Mount Holyoke fa l l 2019
Alumnae Quarterly
I N T H I S I SSU E SHIRLEY CHISHOLM IN CONGRESS, ON CAMPUS AND BEYOND ALUMNAE JOIN FORCES IN THE WORKPLACE CELEBRATING HORTENSE PARKER, CLASS OF 1883
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President’s Pen
ment. It is, in the truest sense of the word, awesome. This is not an easy moment to be engaged in this pursuit together, to “curate environments of productive heterodoxy,” as Wesleyan University President Michael
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Roth puts it, so that “students can grow more sure of themselves by being more open to others.” With the very notion of freedom of expression — central to teaching and scholarship — now so politicized, especially as it is perceived to be practiced in colleges and universities, many institutions have been grappling with the question of how to assure both inclusion and inquiry on campus. There are renewed efforts to ensure that liberal learning inside and outside the classroom is marked by what author and University of Pennsylvania professor of education, philosophy and political science Sigal Ben-Porath defines as “inclusive freedom — an approach … that takes into account the necessity of protecting free speech in order to protect democracy and the pursuit of knowledge while recognizing the equal necessity of making sure that all are included in the ensuing conversation,” thereby respecting both intellectual freedom and human dignity. Gary Younge, editor at large for The Guardian, who received an honorary degree from Mount Holyoke and was one of our 2019 Commencement speakers, wrote back in May, just a week before his visit to campus, that generosity is the “missing ingredient in today’s debates,” leading to “reflexive judgment and sweeping dismissal,” to “a culture of online trolling, vindictiveness and insensitivity that leaves little space for growth, evolution, inquiry or nuance.” Pointing to the silencing of many in this era of “unequivocal binaries [that] deny context and privilege certainty,” Younge reminds us to make time and space for dialogue,
and that, in this effort to make sense of the world, we must make time to think and talk through ideas. In “The Goals of a Liberal Education,” William Cronon, historian and professor
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It’s hard ... not to be in awe of both the magic and the very real challenge of such a learning experience and environment. — S O N YA S T E P H E N S
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at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, identifies the act of paying attention — he calls it “listening and hearing” — as one of 10 characteristics of a liberally educated person. In paying careful attention to someone else’s ideas, in bringing rigor to our listening as well as to our work, and in empowering others to speak, we develop, as Cronon puts it, “the intellectual range and emotional generosity to step outside [our] own experiences and prejudices, thereby opening [ourselves] to perspectives different from our own.” For Cronon, the heart of a liberal education is freedom and growth: freedom to explore and engage with ideas and the opportunity to grow in that process. The act of paying attention, the concentrated effort to follow an argument, to seek out flaws in it, and to understand the emotion and motivation behind the making of it, as well as to find some empathy with the person making it, is at the root of deep learning and personal growth. The Mount Holyoke educational experience continues to renew and develop the rich associative tradition that makes such talking and listening a crucial part of our sense-making.
Joanna Chattman
T HE SE M E STE R IS well underway, and everywhere I go on campus there is a sense of shared endeavor in the pursuit of a Mount Holyoke education. I see stacks of books on tables from the library to the Dining Commons. I see desk lamps glowing late in the windows of our residence halls, as the rain and leaves start to fall. And I see students in deep reflection and conversation, their faces lit up by screens of every size — and by ideas and determination. There is here a common pursuit, and often collaboration, but, as I said at Convocation, there is also independence of thought and action, the questioning of received ideas, creative energy and imaginative engagement with democracies of thought and knowledge. It’s hard, in the midst of such evidence of faculty and students committing themselves to this “intellectually adventurous education in the liberal arts and sciences,” not to be in awe of both the magic and the very real challenge of such a learning experience and environ-
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Contents FA L L 2 01 9
VOLU M E 10 3
N U M BE R 4
D E PA R T M E N T S
F E AT U R E S
16 Catalyst for Change
2 LYONS SHARE
Shirley Chisholm’s time in Congress, on campus and beyond
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24 Joining Forces
Three groups of alums share the benefits and joys of working together and rediscovering the Mount Holyoke bond beyond the gates and South Hadley
32 Move-in Day
An inside look at what it takes for new students to settle in to their new campus home
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Cover: TL Duryea; Back cover: Holly Clark; move-in day: Joanna Chattman; Inserra: courtesy Jessica Inserra; Subramanian: Nancy Rothstein; mail: courtesy MHC Archives and Special Collections
5 UNCOMMON GROUND
Karena Strella ’90 named board chair, fellowship winners, celebrating Convocation, new dean of admission, photo contest call for submissions, Maria Mossaides ’73, P’04 honored, new data science major offered 12 Female Gaze Comedian Jessica Inserra ’98; authors Nemata Blyden ’87, Courtney Hopf ’01 and David Hernández, assistant professor of Latina/o studies
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Uncommon women corrections, Fimbel lab reactions, cover kudos and questions
14 Ten Minutes With Google engineer Sowmya Subramanian ’96 15 The Maven Nika Meyers ’11 on planning a successful hike
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36 M oHOME MEMORIES
Remembering Hortense Parker 37 Then and Now Student mail 38 A Place of Our Own Skinner Hall
40 CLASS NOTES 80 MY VOICE
Aysha Baqir ’95, “On #MeToo and the Asian Woman”
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L ET T E R S
EM A IL
FAC E B O OK
TW ITTER
I NSTAGR A M
L I N K E DI N
Lyons Share
UNCOMMON WOMEN Wendy Wasserstein certainly popularized
AN INNOVATIVE MAKER CULTURE The Fimbel Maker and Innovation Lab looks
the term “uncommon women” but she did not coin it (“Remembering Wendy Wasserstein,” summer 2019, p. 34). It became part of the MHC lexicon following President Richard G. Gettell’s 1957 inaugural address, “A Plea for the Uncommon Woman.” —Grace Palladino ’75 via email
like a wonderful asset to MHC students for developing their tactile skills, spatial awareness and functional problem-solving (“Powering Up,” summer 2019, p. 26). These skills are so essential for supporting ongoing creativity and critical thinking. Like Nancie Fimbel ’68, I am a quilter, but while I was at MHC my sewing machine was confined to my dorm room and my creativity was mostly expressed through art classes. While these were great outlets, it’s encouraging to see MHC and a fellow quilter prioritizing a makerspace for those who don’t have access to the offered equipment and resources otherwise! —Miriam Janove ’06 via email
But Mount Holyokers were uncommon women quite a while before Wendy Wasserstein. At least as far back as 1963, when I arrived on campus. —Muriel Pillsbury Allen ’67 via email
Join the Conversation quarterly@mtholyoke.edu
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facebook.com/aamhc twitter.com/aamhc instagram.com/mhcalums alumn.ae/linkedin
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PRAISE FOR TH E L AST ISSU E
I cannot wait to see
the new #Innovation + makerspace at my alma mater @mtholyoke (and I sort of love that it’s in the former home of the Sunday brunch omelette bar): buff.ly/31xDByf
@B LO N D N E R D
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M EG MA SS E Y ’08
@mhcalums Skinner Hall or fairy cottage? Campus is lush with green growth in the summer heat. #MountHolyoke #campus #summer
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BEAUTIFUL COVER The cover of the summer 2019 Alumnae
FOND MEMORIES I’m catching up on Quarterly reading during
Quarterly was absolutely delightful. I’d love to know more about the scarves everyone was wearing and their significance to the graduates. Also, I could not find any reference or even a picture credit for the cover in the Quarterly. Catching such exuberance should not be taken for granted! —Barbara Blanco Gaab ’60 via email
my vacation. Thank you for “What’s in a Name: Torrey Hall” (winter 2019, p. 34). My husband, Gino, and I were “house parents” in Torrey from 1971–1974. The story brought back the memory of a dinner conversation with students in our dining hall where we brainstormed possibilities of the origin of the name Torrey. One of our students from Japan suggested that the front entrance of
Great cover photo. Looked in vain for more info in the issue. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn there is a back story. How did the photographer achieve the mortarboards so artfully placed in space? And, how does one obtain one of those beautiful scarves the grads are wearing? —Caryl Austrian ’52 via email The cover photo was great, but I was surprised to see the Quarterly’s name in yellow type. Maybe it’s a yellow year (so to speak), but yellow continues to show up poorly against a white or gray background. … A different shade of yellow might help. —Luise Mallinger Erdmann ’63 via email
the residence hall reminded her of a Torii, a traditional Japanese gate often found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, symbolizing a transition from the mundane to the sacred. That became the unanimous choice for the source of the name, and before Gino and I left MHC in 1975 our students presented us with a small, beautiful red Torii. —Mary Deane Griffin Sorcinelli MA’72 P’04 via email
WE SHARE D
Mount Holyoke has one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country — not that we have to tell you that! The Princeton Review thinks so, too: bit.ly/BeautifulMHC
Skinner Hall: Jessica Riel; Fimbel Lab: Joanna Chattman; aerial view of campus: Ryan Donnell
EDITOR’S NOTE: The scarves worn by the
graduates on our summer cover are given to students of color during the spring Stoling Ceremony. Learn more at mtholyoke.edu/ commencement/stoling_ceremony. Cover photo credits appear each issue in the table of contents. As for the circumstances surrounding the summer cover image … timing, luck and a talented photographer resulted in this beautiful shot.
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My liberal arts education and
major in politics at @mtholyoke was the best thing I have ever done
for a career in technology (especially con law w @lizkmiller @R HAPPE
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‘Tis a beautiful place! —Kathy Winslow Herzog ’66 And in the spring. —Barbara Schmidt ’69 And must be attended in person to fully understand :) —Shirley Cowin Hickey ’73
R ACH E L HAPPE M CE N RO E ’93
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Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
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M OUN T HO LYO K E ALUMNAE QUARTERLY Fall 2019 Volume 103 Number 4 EDITORIAL AND DESIGN TEAM
Jennifer Grow ’94 Editor and Senior Associate Director of Marketing & Communications Millie Rossman P’23 Creative Director Jess Ayer Class Notes Editor and Marketing & Communications Associate Jessica Riel Digital Content Strategist for Alumnae Engagement CO N T RIBUTORS
Alicia Doyon Christian Feuerstein Althea Finch-Brand ’21 Emily Krakow ’20 Sasha Nyary Maryellen Ryan Elizabeth Solet
QUARTERLY COMMITTEE
Kelly Bahmer-Brouse ’86 Lisa Hawley Hiley ’83 Perrin McCormick Menashi ’90 Susana Morris ’02 Emily Krakow ’20, student rep
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
This information published as required by USPS. Quarterly; ISSN publication number 0027-2493; USPS 365-280; published quarterly; subscriptions are free. Office of Publication: Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, 50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075-1486. Contact person: Jennifer Grow, 413-538-2301; Publisher and owner: Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College. Circulation (based on summer 2019 issue): Net press run: 36,040; Requested subscriptions: 34,665 + nonrequested (campus) distribution: 1,225. The Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly is published quarterly in the spring, summer, fall and winter by the Alumnae Association of Fall 2019 volume 103, number4, was printed in the USA by Fry Communications, Inc., Mechanicsburg, PA. Periodicals postage paid at South Hadley, MA, and additional mailing offices. not necessarily reflect the views of Mount
President Maria Z. Mossaides ’73, P’04
Mount Holyoke College.
Clerk Markeisha J. Miner ’99 Alumnae Trustee Erin Ennis ’92
Not surprised in the least. #mhchasgreatprofessors —Carrianna Field ’97
Mount Holyoke College, Inc.
Ideas expressed in the Alumnae Quarterly do
Treasurer and Chair, Finance Committee Alice C. Maroni ’75
Find out how else #MountHolyoke ranked in this year’s Princeton Review’s lists!
Publication title: Mount Holyoke Alumnae
ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Vice President Antoria Howard-Marrow ’81
No. 4 in the country for “Professors Get High Marks.” No. 8 for “Best College Library.”
Holyoke College or the Alumnae Association of The Alumnae Quarterly welcomes letters. Letters should run not more than 200 words in length, refer to material published in the magazine and include the writer’s full name. Letters may be edited for clarity and space. To update your information, contact Alumnae Information Services at ais@mtholyoke.edu or 413-538-2303.
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In Pioneer Valley for some
meetings and had to stop by @MountHolyoke for a quick hello. #GoLyons Proud #MHC alum! @aamhc
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@E M I LY RU D D OCK E M I LY RU D D OCK ’03
Recent Alumnae Representative Tarana Bhatia ’15 Chair, Classes and Reunion Committee Cheryl Maloney ’73 Chair, Clubs Committee Hilary M. Salmon ’03 Chair, Communications Committee Marisa C. Peacock ’01 Chair, Nominating Committee Danetta L. Beaushaw ’88 Chair, Volunteer Stewardship Committee Arleen M. Heiss ’70
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The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, Inc. 50 College St. South Hadley, MA 01075-1486 413-538-2300 alumnae.mtholyoke.edu quarterly@mtholyoke.edu POSTM ASTE R
(ISSN 0027-2493; USPS 365-280)
Directors-at-Large Hilary J. Bland ’92 Eleanor Chang ’78
Please send form 3579 to
Executive Director Nancy Bellows Perez ’76 ex officio without vote
50 College St.
Alumnae Information Services Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association South Hadley, MA 01075-1486
alumnae.mtholyoke.edu
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N EWS
FEM A LE GA ZE
TEN MINUTES W ITH
T H E M AV E N
Uncommon Ground
Joanna Chattman
College kicks off a new academic year A BRIGHT, CLOUDLESS SKY, warm weather and crowds of excited students, faculty and staff made Mount Holyoke College’s 182nd Convocation a jubilant day. The Five College West African Music Ensemble played, as students — decked out in their class colors — filed in to the Richard Glenn Gettell Amphitheater. College Trustee Carrie Field ’97, director of graduate and exchange programs at the University of Connecticut School of Law, convened the ceremony, welcoming each class in succession and offering new and returning students sage advice: take the time to unplug and live the moment that you are in — stay grounded where you are and enjoy the experience. The ceremony also featured remarks from President Sonya Stephens, who encouraged students to find their affinity groups but not to shy away from exploring differences, and Ymani Francis ’16, coordinator of student involvement and events, who shared her own wisdom: “slow down … climb that mountain on Mountain Day, eat that ice cream on Founder’s Day, enjoy Skinner Green on Pangy Day.” The ceremony concluded with the singing of the Alma Mater, followed by the traditional campuswide picnic on Skinner Green. — B Y J E S S I C A R I E L
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Karena Strella ’90 named Board chair For me, the creative process does not have as much forethought as the academic lens that it lends itself to. … As if you think of the superstructure of this thing, and the whole is telepathically thought out, designed perfectly and executed. I think the Karena Strella ’90 was named chair of the Board of Trustees of Mount Holyoke College, effective July 1. Strella takes on this role after nearly a decade of service as a trustee, during which time she served as vice chair and as chair of four committees and as a member of many others. Calling Strella’s leadership “superbly effective,” President Sonya Stephens said, “Karena’s deep engagement with the College and her passionate support for the work that we do are a testament to her loyalty and commitment to Mount Holyoke. Her curiosity and insights, her thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, and her commitment to excellence and equity all make her an exceptional choice.” Strella brings 25 years of professional strategy, management and organizational skills to her new position. She is a partner at Egon Zehnder, a global talent advisory firm, where she has held several leadership roles. In her current position, she focuses on long-term CEO succession and executive leadership. “I’m honored to serve the College in this role and to work more closely with our community,” Strella said. “Mount Holyoke’s relevance in today’s world is indisputable. The strength of our students, faculty, staff, alumnae and Board is distinctive.” Learn more at mtholyoke.edu/go/board-chair.
creative process is super messy and not a good energy. And analyzing it afterwards, to me, sometimes feels untrue. —T O M M Y O R A N G E , AU T H O R O F “ T H E R E , T H E R E ,” T H E 2 0 1 9 M O U N T H O LYO K E CO M M O N R E A D , D U R I N G A S E P T E M B E R 3 C A M P U S CO N V E R S AT I O N I N C H A P I N AU D I T O R I U M W I T H A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R O F E N G L I S H A N D C R I T I C A L S O C I A L T H O U G H T I Y KO DAY, A S PA R T O F T H E CO L L E G E ’ S O R I E N TAT I O N P R O G R A M M I N G FO R T H E I N CO M I N G C L A S S O F 2 02 3
College welcomes 15 new faculty “I like it when somebody comes to me with a problem and I can figure out how to use statistics to solve it. The great thing about statistics is that if I want to shake things up, I can just switch applications.” — Marie Ozanne ’12, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics. Learn more about Mount Holyoke’s newest faculty at mtholyoke.edu/go/newest-faculty.
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Commission Recommendations Implemented The work recommended by the Commission on the Relationship between the College and the Alumnae Association has come to a successful conclusion. Learn more at mtholyoke.edu/ go/commission-update.
Goal: Over the last three years, the Alumnae Association and the College have engaged more than 60 faculty, staff and alumnae volunteers, as well as outside experts, to provide guidance for new approaches to developing innovative alumnae offerings that include a complete view of alumnae engagement in an environment that reflects a strong working relationship between the College and the Alumnae Association.
Centralized Alumnae and Development Data Services Team Established
Alumnae Relations Group Established DECEMBER 2016
OCTOBER 2019
Led by the Alumnae Association Executive Director, 17 campus leaders whose work includes engaging alumnae, meet monthly during the academic year to collaborate and coordinate alumnae involvement across campus and externally. The group’s charge is to optimize the alumnae experience and alumnae connections with one another and with the campus community.
One team streamlines data processes and operations for greater effectiveness and service to alumnae and other key constituents in support of their involvement with the College.
Volunteer Hub Enhanced APRIL 2018
The Hub is designed to support the nearly 2,000 active alumnae volunteers. Plans are in place to continue to expand its reach to: Increase the number of volunteers on the platform
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Enable volunteer-tovolunteer communications
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Provide access to additional reports for alumnae and prospective students
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Offer a direct connection to campus and regional events
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Provide access to livestreams, webinars and online training modules
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Managed out of the Division of Advancement, with the Alumnae Association having a role in the governance structure and review processes.
Marketing and Communications Teams Integrated
Shared Calendar of Events Implemented
JUNE 2019
JULY 2017
The goal is to provide seamless and effective communications across the spectrum of alumnae engagement.
On- and off-campus events for faculty, students, staff and alumnae have been consolidated into a new, central calendar that includes all Mount Holyoke events in one place.
Organizational alignment of the Alumnae Association and College marketing and communications teams designed to enable an environment that:
A new platform introduced in March 2019 offers a dynamic and interactive view of events.
Integrated Systems and Top-Level Collaborative Governance Established In November 2017 a new, 10-year agreement between the College and the Alumnae Association was launched, honoring essential tenets in which the Alumnae Association operates independently while ensuring the long-term success of the College and its alumnae. As we moved forward with integrating each operation, we have documented agreements about roles, responsibilities and general processes for working together. The College provides funding, human resources and financial management services for the Alumnae Association, and the Alumnae Association participates fully in the annual College planning and budgeting process. The Alumnae Association executive director participates in the College’s weekly officers meetings and retreats, as well as College Board of Trustees meetings. The president of the College and vice president of advancement attend Alumnae Association Board of Directors meetings.
Aligns branding and design standards across platforms, while maintaining the independent voice of the Alumnae Quarterly
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Provides foundation for shared content strategy, shared resources and consistent brand management and execution
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Provides foundation for improved internal communications, shared resources and crisis communication planning
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College Events Management Process Formalized OCTOBER 2019
An events management policy was established outlining steps for approval for campuswide events, outside events, student events and complex events. The work is governed by the Event Oversight Committee and supported by staff in Event Services. Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
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Reunion 2020 Reunion I
May 15–17 1950, 1970, 1980, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2018
Reunion II
May 22–24 1945, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1975, 1985, 1990, 2005, 2015 alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/reunion
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Alum fellowship winners explore LGBTQ health care Two Mount Holyoke alums are working to develop a better understanding of health disparities between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ populations with the goal of ensuring equal access to appropriate health care. Both alums are supported in their work by fellowships received from the Alumnae Association. Selime Salim ’17, 2019 recipient of a Dr. Mary P. Dole Medical Fellowship from the Alumnae Association, is pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Miami University. Her thesis project aims to identify links between stigma, sexual victimization and mental health outcomes of bisexual women. Bisexual people, says Salim, have been either left out of most early population-based studies about the mental health of LGBTQ people or are grouped in with gay and lesbian populations. Recent evidence has shown that bisexual individuals, especially women, report mental health outcomes that are worse than those of heterosexual, gay and lesbian people. “Bisexual women, in particular, appear to be the most vulnerable group to experience sexual victimization and … elevated rates of psychological difficulties, including greater rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance use,” says Salim. “By identifying important risk factors that contribute to negative outcomes among bisexual women, I hope that my work can inform intervention and prevention efforts.” Linn Jennings ’12, 2019 recipient of The 1905 Fellowship, is evaluating data gathered on the health care experiences of LGBTQ people to better understand what gaps exist in their access to healthcare and how those gaps impact their overall well-being. Last fall, Jennings participated in the Queer Health Hackathon, a project of the Tegan and Sara Foundation’s Queer Health Access initiative, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her team analyzed anonymous data from a major health care organization to examine LGBTQ healthcare disparities. After creating the winning project at the hackathon, Jennings’ team received a full year of access to the data to complete their analysis and publish the results. She was thrilled to receive the prize, but it did not include funding. “This fellowship is helping me continue to do this research … by making it possible to travel to work with my team in person and to hopefully present our research at a conference this upcoming year,” says Jennings. Learn more about the Alumnae Association fellowship program, including application details, at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/fellowships. —BY JESSICA RIEL
Welcome MoHome, #FearlessFirst Students! This year, first-generation college students new to Mount Holyoke received a journal of resources and words of inspiration from fellow first-gen faculty and alumnae. Learn more about resources for first-gen students at mtholyoke.edu/go/first-gen.
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Reunion: Deirdre Haber Malfatto; Mossaides: Joanna Chattman
SAVE THE DATE
DID YOU KNOW?
The total number of alums of Mount Holyoke since its founding is
60,887
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Call for photos We want to see your photographs about balance, and we will select at least one for publication in the Alumnae Quarterly. Show us, what does balance mean to you? How do you portray balance visually? How do you live it, observe it, despise it, crave it?
Submit your original photo by March 15, 2020. Photos selected for publication will appear in the summer 2020 issue. To read the complete guidelines and to submit your work, visit alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/ photocontest.
PET INSURANCE TOO!
Maria Mossaides ’73, P’04 honored by the Frances Perkins Center On Sunday, August 18, 2019, Alumnae Association President Maria Mossaides ’73, P’04 received the Steadfast Award from the Frances Perkins Center during the Center’s 11th Annual Garden Party at the Frances Perkins Homestead in Damariscotta, Maine. Peggy Rotundo ’71, board member of the Frances Perkins Center, said, “Each year the Frances Perkins Center honors a person whose life work has steadfastly promoted the values and ideals that guided Frances Perkins’ life. … Maria has worked tirelessly as a public servant to ensure that government works for all people, particularly children and youth, and that all have access to justice.” Upon receiving the award, Mossaides, who is the child advocate for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, spoke of how Frances Perkins, class of 1902, has become a personal hero to her. “Frances Perkins’ example has sustained me in the actual work of my over 40 years of public service,” said Mossaides. “For the past 30 years I have shared the story of Frances Perkins in a class I teach for public managers. I use her as an example of what one determined person can accomplish. I want Frances Perkins to inspire my students to ‘do the right thing,’ just as she has done for me.” Read more and view a photo of Mount Holyoke alumnae who attended the ceremony at mtholyoke.edu/go/award.
Alumnae Quarterly expands distribution
Discounted insurance for alumnae
Beginning with this issue, the Alumnae Quarterly will now
The Alumnae Association sponsors
notice that in addition to indicating class years following
an alumnae insurance program.
alum names, parent years have been added. Welcome,
Learn more at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/
parents! We hope you enjoy receiving the Alumnae Quarterly
insurance.
and encourage you to be in touch at quarterly@mtholyoke.edu.
be distributed to all current parents. Close readers will also
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Café name gives nod to Frances Perkins, class of 1902
Leykia Nulan was named dean of admission for Mount Holyoke. Nulan was previously director of freshman admissions and assistant provost for diversity and enrollment at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she developed enrollment targets for more than 100 majors in 10 schools and colleges within the university and facilitated a 3% increase in underrepresented students in one admission cycle. “Leykia is a distinguished professional whose commitment to excellence has produced impressive enrollment results,” said Robin Randall, vice president for enrollment management at Mount Holyoke. “She is recognized widely for her thoughtful community engagement and advocacy on behalf of students. Her leadership will help guide the efforts of a very experienced and successful enrollment staff to best promote the extraordinary power of a Mount Holyoke education to a growing pool of prospective students.” “It is my pleasure and an honor to serve as the dean of admission, and I look forward to joining the campus community this fall,” said Nulan, who recently received the 2019 Professional of the Year Award at the 2019 New England Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference. Nulan previously worked at Amherst College as associate dean of admission and coordinator of diversity outreach and as associate director of student activities. She began her career in admission at Wheaton College as an assistant director and multicultural admission counselor. She has a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, where she was a Posse Scholar, and a master’s degree in higher education policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined Mount Holyoke on October 1.
The campus café located off the atrium of Williston Library is now known as the Frances Perk, after a contest was held last year to rename the space. The name — chosen by students in two rounds of voting — was proposed by a group of friends from the class of ’21 after they joked about naming the new café after Central Perk, the iconic coffee shop in the TV show “Friends,” and then made the connection between “Perk” and the class of 1902 alum Frances Perkins. The café is student-run and supported through dining services. It is open to the public, and students may use their dining dollars from their meal plan to make purchases. Selections include coffee and teas and a variety of baked goods as well as refrigerated drinks and other small snacks. Lily James ’21 says, “Frances Perkins is one of the most inspiring alums, and we immediately knew it was the perfect homage to her and her work. I think the fact that Frances Perk was chosen shows the love that the current MHC students have for our alum; she has undoubtedly inspired us in many ways (and maybe now will help us stay awake during nights at the library!).”
—BY CHRISTIAN FEUERSTEIN
— B Y A LT H E A F I N C H - B R A N D ’ 2 1
Nulan: MHC Office of Communications
College welcomes new dean of admission
Alumnae Association debuts new programs The Alumnae Association launched “Welcome to the Neighborhood” over the summer. The first event, held in Boston, was a great success, with 28 alum attendees from the Greater Boston area. Those gathered shared recommendations on everything from the best local food to things to do for fun. For more information on alumnae events, including the next “Welcome to the Neighborhood” gathering, visit events.mtholyoke.edu.
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WELCOME NEIGHBORHOOD to the
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College establishes data science major Starting this fall, Mount Holyoke students may choose to major in data science. The program is geared toward students interested in using data-driven novel insights to tackle real-world problems across a range of disciplines. Data science is a way to extract meaningful knowledge from large amounts of complex data by using scientific methods, statistics and computing tools. The major emphasizes how to be effective, ethical and judicious consumers of data while preparing students to communicate data concepts and outcomes. Students will receive intensive training in statistics and computer science, and they will engage in interdisciplinary study across fields in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. “Having a major in this field is very appropriate for Mount Holyoke College, given our historic strength in the sciences and our commitment to the liberal arts and empowering students to address difficult questions across a range of areas,” says Valerie Barr ’77, P’15, Jean E. Sammet ’48 Professor of Computer Science and chair of the computer science department. Jon Western, vice president for academic affairs, agrees. “I am thrilled that the data science major will be available to students this year. It is the result of years of collaboration and work by faculty across the College. With a focus on applying computational and statistical reasoning to disciplines across the College, the new major is in keeping with our liberal arts mission and our commitment to meeting the emerging needs and opportunities of our increasingly complicated world.” Learn more about data science, including curricular details, at mtholyoke.edu/go/data-science.
JEAN E. SAMMET ’48
—BY CHRISTIAN FEUERSTEIN
Join the Alumnae Stay program Alumnae Stay provides free, temporary and safe housing to Mount Holyoke College students or alumnae traveling to pursue academic and professional growth. Volunteer or find a room at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/alumnaestay.
Tanzania During the Great Migration March 18–29, 2020
Join an Alumnae Association trip abroad We invite you to join one or more of the upcoming travel opportunities, such as a 12-day journey of Tanzania during the Great Migration. For more information and to register, visit alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/travel.
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FE M A LE G A ZE
e. COME D I A N
Riding the Laughter involved in being like, ‘Okay, I am going to get up there and expose my soul, try to make you people laugh,’ with the distinct risk that they won’t?” says comedian Jessica Inserra ’98, who faces this question sometimes on a nightly basis before taking the stage in front of an audience who may or may not be there to see her, specifically. “Comedy is kind of the great equalizer,” says Inserra. In playing a number of venues, she has met both newbies and performers with far more experience and success. Comedians Jim Gaffigan and Bill Burr dropped in on one of her shows during the summer, and over the past year she has met others backstage, including Andrew Dice Clay. Almost everything about the work of performing stand-up has the risk of putting the comedian in a position of feeling vulnerable and alone. Some nights are harder than others, and the audience response isn’t what’s hoped for. But, Inserra lives for that moment when she’s truly connecting with the audience. “You know when it happens,” she says. “It’s amazing when you know you’ve achieved those moments when you were not in your head while you’re delivering the line. You’re not listening to yourself and judging yourself. You’re really just performing for the audience, with the audience, connecting with them. Something about that moment frees up your instrument. You’re just 100% present, 100% connected. There is nothing like that in the world.” In 2005 Inserra moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting but instead was recruited to help set up a fledgling plastic surgery office, where she began as the sole employee and now leads a large team and has the flexibility to give to her creative passion. After taking off more than 10 years from the stage, she says, “I missed performing.”
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About a year ago, with the encouragement of a friend, Inserra auditioned to take a comedy class with comedian and teacher Gerry Katzman. After writing jokes as a form of an audition and sending them to Katzman, Inserra then had a phone interview with him. “He puts you through the paces to get into this class,” she says. “I think he wants to weed out the people who are not really serious. … It is not for the faint of heart.”
Week after week, Inserra attended the four-and-a-half-hour-long class, writing jokes in the days leading up to the classes and practicing the material in front of the other students. “I probably almost quit the class every week for two and a half months. I would go to the class and sit outside in my car and think, ‘What am I doing? I can’t do this. This is crazy. Nobody wants to hear what some aging lesbian’s point of view is.’”
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Comedy is not a team sport. … It’s you and your material. You sink or swim on your own on the stage.
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Mindy Tucker
“C A N Y O U I M A G I N E the masochism
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FE M A LE G A ZE
BOOKS
David Mitchell: Contemporary Critical Perspectives B LOO M SBU RY
“David Mitchell: Contemporary Critical Perspectives” brings together leading scholars of contemporary fiction to guide readers through the full range of the author’s writings. The authors explore Mitchell’s genre-hopping techniques, world-making aesthetics and engagements with key contemporary issues such as globalization, empire, the environment, disability, trauma and technology. Courtney Hopf ’01 is lecturer and program manager for liberal studies and creative arts at New York University London, United Kingdom. She has previously published work on “Cloud Atlas” in “David Mitchell: Critical Essays” (2011), as well as essays in Alluvium and Rhizomes.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
See more recent alumnae books at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/ fall2019books.
But she persisted, and the class culminated in a comedy showcase. The host, who produces a regular show at The Comedy Store, a comedy club in West Hollywood, liked her work and invited her to perform. “As they say,” Inserra says, “the rest is history. That was my first opportunity, and I have continued.” Her schedule has gotten exponentially busier with festivals, shows and out-of-
Caging Borders and Carceral States: Incarcerations, Immigration Detentions, and Resistance TH E U N IVE RSIT Y O F NO RTH CARO LI NA PRESS
This volume considers the interconnection of racial oppression in the U.S. South and West, presenting 13 case studies that explore the ways in which citizens and migrants alike have been caged, detained, deported and incarcerated, and what these practices tell us about state building, converging and coercive legal powers, and national sovereignty. As these studies depict the institutional development and state scaffolding of overlapping carceral regimes, they also consider how prisoners and immigrants resisted such oppression and violence by drawing on the transnational politics of human rights and liberation, transcending the isolation of incarceration, detention, deportation and the boundaries of domestic law.
town gigs. In July Inserra happened to be in NYC for a series of shows when NBC’s nationwide stand-up talent search auditions were taking place. She attended the open call, was asked to return and made the semifinals, where she was scouted by a top agency. Inserra credits women, people of color and LGBTQ people working in comedy for paving the way to a more accepting atmo-
David Hernández is assistant professor of Latina/o studies at Mount Holyoke. His research focuses on immigration enforcement, in particular, the U.S. detention regime. He is coeditor of “Critical Ethnic Studies: A Reader” (Duke University Press).
African Americans and Africa: A New History Nemata Amelia Ibitayo Blyden YALE U N IVE RSIT Y PRESS
What is an “African American” and how does this identity relate to the African continent? This book provides an introduction to the relationship between African Americans and Africa from the era of slavery to the present, mapping several overlapping diasporas. The diversity of African American identities through relationships with region, ethnicity, slavery and immigration are all examined to investigate questions fundamental to the study of African American history and culture. Nemata Blyden ’87 is associate professor of history and international affairs at The George Washington University. She is the author of “West Indians in West Africa, 1808–1880: The African Diaspora in Reverse.”
sphere on the comedy circuit. “I wholly embrace … being a woman over 40, being a gay woman. Things that used to be a disadvantage are now considered an advantage. You’d be foolish in my opinion not to exploit what makes you uniquely you.” Learn more about Inserra, including upcoming shows, on Instagram @jessinserra or at prettygay.net. —BY JESSICA RIEL
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TE N M I N U TE S WI TH
INNOVATO R
Seeing the Bigger Picture S O W M Y A S U B R A M A N I A N ’ 9 6 is senior director of engineering at Google, where she is currently
leading engineering in Google Search to help grow the open web ecosystem to continue to meet the information needs of users. She was instrumental in the development of several YouTube products, including YouTube Live, YouTube Kids and YouTube Music, as well as in the transformation of YouTube from an exclusively ad-based site to the addition of YouTube Premiere. Subramanian is committed to empowering women and girls in technology. She co-leads the Google North America group Women@; serves on the advisory boards of PBS Kids and iTVS Women & Girls Lead Global; and has given several talks about empowering women through technology, including at Mount Holyoke in March 2019.
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My priority with women in technology is about influencing products and making technology more accessible to everyone. — S OW M YA S U B R A M A N I A N ’ 9 6
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think or not the norm of how to behave, or that they are not technical enough. That’s just not OK. If you have potential and talent, no matter who you are, you should be able to use it and do good things. You should be able to own it.
On modeling “owning it”: After graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I became an engineer at Oracle in the core database team — one of the top database companies at that time. Within my first year I realized that a lot of my ideas would take too long to be seen by the end user, and my motivation for being in technology was to solve user problems. So I moved from database development to a small team responsible for building apps and web experiences, which grew to become the platform for all Oracle customer relationship management. My technical background combined with my ability
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to see the bigger picture and how to apply it to meet user needs allowed me to build products that resonated with people and inspired others to work on them. Soon enough I was working in management positions. Similarly, at Google, I kickstarted an initiative, “Bridging the Gender Gap,” to help us look critically at our products, algorithms, designs and marketing to identify any gaps and figure out how to bridge them. This forced us to look at the same problems and products we’d been looking at before, but from a different angle, which helped us with innovation. Very quickly we realized this is not about gender, and pivoted to “Inclusive Design.” It was eye-opening for me to see that a lot of our products have more opportunity to be designed to be inclusive. I could map why something would matter for the user, or how to alter it to solve the user’s problems. I understood where the actual gaps and needs were and how technology could innovate to help fill those gaps.
On innovative thinking: When I joined Google, I went to some marketing studies to understand user needs, which surprised the marketing team because they’d never had an engineer be so collaborative with them. I started seeing that people love the videos on the YouTube Kids platform, but in speaking to some families, we saw an opportunity to build out more
specialized experiences that are more accessible to everyone. I looked at it from the consumer point of view — if I’m a kid, how do I engage with YouTube? When content creators see that users are engaging more deeply, they are going to be able to innovate in a different way, too. It allows for the building of an ecosystem that benefits the creators and the consumers. —INTERVIEW BY JULIA MUNEMO
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Read more about Sowmya’s work empowering women at Google at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/sowmya.
Nancy Rothstein
On mentoring: I see women in technology wondering why they’re asking questions no one else in the room is asking, and they start telling themselves a story that this is not the right way to
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TH E M AV E N
HI K I NG MAV E N
Reaching Great Heights By NI KA ME Y E R S ’11
EVER SI NCE I was a young child I have enjoyed spending time outside no matter where I am. After college I discovered thru-hiking — hiking a trail from start to finish — and the experience changed me, my values and how I relate to people and my surroundings. Hiking helps remind me that I am so very small, can control so very little, yet can dream so big. I am humbled by trails and the trail community, where caring for others and paying it forward is a way of life. I love the simplicity of thru-hiking — carrying everything I need on my back and relying on my body and a little planning to get me to the finish. As all of us know from climbing Mt. Holyoke on Mountain Day, hiking can be enjoyed by almost anyone. You don’t have to plan a severalhundred-mile journey across many weeks. You can start close to home — maybe right from your front door — and find adventure and beauty in your path. Here are some tips for getting started.
Make a plan: Embrace the curiosity that you are feeling to experience something or someplace new, and go for it! Consider how much time you have, your fitness level, time of year, distance, elevation gain and loss, and needed permits or regulations. Knowing where you’re starting from and what you’re comfortable taking on are important guiding factors when choosing
a route. Many state parks have wheelchair-accessible trails, audio-guided tours, braille trail maps or trails lined by rope railings or other accommodations that can make navigating a trail an activity accessible for many outdoor lovers.
Find a trail: Orient yourself with the trails and routes near you or near the place you are visiting. Consult maps, trail guides and online resources, or talk to someone at a nearby store where outdoor gear and equipment are sold. Word of mouth can be an incredible hub of knowledge.
G E AR U P
With a few simple items in your pack you can prepare yourself for a safe and enjoyable adventure. Each hike, depending on its length/location, will require a different gear set, but a good starting place is: n Comfortable footwear/socks (running shoes or hiking boots) n Fast-drying clothes (wool or synthetic) n An extra warm layer, like a puffy vest or fleece n Enough food and water (you will surprise yourself with how much you can eat and drink while hiking) n A rain coat or poncho n A map and/or guidebook n A small first-aid kit n Sun protection (sunscreen, hat, sunglasses) n A headlamp (in case you go a bit longer than expected) After each hike, think about what you may have been able to do without and what you should have had with you. This process will help you create the best packing list for your next hike.
Invite a friend: Hiking alone can be wonderful and very special, but when starting out on a long or challenging hike it can feel overwhelming and intimidating. Find a friend or a community to join to share in the process of gaining confidence and strength while hiking. Joining with a friend can also be great motivation for getting out there, in addition to providing a level of safety — and fun. Leave no trace: Consider the impact you have on the places you hike. Carry out everything you’ve carried in, of course, and also do your part to take care of the trails. Stay on marked paths, pack out found trash and be aware of wildlife that may be around. If you fall in love with hiking, consider supporting an organization that creates and maintains the trails in your area, as most of them are volunteer/member supported. Nika Meyers ’11 lives in Aspen, Colorado. She has hiked more than 9,000 miles, including thru-hiking — over the past five years — the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, the Appalachian Trail, Vermont’s Long Trail and the Arizona Trail. She has worked as a backcountry caretaker, on trail crews, as a naturalist guide and is an artist. Learn more at nikameyers.com. AR E YOU A MAV EN ? Pitch your area of expertise to quarterly@mtholyoke.edu.
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PORTRAIT BY
TL DURYEA ’94
WRITTEN BY
HEATHER HANSEN ’94
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a petite African American woman took center stage in the auditorium of the Concord Baptist Church School in Brooklyn, New York. The room and rafters were overflowing with press and several hundred supporters, and all eyes were on the 47-year-old woman in a black-and-white brocade suit. There was loud applause as Shirley Chisholm stepped up, grinning broadly, waving enthusiastically and nodding appreciatively to the crowd. “I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of America,” she said, from under the glare of the lights and behind a cluster of microphones. “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests. … I am the candidate of the people of America.” On that historic day, Chisholm became the first African American to seek the nomination of a major party for the presidency and the first woman to pursue the Democratic ticket. Her voice was strong, with a hint of a West Indian accent; her diction precise; and her speech had the cadence of a preacher. Video footage of the speech shows the room exploding with applause and camera flashes flaring off of her glasses as she thundered on. Chisholm talked about the “three evils” — as Martin Luther King Jr. had called them — of excessive materialism, racism and militarism, as well as sexism, environmental degradation, campaign finance reform, and in-fighting in Washington, D.C.
Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress
Shirley Chisholm speaking to delegates at the Democratic National Convention July 12, 1972, in Miami Beach, Florida
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Fourteen years after her death, Chisholm is still very much a pub-
Chisholm thanking delegates at the Democratic National Convention, July 12, 1972, in Miami Beach, Florida
lic figure. In July the first phase of a 400-acre New York State Park named in honor of Chisholm opened in Brooklyn, New York. Thomas J. O’Halloran, Library of Congress
A public monument to Chisholm is also being planned for the entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and a feature film is in the works. Many recent candidates for Congress, and for the 2020 presidential nomination, have evoked Chisholm in some way. Tattoos, T-shirts and coffee mugs bear her image, and social media is abuzz with her catchphrases, such as, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Chisholm has been embraced as a symbol of what can be achieved despite poor odds and as a role model for speaking up for justice. For many Mount Holyoke alumnae the resurgence in Chisholm’s popularity is a reminder of their very personal connection to the trailblazer, who gave the 1981 commencement speech and later taught at the College. By the time she arrived on campus in 1983 she was legendary, but the Shirley Chisholm who greeted Mount Holyoke students was an engaging teacher, an avid listener and a generous mentor.
THIS IS FIGHTING SHIRLEY CHISHOLM Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn in 1924, the daughter of a domestic worker/seamstress and a factory worker, both immigrants from the Caribbean. She spent most of her life in Brooklyn except for several years during the Great Depression when she lived in Barbados with her grandmother. Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn College and earned a master’s degree in education from Columbia University. Later she was a teacher, childcare center director and educational consultant for New York City’s Division of Day Care. From 1965 to 1968, Chisholm served in the New York state legislature, only the second African American to have held that position. During that time she fought hard for her constituents, pushing back against racial prejudice, gender inequality and economic injustice. She sponsored six bills, three of which became law. Chisholm bucked convention again when she announced that she planned to run for Congress to represent New York’s newly formed 12th Congressional District in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. She was encouraged by peers and neighbors, who recognized the strength and conviction of her leadership.
When a woman knocked on the door of Chisholm’s brownstone and handed her an envelope filled with $9.62 in change, collected from other women in the neighborhood who wanted her to run, Chisholm knew she held in her hands her first campaign contribution. She closed the door and sat down, still holding the envelope, and cried. That moving gesture, which she told Ebony magazine about later, drove her to run. She brought on an all-female campaign staff to help. After winning the primary bid to be the Democratic nominee, Chisholm challenged Republican-backed liberal James Farmer in the general election. Both were black, and Farmer had gained fame for his civil rights work, so he focused his campaign on gender, saying that Brooklyn needed a man to represent its interests in Congress. In an interview in 2002 Chisholm reflected on that time: “James Farmer laughed when I made the bid to go to Congress. He said, ‘She’s a little school teacher. I mean, look at her. She’s tiny, she’s frail, she can’t do that work.’” Chisholm fired back, telling The New York Times shortly before the election, “The party leaders do not like me. I have always spoken out for what I believe; I cannot be controlled.” The insults propelled Chisholm to campaign even harder, taking to the streets with a loudspeaker, announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen ... this is fighting Shirley Chisholm coming through.” She was a well-known community activist and precinct worker, and she would shake hands with anyone. She also spoke fluent Spanish, connecting with the growing Puerto Rican population. Many new voters were registered during that time, and they turned out to the polls on election day. When Chisholm defeated Farmer by a two-to-one margin, the question of whether a woman could, or should, go to Congress had been answered. “Nothing can stop you if you have confidence in yourself and the people dig you,” she said following the election. Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
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NO INTENTION OF BEING QUIET At that chaotic moment, 50 years ago, Chisholm made history as the first black woman elected to Congress. She took her seat in the 91st U.S. Congress in January 1969. Busloads of supporters traveled from New York to Washington, D.C., to celebrate with her. Among the other newly elected representatives were two African American men (Louis Stokes of Ohio and William L. Clay Sr. of Missouri), which boosted the number of black representatives from six to a record nine. At the time there were 10 other women in Congress (nine out of 435 seats in the House, and one out of 100 seats in the Senate). In some ways, winning the election had been the easy part. Chisholm entered national politics at a time of civil unrest. The white, male status quo was being challenged by massive protests for civil rights and gender equality, and against the war in Vietnam. Violent attempts to suppress progress and silence the outspoken turned deadly; in 1968, the same year Chisholm ran for Congress, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, as was New York State Senator and presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy. Chisholm also endured death threats and assassination attempts.
Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress (2)
Chisholm at the Congressional Black Caucus, May 24, 1971
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Being outspoken and unpredictable had become something of a trademark for Chisholm, and, while some of her colleagues were welcoming, most gave her a wide berth. (The men of the 91st Congress included Ted Kennedy, Donald Rumsfeld, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.) If she felt shunned under the Capitol dome, Chisholm didn’t let on at the time; she felt that responding emotionally wouldn’t serve her or those who voted for her. But many years later she said, “For the first two, three months I was miserable. The gentlemen did not pay me any mind at all. … It was horrible.” Chisholm used to read a newspaper at lunch because no one would sit at the table with her. But she wasn’t there to make friends. Around that time she told The New York Times, “[I’m] supposed to be seen and not heard. But my voice will be heard. I have no intention of being quiet.” Chisholm spoke up early and often. Just a few days into her term she made news by standing up in the Democratic caucus and rejecting her committee assignment. While new members of Congress rarely had a say about which committees they landed in, Chisholm thought a “sanctified system” that didn’t allow elected officials to represent the interests of their constituents was ridiculous. She had been assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture, specifically the forestry and rural development subcommittee, but felt she could better serve her diverse, urban district working on issues of labor or education. Chisholm was often stern but relied upon a sharp sense of humor to drive a point home. Referring to a well-known novel by Betty Smith, she told The Washington Post, “Apparently all they know here in Washington about Brooklyn is that a tree grew there.” Chisholm was accused of grandstanding and was told by then-House Speaker John McCormack to be a “good soldier” and take her appointed committee seat. But she did not and was ultimately reassigned — to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which, while not her top choice, was somewhat more applicable to her base. “There are a lot more veterans in my district than trees,” she quipped.
“IF THEY DON’T GIVE YOU A SEAT AT THE TABLE, BRING A FOLDING CHAIR.” SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
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Chisholm didn’t stop there. In her first floor speech in March 1969 she railed against what she called an unjust war in Vietnam, delivering a scathing critique of President Richard Nixon’s budgeting for an elaborate weapons system over the needs of disadvantaged children in his own backyard. “Unless we start to fight and defeat the enemies in our own country — poverty and racism — and make our talk of equality and opportunity ring true, we are exposed in the eyes of the world as hypocrites when we talk about making people free,” said Chisholm. (Later, she was one of 19 representatives willing to hold hearings on the Vietnam War.) Those who had not come across such a skilled female orator and debater before dismissed her as “pushy,” “brazen” or “overbearing,” according to “A Minority of Members: Women in the U.S. Congress” (1973) by Hope Chamberlin. Chisholm went on to serve on several powerful panels and influential committees during her seven terms in Congress, ultimately fighting for the same causes she had championed upon arriving in Washington. She worked for social and economic justice programs like Head Start, school lunches and food stamps, and argued for access to a quality education for all. Chisholm also advocated for the rights and empowerment of the poor, minorities and women. Acknowledging her work as a tireless legislator pays tribute to Chisholm, says Preston Smith, professor of politics and chair of the politics department at Mount Holyoke. “Chisholm’s work in Congress is concrete, palpable. She did the work for her constituents, and, as far as I can tell, they benefited. That’s important,” he says. Chisholm spoke often about women’s rights as human rights and was a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee legal rights to all citizens regardless of sex. In August 1970, Chisholm looked out over a sea of male faces and spoke movingly on the House floor in favor of the resolution. She said the ERA “represents one of the most clear-cut opportunities we are likely to have to declare our faith
in the principles that shaped our Constitution. It provides a legal basis for attack on the most subtle, most pervasive and most institutionalized form of prejudice that exists. Discrimination against women, solely on the basis of their sex, is so widespread that it seems to many persons normal, natural and right.” Ultimately ERA ratification failed and, to this day, sex equality is not protected — except where it pertains to the right to vote — by the Constitution.
UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED At this time leaders of the loosely organized black political establishment were talking seriously about whether or not to support an African American candidate for president. Black candidates were winning some highly visible races, and black voters comprised 20% of the Democratic Party base. But there was disagreement on how to flex this new electoral muscle. Strategists knew a black candidate for president would be a symbolic move at that moment in history, so would it be safer to support a white candidate with a progressive agenda? While others were spinning their wheels, Chisholm shifted into gear. Without asking for endorsements or donations — or permission — she announced her candidacy for the 1972 Democratic nomination for president as a “catalyst for change” in reshaping society. “A house divided cannot stand,” she said during her presidential candidacy announcement, quoting President Abraham Lincoln. She acknowledged that voters were sick of corrupt, selfserving politicians and that it was time to stand up for what one believed in, to follow her lead. “My presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history,” she said. “Americans all over are demanding a new sensibility, a new philosophy.” Chisholm was challenging nearly 200 years of white male leadership in the U.S. government. But she was also confronting what she saw as the male
privilege of the civil rights movement and the white privilege of the feminist movement. Prominent feminists, who were mainly white women, were also split on her candidacy, and many felt it would better serve their cause to unite behind a winning candidate whose ear they could bend toward equal rights. Ultimately, Chisholm didn’t get the complete backing of either black men or white women. On the night in Brooklyn when Chisholm announced her candidacy, standing beside her were Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.), an African American representative and later mayor of Oakland with whom Chisholm had founded the Congressional Black Caucus, and feminist activist Betty Friedan (co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus with Chisholm, Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem and others). But others were conspicuously absent — like black Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton and Abzug, the white feminist leader and newly elected U.S. representative from New York. From the onset of her candidacy, gender was a prominent issue. When Chisholm entered the race, eminent CBS anchor Walter Cronkite reported, “A new hat, rather a bonnet, was tossed into the Democratic presidential race today. That of Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in Congress.” Chisholm didn’t shy away from addressing gender discrimination. In her 1970 autobiography, she wrote: “Of my two ‘handicaps,’ being female put many more obstacles in my path than being black.” Some people tried to humiliate or to discredit her by insulting her looks. Hecklers on the campaign trail shouted that she should stay home to take care of her husband and to clean her house. Following Chisholm’s presidential bid The New York Times reported, “Though her quickness and animation leave an impression of bright femininity, she is not beautiful. … Her face is bony and angular, her nose flat and wide, her neck and limbs scrawny. Her protruding teeth probably account in part for her noticeable lisp.” But Chisholm wasn’t looking for approval, and she powered on. “Unbought and Unbossed” was her motto, and instead of building bridges to other politicians,
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she focused on building a coalition of the disenfranchised (women, people of color, working class and young voters). Her platform included a progressive stance on social programs, gun control, civil rights and prison reform, and opposed police brutality. Chisholm raised a modest $95,000 while campaigning nationwide (other candidates at the time spent as much as $1 million on their primary campaigns) and got her name on 12 primary ballots. When she wasn’t invited to debate her male opponents on prime-time television she sued, and won. The field of nominees was crowded, and Chisholm knew she couldn’t beat the party favorite, but she had a broader vision. Her strategy was to win as many delegates as possible, then offer the front-runner those votes in exchange for his support on core objectives. Her power brokering was ultimately unsuccessful, but Chisholm got 152 delegate votes, or roughly 10% of the total vote. It was more than expected, given her lean campaign financing. At the Democratic National Convention in Miami in July 1972, in a surprisingly impassioned speech, Percy Sutton from New York nominated Chisholm for the presidency. “This candidate, this lady of determination — in the course of her candidacy, and often in the face of scorn and ridicule from many sides — resolutely continued in her passionate demand for freedom of spirit and human dignity — for all Americans, of all conditions of life,” he said. Sutton continued that Chisholm’s “courage” and “candor” in fighting all forms of human prejudice “made many Americans look deep within their hearts and souls for that which is generous, honest and noble.” The early 1970s was a period of dramatic social change, says Adam Hilton, assistant professor of politics at the College who specializes in U.S. elections and has done extensive research on the time period in which Chisholm stormed the national stage. It was a critical moment for the Democratic Party in particular, which was shifting from “predominantly white, middle-class and middle-aged to becoming a party that was much more associated with insurgent movements of the time — of students,
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women and people of color,” Hilton says. “It’s almost impossible to look back from the present and not see connections between contemporary forms of progressive politics and the foundation laid down by Chisholm and other figures of that particular era.
ASK QUESTIONS, DEMAND ANSWERS While Chisholm never served as president, her legacy and inspiration were far reaching. Elected to serve in the 93rd Congress (1973-1975) were a record-breaking 17 African Americans, including three more women. One of them, Yvonne Burke (D-Calif.), told The Washington Post at the time, “There is no longer any need for anyone to speak for all black women forever. I
expect Shirley Chisholm is feeling relieved.” In 1974 Chisholm landed on the Gallup Poll list of “Top 10 Most-Admired Women in America,” on which she placed sixth (tying Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and ahead of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Coretta Scott King). In 1981, while still in Congress, Chisholm was invited to give the commencement address at Mount Holyoke. She told graduates that even if they were disheartened by the government and doubted their ability to make any meaningful change, they must apply their knowledge, energy and talent in the pursuit. “Do not assume that you are powerless, that you cannot make an impact,” she said. “Many of the great endeavors throughout history have resulted from the actions of and commitment of one individual.” Chisholm urged the class of ’81 to “ask questions, demand answers, do not just tend your garden, collect your paycheck, bolt the door and deplore what you see on television. Too many Americans are doing that already.”
“MANY OF THE GREAT ENDEAVORS THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE RESULTED FROM THE ACTIONS OF AND COMMITMENT OF ONE INDIVIDUAL.” CHISHOLM IN HER SPEECH TO THE MOUNT HOLYOKE GRADUATING CLASS OF 1981
Shirley Chisholm and Mount Holyoke President Elizabeth T. Kennan ’60 at Commencement in 1981.
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Courtesy MHC Archives and Special Collections (2)
Chisholm and Mount Holyoke students on campus in 1984
A year later, Chisholm announced her retirement from Congress. She had never planned to spend her whole life in politics, she said, while also admitting she was demoralized by the political scene. But she believed in young people, and so she returned to teaching, taking a position at Mount Holyoke in 1983. For five years she was a professor in the sociology and anthropology departments and taught Congress as a Complex Organization, The Social Roles of Women, Urban Sociology and The Black Woman in America. Chisholm’s teaching had a profound influence on her students’ later life and work. Kayla Jackson ’86 enrolled in two sociology classes with Chisholm. She was impressed by her professor’s rigor, recalling how Chisholm took a 4 a.m. flight from New York to teach an 8:35 a.m. class. “She would show up every day in a suit, made up, ready to go, on task,” Jackson says — while the students came to class in more casual attire. “After maybe the second week of us showing up in our sweats, I remember there being a change, a conscious decision to get up to put on real clothes, out of respect. She made a commitment to us, and that made an impact on how we showed up for her. She was so well-respected.” Jackson also recalled that Chisholm never sat down; she moved around the room telling stories and engaging students. “She listened, and that’s a trait we don’t often find in our leaders, unfortunately,” she says. Jackson, who grew up in Washington, D.C., appreciated at the time that Chisholm was a legend, and she was stunned by her humility. “She was so normal, so down to earth, so human. That made a lasting impression,” she says. Inspired by Chisholm’s focus on women and education, Jackson worked for many years on women’s health issues, particularly reproductive health, and now works at the School Superintendents Association, which advocates for equal access for all students to a high-quality public
education. “I’m still livas serious contenders for a Living, Learning ing and working in D.C. single party’s nomination and Community and come across people for the presidency. This year more than often who should be like In the history of the 500 Mount Holyoke students chose to live her. She’s the standard U.S. a total of 365 women in a Living Learning by which I measure have been elected, or Community (LLC), them — by that level appointed, to Congress including one named of decency, of heart. (116 of those have been for Shirley Chisholm. Unfortunately, not many women of color). During Established in 2017 of them measure up.” the time Chisholm served and currently located Chisholm had (from the 91st through on two floors in North urged her students the 97th) the total number Rockefeller Hall, the not to wait for a seat of women in Congress Shirley Chisholm LLC at the table — but to increased from 11 to 23. is for students who bring their own chairs. That number finally broke are of African descent, identify within the She hoped her revolu50 in 1993 and has continAfrican diaspora tionary acts would be ued to climb steadily. and/or wish to foster an evolutionary force Having the confidence connections between shifting perceptions to raise her hand is different cultures about who could lead perhaps Chisholm’s most within the diaspora. the country and who enduring gift to women would vote for them. and candidates of color. “The next time a woman of whatever “In our system there are so many ways color, or a dark-skinned person of whatin which women are discouraged from ever sex aspires to be president, the seeing themselves as representatives, as way should be a little smoother because office holders. Chisholm definitely is a I helped pave it,” she wrote in 1973. role model and a legacy for them because Reflecting on her political runs, Preston she didn’t listen to that,” says Smith. Smith says, “You need people to put Whether it was the decision to run their foot in the water, to try it, so that for office, or to legislate passionately, other people who try it perhaps have an Chisholm’s legacy of being an individeasier time.” ual, overcoming the odds and inspiring action while transcending gender and THE ELECTABILITY OF WOMEN skin color, endures. In her first memoir, she wrote, “If my story has any imporOn the day she announced her presitance, apart from its curiosity value dential run, Chisholm said, “I stand — the fascination of being a “first” at here before you today to repudiate the anything is a durable one — it is, I hope, ridiculous notion that the American that I have persisted in seeking this path people will not vote for a qualified cantoward a better world.” didate simply because he is not white or because she is not a male.” Heather Baukney Hansen ’94 is an It took decades, but it happened with independent journalist splitting her the election of President Barack Obama time between the U.S. and the U.K. in 2008. “She paved the way. It might She draws on her politics degree daily be harder to imagine a Barack Obama to try to understand what’s happening in 2008 without Chisholm in Congress beyond the headlines. in ’68 or running for the Democratic nomination in ’72,” says Hilton. It WEB EXCLUSIVE happened again in 2016 when Hillary Read Chisholm’s 1981 Commencement Clinton became the first woman to win a address and watch a video of her speech major party’s nomination for the White declaring her run for presidency at House and went on to win the popular alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/chisholm. vote by upwards of 3 million votes. In 2019 a record number of women stood
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Three groups of alums share the benefits and joys of working together, rediscovering the Mount Holyoke bond beyond the gates and South Hadley
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Kara Baskin ’00 Photo by
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Katharine Smith ’05 and Rebecca Stephens ’03 are nurse practitioners who first worked together at the Drexel Vaginitis Center in Philadelphia — at the time the largest vaginitis program in the world. When Drexel closed their outpatient practices in September, Smith and Stephens moved their practice to the nearby Thomas Jefferson University Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. They work closely to treat complicated, often unusual, conditions that can erode a woman’s quality of life. “We focus on chronic vaginal infections and pain, such as vulvodynia and vulvar dermatitis,” Smith says, referring to two conditions that can be difficult to diagnose and treat. “For these women, a lot of times it’s been years since they’ve been able to get any help. When they finally find us, we get them on the right course.
“It doesn’t sound very glamorous, but it’s one of the most rewarding areas I’ve worked in,” Smith says, “because we see women who have been miserable. I see them as a new patient, and then I give them a plan. They just start crying and say, ‘Oh my God, there’s something we can do.’” “Ours is a specialty practice. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t end up here soon enough and have suffered for a very long time,” Stephens adds. Smith always knew that she wanted to work in medicine; in fact, she wrote her University of Pennsylvania dissertation on women who attended Seven Sisters colleges to become nurses between 1880 and 1920. She learned, she says, that becoming a nurse “was seen as a way to have an independent feminist career, where you could be in
charge of your own work and make positive social change.” Smith had worked as a nurse practitioner for 12 years, specializing in this niche field for the past five years. As her case load at Drexel escalated, it became apparent that the practice needed another nurse practitioner. Her boss, Dr. Paul Nyirjesy, put her in charge of the search. “I’ve found that nurse practitioners tend to have a similar life view as me and a similar sense of humor. And that’s really what I wanted when we were hiring someone new,” Smith says. “I wanted a young woman with a good sense of humor whom I felt was like-minded.” That person turned out to be Stephens, a Mount Holyoke friend of Smith’s husband, Cameron O’Mara ’05. The two lived in Safford Hall during their senior year, and they bonded over their odd hours.
Katharine Smith ’05 (left) and Becky Stephens ’03 in their office at the Thomas Jefferson University Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Photo by Holly Clark
Healthcare Heroes
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“We were the only ones who were up at 7 a.m. having breakfast in the dining hall,” Stephens laughs. O’Mara suggested that Stephens and Smith connect. Stephens had been working as a women’s health nurse practitioner in routine obstetrics and gynecology care at Penn Medicine, but she felt that she’d hit a plateau. “I knew Drexel was one of the top programs in the country. I knew about Katharine. I knew about Paul Nyirjesy. I knew about the work they did and that there was an incredibly long wait to get in as a new patient. They were local celebrities,” she says, laughing. And so when Stephens received a Facebook message from Smith, she was ecstatic. “I ran downstairs to my wife, who was working out on the elliptical in the basement, and I said, ‘You’re not going to believe this. We send patients to this practice all the time, and Katharine is reaching out to me about a possible job opportunity. I need to work there. I need to work with Katharine!’” she recalls. The pair met for coffee, and the connection was immediate. “We walked in and hugged each other. There was such a common bond. There was so much that was unspoken. It had been a while since we had both been at Mount Holyoke, but it was just something that was inherent in both of us. It’s just impossible to replicate that elsewhere. It really feels like it’s part of your DNA,” Stephens says. The pair say that their current setup is the perfect match personally and also professionally, collaborating daily on diagnoses. Together, they say, they feel they’re making a life-changing difference in women’s health. “I see so many people for whom vaginitis has ruined relationships, or they’ve had trouble with intimacy, which then affects their identity and how they feel about themselves. To be able to help somebody get that back is important,” Smith says. And they’ve also made a difference in one another’s lives. “We both have young kids, and our families are very close. I’ve lived in this city for 10 years, and my husband and I always said that we’ll never have friends like we did at Mount Holyoke. And now we do,” Smith says.
“I saw that you went to Mount Holyoke” When Jennifer Mele ’93 started as associate director of communications at the Harvard Business School, Julia Parrillo ’88, director of major gifts, sought her out during her first week. “I saw that you went to Mount Holyoke,” Parillo said, introducing herself.
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Working with an alum gives you an instant connection point and a desire to support each other. There’s a built-in trust and understanding that exists immediately and that makes the work more fun. —J E N N I F E R M E L E ’ 93
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The Mount Holyoke contingent in the Harvard Business School’s office of external relations now totals five, including Christina Petrigliano ’02, director of alumni relations; Ruth Davidson ’80, senior consultant; and Mary Jane Dupuis Keough ’85, senior director, special projects, Alumni Relations. And on Mountain Day they gathered for ice cream during their work day. WEB EXCLUSIVE
See a photo of the HBS group, and share your own alum cohort at alumnae. mtholyoke.edu/joiningforces.
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An Orchestral Order
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“Often, different departments around the BSO and Tanglewood will have work that needs to be done, and they can call on the guides to have somebody do that job for them. So we end up doing a lot of random but very interesting things, being exposed to a lot in that way. It’s a very multifaceted position,” Suto says. She landed the job thanks in part to Myrthil, a friend from a first-year music seminar. Suto had interned for the San Francisco Opera and was considering a career in arts administration. Knowing this, Myrthil had told her about summer opportunities at Tanglewood and encouraged her to apply for a job. The result: the pair worked closely both in the front office and backstage. “We saw each other every day and collaborated and relayed information to each other, making sure that the team was working as efficiently as possible,” Myrthil says. Myrthil’s love for music was sparked as an undergraduate, thanks in part to Mount Holyoke Orchestra director Ng Tian Hui. He allowed her to work as orchestra president and assistant conductor. “He was instrumental — pun intended — in really steering me toward a professional music management career. He taught the first-year seminar where Healey and I met in 2015. He really encouraged me to pursue everything and anything I wanted, and to deal with the consequences of biting off a little more than I could chew, which happened more than once — as any Mount Holyoke student would say,” she says, laughing. Myrthil also attended the Crafting a Life in the Arts Symposium on campus — an event sponsored by Mount Holyoke’s InterArts Council that brings graduates working in the arts back to campus to talk about their careers. She was able to network with alums at the event. “Just being able to be surrounded by successful alums in the arts was
Photos courtesy Hanna Danziger ’19, Relyn Myrthil ’19, Healey Suto ’19
Over the summer, recent graduates Relyn Myrthil ’19, Healey Suto ’19 and Hanna Danziger ’19 worked together as employees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. The trio were also suitemates at Mount Holyoke where they studied music. Together, they learned the ins and outs of arts administration and donor relations, receiving professionallevel exposure to gain real-world skills. All three say that thriving in their positions wouldn’t have been possible without the Mount Holyoke network. Myrthil was in her third summer as a head guide at Tanglewood, part of the public representative team, interacting directly with patrons. “We see everything and are seen by everyone, which has its perks,” Myrthil says. “We were able to rub elbows with a lot of big-name artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma. His wife, Jill Hornor ’74, is an alum of Mount Holyoke! “We worked with a lot of different departments and really saw the inner workings of arts administration and just what exactly goes into keeping the Boston Symphony Orchestra going. It’s been a really fantastic real-world learning experience.” Like Myrthil, Suto was a summer public representative and guide. In this capacity, she was at the helm of the information desk at the center’s main gates, liaising with executive staff who welcomed guests and providing support at events.
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super-inspiring as a budding music major,” she says. There, she met Kristie Chan ’15, who spoke about her career with the BSO. Chan encouraged Myrthil to apply for a seasonal position at Tanglewood. “I’m forever grateful for the mentorship that Kristie offered me as a sophomore, and that I’m still able to go back to her even now, juggling different interviews and trying to decide what my next chapter might be. … I feel like that really shows the power of graduating from Mount Holyoke, which has such a strong and connected alumnae association,” she says. At Tanglewood, Myrthil was housed with Danziger, a college friend from Glee Club. Danziger held a summertime position in a different area from her classmates, working as a development assistant in the Friends of Tanglewood office. There, she handled donor relations and membership benefits. Again, the Mount Holyoke alumnae chain came into play when Danziger was looking for a job. Former Top left, from BSO annual fund and left to right, 2019 donor relations director classmates Hanna Susan Brennan Grosel Danziger, Healey Suto and Relyn ’82 asked Chan, who Myrthil spent the asked Myrthil, if she summer after knew a Mount Holyoke graduation working together student interested in at the Tanglewood the position. Happily, Music Festival she did. And happily in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, for Danziger, her BSO carrying their experience will extend education and beyond summertime: friendships to work at Boston She recently accepted Symphony a year-round position Orchestra’s as an individual giving summer residency. coordinator. “The BSO has a fondness for the school, the students and the workers that Mount Holyoke produces,” Danziger says. “I was really, really lucky that an alum reached out looking for someone from Mount Holyoke. There’s an assumption that we’ll be good.”
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Photos courtesy Perkins School for the Blind/Michael Brook
The Perkins Power Trio
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From left, Stephanie Jones Wagle ’97, Meredith Elkins ’91 and Perrin McCormick Menashi ’90 work together at Perkins School for the Blind.
Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, got a Mount Holyoke infusion in 2019, with the addition of three key players: Meredith Elkins ’91, director of brand and content; Perrin McCormick Menashi ’90, director of media and public relations; and Stephanie Jones Wagle ’97, director of digital strategy. Working collaboratively, the three interact daily, crafting and delivering the institution’s message. While they don’t regularly interact with the students — who are blind or deafblind — their efforts directly support the mission of Perkins to improve the lives of people living with blindness or deafblindness. Their work also shapes the perception of such disabilities for the general public. “Put the person before the disability — a ‘person who is blind,’ rather than a ‘blind person.’ It doesn’t take much,” says Elkins. “Kindness is free, and we should give it out. This is just, to me, a more high-order level kind of kindness. “There are between six and 10 million children in the world that are blind and visually impaired and who may or may not have a second additional disability, and we’re out to help them all.” One recent triumph: Menashi placed a story about a student boxer in the school’s deaf-blind program with the New England Sports Network, which featured him successfully maneuvering in the ring. Knowing that they all share an academic and intellectual bond makes these successes even sweeter, the colleagues say. “I know that the two people I work with are going to be some of the smartest people in the room, full stop, because they come from Mount Holyoke. I know roughly what their temperament is going to be and what their approach to things is. We’re all type A, high-energy, and get the job done,” Elkins says. “It’s like I have two other brains doing my job with me.” Elkins landed her job first, then quickly suggested that Menashi, a longtime friend from Boston’s Mount Holyoke club, apply for the public relations role. “Decades after graduation, Mount Holyoke was still paying dividends in terms of giving me new professional and personal relationships,” Menashi says.
Meanwhile, Wagle — a former Mount Holyoke News editor — was transitioning from a digital agency in New York City into the nonprofit sector and connected with Elkins to network. Fortuitously, the digital strategy director position was available. “I knew she’d rock it, and the rest was history,” Elkins says. Now, Wagle manages the school’s disability awareness websites, social media channels, e-learning programs and apps. “We’re peers,” says Wagle. “Our work is so deeply intertwined. We’re all looking at each other’s plans. Everything Perrin does for public relations directly impacts the work that I’m trying to do in social. Everything Meredith does in creating content and guiding the voice of our brand directly impacts all of the content that we’re putting onto the website and all of our digital channels. And having this Mount Holyoke background created an immediate sense of trust. These are my people — and I know that they’re trying to do the same type of good work that I want to do.” Kara Baskin ’00 is a writer for The Boston Globe and a contributing editor at Boston magazine.
In her workspace at the office, Perrin McCormick Menashi ’90 displays her Mount Holyoke pride.
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Joanna Chattman (4) ; plants: MHC Office of Communications/Sage Shea
n Friday, August 30, several hundred members of the newest yellow sphinxes, the class of 2023, along with new transfer students and Frances Perkins scholars, arrived on campus and saw their residence halls and rooms for the first time. New international students were already on campus, having arrived earlier in the week for pre-orientation programming. Community Advisors (CAs) — student members of the residential life department who had arrived on campus more than a week prior — staffed the entrances to their residence halls, welcoming all incoming students and their guests. alumnae.mtholyoke.edu
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IN An inside look at what it takes for new students to settle in to their new campus home
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For new students, move-in day marks the beginning of their time on the Mount Holyoke campus. It is the first time they hear “Welcome MoHome.” The hallways of every residence hall across campus were abuzz as students brought their belongings inside and had a chance to meet their new neighbors. Students often connect with their roommate(s) through social media or email over the summer, but move-in day is the first time that many incoming students meet their roommates(s) in person. Once the semester begins, first-years meet with their CA to fill out a roommate agreement, a document in which roommates decide the guidelines for living in their new shared space. Move-in day for first-years was followed by a weekend of programming, including a screening of the film “Dirty Dancing” on Friday night, an Orientation tradition that began in 2013 and during which the crowd cheers at each reference to Mount Holyoke. After moving in to their rooms, many students headed to Auxiliary Services to have their photographs taken and receive their OneCards — their student I.D. card and key to everything on campus from their residence hall to the Dining Commons and even the laundry machines. While some student workers and athletes moved in prior to Orientation, most students in the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 arrived on Sunday, September 1, and the academic year was formally kicked off at Convocation on September 3. Meet this year’s Orientation Fellows and learn more about Orientation at mtholyoke.edu/ orientation/orientation-team.
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T H E N A N D NOW
A PL AC E OF OU R OW N
MoHomeMemories John Parker aided hundreds of enslaved people to escape by the Underground Railroad after buying his own freedom. The Parkers valued education and encouraged their six children to do the same. After starting college close to home in Ohio, Parker transferred — with her family’s support — to Mount Holyoke, arriving on campus in 1878. She lived on campus in the Seminary building — one of 250 students. As a talented pianist, Parker was often asked to perform for peers and faculty members at the College. A classmate reportedly wrote, “In all these years I have never heard ‘Home Sweet Home’ played with such beauty and pathos as Hortense played it.” When she graduated from Mount Holyoke a few years later as valedictorian of her class, Parker became the first African American to graduate from a Seven Sisters college. Immediately after graduating she taught in schools in Indiana and New York. From 1906 to 1913, she was a music teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1913 she married James Marcus Gilliam, and the couple moved to St. Louis, where she continued to teach, and remained until her death in December 1938. In 1997 Hortense Parker’s childhood home in Ripley, Ohio, was designated a National Historic Landmark and is now a museum about John Parker’s life and the abolitionist movement. In 2009 students Ahyoung An ’09 and Camila Curtis-Contreras ’09 established a day of campuswide celebration to honor and acknowledge Hortense Parker and to celebrate other African American alums. They were inspired by Smith College’s Otelia Cromwell Day, which celebrates the first known woman of color to graduate from Smith and was first held in 1989. In the past decade Mount Holyoke’s Hortense Parker Celebration has evolved into an annual event with a theme. Since 2011 the celebration has also included a student essay contest with prizes ranging from $200 to $500 and the opportunity to speak at the event. The day is planned by the Students of Color Committee and the Division of Student Life and features visiting speakers, panels and talks.
A Decade of Celebration Remembering Hortense Parker 2 0 1 9 M A R K S T H E 10th anniversary of the Hortense Parker Celebration on campus. Hortense Parker, class of 1883, is the first known student of color to graduate from Mount Holyoke. She was born in 1859 to Miranda Boulden Parker and John Parker, a noted abolitionist and inventor — one of the only African Americans to obtain a U.S. patent in the 19th century.
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— A LT H E A F I N C H - B R A N D ’ 2 1
Courtesy MHC Archives and Special Collections
Hortense Parker, standing, second from right
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TH E N A N D N OW
1900
1933:
1933
Mail is delivered to the residence halls if it is addressed to a specific house. All other mail (including College announcements, grades and bills) goes to the post office in Mary Lyon Hall.
1960
1960:
1900:
The College post office moves to the basement of Skinner Hall, where each student has a P.O. box for mail that is not addressed to a specific residence hall.
The Post Office Corridor in the basement of Mary Lyon Hall contains a P.O. box for every two students to share. Mail is collected from the residence halls at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays.
1967
1967:
1990
P.O. boxes move to the basement of Blanchard Hall, where students receive mail that is not addressed to their residence hall.
2003 2016
2003:
1990:
P.O. boxes move from the basement to the upper level of Blanchard Hall (in the location where the Unity Space is now).
All mail is delivered to the College post office in the Blanchard Hall basement, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
2016: All first years (class of 2020) receive mail at Auxiliary Services, located on the ground floor of the Central Services Complex on Lower Lake Road. All other students still have their own P.O. box in Blanchard Hall.
2019: Since the fall of 2017, all students receive mail at Auxiliary Services. Students receive an email when a letter or package is delivered to their mailbox and pick up their packages by showing their MHC OneCard.
A History of Mail at Mount Holyoke The 1919 student handbook describes the campus post office — then in Mary Lyon Hall — as “the place you will hang around the most.” In the 100 years since, the post office has been housed in several different campus locations. And while in 2019 the post office isn’t the main social hub on campus, receiving mail — and packages — remains very much a part of the student experience.
Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
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A PL ACE O F OU R OWN
“
Skinner Hall, my second
home at Mount Holyoke as an American studies major.
— R E B E C C A D A LT O N F P ’ 9 4
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Joanna Chattman
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Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
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M Y VO I CE
E S S AY
On #MeToo and the Asian Woman By AY S H A B AQIR ’95
“M Y CO O K .” “M I NE TO O.” “I T WA S M Y TU TO R.” “I NEV E R TO LD AN YO N E .”
My throat tightened as I gazed at the circle of motionless figures seated around the veined marble tabletop. Five minutes ago, my host’s black-and-white dining room had resonated with a powerful discussion of “Beyond the Fields” — my novel about Zara, a young village girl who embarks on a harrowing quest for justice for her twin. It’s a tale of rape, resilience and reclaiming honor based on the more than 15 years I spent working with village women in South Punjab, Pakistan. Now the room was silent. Painful. Pounding. Fingers motionless, and platters of samosas, spring rolls and mango sago were suddenly forgotten. But our eyes met. Challenged.
Wait. These women weren’t only from Pakistan. The back of my neck prickled. I could trace an arc from India to Japan. All were expats belonging to many diverse cultures and continents of Asia. They had never spoken out before? Why not? The thought clawed at me over the following days. Asia was home to such a large percentage of the world’s female population. How many of those women had spoken out against rape and sexual abuse during the earlier days of the #MeToo movement? It wouldn’t have been easy. In many Asian communities, I knew, patriarchal laws and norms prioritized family honor over individual wellbeing and viewed rape as a violation of morality rather than a crime. Why would a survivor risk speaking out or joining the movement if she feared being blamed and shamed by her own family and community? And if a girl or woman did rebel against her family to demand support, action or justice, how would she do it and what would she gain? Millions of girls and women across Asia still lack access to a phone, the Internet and the know-how to set up social media accounts. More importantly, if a survivor did join the movement, would she get the justice she deserved? I knew of few Asian women who had joined social media to report rape or sexual harassment who had gotten justice, and then only after a long and painful public struggle. The majority of girls and women were instead struck with barbs. “Did anyone see you struggle?” “Why were you out alone? Why were you out so late?” “Think of your children. Do you want to dishonor the family name and send their father to jail?” “He is your husband. You must obey him and do as he says.”
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Aysha Baqir ’95 is the founder of Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, a Pakistan-based pioneering economic development nonprofit focused on poverty alleviation through the provision of business development and market-focused trainings for girls and women. She is working on her second novel. Learn more at ayshabaqir.com.
Jody Erickson
“What was the point in telling anyone,” a voice murmured from my right. Heads nodded. Others sighed. In a few minutes, chatter picked up again, although a shade more somber, and a pitch lower. I pushed the fine bone china plate away. I wasn’t prepared for this, but I should have been. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as I knew from my research for the book, nearly one in every three women worldwide has been physically or sexually abused by their partner or experienced non-partner sexual violence.
Weeks have passed since that evening, and as “Beyond the Fields” continues its journey across the world, Zara’s quest for justice will tug and jab at long-hidden memories and pull at readers to question how much has really changed for girls and women across cultures and continents despite the #MeToo aftermath. What I know for certain now is that nothing will change if we don’t continue to talk to each other. We must challenge the unjust mindsets and keep talking — and reading and writing — until we create the change we owe to girls and women across the world.
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EV ERY DONOR COU NTS
$10,000 One-year named Mount Holyoke Fund Scholar
Your Gift
Matters
Last year 9,591 alumnae, students, family and friends gave back to Mount Holyoke, helping to raise $8.06 million for The Mount Holyoke Fund.
$3,600 Lynk-funded international internship
$13,000 One semester of free workshops at the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab
$9,000 One gracious dinner
If every one of our 38,600 living alumnae were to give back, the opportunities would be endless.
$9,000 One day of snow removal
$4,830 Housing Orientation Leaders over the summer
$2,500 Installation of one eco-friendly water cooler with a bottle filler
$800,000
$500
One night of M&Cs
$3,000
Be Well workshops
Outside fun on Pangy Day
The Mount Holyoke Fund
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$550
Locally purchasing 20% of produce
mtholyoke.edu/giving
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50 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075
“For these women, a lot of times it’s been years since they’ve been able to get any help. When they finally find us, we get them on the right course.” —Katharine Smith ’05 (left) and Rebecca Stephens ’03, nurse practitioners who work together. Read more on page 26
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