and of which they are proud.

Tamsen Schultz Bhachech ’96 had no idea that by her tenth reunion she would be married to a native of India, have two small children, and live with her in-laws. “I thought I would meet someone, probably not have kids, and do the young urban professional thing,” she recalls. “But then I met Navdip and realized I wanted to have his kids … I completely changed.”

“My family is white as white can be, tracing our heritage back to Jamestown in the 1700s,” she says. “My husband came to the US from India fifteen years ago.” Bhachech, a lawyer in Seattle, Washington, says the racial differences have not been a problem with either her or her husband’s family, though she does remember getting “looks” when the couple lived in California. “We’ve been really been lucky in terms of openness of our family. There is definitely a cultural divide, but the underlying thing is we love each other very much and we are committed to being a family and an extended fam-ily. …We have surrounded ourselves

with those who appreciate people for who they are, not what the stereotypes are.”

Bhachech—who comes from a traditional family with married parents and siblings—never thought she could find someone as committed to family as she was. “It’s tough to find that today in the US, but it’s an in-tegral part of Indian culture. We believe in being com-mitted to our family,” she says. That, for her, includes family, friends, and “anyone who would move moun-tains for you and for whom you would do the same.” For Bhachech, the important thing is to remain close, maintaining a built-in support system and network of friends.

According to Danielle A. Bessett ’96, who taught a course on the changing family at MHC this spring, one reason the geography of family is changing so much is that people are living longer. “It’s subtle, but has a great ef-fect on all other trends,” she says. Bessett says everything from the divorce rate to cohabita-tion trends can be traced to longer lives. That

is “transforming the kinds of needs in

terms of care,” she says, especially concerning older folks. Members of the so-called

“sandwich gen-eration,” such as Bhachech, can find themselves not only taking care of

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Meg Soens ‘77 (below, center), wife Celia d’Oliveira, and their children

their children, but also caring for their parents or their spouse’s parents, Bessett says, creating con-stantly changing family structures. “That demo-graphic change often goes unacknowledged.”

It’s evident, though, in the household of Lois Farquharson Hayes ’49. Hayes and her husband Charles, who has Alzheimer’s disease, live in New Jersey with their son Stuart, his partner Lance, and their child Kalani. “When I graduated from Mount Holyoke, I didn’t give [family] a thought,” recalls Hayes. After earning graduate degrees, Hayes taught college and then spent time at home raising two children.

But when her husband became ill about eleven years ago, Hayes, now seventy-eight, decided to move closer to family for support. Stuart and Lance invited her and Charles, now eighty-six, to live with them. “It helps me to have other people around if I need a little help with Charles,” Hayes says.

The family grew still more when Stuart and Lance decided to have a child. Initially they wanted to adopt a Chinese baby, but there was red tape—China has strict policies about same-sex adoptions. Then Stuart’s sister volunteered to be the surrogate mother.

For Hayes, family does not necessarily come with a marriage certificate; it’s what comes with love and commitment. “In our case, not only is there a marriage in my husband and myself, but Stuart and Lance had a commitment ceremony, the equivalent of marriage. And commitment is really the important part,” says Hayes.

Another major impact on the family structure and process, according to sociologist Bessett, is the financial independence of women these days. “Women have always worked, but the number of women with children who work has tripled since the 1950s, so that has given women a lot greater independence economically,” she says. Bessett says that financial independence has made it possible for women to divorce and afford life after marriage, as well as adopt or have children on their own. More and more women can afford to survive without a male to take care of them, she says.

Mona C. Bernstein ’74 is one of this new breed. The San Francisco Bay Area resident is a single mother by choice. Nine years ago, at age forty-five, she participated in an open adoption. “I was able to be at his birth,” she says of her son Ethan, whose birth mother is Mexican-American. “Adoption is very different now. Open adoptions are designed to avoid stigma and secrecy [and to provide] some kind of community for us,” she says, adding that the adoptive and birth families work out their level of contact and involvement together.

Family TrendsDanielle a. BeSSett ’96, now a visiting assistant professor at Williams College, notes some trends related to families over the past several decades, according to the US Census’s 2003 and 2004 current population surveys.

• growing numbers of educated women are delaying childbirth

• an overall drop in the number of children per family

• a growing number of cohabitors (although most people still marry at some time in their lives)

• more moms working outside the home

• a rise in nonmarital childbearing (although married-couple families still account for about 68 percent of all families with children)

• a rise in single-parent families

• extended kin are still most likely to provide care for children when parents work

• women are still disproportionately responsible for childraising and household labor

• a drop in childbearing by teenagers

She adds, “Despite [having] fewer children and more hours of paid employment, both mothers and fathers spend more time with their children now than in the 1950s, reflecting what we call intensive parenting. Basically, standards of parenting have risen since the 1950s, though it runs contrary to everything we think we know about our nostalgic past.”

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Bernstein says her family now is the best part of her life, even if it does keep her busy 24/7. “My decision to adopt was the best thing I have ever done,” she maintains. But much like her fellow alumnae in nontraditional families, Bern-stein says her life is not without challenges. “Anybody who is a

working parent, with a full-time job with some travel, juggles a

tremendous number of tasks. If I have a trip, I have to arrange baby-sitting. If he has to go somewhere or must be picked up early, I have to make arrangements while fulfilling my responsibilities at work. I work a mad dash to get to the after-school [program] before it closes at six. Then it’s dinner, the dog, and bedtime. There is no sitting down, no personal time,” she explains. Bernstein’s own family has been a help, though. “My family was great—totally open, accepting, and sup-portive,” she says.

Though most people in the Bay Area understand her situation, some don’t get it. “When you say single, people assume there’s a divorced dad somewhere. I ex-plain that we started this way,” Bernstein says. “I live here for a reason. A lot of our good friends’ families look like our family. Many are interracial, transcul-tural, lesbian moms, or other single-mom families. And there is the occasional heterosexual nuclear family,” she says.

To her, family is about relationships and security. “Family is the everydayness, not the special occasions and treats,” she says. “We are very fortunate to live in an age where there’s a lot of choice. Thirty years ago I would never have been able to do this. I hope people understand and appreciate the choices we have.”

Bernstein is teaching her son that it is OK to be dif-ferent, something Bessett says many try to minimize. “Difference is not inherently a bad thing,” Bessett explains. “Some liberal scholars try to show differences are minimal, but that’s not intellectually honest, and it’s selling diversity short.”

Mildred Moore Rust MA’52 grew up in a “very traditional” white family, but has seen her own family

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Tamsen Schultz Bhachech ’96 and husband Navdip live with their sons Liam and Rai, and Navdip’s parents Amita and Snehit, in Bellevue, Washington.

structure evolve over time. Rust lived with her forty-seven-year-old daughter, and her daughter’s three adopted African American children and one birth son, until moving recently to an assisted-living facility. She had her concept of family broadened in the 1980s. The divorced mother of two—one lesbian daughter with a partner and four children, and one bisexual daughter married to a man and childless by choice but “very bonded with their dogs”—says when her daughters “came out” to her in the ’80s, she never thought twice about accepting it. Rust defines family as “one or more adults living with one or more children who they re-ally care for. I would extend that because I think my other daughter has a family with her dogs.”

Sociologist Bessett notes that, even when individu-als are open to nontraditional family arrangements, the government may not be. “We have a greater awareness of diversity of family forms, but there is still such a lack of institutional support for nontraditional fami-lies,” Bessett says. This absence of societal and legal sanction can make life more complicated for any family outside the norm—including gay and lesbian parents, older mothers, single parents, and those wanting to build families by adoption.

Jamie B. Kotch ’74 and husband James adopted a baby from Siberia when Kotch was just shy of her fiftieth birthday. “I pushed Deena in a stroller in the alumnae parade at my thirtieth reunion, shocking my classmates, I’m sure, many of whom had college-age kids,” she recalls. Amy Trabitz Charness ’82 also en-tered the parenting game later than most by adopting two babies from Russia when she was forty-four. Now nearing her half-century mark, she and husband Neal find themselves chasing two-year-olds while manag-ing careers. International adoption “wasn’t the easiest road, but what a joy it is having two little ones,” she says. “It’s not always so easy managing two careers, the financial changes, not to mention all of a sudden having our lives being run by the children, but we’re finding our way through the challenges,” she explains.

Kim Allard ’91 also knows the ups and downs of parenthood. She lives with her partner, Heather, and fifteen-month-old daughter Vivian just outside San Jose. When they were deciding whether to have kids, Allard wondered how her traditional nuclear family, and Heather’s family, “would take it when we said

we were going to have a child, but our siblings and parents were excited for us,” she says. “We’ve thought about what difficulties the child might have with having two moms, and took steps legally to protect ourselves,” she says.

Now that Vivian is in their lives, Allard says she worries less about what society thinks and more about little things, such as how to get Vivian to sleep through the night. “But I also think about the challenges of rais-ing any girl with the political climate in the country. How do we teach her to take care of herself and keep herself safe, while also teaching her to trust people?”

Allard says that their family structure makes them ponder matters such as how Vivian and her moms would be received at day care, and where they would move if they leave the area. “Most of the time I’d like to think [we’re living in an open society]. But, sometimes I am reminded I live in a liberal bubble,” she says.

For Allard, and many others in nontraditional fami-lies of various kinds, one question keeps coming up. Bessett asked it this way: “How come social institutions can’t catch up to the ways people are leading their lives? Family diversity is here to stay, so how can we help these families succeed?”

Susan�Bushey�’96�is�the�editor�of�the�Lexington Minute-man�and�Burlington Union�newspapers.

Web exTrasFor more alumnae experiences, census data on changing families, and books on the topic, see alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/families.

Mona C. Bernstein ’74 and son Ethan live in Berkeley, California.

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Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 15

M o u n t H o l y o k e ’s A r c h i t e c t u r e R e v e a l s t h e C h a n g i n g R o l e s o f W o m e n B y E R i C A C . W i n t E R ’ 9 2

The Mount Holyoke community has always been transfixed by its own campus. Many decide to attend, then visit again and again over the decades, just to be here, in this place. But the buildings provide

more than shelter; they’re also clues to the changing views of women’s roles in society.Jennifer E. Gieseking ’99, who is pursuing her PhD in environmental psychology at The Gradu-ate Center, City University of New York, spent last summer in MHC’s Facilities Management building doing something no one had ever done before. With a fellowship from the Alumnae Association, Gieseking went through every architectural plan available for MHC buildings, and cataloged all 35,000 records for the college archives.

That project was the launch pad for Gieseking’s academic exploration of the mean-ings of architecture on the Mount Holyoke campus. She looked at how the architecture of campus buildings reflects the social norms of their time, and what the buildings reveal about perceptions of women and their power.

T h i s P l a c e W e K n o W

Jennifer E. Gieseking ’99 is studying how MHC’s architecture reflects changing social norms, and what the buildings reveal about perceptions of women and their power.

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“We live in architecture; it’s a tremen-dously important part of our lives,” says Michael Davis, professor of art and director of the architectural studies program. While a building’s impact may not be planned con-sciously, its physical shape and style “do not happen at random,” he says. Architecture both reflects and shapes society; studying it can tell much about the people who have been in a place.

c amPu s a s a s y l um and h o u s eAs the first to set up an institution of higher learning for women, Mary Lyon had to set her own architectural precedents. The school had to have credibility, but it also had to have desirability—parents had to feel confident sending their daughters to Mount Holyoke.

The architectural plan for the Mount Holyoke Seminary had the floor plan of an asylum and the exterior of a house, Gieseking says. It was aimed at keeping occupants safe and controlled. Professors lived with stu-dents, and every moment of student life was regulated. In this building, students could never close their doors, except at prayer time. No dating was allowed. In 1837, parents could rest assured that their daughters would be very closely watched.

c amPu s a s e u r o - s T y l e P a l a c e o f l e a r n i n gAfter an 1896 fire destroyed the original buildings, the oldest buildings on the con-temporary campus were put up fast. Mary Lyon, Brigham, Safford, Porter, Pearsons, and the original Rockefeller Hall rose just one year later.

The 1897 academic buildings referred architecturally to European structures of learning and status. The library’s medieval-style reading room is the most direct citation of another space, says Davis. “It is a good copy of the great hall at London’s Palace of Westminster.” The library, then, “becomes a kind of palace,” reflecting MHC’s emphasis on academic achievement for women.

In Safford, adds Gieseking, division of space reflects the era’s academic and so-cial messages about women. Student rooms were called “studies”—indicating emphasis on academics, not social life—and men couldn’t venture beyond the parlor. House-mothers were there to maintain a family

atmosphere, oversee meals, and watch who came and went.

The dorms—through the 1920s with construction of the Mandelles and the (new) Rockies—look like European manor houses. They are no longer designed to keep women in and the world out; they are now, as the architectural plans refer to them, “cottages.”

Overall, the ivy-covered brick architec-ture was saying, this is space for serious, high-level academics, notes Gieseking. It is solidly rooted in European dignity and status, but the students were also “domes-tic creatures to be carefully watched and protected.”

c amPu s a s d emocr a T i c s P a c eStarting in the 1940s, modernism in campus architecture brought not only flat roofs, but also the idea that if people’s built environ-ment were rationalized, regularized, and equalized, it would lead to more equality and democracy for residents, explains Davis. The newer dorms—Ham, Torrey, and 1837 for ex-ample—reflect this idea. Each student gets “the same room, essentially,” he says.

In Torrey, the housemother’s space was not as central, less of a watch-post, notes Gieseking. Students continued “sitting bells,” and slowly gained more responsibility for overseeing one another. The underlying mes-sage? You can date without being directly supervised; you should continue to meet men, spend time together, and get married. (As the opening page of the 1958 Llamarada urged, students could change the world “as wives and mothers.”)

As always, respectability was key. Alum-nae recall a set of rules called “parietals” that regulated dating with edicts such as no men in students’ rooms or above the first floor, and a “one-foot-on-the-floor” rule for entertaining dates. Torrey’s construction in 1949 reflected increased freedom for “the new woman” in the post–World War II era, though they were still urged to make soci-etally supported choices.

c amPu s a s h a v e n f o r i n d e P e n d e n T WomenFast-forward to the 1967 building of Mac-Gregor, which has a space specifically called “the date room” in the architectural plans. This was the beginning of the end

of parietals. And other changes for which students agitated gave women almost total control of their own social lives for the first time. Students with top grades were allowed keys to come and go on their own; the formidable housemothers of old were about to become history.

New buildings from the late 1940s to the 1970s were meant to be a comment on and a change from older campus architec-ture. They were intended to show Mount Holyoke as a modern school, educating modern women and advancing with the changing times. The most recent campus buildings do not refer to external great-ness, as the reading room in the library does, nor do they reach out to the chang-ing modern world. Instead, they refer to older campus buildings while remaining thoroughly modern.

The design of Kendade, the new sci-ence building, agrees Davis, refers to older buildings around it (Clapp and the library) by incorporating brick and slate, a high-pitched roof, dormer windows, and a tower. Archi-tects planned a proposed new dorm, with construction set to start in fall 2006 next to Pratt Hall, by looking at details from the old-est dorms on campus.

Student life continues to change, too, Gieseking says. By the mid-1990s, “no one knew what the bell-deskers did besides chat and do homework,” and the position were eliminated. Head residents, too—the more modern versions of housemothers—morphed into “ADs,” three assistant directors who supervise groups of dorms.

Even as things evolve, Mount Holyoke never loses its history, architecturally or otherwise, says Gieseking. “We are constantly remembering where we came from. The entire campus is an archive; you just have to go and look.”

Erica C. Winter ’92 is the Quarterly’s class notes editor.

Web exTraGieseking made a half-hour presentation at MHC on this topic earlier this year. To listen, go to alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/gieseking

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 17

“I love to walk and that’s how I exercise and relax,” she explains. “I walk about eight miles every day.” With camera in hand and with “no plan other than always be-ing on the lookout for a possible photo,” Harris estimates she’s walked some 46,000 miles through the city from her home in the Marais district. Thirty images, chosen from thousands of Paris photos shot over the past sixteen years, grace Paris, Paris: Journey Into the City of Light, written by Harris’s husband, David Downie.

Why choose black and white for a city bursting with color? “Sometimes I feel I’m walking a mental tightrope shooting black-and-white film in an age where we are saturated by color,” Harris admits, but says she likes “the ‘once-removed’ quality you have when viewing a black-and-white shot. It imposes a certain detachment.”

With iconic images of Paris by photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, and others in the back of her mind, Harris is challenged to see the city anew. ”I tend to photograph fragments of the city that move me, either because they are views of something from the past and will soon disappear, because they’re a juxtaposition that allows me to wonder and daydream for a brief moment, or [because] a formal composition catches my eye,” she says.

Harris holds dual French/American citizenship, spent her formative years in France and Italy, and continues

to split her time between those countries, with frequent jaunts to the United States. “The mixed background probably has influenced the way I look at Paris and may be at the root of my interest in exploring issues of iden-tity,” she says. Many of her photos “try to pinpoint traits that are distinctively French.”

Now that Paris, Paris is published, Harris and Downie are onto their fourth joint book project, strid-ing across Burgundy on a three-month walk she terms a “skeptical pilgrimage from Paris to the Pyrénées.” But then they’ll head home to the place Downie describes as “the kind of city butterfly catchers have trouble net-ting, tacking down, and studying. Like all great cities and yet unlike any other, [Paris] is alive and fluttering, it changes with the light, buffeted by the Seine-basin breezes. This place called Paris is at once the City of Light that inhabits literature and film, an imagined land, a distant view through shifting, misty lenses, and a vibrant world where a kaleidoscope of millions seems bent on the grand conspiracy to enjoy life.” And Harris will be back at the unending job—and joy—of trying to capture the city’s many moods on film.

You can see more of Harris’s work at www.alison harris.com or—through August—in Chicago’s FlatFile Galleries.

—Emily Harrison Weir

The ‘City of Light’ in Black & White

Alison Harris ’79 travels the world as a professional photogra-

pher, and her camera has captured everything from Sophia

Loren’s luminous smile to the sheen of succulent shrimp. But

when not on assignment, she loves to wander the boulevards

and back streets of her home for the past three decades, Paris.

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Statue and reflections, 1997

All photographs appear in the book Paris, Paris: Journey Into the City of Light, written by Harris’s husband, David Downie.

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1 Louvre, Pyramid, 1989 “I took this shot soon after the inauguration of I.M. Pei’s Louvre pyramid in 1989. Water, glass, and light came together, turning the Louvre courtyard into a disorienting dreamscape. The human figure gives an element of scale.”

2 Train Bleu Restaurant, 2005 “The Train Bleu restaurant has a stunning Belle Epoque décor. Seeing the chair at an angle picked out by the late afternoon light was all the animation I needed to take this shot.”

3 View from Marais Window, Footprints in the Snow, 2005 “I live in the Marais not far from Place des Vosges. This was shot from my bedroom window, and for me, it is an intimate photograph of a very familiar view made strange with the unexpected snowfall and play of footprints.”

4 Ile-Saint-Louis, 1990

5 Tango by the Seine, 2004 “In summer, couples often gather by the Seine to dance the tango. A river cruise boat (bateau mouche) sailed by, briefly illuminating the dancers. Their movements, and the figures of the couple in the left-hand corner, is what initially made me stop and look at the scene.”

6 Couple and Graffiti Face, 1993

7 Le P’tit Bar, 1997 “Wandering around Paris, you often stum-ble across time-warp scenes such as this working-class café which now has a trendy clientele.”

8 Coiffure pour [D]ames “The “D” in Coiffeur Pour [D]ames is missing, which gives a surreal twist to the image and turns the shop front [from a “hairdresser for women”] into a “hair-dresser for souls.”

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At age fifty, Rosamond (Roddy) Pratt Mack ’63 reinvented herself as a cross-cultural art his-torian. Shown here at the National Gallery of Art, where she is a consultant, Mack examines Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers by Sebastiano del Piombo. S

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Much Better Late Than Never alumnae

late bloomers go forth slowly

like fall-blossoming flowers, late-blooming alumnae peak

later than the rest. Those who arrive at a calling or career not

late (“It’s never too late,” says Fran Gardner ’88, MAT’90)—but

later than others—are vivid reminders that growth occurs in all

seasons. Joan Message Barbuto ’53 was a middle-school teacher,

full-time mother, college instructor, then local reporter, feature

writer, and medical reporter for the New Haven Register. All this was before becoming,

in her mid-fifties, an advocate for high-school programs that teach students the basics of

child safety and development and parenting skills. Even then, Barbuto hadn’t reached

a final stop on the career path. She recently published God Is With Us: Signs in Our Lives

and has written a novel set in ancient Greece. “I guess this means that, at age seventy-

three, writing is my final career,” says Barbuto. “But who knows?”

If anything is typical of late-blooming alumnae, it is Barbuto’s sense of journeying

through life to a destination still unknown. Rosamond (Roddy) Pratt Mack ’63

planned a career teaching at a university or museum. Instead, Mack spent fifteen

years on a literal journey, traveling with her family to the Middle East, North

Africa, and the Gulf, before her husband’s job landed her in Washington, D.C.

By Marcia Worth-Baker ’88

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Gwendolyn McGregor-Hendrix Scherer FP’95, shown here with her own artworks, graduated from MHC at forty-four and now teaches art history and studio art at Palomar College in California.

Left: After many years of struggle, Susan “Sudy” Smith McLaren ’62 found her path as a healer.

Right: Formerly a self-described “technical geek,” Anne Webster Leight ’77 is now a “master bander” of birds. She’s shown here releasing a hermit thrush after banding it.To

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“Idecided(atthemellowageoffifty)toretoolmyselfasacross-culturalarthistorian,specializinginartisticcon-tactsbetweenItalyandtheIslamicworldduringthelateMiddleAgesandtheRenais-

sance,”sheexplains.Atagesixty,MackpublishedBazaar

to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art 1300–1600.Sincethen,

hercareerhascontinuedtoevolve.“Iguest-lectureonsmallluxurycruises.

Icontinuetodoresearchandwriting.IamalsoaconsultanttotheNationalGalleryofArt.”Her

life’sworkishardlywhatshepredicted,butMacksays,“Ihavetakenaseriesofrisks,sometimesnotwell-informedbutnotreckless,”andtheyhavepaidoff.

this is it“Moreandmorepeopleareperformingsecond,third,andevenfourthacts”intheircareers,saysBarbaraMoses,aNorthAmericanleaderincareerself-managementwhospecializesin“midliferejuvenation.”TheauthorofWomen Confidential:

Midlife Women Explode the Myths of Having It Allnotesthatmanypeopleatmidlifeareaskingthesequestions:HowdoIwanttospendthenexttwentyyears,andwhatreallymatterstomenow?Forsomefortunatelatebloomers,theanswerar-rivesdecisively.

NewlyordainedEpiscopaldeaconFranGardnerspenttheyearsaftergraduationworkingasamuseumeducator,ateacher,abookstoremanager,andasanactivevolunteer.Then,Gard-nerrecalls,“Inthesameweek,twofriendsaskedwhenIwasplanningtogotoseminary.”Ayearandhalflater,Gardnerwasafull-timedivinitystudent.“IassumedthatIwouldtakeonatraditionalparishministry,”saysGardner,untilshevisiteda“localsharedministry”whereoneclergymemberservesseveralchurches.“Thisisit,”Gardnerrecallssayingaloud.“ThisiswhatIwanttodo.ThisiswhatIwasmeanttodo.”Gardnerbe-ganherpreachingcareerthispastsummerandwillbeordainedapriestthisfall.“IhaveafeelingthatIwilldothisinsomewayoranotherforalongtime,”shesays.“Ofcourse,IcanalwayscountontheHolySpirittomixitupalittlebit.”

WhatGardnercalledthe“ahamoment”tookKristinO.Prien’77bysurprise.Aftergraduatingwithadegreeinme-dievalstudies,sheearnedanMBAandeventuallyenteredaPh.D.programinmanagement.Sheworkedinhuman-resourcemanagement,bothcorporateandforasmallregionalconsult-ingfirm.Aspartofhergraduatestudies,shesays,“inthefallof1994,Iwalkedintoaclassroomforthefirsttimeinthefrontoftheroom,preparedlectureinhand.Aftertheimmediateterrorworeoff,Irealizedthiswasit.”She’snowanassociateprofessoratChristianBrothersUniversity.

Similarly,DebraL.Wilson’77,aninternationalstudiesma-jorwhoworkedatRolling Stone magazine,theninadvertising,andthenattendedlawschool,foundherpathwhilesittinginarestaurant.“Ihappenedtooverheartwowomentalkingbehindme.Oneofthewomensaidthat…whatshereallywantedtofocusherenergiesonwasteachingandwriting.Ihadanepi-phanyatthatmoment,”recallsWilson.“IrealizedthatwhatIwantedtodowasteachandwrite.”WilsonhasspentthelastthreeyearsatapublicschoolinBrooklyn,teachingsixthandseventhgradersdiagnosedwithemotionaldisturbance.“Ifeelasif,atlast,mylifehasbeenmadecomplete.Howgreatisthat?”

the inevitable question“You,MissLateBloomer,”WendyWasserstein’71askedherselfina2001interview,“whydidyouwaituntilyouwerefifty[tohaveababy]?”Priencallsit“theinevitablequestion:Whydidn’tyoudothistenyearsearlier?”Prienwasn’t“ready”andvaluestheyearsshelearnedto“balanceallfacetsofmylife”beforediscoveringthecalloftheclassroom.Susan“Sudy”SmithMcLaren’62(seesidebar)explains,“Afteryearsofstrug-gle,IthinkandfeelthatIammeetingthechallengesof‘knowthyself,’and‘tothineownselfbetrue.’Iknow,andlike,who

Iam.IknowwhyIamhere,andIamgratefultobedoingwhatIdo.”

AndforMarionSpeersBlackshear’51,hercallingsimplydidnotexistwhenshegraduated.Afterrais-ingsixchildrenand“dabblingaroundmydreamwork”

byvolunteeringinhospitals,Blackshearbecamedirector

embracing the Power to healafter years working in medicine-related fields and pursuing an interest in photography, in 1981, at age forty, susan “sudy” smith mclaren ’62 met a woman in england who told her, ‘You

are going to be a healer.’” those words brought sudy full circle to “where i was when i entered mhc: wanting

to help people and animals, but feeling i needed to know more about what makes people tick.”

three years later, sudy (as she prefers to be called) was accepted as a “healer” by the national Federation of spiritual healers in england and australia, where she had been

living, and completed an ms in counseling in 1994. in 2003, while attending a funeral, sudy

realized that “it was extraordinarily clear that i have a strong connection with ‘the other side.’” sudy combines energy work, including healing touch, reiki, cranio-

sacral, spiritual healing, and psychotherapy, specializing in trauma and hospice care in her private practice in Kimberton, Pennsylvania. “one of the beautiful things—and there are many—about this work,” says sudy, “is that i get to tell other people they are healers.”

“late blooming for sure,” sudy says of her-self. “i’m dancing on the edge of continued de-velopment in ‘spirit communication.’ and then there’s the book i’ve been working with. i want to learn to tap dance and do more line dancing. People tell me i’ve had an interesting life.”

y Susan “Sudy” Smith McLaren ’62 works with a client.

Anne Webster Leight ’77

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ofanall-volunteerhospice.“Iknewthenthatthiswasmycalling,”shesays.Thirty-fiveyearsafterherMountHolyokegraduation,Blackshearearnedamaster’sinsocialwork.“Iwasfifty-sixyearsoldandhadfivegrandchildrenwhenIstartedtheprogram,”sherecalls.“IusedtosmiletomyselfasItrampedaroundthecampusamongalltheyoungundergraduateswithmybackpackfullofbooks.”Beforeretiring,sheworkedasdirectorofbereavementservicesatafuneralhome,became

certifiedasadeatheducatorandinthanatology(thestudyofdeathanddying),andgarneredastatewideSocialWorkeroftheYearaward.“Sometimesit’saverypositivethingtoarrivelateonthescene,”saysBlackshear.

the PortFolio aPProachFormanyalumnae,workisagivenandit’stheotherpartsoflifethatcomelater.Latebloomerstakeuptennisuponretirement,findasingingvoiceatseventy,or,inthecaseofFranGardner,“finally,finallylearntoknit”twenty-someyearsaftersheadmiredclassmates’hand-knitsweaters.AuthorMosesreferstothisasa“portfolioapproach,”suggestingthatwefindfulfill-mentthroughmanytypesofactivitiesinlife,ratherthansimplythroughtakingonmanyjobs.“Ithinkofaperson’sskillsandattributeslikeaLegovehicle:thepiecescanbereshapedintoafamilycar,anambulance,oraspaceship,buttheyarethesamepiecesandtheystillmakeavehicle,”saysMoses.Likewise,alumnaeintereststakedifferentformsatdifferentstages.

AnneWebsterLeight’77pursuedatechnicalcareeraftergraduation,becomingafull-fledgedmemberofwhatherchil-drencall“thegeeksquad.”Atthesametime,shegrewmoreinterestedintheoutdoors,especiallyonceshemovedtoArizonain1987.Leightsays,“DivorcesevenyearsagowasastimulusformetogooutandgetmoreinvolvedindoingwhatIlovetodo,andthatisworkingwithsongbirds.”LeightvolunteeredattheNatureConservancy’sHassayampaRiverPreserveinArizona,bandingbirds.“Ipursueda“masterbander”permitandtodayIruntheprogram.NowIamamasterbirdbanderandIlovethisvocation.Ianticipatethatretirementwillbringnewshiftsinavocation.Iamlookingforwardtothemwhatevertheywillbe.”

“go Forward…”Manylate-bloomingalumnaecreditMountHolyokeforinstill-ingconfidencethatbecametheconstantonanunpredictablelifejourney.“IknowthatIamneverafraidtojumpintoasituationorvolunteerforaboardorseminar.BeforeMHC,Imighthavehesitatedornotfeltconfident,”saysGwendolynMcGregor-HendrixSchererFP’95(seesidebar),nowanartist,arthistorian,andwriter.“MHCtaughtmethatlearningisalifelongprocess,

taughtmemanyskills,andprovidedexceptionalopportunitiesforgrowth,”agreesMack.Leightrecalls,“MHCinstilledinmea‘can-do’attitude.ThereweremanyinstanceswhereItriedsomethingnewordifferentandfoundgreatsatis-factioninknowingthatIdidthatwell.”

MaryLyon,whobeganherwork-inglifeatageseventeenandfoundedMountHolyoketwenty-fouryearslater,chargedherstudentsto“goforward,attemptgreatthings,accomplishgreatthings.”Manyalumnaestillheedheradvice.Thoughsome“goforward”atadifferent,slightlyslower,pace,theiraccomplishmentsareequallynotableandgreatlysavored.“It’sanamazingconnec-tion,”saysGardnerofdiscoveringhercalling.“Anditwasjustwaitingformetogetthere.Ithinkit’swaitingformanyofus.”

Marcia Worth-Baker ’88 is a teacher at Newark Academy in Livingston, N.J. Her book GreekMythologyActivities was published by Scholastic in 2005.

accePting challenges with conFidencegwendolyn mcgregor-hendrix scherer FP’95, an art history and studio art major, graduated at age forty-four planning to rest while she pursued grants for further education. when the opportunity arose, however, she accepted a u.s. history teaching job at springfield technical community

college while she entered graduate school at norwich university. this led to a stint lecturing around

springfield, massachusetts, about the area’s involvement in the underground railroad.

“i found information that mary lyon might have been connected to a group of underground railroad activists in greenfield,” explains scherer.

despite getting tenure, family health issues led her farther afield, to arizona

and then california. she now teaches art history and studio art at Palomar college in

san marcos, california. additionally, scherer was chosen lead artist to create public art and to supervise gallery apprentices at the west valley arts council and gallery 37 in avondale, arizona. “i am also [compiling] research for two books i am writing,” says scherer.

“mount holyoke gave me confidence and pride in my achievements. it fosters a spirit of confidence, even if the subject matter is not familiar. it taught me to ask ‘why’ when i needed to; to not be intimidated, and to be comfortable in all situations,” explains scherer, who looks forward confidently to future changes. “i was twice hired on the spot based on the fact that i received my education from mhc and my confidence that i could do the job. i believe and expect this will happen again.”

“ It’s never too late …” Fran Gardner ’88, MAT’90

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Blue feathers clungtothecirculardrivesurroundingMaryWoolleygreenasmorethan685alumnaetooktheirplacesonceagainintheLaurelParade,MHC’sannualblendofceremonyandcelebration.Dressedinwhiteasashowofsolidarityfortheirsuffragettesisters,andaccessorizedwithfeatherboas,hats,andflashingear-ringsintheirclasscolors,alumnaeledthemarchtothegravesiteofMHC’sfounder.

“I’velookedforwardtothissinceIsawpicturesofthelaurelchainceremonyon

theMountHolyokeWebsitewhenIwasaprospectivestudent,”saidgraduatingseniorHayleyBeers’06.Sheandher589classmatesgatheredfirstalongRoute116todonthe275-yardlaurelchains,whosesprigsstudentsoncehandpickedfromnearbyhillsidesbutnowaregrownonareafarmsandassembledbyalocalflorist.

Theweather,forecasttobeiffy,ifnotdownrightnasty,wasatfirstsimplymug-gy,andlater,splendidlysunny.MembersoftheQuaboagHighlanderspipeband,

resplendentintheirspatsandkiltsandblowingtheirScottishwindinstrumentswithgusto,tooktimetocatchabreathatthegravesitewhiletheseniorsliftedthelaurelchainsabovetheirheadstodrapeMaryLyon’srestingplacewithhonor.

Withmanyback-to-classofferingsfilledtocapacity,andJapaneseteaceremonies,EmilyDickinsonhomesteadtours,andtoursofthenewsciencecenterfullybooked,returningalumnaetookfulladvantageoftheassociation’sofferingsas

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Reunion 2006: The “Greatest Generation” Greets the Next Best Thing

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wellasdepartment“at-home”gatheringsandclassevents.“Weweretreatedverywell,”saidIsabellePearsonWeber’46,whonotedthathercollegeyearsweremarkedbyanationatwar.Thathistoryoftenrepeatsitselfwasevidentinthebannerofamorerecentclass,2004,whichread,“Iraqbeganduringourjunioryear.”

FollowingarepersonalreminiscencesofReunion2006graciouslycompiledbymembersofreturningclasses.WehopeyouenjoytheseshorttalesrelevanttoeverygenerationoftheuncommonwomenofMHC.—M.H.B.

Class of 1941:Happy Surprises, Lingering SadnessMembersoftheclassof1941,twenty-threeinnumber,foundthecampusasbeautifulasever,thoughabitcrowded,evenasnewadditionsblendedinwiththeold.ManyspokeoftheremarkableArtMuseum.

Allwereimpressedwiththecompetence,helpfulness,courtesy,andmannersofthestudents.Wewerehappilysurprisedtoenjoyasoldfriendsclassmateswedidn’tevenknowin1941.Willits-Hallowellisadelight!Onlyafewminuses,includingloud,cannedmusicinBlanchard.Allminusesnegatedbyanextraordinaryreunionfortwenty-threeoctogenarianswithinawarm,nourishingatmosphereevenassadnessforsomanylostclassmateslingered.—Margaret“Pinkie”MerriamMoon’41

Class of 1946:“The Greatest Generation”Our60threunion!Withthesunshiningandtherhododendronsinfullbloom,MountHolyoke’scampuswasmorebeautifulthanever.Thirty-threeofuscameandmarchedinthealumnaeparade;wewerefinallythefirstclassbehindtheantiquecars.Wearingflashingredearrings,weopenedourredparasolstothecheersofthosewholinedtheparaderoute.Weattendedclasses,visit-eddepartmentopenhouses,andadmiredthebeautifullyrenovatedbuildingsandgorgeousgardens.Mostlywereveledintheopportunitytoseeandtalkwitholdfriendsagain.Itwas,indeed,aspecialocca-sionaswecelebratedournewstatusasoctogenarians!—IsabellePearsonWeber’46

Class of 1951:No Rain on This Parade Ourfifty-fifth—inspiteofrelentlessrain—wasthebestyet!Warmthandunity

characterizedourNorthRockyhead-quarters,withfortyofusreminiscing,laughing,andworkingtogether.High-lights:brilliantfour-handpianoconcertinourhonor;archivalslideshowthatbroughtamusingmemories;theannualmeeting;wearingyellowscarves;learningthatl951hadhighest(84percent)rateofgivingtotheAlumnaeFund;theclasshelpinginstalltheMaryLyonstatueatthearchives;establishinganendowmentfortheannualFPprizeandhostingthreeFP

prizewinners;banquetspeakerProfessorEdwinaCruise’scaptivatingtheatricaldepictionofahousemotherfromWendyWasserstein’sUncommon Women and Others;anddepartedclassmatesmemor-ializedthroughSpeersie’spresentationofTheLastDance(SusieNeidlinger’sfinaljourney)thatwaspoignantandpowerfullymeaningfultousseventy-five-plus-year-olds.—MarionSpeersBlackshear’51

Class of 1956:Half of “Nifty Fifties” ReturnWhataweekend.Withalmost50percentofourclassreturning,weweredelightedandexcitedtorenewoldfriendships.Wealllookedmorelikethetwenty-five-yearcelebrants,giveortakeafewwrinkles!Iwasstruckwiththeconnectionsthatthisamazinginstitutionstillmanagestogener-ateinitsgraduates.Marchingintheparademademerealize,yetagain,mygoodfortune

tohavespentfouryearshere.Iharboragreathopethatmythirteen-year-oldgrand-daughterwillmaintainhergradesandbesmartenoughtofollowinhergrandmother’sfootsteps.Nothingwouldbemoreexcitingforusboth.—JaneKenigsonWeiller’56

Class of 1961:Fight, Fix, Support, LeadThefirstclassdubbed“uncommonwomen,”wenowfaceapossibleextrathirdoflifetolive.Giventhisdaunting

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proposition,here’swhatsurprisedusatreunion:drenchingrainbringspeopleclos-ertogether.Wediscoverednewcomfort,vitality,andtrustineachother.Welearnedwehavefewillusionsbutlotsofhumor.Westillseekpassionandmission:fightglobalwarming,fixthehealthcaresystem,supportlocallibraries,leadourchurches,ridemotorcycles(oneofus,atleast),writepoetry,createmusic,enjoytheremainsofourcareers,and,aboveall,nourishourchil-drenandgrandchildren.Oh,yes.Wealsoneednametagsthatcanbereadfromfiftyyards!—BonnieBarrettStretch’61

Class of 1966:The Privilege of PlaceItseemedfunnytosingtoourselves—andsomesixty-one-year-oldwomengiggled—butwedidboththe’68andthe’66retortoftheLittleSistersongtothankthemforalovelyfoodbasket.Shortly,Iwasbullyingeveryoneintolinefortheparade;’66wasonthemarchagain,andwestoodyellingandapplaudingastheclassof2006walkedbywiththeirlaurelchainandtears.Ourdinnerswereamobsceneandalove-festofreconnectionsoldandnew.WelearnedalotatMHC,butmostofallwelearnedtorespectourselvesandotherwomen.“Canyouspellprivilege?”askedmyhusband,admiringoursmallsize.Yes,anditisspelledMHC!—MaryDuffy-Guerrero’66

Class of 1971:The Addictive Quality of ReunionsIconfess.I’mareunionjunkie.Igothookedatthetenthandhavecomebacktoallofthemsince.Whatdrawsmebackaremy

amazingclassmates—goodfriendsfromcol-legethatI’vekeptupwith,thoseIhaven’tseeninyears,andespeciallythoseIdidn’tknowatall.Thistime,Ihadfascinatingcon-versationsaboutworldaffairs,marriage,andeldercarewithwomenI’dneverspenttimewith.Laughteroveroldphotos,newpic-turesofchildrenandgrandchildren,andthepleasurablechangesonourbeautifulcampusaddedtotheweekendenjoyment.Butforme,thebestpartwasthespiritoffriendshipandcamaraderiethatisuniquelyMountHolyoke.—PhoebeZablowMcBee’71

Class of 1976: Provocative Connections Ihadnotbeenbacktocampusintenyears,butthefeelingofconnectionneverchang-es.Ourdormwasshabby;wornlinoleumisnotasromanticaswornmarble.ThePrattHallandKendallcomplexrenovations,however,arespectacular.Theeliminationofindividualdormdiningroomswasuni-versallymournedandIwonderedifthegatheringspacesinBlanchardandWillistonlibrarynurturethespiritofcommunityIstillcherish.TheprofessorsatFridayclasseswerebrilliantandprovocative.Asalways,beingwithmyclassmateswaspriceless.IloveknowingIwillalwaysfeelconnectedtoallalumnae(pronouncedalum-neye,notalum-knee).—MargeHaberman’76

Class of 1981:Wizened and DancingBeneath the StarsTheexcitementandanticipationofourtwen-ty-fifthMHCreunionweremagnifiedweeksearlierbyaflurryofe-mails,international

cell-phonecalls,shoppingfortheperfectgiftforourclassmates’children,andthegeneralfamilyfrenzyof“whattopack”forhot,cold,dry,orwetweatherinSouthHadley.Weexpectedtheadrenaline-filledgreetingsofclassmatesbutwerenotalwayspreparedtoseethemtwenty-fiveyearslaterandthroughthefiltersofourlifeexperiences.Wizenedbyourexperience,itwasourturntotransformProspectHallwithourspace-greenballoons,refreshments,andentertainment,andtoturnbacktheclockanddanceunderneaththestars…atleastuntil10p.m.,whenthecanoesingcrowdstartedtoassemblearoundLowerLakeandwesteppedasidegraciouslytolettheseniorshavetheirmomentunderthecanopy.—CeriseJalelianKeim’81

Class of 1986:Aging Like an Often-Used FabricTwentyyears?Noway!Everyonelookedthesame.AsBitsyOsder’86putit,“Reunionistheonlyplacewherewecanallhaveeternalyouthineachother’seyes.”Still,bynoweachofushasfacedchallengesinlife,whichhavemadeuslikewell-washedflannel:softerandwarmer.Likemany,Iharborsomeregretsaboutmycollegeyears…IwishIhadbeenfriendlier,hadtalkedmoreinclass,andattendedaserviceinAbbeyChapel.Butthoseregretsfadeinthelightofthenewconnectionsmadeovertheweekend.SaidoutgoingClassPresidentReginaCollins,“Reunionsaretoofewandfarbetweentosatisfyourdesiretoconvene.”I’minspiredtocontactmoreofmyclassmatesinthenextfiveyearsandencourageeveryonetocomebacktoMountHolyokein2011.—AnnyceNickelSchafft’86

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rs ]Class of 1991:Unpacking MemoriesUponarrivalThursday,Iunpackedmy“MHCbox,”whichhadbeenhastilyremovedfrommyatticandtossedintomycaranhourbefore.Unpackingitwithclassmatesbroughtbackafloodofmemoriesandlaughter—fromtheolddormT-shirtstopapers,notes,flyers,andevenallmyoldday-planners!Emotionsweregenuineandsometimesunexpected,likewhenIwalkedmysophomoreroommatetoherroom.Assoonaswegotawayfromourclassmates,welookedateachotherandstartedcrying!Attheannualmeeting,seeingallthemagnificentwomenwhocamebeforeandafterusatMHC,myfellowclassofficersandIweremovednotonlybytheirspeechesbutalsobytheverypresenceoftheseuncommonwomen.Iamproudtobeamongthem.—RobynScott’91

The Class of 1996:MHC Shaped Future Expectations“Ican’tbelieveI’mnotgoingtoseeyoutomorrow,”ItoldoldfriendsSundaymorn-ing.TherearesomanythingsthatIappreci-atedaboutthisten-yearreunionweekend.SharingmealswithmyMHCfriends,laugh-inglongerandharderthanIcanremember,andhangingoutinourroomstalkingaboutfamilyandlifedecisions.Theabsenceofourclassmateswhodidnotattendreunionwaspalpable.WhatwasfascinatingformewasmydesiretowanttodothingsthatIneverdidatMHC,likewalkingaroundUpperLakeorgoingtoaJapaneseteacer-emony.ThentherewerethethingsthatfeltsoMHC,likeLeslieItocatchingapieceofbreadonfireinthetoasteroven.Whatsur-prisedmethemostwashownaturalitwastobeinthecompanyofmyMHCfriends,someofwhomIhaven’tseensincegradu-ationtenyearsago.Howeasilywespokeaboutourlives—thegoodandhardparts.

WhatIrealizedisthatmycurrentexpecta-tionsofwomen,friendships,andcommu-nitywereshapedbymyresidentialexperi-enceatMHC.—KristineWoolery’96

Class of 2001:Common Struggles,Collective MemoriesTheclassof2001celebratedourvarioussuccesses,commonstruggles,andcollectivememoriesduringarowdyweekendinJune.Wetoastedmargaritastonewloves,crazyexes,andnewjobs,lostjobs,grad-schoolacceptances,andlaw-schoolrejections.Whileourliveshavetakenustoallcornersoftheworld,timeanddistanceseemedtoevaporatewhilewatchingJuniorShow,dancingunderthefogmachine,inhalingAtkinsdonuts,andwavingourpompoms.Withthedormdeckedoutingreen,wewereremindedofhowourMountHolyokeexpe-rienceisstillrootedinthedeepconnectionsandfriendshipsthatbeganinitshallsandcontinuestoday.—AnnemarieFarrell’01

Class of 2004:Spreading the Love Thoughwegraduatedtwoshortyearsago,theclassof2004isnowspreadoutacrosstheglobe.About170classmatesreturned,fromSouthHadleytoMalaysia.Mostofushadnotseeneachotherintwoyears,butwereconnectedasifithadbeenaday.Fridaynightwasspentlaughingandreminiscingasweworkedtocreatememorablelaurelparadesigns.ReconnectingwithplaceandfriendsmademerealizehowmylifehasbeenenrichedbytheMountHolyokeexperi-ence.Ithinkitwasbeststatedintheclassof1900’stimecapsule:“Wehopeyouloveourschool.”Theremarkablesupportandactionsoftheclassof2004andallofouralumsshowthatwedo,indeed,loveourschool.—AlexandraPolly’04

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Susan Beers Betzer ’65 came into her position as president of the Alumnae Association in 2003 with four goals: to help increase pride, visibility, communication, and col-laboration within the Association and among all of its constituents. She left office at the end of her three-year term this summer feel-ing satisfied that those goals had been met, and more. “I think my number one accomplishment has been supporting and nurturing W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83 [Alumnae Association executive director] as she rebuilt a staff and connections across the college.” The creation of a strategic plan that now informs the work of the association every day was another highlight, she says, as it reemphasized the associ-ation’s mission of serving alumnae worldwide. Satisfying, too, was changing the group’s logo and the new look of the vastly expanded Web site. Making solid connections with undergraduates and becom-ing a strong presence on campus was particularly exciting for Betzer, as well as the clear financial pro-cesses that were put in place and resulted in solid, fiscal responsibil-ity with room for flexibility when it was merited. “We’re out there and we’re thinking of ways to do things together,” she notes of the associ-ation’s refashioned mission. “It has been an amazing experience.”

At the Alumnae Association annual meeting, W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, asso-ciation executive director, (left) lauds Susie Beers Betzer ’65 for her three years of work as association president.

Betzer Completes A Satisfying Term

30 www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

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The Alumnae Association supports more than 100 clubs and informal groups around the world. Contact Assistant Director of Clubs Krysia Villón ‘96 at kvillon@mtholyoke.edu or 413-538-2738 with club- related questions, ideas, comments, and brief overviews of activities for possible inclusion in this section.

ClubsCorner

The Mount Holyoke Club of New Havenhostedanafter-noonofnauticalstorytelling,featuringProfessorofPoliticsChrisPyle,whotaughtaJanuaryTermcourseonboardthesailingshipBounty,andHeatherL.Stone’93,formercommandingofficerofa“tallship.”Hardtackandotherrefreshmentswereserved,andtheeventwasheldattheYaleSchoolofManagement.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Puget Soundhosteda209thbirthdaypartyforMaryLyon.“DeaconPorter’shat”andotherdessertswereserved.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Hartfordhadadinnerandheardatalkonthetopic“InequalityandEnvironmen-talDegradationintheGlobalEconomy,”byJensChristian-sen,professorofeconomicsandchairofEuropeanstudies,atthePondHouseCafé.

The Mount Holyoke Club of DelawareheldadinnerattheTerraceatGreenhill.KeallyD.McBride’91,seniorfellowinpoliticalscienceandcontempo-rarywritingattheUniversityofPennsylvania,spokeonthetopic“HomeandWork:HowGlobalizationIsChangingthePracticesofFamilies.”

The Mount Holyoke Club of DetroithostedCurtisSmith,professoremeritusofbiologicalsciences,whosetopicwas“TheStructureofMemory,”attheBloomfieldOpenHuntClub.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Phil-adelphiahostedTinkyWeisblat’76,whogaveatalk,“FoodandMemory:ARecipeWorkshop,”attheGuardHouseInn.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Mid-Hudson ValleyattendedaneventwiththeVassarAlum-naeClub.ProfessorMiriamLevin,associateprofessorofhistoryatCaseWesternReserveUniversity,spokeabouthernewbook,Defining Women’s Scientific Enterprise: Mount Holyoke Faculty and the Rise of American Science.

The Mount Holyoke Club of San Diegolaunchedanewbookclub,tobehostedbyJeanneGeantilHoward’96.ThefirstbookselectionwasAnnaQuindlen’sHow Reading Changed My Life.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Atlanta attendedatalkbyCristinaRathbone,authorofA World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars,attheAtlantaBotanicalGarden.ThelecturewaspartoftheLyon

LectureSeriesandWeissmanCenterontheroad,travelingprogramsthatbringtheintel-lectuallifeofthecollegetoalumnae.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Northern New JerseyhostedaseminarandluncheonwithMarthaAckmann,seniorlec-tureringenderstudies,whospokeabouttheMercury13astronauts.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Northeast Pennsylvania heldameetingandlunchatthehomeofJoanMillerMoran’58.LeeSpringerGee’54gaveatalk,“AndeanExcursions:CanYouDigIt?ArchaeologyandOrchids.”

The Mount Holyoke Club of New Hampshirehelditsfirst-everawardceremony,“Hon-oringUncommonWomen:OutstandingMHCAlumnaeinNewHampshire.”ThefirstrecipientoftheawardwasDr.SusanUptonLynch’76,pedia-tricianandfirstladyofNewHampshire.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Central and Northern ArizonametforatouroftheHeardMuseuminPhoenixandlunchatArcadiaFarmscafé.TheHeardMuseumhasan

extensivecollectionofNativeAmericanartifacts.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Dallas-Fort WorthmetatthehomeofCatherineSimpsonGrindinger’81todiscussFrankMcCourt’snewmemoir,Teacher Man.

The Mount Holyoke Club of Central Ohiometforanet-working/careertransition/job-searchworkshophostedbyCoriAshworth,theAlumnaeAssociation’salumnaecareerandprofessionalconsultant.

InJune,theMount Holyoke Club of Fairfield Villageshelditsannualmeeting.Thespeak-erwasDebbieFossFarrell’74,onthetopic“HowWeThink,HowWeLead:theDifferencesBetweenMenandWomen.”

The Mount Holyoke Club of Central MainehostedaluncheonwherethefeaturedspeakerwasDarbyDyar,asso-ciateprofessorofastronomyandgeology,whospokeonthesubject“ColorinGemstones:Naturevs.Laboratory.”

Forty-fourmembersoftheMount Holyoke Club of the PeninsulacelebratedMaryLyon’sbirthdayattheKingGeorgeHotelinSanFrancisco.

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ExQUISITE MUSIC MAKING—Hammond-Douglass Professor of Music and Choral Director Catharine R. Melhorn led more than 200 alumnae and current students in a gala spring concert called “Mark the Music.” The concert showcased numer-ous MHC ensembles and musical styles. Alumnae from as far away as Sweden and Switzerland joined in the selection for chorus and orchestra, “The Harmony of Morning,” with text by poet Mark Van Doren. Melhorn, who retired this spring after thirty-six years here, was honored at the event with a work specially commis-sioned by the Department of Music and composed by Clifton J. Noble Jr. Its text was, he said, drawn from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and, like Melhorn, dedicated to “exquisite music making.”

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly |Summer 2006 31

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Alumnae Association Board of Directors

*PresidentMaryGrahamDavis’65

*Vice PresidentKaylaR.Jackson’86

*ClerkSandraA.Mallalieu’91

*TreasurerPatriciaSteevesO’Neil’85

Alumnae QuarterlyLindaGiannasi

MatysO’Connell’69

Alumnae TrusteeDeborahA.Northcross’73

Alumnae RelationsCynthiaL.Reed’80

Classes and ReunionMaureenE.Kuhn’78

ClubsLilyKlebanoffBlake’64

Directors-at-LargeMaureenMcHaleHood’87

(othersTBA)

Nominating ChairCatherineC.Burke’78

Young Alumnae RepresentativeLisaM.Utzinger’02

Executive Director*W.RochelleCalhoun’83

ex officiowithoutvote

*Executive Committee

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Do you have your hiking shoes?Camera?Waterbottle?AlittlecashtospendatAtkinsFarmsCountryMarket?Bottomline:areyoureadyforMountainDay?Ifnot,samplealum-naememoriesfrompastMountainDaysonlineatalumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/mtnday.

Here’sonetogetyoustarted:WaltrautBenkeLehmann’76remembersthisofMoun-tainDay1974:“MountainDay.Whatagloriousdayitwas!DefinitelyadayinOctober.Whenthebellsrang,afewfriendsandIwentdown-stairs,snubbedthediningroompicnicoffering,

and—lucky—tookoffinthecaroneofushad.WestoppedtobuybreadandcheeseandothergoodiesandwenttoQuabbinReservoir,walkedaround,ate,chatted,enjoyedthefallscenery.Ihaveasmallsnapshotfromaroadsidestandwherewestoppedonthewayback.I’mwear-ingablackjacketandstandinginthemidstofaseaoforangeandyellow.Greatmemories.”

IftheAlumnaeAssociationhasyourcur-rente-mailaddress,we’llsendyouanoticewhenthebellsring,announcingthisyear’sMountainDay.

Mountain Day Memories

If you’re spendinganhouronthephonewithafriendtalkingaboutyoursometimes-frustrat-ingjobhunt,youmayaswellgetsomeexpertadviceandguidanceinthebargain.ThisiswhateightalumnaefoundoutthisspringthroughtheAlumnaeAssociation’sjob-huntersteleconferences,ledbyCoriAshworth,careerandprofessionalconsultantfortheassociation.

Thesebiweeklyconferencecalls,Ashworth’sbrainchild,bringalumsfromdifferentfields,regions,andcareerstages

togethertogiveandgetvaluableadviceontheirjobhunts.Partic-ipantsinthespringgroupgaveeachotherencouragementandadvice,ideasandleads,right

fromthestart.“It’spartoftheMountHolyokeculture,”saysAshworth.Shealsopreparesshort“lecturettes”foreachsessionontopicssuchashowtodomarketplaceresearchandhowtotailorarésumétoaspecificorganization.

Anotherjob-hunterstele-conferencesessionstartedinlateJune,andAshworthisplan-ningafallsessionthatmightbeexpandedtoincludemultiplegroups.Toexpressinterestinjoiningajob-huntersalumnaegroup,contactAshworthatcashwort@mtholyoke.edu.

Cori’s Career Corner

Alums NamedMHC TrusteesFour alumnaejoinedthecollege’sBoardofTrusteesinJuly:JanetFalikAserkoff’65,MindyMcWil-liamsLewis’75,MaryGrahamDavis’65,andDivitaMehta’04.Aserkoff,analumnatrustee,isgeneralcounseltoaBostonrealestatefirm,andLewisisassociatedirectoroftheCumminsFounda-tioninColumbus,Indiana.Bothwillservefive-yearterms.Davis,theincomingAlumnaeAsso-ciationpresident,runstheDavisConsultingGroup,andMehta,thenewyoungalumnaetrustee,isananalystatGoldman,Sachs.Bothwillservethree-yearterms.

Climbing the nearest mountain peak still lures current students out of bed and onto the trails each Mountain Day.

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ALUMNAE SPRING INTO ACTION —MHC alumnae, staff, friends, and students from the college’s Environmental Action Committee were on hand for the April kickoff of Alumnae in Action, a new Alumnae Association community-service program. Volunteers collected trash, weeded, and planted flowers on the campus grounds of River Valley Academy, a school for special-needs teen-agers in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Other alumnae groups and clubs across the country also planned community service events. For information about organizing an Alumnae in Action event, please contact Krysia L. Villón ’96, assistant director of clubs, at 413-538-2738 or kvillon@mtholyoke.edu.

Five Honored With Alumnae Association Medal

The Alumnae Association medal of honor, given for out-standing service to the association and the college, was presented to five alumnae during their reunion weekend. Left to right, they are (below) Cerise Jalelian Keim ’81, Judith Shepherd DeBrandt ’66, and Ellen Hyde Pace ’81; and (above) Suzanne P. Franchetti ’91 and Sunny Park Suh ’91. To read their citations, go to alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/citations.

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Lydia O. Okutoro ’98isthe2006recipientoftheMaryE.WoolleyFellowship,fundedannuallybytheAlumnaeAssociation.Thegrant,total-ing$7,500,willbeusedbytheformermiddle-schoolteacherandNigeriannativetocompleteanMFAincreativenonfictionattheUniversityofArizona.Eagertoshiftgears

fromteachingtowriting,shehasintheworksamemoirofherdifficultearlyyearsasanimmigrantintheUnitedStates,andhopeseventuallytofindapublisher.Intotalthisyear,fifteenalumnaewereawardedMHCfellowships,rangingfrom$500to$7,500,forgraduatestudyandinde-pendentprojects.

Nigerian Teacher Writes Memoir Thanks to AA Fellowship

Lydia O. Okutoro ‘98

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly |Summer 2006 33

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The Alumnae Association’s LyonLectureSeriesthispastspringfeaturedtwodistinguishedspeak-erswhosharedtheirworkaboutlearningoutsidethecollegegates,andthehistoryofwomen’sprisons.PrestonH.Smith,associateprofessorofpoliticsanddirectoroftheCommunity-BasedLearningProgram,gavealectureinHolyoke,Mas-sachusetts,titled“CommunityOutsidetheGates.”Atlantaalumnaeandguestsattended“AnAfter-noonwithCristinaRathbone,”whopresentedmaterialfromherbook,A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars.

Rathbone’sbookfocusesonthehistoryofthewomen’sprisoninFramingham,Massachusetts,oneofthecountry’soldest.Sheexaminedissuesincludingreasonsforimprisonmentandthesoci-etalchangestheyreflect.Historically,forexample,womenwereroutinelylockedupfordrunkennessand“actingout”inpublic.Afterthereading,theauthortalkedwithalumnaeandtheirguestsmoreintimately,goingfromtabletotabletodiscussthelargerpoliticalandtheoreticalissuessurroundingthemoderncorrectionalsystem.

InHolyoke,theDelaneyHouserestaurantwaspackedwithalumsrangingfrommembersofthe

classof1937tothisyear’sgraduatingclass.Theeveningstartedwithadinner,fol-lowedbySmith’spresentationontheCommunity-BasedLearningProgram.It“bringstogetherclassroomtheoryandrealpractice,inwhichstudentslearnhowtoapplywhattheylearnandbringtheirexperiencesbackintotheclassroom,”Smithsaid.

YaminetteDiaz’06spoketothegroupaboutherexperiencesintheprogram.“ItshowedmewhatIcareabout,whatIwanttodo,howIcanmakeadifferenceintheworld,”shesaid.Toseephotosof,listento,orviewavideoclipfromSmith’slecture,gotohttp://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/virtualcafe/multi

Lyon Lectures Bring MHC to Alumnae

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Preston Smith, director of the Community-Based Learning Program

So that the Alumnae Asso-ciationmayhonordeservingalumnae,pleasesharenamestobeconsideredfortherec-ognitionslistedbelow.Pleaseincludedocumentationonthestrengthofyourcandidate(s),andnames,addresses,phonenumbers,ande-mailaddress-esofreferences.Sendnomi-nationstotheAlumnaeAsso-ciationofMountHolyokeCollege,50CollegeSt.,SouthHadley,MA01075-1486;413-538-2300;fax413-538-2254;oralumnaeassociation@mtholy oke.edu.Youcanalsouseouronlineformatwww.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/awards tosubmitnominations.

Young Alumna Loyalty Award:Tohonoranalumnawhohasdemonstratedconsis-tenteffortandactiveinvolve-mentinoneareaofserviceoveranextendedperiodoftime.Volunteereffortcanbeonbehalfofaclass,club,affinitygroup,theassociation,orthe

college.Nomineesmaybefromanyclassthathasgraduatedtenyearsorfewerfromthedateoftheupcomingreunion.Deadline:December15.

Alumnae Honorary Degrees: Awardedtoalum-naeofgenuineachievementanddistinctionwhohavecontributedtolearningintheartsandsciencesorwhohavecontributedtosocietyinsomeservice,careerorotherwise,distinguishedforbothintel-lectandcharacter.

Alumnae Trustee:Selectedforwillingnessandabilitytoinvolveherselfactivelyintheworkingsofthecollege,par-ticipateinthepolicy-makingdiscussionsoftheBoardofTrustees,anduseherexper-tiseinspecialareastoenrichthosediscussions.DeadlineisJanuary15.

Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award:Givenperiodicallyto

anoutstandingalumnaeduca-tor,honoringtheservicefor-merMHCpresidentElizabethTophamKennan’60hasgiventothecollegeandtohighereducationingeneral.

Mary Lyon Award:Foryoungalumnaewhohavebeenoutofthecollegefifteenyearsorfewer,whodemonstrateprom-iseorsustainedachievementintheirlives,professions,orcommunitiesconsistentwiththehumanevaluesthatMaryLyonexemplifiedinherlifeandinspiredinothers.

Loyalty Award:Tohonoranalumnawhohasdemonstratedconsistenteffortandactiveinvolvementinoneareaofser-viceoveranextendedperiodoftime.Volunteereffortcanbeonbehalfofaclass,club,affin-itygroup,theassociation,orthecollege.Nomineesshouldbefromclassesthatwillholdreunionsthefollowingspring.Deadline:December15.

Alumnae Medal of Honor: Awardedforeminentserviceinpromotingtheeffective-nessoftheAlumnaeAsso-ciation,forsignalserviceincompletingdefiniteprojectsundertakenbythecollege,orforothernoteworthyservicesthatstrengthenthepositionofMountHolyokeCollege.DeadlineisAugust15priortocandidate’sReunionyear.

Achievement Award:Foralumnaewhoseachievementsandservicetosocietyexempli-fytheidealsofexcellenceofaliberalartseducation;whousetheirtalentswithprofessionaldistinction,sustainedcommit-ment,andcreativity;andwhoreflectthevisionandpioneer-ingspiritofMaryLyon.

Seeking Awardees

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36� www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

off the shelf

Wild Lives: A History of the People and Animals of the Bronx Zoo By�Kathleen�Weidner�Zoehfeld�’76KnopfKathleen Zoehfeld tells the story of the Bronx Zoo, from its opening in1899 with two small, bedraggled prairie dogs to its current efforts in conservation and education. Along with information on the zoo, she discusses the ethics of removing ani-mals from their habitats for public display and ongoing threats to the habitats of many species. She presents personal stories, beliefs, and significant individuals in the zoo’s history. With

engaging animal photos and lively anecdotes, Wild Lives takes readers through a cen-tury of zookeeping at one of the most-beloved zoos in the world, and shares what zoologists have learned over the years about keeping wild animals.Kathleen Zoehfeld was an editor of children’s books for more than ten years before becoming a full-time writer. She has published more than forty books for chil-dren, most of them about animals and natural his-tory. She lives in Berkeley, California.

One Shaker Life: Isaac Newton Youngs, 1793–1865 By�Glendyne�R.��Wergland�FP’92�University�of�Massachusetts�PressOne Shaker Life provides an inside look at the life of a member of the United Society of Believ-ers, better known as the Shakers. He spent most of his life in New Leba-non, New York, home of the society’s central ministry. Youngs was a private diarist and official village scribe who kept meticulous records of his own experience and that of

the community. More than 4,000 pages of his journals have survived, documenting the history of the Shakers during this period and offer-ing a revealing look at the daily life of a Believer. Wer-gland has written a deeply researched biography that is a complex portrait of an ordinary man.Glendyne Beemer Wergland is an independent scholar who earned her PhD in U.S. history at the University of Massachusetts in 2001. She lives with her husband in Dalton, Massachusetts.

The Business of Child Care: Management and Financial Strategies By�Gail�Jack�’66�Thomson:�Delmar�LearningThis guide focuses on the business skills most needed by owners and administrators of child-care facilities. Aimed at helping these folks manage their human and financial resources, the book details the most successful approach-es to managing enrollment, staff recruitment and reten-tion, budgets, financial record keeping, and more.

Mount�Holyoke�Alumnae�Quarterly�|�Summer�2006 37

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Written by a veteran child-care administrator who holds an MBA and has over twelve years of experience as an early childhood administra-tor, the material is presented in a straightforward manner with charts and illustrations throughout. The accompany-ing CD-ROM with financial spreadsheets makes it easy to establish a successful busi-ness administration system for a child-care center.Gail Hannsgen Jack is the owner of Good Sense Consulting and holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Washington Is BurningBy�Marty�Rhodes�Figley�FP’03;�illustrated�by��Craig�OrbackMillbrook�PressMarty Rhodes Figley’s new children’s book tells the story of the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 from the view-point of Paul Jennings, a fifteen-year-old slave and the personal valet of presi-dent James Madison. The narrative follows Jennings and Madison’s wife Dolley as they pack up the White House—saving a portrait of George Washington—before

fleeing the city. Jennings later wrote the first White House memoir.Marty Rhodes Figley is the author of several children’s books, including Saving the Liberty Bell. She lives near Washington, D.C.

Woman Without Background Music By�Delia�Dominguez,�translated�by�Roberta�Gordenstein�’66White�Pine�PressDelia Dominguez, one of Chile’s most important poets, has made her country her language. Born in 1931, she has lived her entire life in the south of Chile, most recently on a farm in Tacamó, from which she writes poetry based on the landscape sur-rounding her. Her poetry recounts stories anchored to the roots of fables but at the same time tied to what moves us as human beings. Hers is also a voice in search of collective social justice. In this first English-language translation of her work, we see a poet amazed by her own geography, a poet relating to the best of the culture and history of the Americas. Roberta Gordenstein has published numerous articles and reviews about Jewish and Latina writers and conduct-ed teacher-training work-shops in Eastern Europe and Central America. She is professor of Spanish at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

God Is With Us: Signs in Our LivesBy�Joan�Barbuto�’53AuthorHouseGod Is With Us: Signs in Our Lives gives evidence that there is a form of existence after death, that God some-times intercedes in our lives,

and that miracles do happen. The evidence is based on investigations of near-death experiences and death-relat-ed visions by noted psycholo-gists and physicians; evi-dence of angels, visions of the dead, and miraculous heal-ings reported in books; appa-ritions of the Virgin Mary in the last two centuries, with miraculous events witnessed by many and prophecies that came true; incidents in the lives of two twenty-first-century saints, and inexpli-cable, seemingly miraculous, events in the lives of those the author knows.Joan Message Barbuto is a Connecticut resident and the author of The ABCs of Parenting. She was also a reporter and feature writer for The New Haven Register.

A Field Guide to Good Decisions: Values in Action By�Mark�D.�Bennett�and�Joan�McIver�Gibson�’65Praeger�PublishersIn A Field Guide to Good Deci-sions, the authors provide the skills to make decisions that reflect one’s core values while respecting those of others. Illustrated with many

real-life examples that will resonate with readers both professionally and personal-ly, A Field Guide offers prac-tical tools and techniques for identifying individual and common goals, reaching consensus, and communicat-ing results effectively. The authors show readers how to overcome common obstacles to good decision-making that are psychological, cultural, and organizational in nature. Ultimately, this book is about making decisions that have a powerful effect on our sense of self, our credibility in the eyes of others, and the lives of those touched by the choices we make.Joan McIver Gibson is a philosopher and consultant in applied ethics, bioethics, and decision-making and has worked for thirty years in heath care, education, and research.

The Other Side of Sorrow: Poets Speak Out About Conflict, War, and Peace Edited�by�Patricia��Frisella�’72Poetry�Society�of��New�HampshireThe Other Side of Sorrow is the result of a series of

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community poetry read-ings focusing on the war in Iraq. Frisella spent a year tracking down poems heard at the readings and rais-ing funds for the project. Some contributors are well known, such as Pulitzer-Prize winner Maxine Kumin and state poets laureate past and present. Some are vet-erans of wars from World War II through the Iraq War. Some do not consider themselves poets, but find poetry the best medium through which to convey their thoughts on the topic. The Other Side of Sorrow is not intended to be a polemic against war, but views a world in conflict through the eyes of a poet.Patricia Frisella has won prizes for her short stories,

essays, and poems, most recently the Anthony

Piccione Memorial Poets for Peace Award. Her work has been published in

various literary journals and anthologies. She lives in New

Hampshire.

What Love Means to You People By�NancyKay�Shapiro�’83�Thomas�Dunne�BooksOnce safely out of Nebraska, Seth McKenna does every-thing he can to erase from memory his oppressive hometown and abusive child-hood, leaving his sister Cassie behind to fend for herself. Seth is making a new life for himself as an artist in New York when he falls hard for an alluring older man who is astonished to find in Seth the second love of his life. The couple’s relationship is complicated by Cassie’s unexpected arrival with sig-nificant secrets and plans of her own. Now Seth must con-front his past and the conse-quences of the lies he’s told to move forward with his life. A whirlwind of family drama and an emotional, sexy love story, What Love Means to

You People is rich with the atmosphere of New York and a cast of irresistible characters. NancyKay Shapiro has lived in New York City since gradu-ating from Mount Holyoke, spending the past ten years in the West Village.

Odyssey of a Learning Teacher (Greece and the Near East 1924–1925) andOdyssey of a Learning Teacher (Europe From

Toe to Top 1925–1926) By�Charlotte�Eleanor�Ferguson�Aronson�’23iUniverseOdyssey of a Learning Teacher, volumes I and II, follow the travels of Char-lotte Ferguson from the Near East to Norway. Along with her travel companion Helen Larrabee, Charlotte arrived in Greece in 1924, where she taught orphan refugees and then traveled to Egypt, Palestine, and Constanti-nople. The second vol-ume covers their travels in Europe, including an extensive tour of Italy and a trip up the Dan-ube River to Austria, Germany, and Scan-dinavia. Charlotte’s son, David Aronson, compiled the hand-written letters that Charlotte sent to her parents while she was abroad into the Odyssey books. Charlotte Ferguson Aronson was born in central Pennsylvania into a fam-ily of farmers

and teachers. After gradu-ation from Mount Holyoke, she worked for a year at Connecticut College and then decided to explore the world. She died in 1982.

Water Gardens: Pools, Streams & FountainsContributing�writer:�Barbara�Perry�Lawton�’52Meredith�CorporationThis guide tells you every-thing you need to know about building the perfect water garden. Water Gar-dens: Pools, Streams & Foun-tains offers inspirational ideas, planning and site advice, building basics, and step-by-step instructions. There are also suggestions on selecting plants and fish to enhance your water garden. The book includes many photographs of beautiful plants and water gardens.Barbara Perry Lawton is the author of six previous books as well as the former publications manager of the Missouri Botanic Garden.

38� www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

Single parentStudy abroad / InternshipsUnemploymentWhen your college grad moves back homeWork-Family Balance

Discussion Topics

MA: Concord ClubMA: Greater South Hadley ClubMA: Mystic Valley ClubMA: Franklin County/Northampton ClubMA: North Shore Club

Clubs and Affiliate Groups

Asian/Asian-Amer/Pacif. IslanderLatina/HispanicMultiracialNative AmericanWhite/Caucasian

Cultural Affiliations

Liberation in North Korea (LINK)Liga FilipinaLlamarada (MHC Yearbook)Lunar Howling SocietyM&Cs A Cappella

Campus Organizations

GolfLacrosseRidingSoccerSquash

Sports

ArtAntiquesBird WatchingBowlingCanoeing

Hobbies

1. Go to our Web site:

www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

2. Click on the LifeNet link

(under News and Events on

the home page).

3. Update your profile!

¸ Your starter profile is already online for the MHC community to see.

¸ You can update and expand your profile with career, hobby, family, and other information.

¸ Connect with MHC alumnae and current students. Network and explore—rediscover old friends, discover new pursuits.

Get Advice. Give Advice.Make Connections.

Get Started Today!

Expand your world.Update your MHC profile!

If Mary Lyon updated her LifeNet Profile,imagine the possibilities …

announcements

Seven Sisters SeminarThe annual Seven Sisters College Alumnae Seminar will be held on Wednesday, October 18, at the Italian Center in Stamford, Conn. This year’s topic is “Matters of Life and Death: Ethical Dilemmas in Medicine.” Panelists include Ruth L. Fischbach ’62, director, Center for Bioethics, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Chairman of the event is Betsy Wadt Mulcare ’64. For ques-tions or more information, e-mail alumnaeseminar@yahoo.com or Anne Dayton ’80 at afdayton@snet.net.

New Club ItemMembers of The Mount Holyoke Club of Bridgeport are raising funds by selling MHC wine-glass charms and cell-phone lariats: high-qual-ity charms made in the USA from cast pewter with silver plating. Great gifts for alumnae and college friends! The wine- glass charms feature each of the class emblems and colors, along with a gradua-tion cap and female graduate to round out a set of six. Use them around your wine glass stems to distinguish yourself at your next party. Your guests will never have to ask, “Whose wine is it?” Also available is a set of six travel-related charms. $20 each or two for $38, including S/H and blue drawstring storage pouch. Specify “MHC” or “travel.” The cell-phone lariats are threaded through the small hole in your cell phone to identify your device and provide a strap to hold on to the phone. Choose any of the four emblems and colors (blue lion, green griffin, red Pegasus, yellow

sphinx). $8 each or two for $15 (incl. S/H). To purchase, contact Laura Leon OBrien ’73 at timbezler@att.net or 203-374-9300.

MHC Class and Club ProductsLots of MHC-related class and club products are for sale. For details and photos of many items, please visit http://www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/shop/alumgifts.php or phone the Alumnae Association at 413-538-2300 to request a printed copy of the information.

Welcome to Willits-Hallowell CenterAlumnae, faculty, staff, students, emeriti, and parents: do you need overnight accommodations while in the South Hadley area? Are you looking for a beautiful facility for a luncheon, banquet, wedding, con-ference, or retreat for up to 175 peo-ple? Willits-Hallowell Center, by the rushing waterfall of Stony Brook on the college’s campus, can accom-modate you. Call 413-538-2217 for information or reservations.

Christmas Vespers Through the Years CDVolume 3 (1 and 2 sold out). Glee Club, Concert Choir, Orchestra,

Handbells, V8s, Voices of Faith, more! $15 (MA residents $16) plus $3 mailing. Benefits MHC Choral Music Fund. Send checks [Mount Holyoke College] to Cindy White Morrell ’68, cmorrell@mtholyoke.edu, 135 Woodbridge St., South Hadley, MA 01075.

Alumnae Expertise and Sponsorship Sought by CDCThe Career Development Center (CDC) is looking for alumnae who would like to sponsor MHC stu-dents for summer internships. Students traditionally seek summer internships in areas such as finan-cial institutions, management, sci-entific and medical research, media outlets, social-service agencies, not-for-profits, law and government agencies, museums and historical societies, and education. If you would like further information, please contact the CDC at 413-538-2080, or register online at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/careers/employer/intern.htm.

Art Exhibit: Jane Hammond: Paper Work Three-dimen-sional and flat, large and small, painted and drawn, the fifty-five selected works of Jane Hammond ‘72 on view at the MHC Art Museum through December create a stream of men-tal associations and visual stimuli. While she garnered a formidable reputation as a painter in the 1990s, Hammond began her career with printed material. Her paper drawings and prints are a show-case of techniques and materials, as well as ideas and feelings. “For me, these drawings are the visual equivalent of thinking out loud,” Hammond says in the museum’s spring catalogue. “They begin as a plan and end up as they are.” The exhibit runs September 5 through December 17.

Submissions Welcome for The Organic Mom MagazineHeidi Douglass ’88 has started an ad-free, nonprofit publication called The Organic Mom magazine. Its goal is to help create healthier families on a healthier planet. Alums who would like to submit poetry, art-work or photos, or short essays can contact Heidi at drheididouglass@theorganicmom.com.

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This column carries announcements of services and events sponsored by the Alumnae Association, alumnae clubs, and College-related organizations for the benefit of MHC. Announce-ments are free, but space is limited. Club and class prod-ucts, which benefit classes, clubs, and/or the Alumnae Association’s Alumnae Scholar Fund, are included each fall. Products are always viewable at www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu, or a listing may be requested by calling 413-538-2300.

To submit an announce-ment, contact Mieke H. Bomann (413-538-3159; mbomann@mtholyoke.edu).

deadlines

NoTe: Material is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Sometimes the column is filled before the deadlines below, so submit items early.

WINTeR ISSUe (received in early February) November 15

SPRING ISSUe (received in early May) February 15

SUMMeR ISSUe (received in early August) May 15

FALL ISSUe (received in early November) August 1

78 www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2006 79

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educational travel opportunities

Village Life in the Italian Lake DistrictSeptember 11–19, 2006—Accompanied by a local, professional guideCentered at the four-star Palace Hotel on Lake Como, this village-life program offers a cultural exploration of the Italian lakes and guided tours of the region’s art and architecture. We will explore Como’s Renaissance churches and spectacular prom-enade; the palazzo and gardens of Isla Bella; and Bellagio, one of the prettiest towns in Europe. We also will visit Milan, and view da Vinci’s Last Supper.

Australia and New Zealand: From the Outback to the GlaciersOctOber 19–NOvember 7—with Professor of Music Allen Bonde, who will offer insights into the nations’ musical historyThis trip “down under” begins in Melbourne with tours of the Fitzroy Gardens, the Shrine of Remembrance, and Phillip Island. In Alice Springs we discover Aboriginal customs, and later travel to the Great Barrier Reef. In New Zealand, we stop in Christchurch and Queenstown. A cruise on Milford Sound is followed by a visit to Mount Cook National Park. An optional two-night stay on Fiji is available at the end of the tour.

Temples and Waterways of Vietnam and CambodiaJaNuary 6–17, 2007—Accompanied by Professor of Politics Calvin Chen, a special-ist in the political economy of East AsiaWe arrive in Hanoi to view its ornate colo-nial buildings, Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum,

and the Museum of Ethnology. After a trip to world heritage site Halong Bay, we explore Hue and its impressive temples and pagodas. Next we tour the ancient town Hoi An, then fly to Saigon and the Cu Chi tunnels of the former Vietcong. Finally, we drive along the Mekong Delta. An optional four-night stay in Cambodia is available at the end of the tour.

Gardens of the CaribbeanFebruary 25-march 5, 2007—Accompanied by Professor of Spanish Dorothy Mosby and horticulturalist Anna PavordAboard the elegant yacht Sea Cloud II, we journey from Barbados to the sister islands of Trinidad and Tobago, the “spice island” Grenada, tiny Bequia, sophisticated Martinique, lush Dominica, and the archi-pelago Iles des Saintes and Antigua. Our focus is the islands’ lush botanic gardens, pristine beaches, and azure-blue waters.

The Janet Tuttle Alumnae and Student Service Travel Program NEW! march 18–25, 2007This new travel program, a Habitat for Humanity project, will enable alumnae to travel internationally with Mount Holyoke students to work on a service project. Check our Web site, www.alumnae.mt holyoke.edu, for further details.

Village Life in Holland and Belgiumapril 6–14, 2007This seven-night round-trip cruise departs Amsterdam aboard the MS Amadeus Royal with stops in historic Delft, the windmill town of Kinderdijk, and the medieval town of Middelburg, and then moves on to the Belgian treasures of Bruges and Antwerp before returning to Amsterdam via Gouda and the flower fields of Keukenhof.

Aegean Odyssey: The Greek Isles and TurkeyJuly 8–18, 2007—Accompanied by Professor Faith Dillon Hentschel ’65, a specialist in clas-sical archaeology and art historyOn this trip we travel aboard the elegant Sea Cloud from Athens to Istanbul. We focus on the Acropolis and Piraeus in Athens before sailing for beautiful Santorini, the important archaeological site of Delos, and Patmos, once home of St. John the evangelist. In Turkey, visit the ancient sites of Ephesus and Pergamum. There is an optional two-night stay in Istanbul at the end of the trip.

Celtic LandsauguSt 10–20, 2007Cruise for ten nights aboard the deluxe Andrea from the beaches of Normandy and historic Mont-St.-Michel in France across the English Channel to magical Cornwall and on to Cork, Dublin, and North Wales. We then visit Scotland’s Iona and Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, and Kirkney in the Orkney Islands. There is an optional two-night stay in Edinburgh following the trip.

Village Life Along the SeineOctOber 5–13, 2007Enjoy a memorable seven-night cruise along the Seine River combining the scenic coun-tryside of Normandy with its great historic and artistic heritage. We embark on the MV Cezanne in Paris and visit Rouen, the D-Day landing beaches, Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny, and the Maison van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise.

INTErESTED? For more information on Association-sponsored travel, please contact W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, 50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075-1486; 413-538-2300.

Sponsored by the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College

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It’s not surprising that women’s colleges, like women themselves, are good at building connections. Presi-dents, deans, and other representatives of the original “Seven Sisters” continue to meet together yearly, even though one of our sisters, Vassar, is now coed and another, Radcliffe, has metamorphosed into an institute. We, now the “Seven Sibs,” are still strengthened by our continuing affiliation. So too is Mount Holyoke a founding and active member of the Women’s College Coalition, now in its thirty-fourth year. This association brings together women’s colleges and universities of all kinds from across the United States and Canada.

A cynic might suggest that the coalition’s “sisterhood” is akin to that on the Titanic. From a high of over 300 women’s colleges in North America, there are now just over sixty of us left. Historical forces over the last forty years have resulted in women being welcomed instead of excluded from higher education. Have we, then, lost our reason for being? No, but we must change as the world changes around us. And so we are. In fact, much is positive about how women’s colleges have adapt-ed to new realities: many, to be sure, by going coed or merging, but many oth-ers by reinvigorating their institutional missions. Dozens of women’s colleges, including Mount Holyoke, are stronger than ever.

As the coalition’s chair, I have urged our organization to find collec-tive strength and purpose in advocacy for the education and advancement of women. That agenda is not complete.

Indeed, taking the long view of women throughout history, it has only just begun. Advancing educational opportu-nity for women across all ethnic, racial, age, and socioeconomic groups contin-ues to be the great unfinished agenda of the twenty-first century.

Moreover, women’s colleges continue to be about access. Many of us welcome populations that have been traditionally excluded from higher education includ-ing older women and certain socioeco-nomic and ethnic populations. Mount Holyoke is also the most international of any leading liberal arts college, coed or single sex, with over 15 percent of our students from nearly seventy different countries. In a related initia-tive, along with Smith, we founded and hosted the inaugural meeting of Women’s Education Worldwide, the first ever alliance of women’s colleges from around the world.

We are also about equity. The bad old days of blatant, systematic, and systemic gender discrimination aren’t so long ago, only a generation or two, neither long enough surely to erase the social, economic, and psychological effects nor to ameliorate the continuing gender imbalance of power in society. We need to help students to navigate and to work to redress that inequality and lost opportunity.

Of course, educating and advanc-ing women is not a mission we carry on alone, but in conjunction with schools, coed colleges and universities, governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and well-intentioned educa-tors, political leaders, and activists. I have pushed for the coalition to reach out to others to build a more powerful coalition. One of those partnerships is with the New York Times Knowledge Network, which cosponsored a con-ference on women’s leadership at its offices in New York last year, and in March 2006 cosponsored a conference on global outsourcing on our campus. So too has the coalition used the Times to call attention to its work. You may have seen one of our ads, “Women Can’t Do Science?” or “Women’s Education: The Great Unfinished Agenda.” Our goal is to keep public attention focused on the critical importance of women’s education.

Because it seems only natural that Mount Holyoke College, the world’s longest-standing higher education institution for women, should be at the center of this endeavor, I especially enjoy leading the charge.

lastlookSister Power

Leading the Charge for Women’s Education Worldwide

By Joanne V. Creighton

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The new Cornerstone Program recognizes alumnae, parents, and friends

who make leadership gifts of $1,837 or more annually to the

Mount Holyoke College Annual Fund (15th reunion or higher).

Look for more information in September.

Until then, please visit www.mtholyoke.edu/go/giving or

contact Kathleen Bronner, associate director of the Annual Fund,

at 413-538-2761 or kbronner@mtholyoke.edu.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Introducing the new CornerStone Program

The AnnuAl Fund

With its views of Lower Lake, the Blanchard Lantern (far left) is a popular spot for impromptu gatherings—from an outdoor class on a fine spring day to ice skating in winter.

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Before the laurel parade started, I thought that it would be our grand introduction into an immense, dynamic sisterhood. But when I was finally surrounded by a sea of cheering alums, I felt as though they were merely welcoming me back to a family I had known forever.

Rachel J. Schaefer ’06

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