Agnes Scott The Magazine, Winter 2024

WOMEN’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

MADISON JENNINGS IS A 2024 RHODES SCHOLAR

LIVING UP TO A ‘MOST INNOVATIVE’ DISTINCTION

Fourth annual conference sets new attendance record!

A Scottie receives the prestigious scholarship.

Agnes Scott focuses on development of a physician assistant program to meet a global need.

WINTER ’24

T H E

M AG A Z I N E

A HEALTHY ENDEAVOR Agnes Scott expands its medical and healthcare education programs to meet the needs of its students, the workforce and the world.

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WINTER

volume 98, number 1 Editor Renita Mathis Editorial Advisers Jennifer L. Colter Senior Director, Marketing and Communications Josh Cornwall Director, Digital Strategy Jake Schrum, Interim Vice President, College Advancement Tasida Webster ’21 Assistant Director, Alumnae Relations Mia D. Bonsack Project Manager

Contributing Writers Agnes Scott College News Adrienne S. Harris Donna Lewis Alicia Sands Lurry Renita Mathis Debbie Ritenour Kia Smith Designer Garon Hart Graphic Design Photography Adam Hagy Photography Deb Mosley Agnes Scott College Archives Alex Slitz

@agnesscottcollege @agnesscottcollege @agnesscott Agnes Scott College

Mission: Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. ©2023 Agnes Scott College. Published for alumnae and friends twice a year by the Office of Communications and Marketing, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA 30030-3770.

The content of the magazine reflects the opinions of the writers and not the viewpoints of the college, its trustees or the administration.

Nondiscrimination policy: Agnes Scott College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age or disability in the recruitment and admission of any student.

For the full policy, visit agnesscott.edu/ nondiscrimination-policy.html.

Change of address: By mail to Office of Advancement Services, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA 30030-3770; by telephone, 404.471.6472; or by email to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Email: info@agnesscott.edu Website: agnesscott.edu

ON THE COVER: pictured left to right: Leyoncé Latus, Taylor Jaczko, Lucy Moran, Sean Walsh, Shoshana Katzman, Shelby Hunt, Mary Nell Higley Summey, Emily Myanna, Kelly Ball, Abby Doorley, Molly Embree, Lynette Shaw.

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President’s Message

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Main News Alumnae Weekend NASA Grant ‘Best Colleges’ Rankings – We’re No. 1 New Board Members Fourth Annual Women’s Global Leadership Conference Sets Record Madison Jennings ’24 is a Rhodes Scholar Commencement 2023

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Faculty Focus Tracey Laird Amy Breidenthal New Faculty

A Healthy Endeavor Agnes Scott expands its medical and healthcare education programs to meet the needs of its students, the workforce and the world.

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Preparing Students for Careers in Nursing For students with a head for science and a heart for humanity, Agnes Scott College offers multiple pathways to enter one of the nation’s fastest-growing occupations.

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Something that Uniquely Helps People Public health program fills the need for a worldwide effort.

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Med School Year Zero Post-baccalaureate pre-medical program preps students for med school success.

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Transforming Mental Health Services Clinical mental health counseling program fulfills community need for mental health professionals.

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Living Up to a ‘Most Innovative’ Distinction The college focuses on developing a physician assistant program to meet a global need.

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No Gap Year Necessary Students link to medical schools through early assurance programs.

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Celebrating the 1889 Society We pay tribute to our most generous benefactors.

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Class News

Contents

President’s Message 2

Progress on Our Pathway to Success

As we pursue our mission to educate students to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times, Agnes Scott College remains committed to offering learners a transformative educational experience that prepares them for lifelong success in their professional, civic and personal lives.

In this issue of Agnes Scott The Magazine, we are delighted to highlight some of the many ways Scotties are embracing our core tenets of global learning, inclusive leadership development and professional success as they study and practice what it means to succeed and make a difference in the world.

We are particularly proud of the success of Madison Jennings ’24, who was named a 2024 Rhodes Scholar. This honor – the most prestigious international fellowship in the world – is a testament to Madison’s vision and hard work, but also to the college’s commitment to creating dynamic curricular and co-curricular programs that equip students to be global thinkers and change agents.

This year, our Women’s Global Leadership Conference set a record for attendance with nearly 500 in-person participants. The event was funded in part by a Mellon Foundation grant that supports the college’s efforts to elevate the lives of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artisans and workers who built Agnes Scott’s campus and the city of Decatur and ensure that their contributions are not erased. A model of inclusive leadership, the conference brought together a diverse group of our students and faculty, as well as business and philanthropic leaders and social justice advocates from across the country, to discuss strategies to ensure that marginalized communities have equal opportunities for visibility, social mobility and success.

To prepare them for professional success, Agnes Scott focuses on developing our students of today for the opportunities of tomorrow. In response to the growing demand for healthcare professionals around the world, the college has expanded our medicaland healthcare-education programs. As you will see in our series of articles, beginning with A Healthy Endeavor, we not only are helping address a critical need for healthcare talent in a variety of fields, but we are also helping to ensure that the talent pool is highly qualified and diverse.

None of these successes would be possible without the contributions of our dedicated faculty and staff and the support of our trustees, alumnae and donors.

I count it as a privilege to be a part of such a large and enthusiastic team that works so diligently along with me on behalf of our students.

I am pleased that Agnes Scott’s many accomplishments continue to be recognized by others. For the sixth year in a row, U.S. News & World Report has ranked us the No. 1 “Most Innovative” liberal arts college in the country. This ranking is particularly significant because it is based on a survey of our peers – top college officials who were asked to identify institutions in their “Best Colleges” ranking category that are making the most innovative improvements in curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities.

In every aspect of college life, Agnes Scott continues to forge ahead on our pathway to success.

I hope you enjoy reading about our progress.

Warmly,

Leocadia I. Zak President

main news Alumnae Weekend 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEB MOSLEY

Agnes Scott College hosted its annual Alumnae Weekend from May 19-21, 2023. Alumnae representing reunion classes ending in three and eight, and from 40 different class years ranging from 1953 to 2023, were happy to celebrate the weekend on campus. Alumnae Weekend 2024 will take place on campus April 19-20.

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NASA Grant Helps Empower More Women in STEM Agnes Scott and six women’s colleges shared $5 million in grant funding to develop strategies to retain women in STEM programs and career pursuits. NASA awarded Agnes Scott College a $744,191 grant to continue its work in increasing its number of women STEM graduates and supporting them in finding homes in sciencecentered careers.

“Agnes Scott’s commitment to professional success development, as well as our existing STEM programming, such as our summer STEM Scholar Program and our Resource Center for Math and Science, put us in a great position for receiving this award,” said Srebrenka Robic, Charles A.

Dana Professor of Biology and faculty director of the Science Center for Women, who serves as a principal investigator for this grant.

Robic was part of a team of six faculty members from Agnes Scott to write the proposal to the NASA program, which falls under the Minority University Research and Education Project. After finding out about it in late February, the group had only six weeks to put their best proposal forward.

Agnes Scott plans on using the grant funding to accomplish three goals: increase the number of women in STEM fields; increase professional-development opportunities; and develop research strategies to empower women to

Bradley Observatory is ranked one of The 35 Best College Astronomy Observatories by CollegeRank, a college-ranking company that profiles and ranks every aspect of the higher education experience.

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remain in the STEM workforce.

“ASC’s STEM students will face challenges as they enter the workforce and further their education in STEM fields,” said Robic, who seeks to not only help Agnes Scott students but also other women in STEM. “To prepare them to succeed, it is important to know what the challenges are and to be proactive about addressing them.

That is what motivated me to apply for this grant.”

Networking and mentoring will be the pillars of Agnes Scott’s scaffolded programming over the next three years. For an institution as diverse as Agnes Scott, where nearly one-in-four students graduate with a degree in a STEM-related field, building that framework to provide fruitful results in retention.

The funding from NASA will be distributed over three years.

Other women’s colleges selected for funding include: • Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin • Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania • College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska • Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina • Simmons University in Boston • Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts “I am looking forward to collaborating with our student and alumnae bases to answer some critical questions about the barriers women still face in STEM,” Robic said. “I hope we can share our findings nationally and positively impact future experiences of women entering the workforce.”

We’re the No. 1 ‘Most Innovative’ – Six Years Running!

For the sixth year in a row, Agnes Scott College has been recognized as the nation’s No. 1 Most Innovative liberal arts college in the country according to the 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. The college rose to No. 2 for Social Mobility, placed No. 3 for First-year Experiences and No. 4 for Learning Communities. Ranked in the top 15 liberal arts colleges for best Undergraduate Teaching for the past six years, Agnes Scott is a Best Value at No. 27.

“I am thrilled that Agnes Scott has been recognized by its peers and others as an outstanding leader in the academic community. No other college has been ranked No. 1 for innovation for six consecutive years.

We take very seriously our commitment to educating a diverse student body, and I am particularly proud that Agnes Scott ranked No. 2 for social mobility,” said Leocadia I. Zak, president of Agnes Scott College.

“I am grateful to our faculty, staff, administrators and trustees who created and supported the curriculum, programs and support networks that have made these rankings possible.”

Agnes Scott’s unique and continually evolving SUMMIT experience is what sets our college apart from its peers. SUMMIT defines our four-year undergraduate educational program by focusing on global learning, leadership development and professional success. Year one is distinguished by Global Journeys, a weeklong faculty-led study of global issues at relevant destinations in the U.S. and around the world, delivered at no additional cost to students.

Sophomores participate in the Sophomore Class Atlanta Leadership Experience, connecting students with leading corporations and nonprofits for an immersive professional experience. These experiences occur on one of the most diverse liberal arts college campuses in the country, where there is no racial, ethnic nor socioeconomic majority. Agnes Scott was placed No. 6 in the country for greatest socioeconomic diversity

by The New York Times.

For the full list of rankings along with details about the measurement process, visit U.S. News & World Report.

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Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees Elects New Members In May, Agnes Scott College announced the election of four new members to its Board of Trustees. Bradie C. Barr ’85, Tara C. Hogan Charles ’97, Ronald A. Crutcher and G. Oliver (Ollie) Wagner V joined the board on July 1, 2023, and will serve fouryear terms.

“I am looking forward to working with our newly elected trustees as, together, we continue to ensure Agnes Scott College is a place providing a transformative education that prepares our students for professional success beyond our doors,” said President Leocadia I. Zak. New trustees: Bradie C. Barr ’85 is vice president and managing director at Transamerica. She serves as president of Transamerica Stable Value Solutions Inc., where she is responsible for the overall management of Transamerica’s stable value business and chairs the AEGON Transamerica Foundation’s Baltimore Committee. She has more than 30 years of diverse financial services experience, including a strong background in fixed-income investments, treasury management, business development and relationship management. She serves as a director of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and has previously served on the boards of Baltimore Center Stage, Business Volunteers Maryland and the Maryland Zoo. She is a member of the Greater Baltimore Committee’s LEADERship program Class of 2016 and was named one of the 25 Women to Watch by The Baltimore Sun in 2017. Barr holds a BA in economics from Agnes Scott College.

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Bradie C. Barr

Tara Hogan Charles

Tara Hogan Charles ’97 is a senior director for The Procter & Gamble Co., currently leading race equity programs and partnerships.

This role is the latest in her 22-year career at P&G, where she previously served as senior counsel in the legal division and associate director in the global government relations and public policy organization. She chairs the board of directors of the Tahirih Justice Center and serves as a member of the board of All In Together and the Global Advisory Council of IREX. She received her BA in German and political science from Agnes Scott and her JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law — Chapel Hill.

Ronald A. Crutcher is an American classical musician and academic administrator who served as the 10th president of the University of Richmond from 2015 to 2021, where he continues as president emeritus and university professor. He was president of Wheaton College in Massachusetts from 2004 until 2014 and earlier served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and professor of music at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Crutcher is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Miami University of Ohio. He pursued graduate studies at Yale University as a Woodrow Wilson and Ford Foundation Fellow. In 1979, he was the first cellist to receive the DMA from Yale University. A recipient of

Ronald A. Crutcher

G. Oliver Wagner V

a Fulbright Award, he is fluent in German and studied music at the Cologne University of Music.

G. Oliver (Ollie) Wagner V has been the senior pastor of Alpharetta Presbyterian Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, since 2008. Before this appointment, he served as pastor of Montoursville Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, his home state, for nearly a decade. After joining the ministry in 1991, his first call was as a college chaplain. In Chapel Hill, N.C., he served as a campus minister at the University of North Carolina and as associate pastor at a large church. He believes strongly in the importance of mission work, outreach, and engaging the world to address problems of modern society.

He has served on the Agnes Scott Board of Visitors since 2018 and is married to Heather Hasty Wagner, whose mother, Lois Dryden Hasty, was an Agnes Scott alumna. A graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina, Wagner earned his MDiv from Union Presbyterian Seminary, and his DMin from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Ending their service on the Board of Trustees June 30 were President Emerita Mary Brown Bullock ’66 and Charles S. Shapiro, who have been named trustee emerita and trustee emeritus, respectively.

Also named a trustee emerita in recognition of her previous service on the board was Jeanne E. Kaufmann ’72.

Agnes Scott’s 2023 Women’s Global Leadership Conference experienced record attendance this year with 485 in-person attendees. The daylong event themed “Visibility, Social Mobility, Success: The Global Perspective,” featured leading business and educational minds addressing solutions to global issues.

The five sessions began with a conversation between Rose Scott, award-winning journalist and host and executive producer of WABE’s “Closer Look,” and Amani Ballour, a Syrian-born pediatrician and advocate for women’s and children’s rights. Her story is portrayed by the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Cave,” which tells of the struggles of running an underground hospital during the Syrian civil war.

Session two, Purpose, Profit and Philanthropy: Exploring New Avenues to Success, featured Jill Savitt, president and CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, engaging Saadia Madsbjerg, vice president of Global Community Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company and president of The Coca-Cola Foundation; and Fay Twersky, president and director at the Arthur M. Blank Foundation in a conversation about the intersection of philanthropy and business in addressing historical marginalization, enhancing social mobility and redefining the notion of success.

During The Invisible Campus Comes to Light session, a panel of leading scholars led by Yves-Rose Porcena, vice president for change equity and inclusion at Agnes Scott, discussed their pioneering research projects into the hidden histories of their institutions and surrounding communities.

Panelists included Hilary Greene of Davidson College (The Hallowed Grounds Project, University of Alabama), Rhondda Robinson Thomas of Clemson University (Call My Name project, Clemson CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX SLITZ

Women’s Global Leadership Conference Sets New Record

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University) and Robin Morris of Agnes Scott College (Mellonfunded research on Agnes Scott’s evolution as an institution as it pertains to race).

In Transforming Organizations and Redefining Leadership senior leaders at global business organizations Chanel Frazier, head of BlackRock’s Atlanta Innovation Hub; Tara Hogan Charles, senior director for racial equity programs and partnerships at Procter and Gamble; Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T Coastal States; and Catherine Lynn, vice president of product and product design for Business Blueprint and Banking at American Express, provided insight into how their respective organizations work toward more inclusive workplaces that enable historically marginalized groups to generate their own stories of success. This session was moderated by Mirtha Donastorg, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution economy and business reporter.

The conference concluded with another conversation featuring Rose Scott and Kim Fields in Entertainment Entrepreneurs: Building Success from Scratch. Beyond her award-winning acting and directing career in the entertainment industry, Fields has pivoted her skills into leadership opportunities in other areas. After numerous significant roles onscreen and two NAACP Image Awards, she has created many successful businesses, including Signature Blends by KF, a coffee and tea company selling specialty brews.

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Madison Jennings Becomes 2024 Rhodes Scholar Madison Jennings ’24, a leader at Agnes Scott through her focus on academic excellence and her commitment to addressing the social challenges of today, is one of only 32 students in the country to be awarded a 2024 Rhodes Scholarship.

Madison Jennings ’24 has been named a Rhodes Scholar and will begin fully funded postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom next fall.

At Oxford, Madison will pursue a Master of Public Policy and an MSc in public policy research.

A Savannah, Georgia, native, Jennings is majoring in political science and minoring in religious studies with a Global Learning Specialization at Agnes Scott College. She is president of the Agnes Scott College pre-law society and an intern at The Carter Center, where she has worked on issues ranging from supporting women’s education and activism in Liberia to identifying support for policing alternatives in Georgia. As a Duke PreLaw Fellow, she developed a passion for international law and policy.

Jennings is also classically trained in ballet and has led three ballet productions. Her scholarly work at Agnes Scott includes research on international law in Afghanistan and Georgia’s maternal health policy. She also researched workplace sexual harassment laws and public safety legislation during the 2023 Georgia legislative session. Her applied experiences include working with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce on policy development, humanitarian policy analysis at CARE USA, and civil society organizing in Liberia with The Carter Center. Jennings is the founder and project executive for PopUp Library for Peace, a literacy project she conceived and secured funding for in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood literacy in her community.

In all this work, Jennings begins with a commitment to understand and advocate for disenfranchised communities.

With that commitment, she builds deep knowledge of policy and strategy, remaining grounded in the advocacy that motivates her.

“We are extremely proud of Madison and the outstanding work she has done in the classroom and in the community. At Agnes Scott, we focus on educating our

Madison Jennings

students to be global citizens and inclusive leaders. Madison is a true example of both. We know that she will continue to lead and to make a difference today and tomorrow,” said Leocadia I. Zak, president of Agnes Scott College.

“Madison has dedicated her life to being a voice for her heritage

and empowering those historically underrepresented, and that is evident in both her academic work as well as her personal life,” said Mary Cain, associate professor of history. “Her vision for inspiring others and fostering teamwork is steeped in grassroots organizing, reflecting cultural resilience and

a commitment to community empowerment, and these are the attributes that make her a 2024 Rhodes Scholar.”

In preparing for this opportunity, Jennings writes “The Gullah tradition, rooted in the fusion of grassroots organizing and policy change, continues to influence

my academic and professional pursuits. The community-based model I’ve embraced transcends cultural boundaries, and as a policy director, I intend to leverage these community-based models to demonstrate how local dynamics inform global policies.” Madison notes that she has “learned that leadership is not solely about identifying challenges and crafting solutions, it is also about inspiring others and fostering teamwork.”

Looking toward future work as a policy director, Jennings’ goal is to craft a comprehensive and empathetic humanitarian policy that is intersectional in its values and global in its influence. Jennings’ work in collaborative partnerships with community organizations has shaped her commitment to addressing systemic inequalities and to using strategies that are culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of specific places and people.

ABOUT THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIP The Rhodes Scholarship, established in 1903, is the oldest and most prestigious international fellowship in the world. Rhodes Scholars are fully supported in their study at the University of Oxford for a period of two to three years. This year’s scholars were selected from a pool of more than 2,500. Per the criteria of the fellowship, Rhodes Scholars have demonstrated academic excellence, along with exemplary leadership and service experience.

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faculty focus

Tracey E.W. Laird Harry L. Corinne Bryant, and Cottie Beverly Slade Professor of Music Author or editor of six books, Tracey Laird recently released her latest work in a coffee-table format titled Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life (Quarto Press, released Oct. 10, 2023).

Other works include two projects on Austin City Limits (ACL), the latter co-authored with her spouse who is also a writer and music lover. Both books explore the significance of the long-running PBS television music program (now in its 48th season), with the second including beautiful photos by eminent ACL photographer Scott Newton in a coffee table layout. ACL’s story intertwines with that of its home city, now known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” as well as changing ways audiences engage with music and media. It includes 21st-century developments in the show’s history, namely the rise of the ACL Music Festival and Austin’s acoustic treasure: ACL Live at the Moody Theater where the show now records its televised concerts.

Laird has also written about the Louisiana Hayride, the famous radio barn dance that launched both Hank Williams and Elvis Presley into the national spotlight.

Recently she has published shorter pieces on Rhiannon Giddens’s first two solo recordings, reflecting on questions of race and gender; and on “Country Music and Television.”

Her courses include musical elements in global perspective, issues and methods of ethnomusicology, and creative processes and practices. Other courses explore intersections of popular music, jazz, or Western classical genres with other disciplines (e.g., physics or neuroscience) or with the everyday questions of race, gender, religion, and politics that shape our daily lives.

In recent years, two courses have included online

collaborations (known as COIL courses) with a faculty member at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, resulting in miniature film documentaries exploring cross-cultural perspectives on music and meaning. Since the beginning of Agnes Scott’s summit, she has led Journeys courses for first-year students to Navajo Nation and to the Sea Islands.

TRACEY LAIRD RECENTLY RELEASED HER LATEST WORK IN A COFFEE-TABLE FORMAT TITLED DOLLY PARTON: 100 REMARKABLE MOMENTS IN AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE

Building Relationships at Work Amy Breidenthal, Gail Savage Glover ‘66 and Marion B. Glover Assistant Professor of Business Management, recently published an article in the Journal of Organizational Behavior that sheds light on how creativity at work can help new employees build stronger relationships with their coworkers over time. Through three research studies, it was discovered that this effect may be even more pronounced for individuals who have different genders or nationalities. This provides a valuable pathway for building relationships and becoming more influential in a workplace social network, particularly for those in a demographic minority.

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New Faculty

Thalita Aborahao Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences

Danielle Dunkley Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Hodari-Sadiki Hubbard-James Assistant Professor of Astronomy

Enrique Quezada Assistant Professor of Political Science

Jennifer Hurst-Kennedy Associate Professor of Medical Sciences

Courtney Taylor ’15 Assistant Professor of English

Enkeshi El-Amin ’09 Assistant Professor of Sociology

LeAnne Martinelli Professor of Physician Assistant Studies and Program Director

Regina Finan Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Amber Norman Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Bella Tobin Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Natalie Villacorta Assistant Professor of English/ Director, Center for Writing and Speaking 13

Commencement Agnes Scott College’s 134th Commencement Ceremony

Agnes Scott’s 2023 Commencement exercises included the conferring of 263 bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Graduates were fueled by words of encouragement from media pioneer Wonya Lucas, then president and CEO of Hallmark Media, overseeing Hallmark’s entertainment brands, including the Hallmark Channel. Also providing words of inspiration was student speaker Nemain MorganCurtis ’23, a history major and student-athlete, who played on the college’s NCAA soccer team for four years, serving as team captain her junior year.

In a separate ceremony, the college awarded graduate certificates for the first time to the post-baccalaureate cohort that completed the requirements.

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DEGREES CONFERRED MAY 2023 (TOTAL 263):

BA - 163 BS - 45 MA - 9 MS - 46

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A HEALTHY ENDEAVOR Agnes Scott expands its medical and healthcare education programs to meet the needs of its students, the workforce and the world.

BY DEBBIE RITENOUR

THE STATISTICS ARE STARTLING. Of the 159 counties in

Georgia, only 10 have enough primary care physicians to serve their communities. There is no pediatrician in 65 counties, no OB-GYN in 82 counties and no psychiatrist in 90 counties. Nine counties have no doctor at all. The physician shortage isn’t just a state or regional issue; a recent study found that the United States

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM HAGY

may experience a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034.

Pictured left to right: Taylor Jaczko, Leyoncé Latus, Kelly Ball, Lucy Moran, Mary Nell Higley Summey, Shoshana Katzman, Sean Walsh, Lynette Shaw, Shelby Hunt, Emily Myanna, Abby Doorley, Molly Embree

To say the situation is a challenge is an understatement. To say Agnes Scott College is stepping up to meet that challenge is not. By expanding its medical and healthcare education programs, Agnes Scott is supporting both its mission and the market while building a more diverse healthcare workforce.

“This is an intuitive space for us to lean into because it leverages our existing strengths,” says Rachel Bowser, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “We have a mission that is so cleanly aligned with the needs in those fields, and that is to engage students in the intellectual and social challenges of our time. In addition, we have a majorityminority population of students at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels. We feel it is incumbent on us to leverage our academic strengths and our diversity in a way that allows us to broaden the pipeline into those professions.”

BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL TRAJECTORY

“Agnes Scott was such a tremendous place to learn. There’s room for everyone to succeed, and they really want you to succeed.”

— Ezra Adams PB’15

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Agnes Scott has a rich history of preparing students for successful careers in healthcare through its strong undergraduate programs in biology, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology and related majors. It’s not uncommon for students who majored in other subjects or had successful careers in other fields to later decide to apply to medical school, however.

The college established the Post-baccalaureate Pre-medical program in 1995 to meet the needs of those students.

Rebecca Dean Sanders ’97, PB’01 was one of the program’s first students. An English and theater double major at Agnes Scott, Sanders returned for her post-baccalaureate studies before earning her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine. Today she is a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Similarly, Ezra Adams PB’15 was able to change course thanks to the Post-bacc Pre-med program.

After earning both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music, Adams spent almost 15 years in education as a teacher and an administrator before deciding to go into medicine. He chose the program at Agnes Scott due to its established reputation, small class sizes and sense of collegiality.

“Agnes Scott was such a tremendous place to learn,” says Adams, who went on to earn his medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Auburn University Campus and currently serves as a hospitalist at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.

“There’s room for everyone to succeed, and they really want you to succeed.”

In 2022, Agnes Scott began offering a post-baccalaureate pre-allied health program and a post-baccalaureate pre-medical flex program in addition to the traditional one-year Post-bacc Pre-med – now called the Post-bacc Pre-med Accelerated program. The Post-bacc Pre-allied Health program supports students interested in pursuing a career in pharmacy, physical therapy and other allied-health fields, while the Post-bacc Premed Flex program allows students who need to strengthen their academic credentials to choose between a 12-month, full-time or 24-month, part-time schedule.

“Our post-bacc programs have really grown in the last few years,” says Mary Nell Higley ’01, director of postbaccalaureate programs. “We have more students. We’ve hired new faculty and a lot of great things are happening.”

DEVELOPING THE WHOLE STUDENT In fact, Agnes Scott has seen enrollment in its postbaccalaureate and graduate programs increase by almost 225 percent over the last few years. Much of that success is due to the 2022 launch of two new health-related master’s programs: the Master of Arts in clinical mental health counseling and the Master of Science in medical sciences.

“We started developing these programs during the pandemic as we were thinking about the strategic direction of graduate studies and how we could continue to support student success and meet market needs here in the Atlanta area,” says Kelly Ball, associate vice president and dean for graduate studies.

“Based on the strength of our Post-bacc Pre-med program, we determined this was a way Agnes Scott could deliver something effective, powerful and unique given our specific strengths.”

In addition to enhancing students’ academic credentials in preparation for applying to medical, dental or veterinary school, the master’s programs help students develop important skills and competencies, such as critical thinking, teamwork and ethical responsibilities. They also allow students to demonstrate their service orientation through internships and community service.

“We have partnerships with a number of healthcare organizations in the metro Atlanta area that provide volunteer opportunities for our students,” says Shoshana Katzman, director and associate professor of medical sciences.

“These resources not only help students become more competitive applicants but empower them with social and cultural awareness. We want our students to be forward thinkers who will contribute to both their profession and their local communities.”

Shelby Hunt MS’23 was a member of the inaugural Master of Science in medical sciences class at Agnes Scott. Hunt, who graduated from Livingstone College with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2019 and is currently working as a medical assistant at a pediatric clinic, wanted to make sure she was equipped and prepared to handle the courses and course load of medical school.

Shelby Hunt MS’23 “Prior to this program, I was unsure about what I needed to do to fully prepare and apply for medical school,” says Hunt, who hopes to become a pediatric oncologist. “Thanks to the Agnes Scott community, including my advisers, teachers and classmates, I feel fully prepared and ready to apply for the upcoming cycle.”

Gaining a Competitive Edge: The Master of Science in Medical Sciences In fall 2022, Agnes Scott College launched its Master of Science in medical sciences program. Created to help students advance their academic records and distinguish themselves as they prepare to apply for medical school or other health programs, the initial cohort of 41 students graduated in August 2023.

“The first-year enrollment was beyond anything we had expected,” says Shoshana Katzman, director and associate professor of medical sciences. “We were really excited, and it was a great group of students to launch the new program.”

Recognizing that different students have different needs, Agnes Scott began offering the program in three formats in 2023.

The traditional program is completed in 24 months, while the accelerated program is completed in 12 months. In addition, the college offers the online accelerated program for students who need the flexibility and convenience of a fully online learning experience. Current Scotties can begin their graduate school coursework during their senior year through the accelerated 4+1 bridge program.

The program’s advanced curriculum includes a signature course series designed by a physician advisory panel that helps students develop the necessary attributes, attitudes and skills they need to succeed in healthcare. As part of this course series, students volunteer at an Atlanta-area hospital, clinic or nonprofit organization to complete their clinical practicum experience.

“Medical schools want to train practitioners who will give back and serve their communities,” Katzman says. “We provide opportunities for our students to expand their competencies through volunteer activities and demonstrate their service orientation.”

Students can complete an MCAT or related test-preparation course at no additional cost. They may also qualify to apply for admission to the health program of their choice through linkage programs with Mercer University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy.

— DR 19

SETTING STUDENTS UP FOR SUCCESS

“We know that a lot of our graduates go into science and medicine and have tremendous professional success. We want to follow their lead and develop programs that excite our students.”

— Kelly Ball, associate vice president and dean for graduate studies

Hunt notes that the advising team was an especially helpful resource. The three-member team recently implemented a new triangular advising model, with each member focusing on a different aspect of a student’s applicant profile.

“Our advising model is second to none,” says Sean Walsh, graduate/post-baccalaureate adviser. “Every student has an opportunity to meet with each member of our health professions advising team. As students prepare for an upcoming application cycle, we assess and review their quantitative metrics, including GPA and target MCAT score. We also examine their qualitative metrics, give feedback on personal statements, and provide guidance on seeking clinical or volunteer experiences. We help our students select programs congruent with their academic and professional strengths, so their chances of receiving secondary applications, invitations to interview and acceptances increase significantly.”

The efforts pay off: 100 percent of qualified master’s and postbaccalaureate students were admitted to the medical school Sean Walsh or health professions program of their choice during the 2022–2023 application cycle.

Qualified students are those who earned a 3.50 GPA or higher and scored at or above the 50th percentile on the required standardized test for their school or program.

“We have had absolutely incredible student outcomes at the graduate and post-bacc levels,” Ball says. “That 100 percent acceptance rate puts us with the elite of the elite.

It’s a really hard number to attain. Our undergraduates receive the same support from our graduate advising team and had a record-breaking 96 percent acceptance rate to medical school in the same cycle.”

Agnes Scott continues to look for new ways to meet student and market demands for medical education.

Future plans include the launch of a physician assistant program in fall 2025 and the development of a school counseling graduate program, which follows on the success of the clinical mental health counseling program.

“One area where Scotties always shine is when they enter healthcare and the healthcare sectors,” Ball says.

“We know that a lot of our graduates go into science and medicine and have tremendous professional success.

We want to follow their lead and develop programs that excite our students.”

Debbie Ritenour is a freelance writer and editor specializing in higher education and healthcare. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

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Enhancing Academic Credentials: Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Programs For almost 30 years, Agnes Scott has been helping students become stronger applicants to medical, dental, veterinary or other health professional schools through its Post-baccalaureate Pre-medical program. Designed to ensure students complete the required coursework as well as acquire the foundational skills needed to succeed in the next step of their educational journey.

Outcomes for the college speak volumes. In the 2022-2023 medical school application cycle, 100 percent of qualified Agnes Scott College master’s and postbaccalaureate students were admitted to the medical school or health professions program of their choice. Including undergraduate students, 96 percent of all qualified Agnes Scott students were admitted.

“Our program is essentially medical school year 0 in terms of rigor and expectations,” says Mary Nell Higley ’01, — Mary Nell Higley ’01, director of director of post-baccalaureate post-baccalaureate programs programs.

Agnes Scott currently offers two versions of its Postbaccalaureate Pre-medical program: the accelerated program, which is the traditional one-year program, and the flex program, which offers 12-month full-time or 24-month parttime options. The college also recently launched the Post-baccalaureate Preallied Health program for students interested in a career as a physician assistant, pharmacist, physical therapist or other allied health professional.

Post-baccalaureate students make valuable connections and build strong relationships within their cohort, which typically consists of about 30 peers. “We encourage a collaborative mindset rather than a competitive mindset,” Higley says. “Healthcare is collaborative. It takes a team. Learning to work with other people is one of the most important things we teach our students.”

Eligible students can apply for early assurance admission through linkage programs with Mercer University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy. As of fall 2023, all programs offer a graduate certificate. — DR

“Our program is essentially medical school year 0 in terms of rigor and expectations.”

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A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

Preparing Students for Careers in Nursing For students with a head for science and a heart for humanity, Agnes Scott College offers multiple pathways to enter one of the nation’s fastest-growing occupations.

BY ADRIENNE S. HARRIS

From the time Emma Olson ’22 was 12 years old and heard her younger brother talk fondly about nurses who helped take care of him when he was in the hospital, she felt drawn to the nursing profession.

“Just seeing how nursing works, what nurses do and the connections they make really resonated with me,” said Olson, an Austin, Texas, native.

When it was time to decide on a college, one of the factors that persuaded her to choose Agnes Scott was learning about the dual-degree program in nursing. In collaboration with the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, students spend three years at Agnes Scott to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and two years at Emory to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.

Today, Olson, who majored in psychology, works as a nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on the hematology-oncology floor, where she cares for children with blood disorders or different types of cancers and brain tumors.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who want to be helpful and who want to have a career that’s meaningful, and that is nursing,” she said. “I couldn’t really see myself doing anything else.”

An increasing number of Agnes Scott students agree with Olson that nursing is an ideal career for people like them with a head for science and a heart for humanity – a trend that could not be timelier given that many nurses currently in the field are reaching retirement age and the general population is growing older and sicker, creating more demand for nurses. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 6 percent over the next decade.

For Agnes Scott students interested in nursing, the college offers multiple pathways to achieve their career goals. Some students opt for the clinical nurse leader program that allows a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science graduate from Agnes Scott to go on to complete a master’s graduate degree in nursing at Augusta University.

Other students, like Olson, choose the dual-degree nursing program. Since it began in 2011, 40 students have completed the curriculum at Agnes Scott and Emory, four are currently enrolled in the program and another dozen have expressed interest.

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“Emory is outstanding in health leadership, and that’s what attracts our students,” said Lucy Moran, director of the Office of Internship and Career Development.

“And with our small school model and student support model, Agnes Scott offers that personal touch to help our students get through those prerequisite courses. Our students go to Emory and succeed.”

Safiya Cain ’16, a dual-degree nursing student who majored in biology, currently works as a nurse at a local dialysis center. She credits the rigorous science and social science classes she took at the college with preparing her for the intensive coursework at Emory – not to mention all the writing she had to do.

“Agnes Scott is really good at teaching you how to write,” said Cain, an Atlanta native. “In my Emory experience, I always got great grades on my papers, especially research papers, because of what I learned about proper citations and proper research paper criteria.”

Research is another pathway Agnes Scott students can follow on their journey to nursing.

“The college wanted to create a robust program that would really maximize research opportunities for more students in more majors,” said Molly Embree, director of the STEM Scholars Program. “We hope to prepare our students to excel in any field that requires knowledge and skill in STEM disciplines and prepare them to lead.”

Launched in 2015 with a $1 million grant from the Goizueta Foundation, the STEM Scholars Program is an 8- to 10-week summer program where students conduct full-time research with a faculty mentor and take classes in research ethics and communications. So far, 188 students have participated, including several on the nursing track.

Over the years, the STEM Scholars Program has received additional financial support from government grants, private foundations and individual donors, including faculty and alumnae. Maria Rippe ’64, who helped support Emma Olson during her matriculation at Agnes Scott, was the first alumna to make a major donation to the program.

“ALL THE EXPERIENCES I HAD AT AGNES SCOTT HELPED ME UNDERSTAND WHY I WANT TO BE A NURSE.” — Daija Dennis ’18

Daija Dennis

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A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

Leyoncè Latus

“I want to work with reproductive health as a nurse but being in the STEM Scholars Program confirmed that I also want to do research.”

— Leyoncè Latus ’25

“I majored in history, but I was always interested in the sciences,” said Rippe, who lives in Richmond, Virginia. “My uncle, a physician, was a big influence and role model in my life. He left money for Randolph-Macon College to fund a scholarship program for pre-med students. I wanted to do something similar for Agnes. The more I read about what the STEM Scholars Program has done, the happier I am that I provided that support for students.”

As a STEM scholar, Leyoncè Latus ’25 spent this past summer doing research with a mentor at Johns Hopkins University. Her topic was disparities in black women’s reproductive health related to HIV and PrEP, a medication taken to prevent getting HIV. She is on track with the dual-degree nursing program and will find out in December if she is accepted at Emory.

“I want to work with reproductive health as a nurse but being in the STEM Scholars Program confirmed that I also want to do research,” said Latus, a junior who is majoring in psychology and public health. “The career of nurse scientist is something that really resonates with me because I am interested in the hands-on part of healthcare, but I am also interested in community health research that focuses on vulnerable communities.”

Most of the recipients of the Arthur T. Allen Jr., PhD, and Arthur T. Allen III, MD, Science Fund for research in the STEM Scholars Program have been students intending MD-PhD study, but Leyoncè is a 2023 recipient of the Allen award, given her research interest in nursing.

Created to honor her husband, Tom, an MD, and her father-in-law, a PhD, Justice Allen ’64 wanted the fund to support STEM Scholar research with flexibility to support students interested in medical sciences.

For some students, participating in research can lead to important discoveries about themselves as well as their topics.

Daija Dennis ’18, a first-generation college student from Atlanta, came to Agnes Scott convinced she wanted to be a doctor. She thought having research experience would be an asset when applying for medical school, so she got involved with the STEM Scholars Program. Her research project through the University of Virginia took her to South Africa for two months to study palliative care in a rural setting. As it turned out, her principal investigator was a nurse.

“One day we were having a heart-to-heart talk with our professor, learning about her path to nursing, and she was telling us that there are so many different things you can do as a nurse because the skills are transferable,” said Dennis. “I realized I really like the flexibility and hands-on patient interaction that nursing provides.”

By the end of her junior year, Dennis had decided to switch her academic focus from pre-med to nursing. After consulting with her Agnes Scott adviser, Dennis determined that her best option was to graduate from the college with her degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and then figure out the next steps to becoming a nurse.

“I had taken all the classes I needed to go to medical school, but those are not the same classes you need to go to nursing school,” she said. “So, once I graduated, I took a year and a half to get all of my prerequisites, and then I applied to a 15-month nursing program at Emory.”

Currently, Dennis is an oncology nurse clinician at the Winship Cancer Center. In August, she enrolled in the Women’s Health/Gender-Related Nurse Practitioner program at Emory and is working toward a doctorate in nursing.

Despite the circuitous route to reach her career goal, Dennis says that because of the support she received at Agnes Scott, if she had to do it over again, she wouldn’t do anything differently.

“All the experiences I had at Agnes Scott helped me understand why I want to be a nurse,” she said. “I want to be an integral part of people’s stories.

I want to build a connection that is meaningful.”

Adrienne S. Harris is an Atlanta-based leadership communications consultant.

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A HEA LT HY E N D E AVO R

Something that Uniquely Helps People The college’s public health program fills the need for a worldwide effort.

BY KIA SMITH

Dr. Kaitlyn McCune ’12 spends her days in Colorado Springs helping military families navigate prenatal care, birthing options and reproductive healthcare.

Originally McCune wanted to be a surgeon like her father, but Agnes Scott College’s public health program shifted her plans.

“She said, ‘My experience with public health made me realize I don’t want to be a surgeon.” shared Harry E. Wistrand, professor emeritus of biology. “She wanted to be an OB-GYN and serve the underserved of the country.” While surgeons spend little time with their patients, OB-GYNs walk their patients through pregnancy, help them care for themselves and their unborn and assist them in making reproductive health decisions that work for them and their families. Agnes Scott’s public health program helped McCune identify and fall in love with these communication and education aspects of patient care.

McCune was the first student to graduate from Agnes Scott with a self-designed public health major. Since the inception of the degree program in 2012, public health has become one of Agnes Scott’s fastest-growing majors and sent hundreds of students into public health graduate programs, local, state and federal government programs, nonprofit organizations and hospitals, health departments and universities throughout the country with the focus of engaging with the intellectual and social challenges of public health.

“When you look at the Agnes Scott mission, public health fits it beautifully,” said Wistrand, one of the two founding professors of Agnes Scott’s public health program. “We’re educating women, these leaders, and it is one of the most perfect majors for a liberal arts college because it encompasses so many different areas.” Agnes Scott is the first college not attached to a university to offer an undergraduate liberal arts public health degree.

“Public health is an interdisciplinary program,” said Martha W. Rees, professor emerita of anthropology and co-founder of the public health program. “Some people think of public health as the person in the lab, and that’s so important, but none of that counts unless you can talk to the people who need to use or apply the best practices. Anthropology and the social sciences in

general do that. They help translate the medical and the science into something that can be understood by people as well as the providers.”

Essential to the development of the public health program was Trustee Emerita Pamela J. Bevier ’61, who dedicated much of her career to public health. For eight years, she funded the public health program – teachers, course development and internships an chaired the Public Health Advisory Council. She also established a public health endowment that continues to fund the Bevier Public Health Internship program.

Unsure that liberal arts students would be interested in public health and its first course, epidemiology, Bevier wanted to start small.

“I was very skeptical because who had even heard of epidemiology,” laughed Bevier, who worked closely with Wistrand and Rees to design the public health program.

“And I was just amazed when the course was doubly oversubscribed.”

Agnes Scott students have been the driving force behind the growth of the public health program. From showing interest that ensured the program grew into a degree program to their impressive performance in internships and graduate programs, Agnes Scott’s students have led the way to a successful program.

“Our students uniformly have the desire to make a difference in the world. They want to do something that genuinely helps people, and they bring with them a global perspective,” shared Linda Kay McGowan ‘65, founder of the McGowan Family Fund for Student Excellence in Public Health and a founding member of Agnes Scott’s Public Health Advisory Council. “Public health isn’t just about people in your community or just in this country. It is a worldwide endeavor.”

“It’s just wonderful that Agnes Scott is able to prepare a whole new task force of public health students, majors and professionals,” reflected Bevier. “Public health by definition is diverse. The diversity that Agnes Scott brings to it is wonderful, and I’m just so amazed and pleased that there’s such an interest in it.”

Kia Smith is an Atlanta-based communications strategist and nonprofit executive.

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A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

No Gap Year Necessary Students link to med schools through early assurance programs.

BY DONNA WILLIAMS LEWIS

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A partnership program that offers qualified postbaccalaureate and graduate students a direct pipeline to medical and pharmaceutical schools is booming at Agnes Scott College.

The college’s Health Professions Linkage Agreements, which began in 2011 with Mercer University School of Medicine, now includes three additional schools that signed on in just the past two years.

According to Elizabeth Henry, senior director of graduate studies, this rapid partnership growth is a testament to the academic rigor of Agnes Scott College in preparing students for a highly selective admissions process.

“In addition to coursework, we actually provide advice around their application, including how to strengthen their personal statement, interview preparation, community service and clinical experiences,” she said.

Morehouse School of Medicine became the second healthcare professions linkage in 2021–2022.

Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy followed in 2022-2023 and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine linked in 2023-2024.

Instead of taking the common year or more after college graduation to apply to medical schools or strengthen their academic profiles, students admitted to one of these partner schools can enroll immediately once they complete Agnes Scott’s participating graduate or post-baccalaureate program.

Morehouse School of Medicine, the first of the new partners to enroll Agnes Scott Linkage students, also allows undergraduate juniors to apply and be conditionally accepted into an early commitment program.

Tsering Shola ’23 was in her junior year, thinking about pursuing a career in medicine and maybe taking a few gap years to prepare, when Agnes Scott announced its MSM partnership. She applied and was accepted into the linkage.

Today, the former senior class president is in her first year of medical school at MSM. She said she chose Agnes Scott and Morehouse for the same reasons — their commitment to serve the underserved.

One of her MSM classes, Community Health, deploys medical students to organizations throughout the city of Atlanta to work directly with the community.

“So there’s not only a deep commitment, but there’s a priority to serve,” she said.

Shola first developed an interest in medicine in the fifth grade when she was diagnosed with sensory-neural hearing loss. She was further influenced by a public health

class at Agnes Scott and by the college’s sophomore-year SCALE leadership experience, which gave her a weeklong immersive encounter at the nonprofit Atlanta Birth Center.

“I’m deeply grateful for my being able to attend Agnes, but also being able to grow and discover who I am, discover my interests and develop them at Agnes Scott College,” Shola said. “No other institution, I think, could compare with the support I’ve received and the growth that’s been fostered through both the faculty and the staff, and all the people I’ve met at Agnes.”

Kaiya Banks, who’s in the 12-month MS in medical sciences accelerated program at Agnes Scott, plans to apply to the MSM linkage in December. Her passion is pediatrics, possibly pediatric cancer.

The 2023 Clark Atlanta University graduate said she chose MSM because of its mission to serve underserved communities.

“That’s something I’ve always wanted to do since high school, considering I’ve grown up in Mississippi, where there are a lot of underserved communities,” Banks said.

Abby Doorley, a 2023 graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in health promotion, is currently applying to the Mercer linkage as a postbaccalaureate pre medical accelerated student at Agnes Scott.

Undergraduate public health classes and working at an Athens community health center fueled her interest in health disparities and becoming a doctor.

She was drawn to Agnes Scott’s streamlined path to medical school and is applying to the Mercer linkage because of Mercer’s mission to increase the physician network in Georgia in rural or medically underserved areas.

“As a public health student, I heard all about the disparities in healthcare Abby Doorley and the shortages of providers, especially in rural areas,” Doorley said.

“The fact they have this linkage with Mercer makes me excited for the future of healthcare in Georgia — that these continued partnerships will increase the healthcare workforce and have a positive impact on the people in our state.”

Donna Williams Lewis is a freelance journalist who

previously worked for 30 years as a reporter and editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I’m deeply grateful for my being able to attend Agnes, but also being able to grow and discover who I am, discover my interests and develop them at Agnes Scott College.”

— Tsering Shola ’23

Tsering Shola

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A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

Med School Year Zero Post-baccalaureate pre-medical program preps students for med school success.

BY DONNA WILLIAMS LEWIS

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After graduating from The University of Georgia, Eliza Hallock worked for three years as an interior designer for private jets.

Later, she returned to UGA, earned her MBA, and became a business analyst for The Home Depot Inc. She loved both of those jobs, but neither of them felt like her true calling.

In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was raging, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she hit her 30th birthday, Hallock took out some time for self-assessment.

“I think medicine was always on the back burner of my mind, but I needed to build the confidence and just prove to myself that I could work hard to do it,” she said.

Emboldened by her work experience, Hallock took the leap to medicine in Agnes Scott’s Post-baccalaureate Premedical program in 2022. She was then accepted into the linkage program with the Mercer University School of Medicine, and she’s now a first-year medical student in her beloved hometown at Mercer’s Savannah campus.

Agnes Scott is in its 28th year of offering the the Post-baccalaureate Pre-med program, a graduatelevel certificate program designed for career changers and others who want to strengthen their academic credentials to apply to medical school, dental school and other health professions programs.

The nation faces a projected physician shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Agnes Scott has responded by growing he post-baccalaureate faculty and staff, enabling the program to admit more students. Elizabeth Henry, senior director of graduate studies, said that move was a strategic commitment from the college.

“We knew that we could do it well, and so we made that decision to say, OK, if this is a need that our society has, that our nation has, that Georgia has, that Atlanta has, then let’s fill that need,” she said.

Mary Nell Higley Summey ’01, a senior chemistry instructor who directs the college’s post-baccalaureate programs, said enrollment has more than doubled over the past two years.

“Some years, we’d have like 24 post-bacc students. But last year and this year, it’s more like 60,” Summey said.

“We can admit more of these amazing students…, and we can continue helping more people, which is exciting.”

Students can choose from a 12-month, full-time program or a 24-month, part-time program.

Rigorous advanced courses in biology, chemistry, biochemistry and physics are taught in a cohort program of small classes.

“In a traditional undergraduate pre-medical pathway, those 36 credit hours are actually stretched out over three or four years, but our students do it all in three semesters,” Henry said.

Created in collaboration with a physician advisory panel, the program also includes a 40-week MCAT test-prep course, interview preparation and clinical and volunteer experiences. A dedicated advising team works to ensure the students are as competitive as possible in medical school applications.

During the 2022-2023 medical school application cycle, 100 percent of qualified Agnes Scott master’s and post-baccalaureate students were admitted to the medical school or health professions program of their choice.

Known for its innovation in liberal arts education, Agnes Scott provides students with critical thinking skills as well as a commitment to serving the needs of the community, said Shoshana Katzman, who works closely with this program as director of the MS in medical sciences program at Agnes Scott.

“Programs that train future healthcare providers are looking for students who exemplify the skills and attributes that our programs are designed to enhance, making Agnes Scott students equipped both academically and professionally to gain acceptance into these programs to be able to meet the needs and challenges of our times,” Katzman said.

Hallock looks forward to shadowing doctors in rural Georgia, a target area of concern for her medical school.

Looking back, she fondly remembers Tuesday afternoon office hours in Summey’s office, talking about organic chemistry concepts and then “just talking about life.”

“For me, it was special. It just really highlighted the things I had heard about Agnes Scott, that the professors really are there to help you,” Hallock said.

Summey said she is filled with gratitude for the students who’ve come through the program and given it the nickname “Med School Year Zero.”

“They go on, and getting to hear from them later and then getting to see them accomplish this stuff is a wonderful feeling,” Summey said. “It’s a wonderful feeling to work with such kind and compassionate people.”

Donna Williams Lewis is a freelance journalist who

previously worked for 30 years as a reporter and editor at “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.”

Eliza Hallock 29

A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

Transforming Mental Health Services Clinical mental health counseling program fulfills community need for mental health professionals.

BY ALICIA SANDS LURRY

Consider this: In 2021, Georgia ranked fifth for the prevalence of mental illness and 51st in access to mental healthcare, according to a report by Mental Health America, a national nonprofit that advocates for mental health and focuses on addressing the needs of people with mental illness.

According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 47 percent of the U.S. population is living in a mental-health workforce shortage area, with some states requiring up to 700 more practitioners to remove this designation. This is especially true in Georgia, which ranked last in the number of mental healthcare professionals per capita.

Agnes Scott is stepping up to address this critical shortage in the metro-Atlanta community thanks to its newly established clinical mental health counseling

Launched in fall 2022, the CMHC program intentionally prepares Agnes Scott students to become dynamic, culturally sensitive and responsive mental health professionals who are holistically trained and equipped to provide mental health services and interventions to a variety of clientele. Each course in the program includes intersectional and postmodern theories, which distinguishes it from any other program in the United States.

“Our program distinguishes itself because of the intersectional approach to teaching, learning and practicing counseling. Other programs in the area say they teach counseling through a social justice lens; however, none integrate intersectionality across the curriculum,” noted Jennifer Fulling-Smith, program director and associate professor of clinical mental

“Our program distinguishes itself because of the intersectional approach to teaching, learning and practicing counseling. Other programs in the area say they teach counseling through a social justice lens; however, none integrate intersectionality across the curriculum.”

— Jennifer Fulling-Smith, program director and associate professor of clinical mental health counseling

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program – a two-year master’s program that follows an intersectional approach, embracing the values of belonging, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. In doing so, the program prepares students to become licensed professional counselors who will account for the impact of systems of oppression on mental health in their work with clients.

“The need for licensed professional counselors is growing rapidly in Atlanta and across Georgia,” explained Kelly Ball, associate vice president and dean for graduate studies. “We knew Agnes Scott could make a huge difference in the field of counseling by developing a distinctive program that infuses an intersectional approach throughout the entire curriculum. As a women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor, this is a program I am particularly proud of; it’s already making such a difference in Atlanta and beyond.”

health counseling. “Our program has already been impactful even though we are only in our second year.

For undergraduate Scotties, our program offers an early assurance path to enter into our counseling program as soon as they complete their degree.”

The program, which currently has a diverse group of 44 students across two cohorts, was developed in collaboration with Agnes Scott faculty that included Ball; Fulling-Smith; Jennifer Hughes, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology; Mary Huffstead, clinical coordinator and assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling, and Maryam Jernigan-Noesi, former assistant professor of psychology.

As part of the program, students learn to listen and hear someone’s story and provide mental-health support to help them navigate through whatever difficulty they may be experiencing. They also gain a repertoire

of clinical skills that include long-term and brief interventions, such as relational presence, assessments, play and expressive arts, suicide intervention training and other interventions that could be helpful.

“Students are learning how to provide social, emotional and mental health support for individuals who may be suffering or having a difficult time related to a variety of reasons that they’re seeking support,” Huffstead said. “We really hone in on trying to provide training from that cultural humility perspective of understanding.”

The inaugural cohort will graduate spring 2024.

During their time in the program, students spend three of the five semesters participating in practicum and internship courses to prepare for careers as mental health counselors in settings such as inpatient, outpatient, community-based, private practices and schools.

One student, Taylor Jazcko ’24, praised the CMHC program for providing them with an indelible foundation of learning.

“The program has given me the tools and knowledge to think critically about the world around me. I have been encouraged to challenge our society’s norms and the detrimental impact these unspoken rules have on mental health,” Jazcko said. “Instead of being comfortable with the status quo, I am now pushing the boundaries to create a better world for my clients and queering my perspective on social issues I was conditioned to accept.”

Lynette Shaw ’22 said the program encourages her cohort to take accountability for their biases and expand their knowledge of all individuals they may serve.

“Our interwoven backgrounds create a powerful mosaic that sheds light on how our identities may manifest as future counselors,” Shaw said. “I appreciate that not only do we actively acknowledge one another’s backgrounds, but we appreciate and honor the differences in between.”

Fulling-Smith said the community ultimately benefits from future counselors like Shaw and Jazcko.

“They will enter the field understanding how to be effective counselors, having practiced the skillset and also understanding how identities and experiences in one’s identities shape their mental health,” Jazcko noted.

“Counselors will also understand barriers to accessing mental health resources and how privilege and oppression have shaped what their clients are sharing with them. This is a need in our community and is truly invaluable.”

Alicia Sands Lurry is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and

communications and public relations professional whose work focuses on advancing educational equity.

Taylor Jazcko ’24

Lynette Shaw ’22 31

A HE A LT H Y E N DE AVO R

Living Up to a ‘Most Innovative’ Distinction The college focuses on developing a physician assistant program to meet a global need.

BY ALICIA SANDS LURRY

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Recognized for the sixth consecutive year as the nation’s No. 1 Most Innovative liberal arts college in the country

by U.S. News & World Report, Agnes Scott is responding to a growing need for healthcare professionals by developing an innovative physician assistant program.

This two-year, master’s-level PA program in development promises to provide a successful pathway for a diverse population of students to achieve their goal of becoming healthcare practitioners, while also addressing a growing national healthcare shortage and health disparities across the state.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States is projected to face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034 as the demand outpaces supply.

The development of a PA program at Agnes Scott may likely help fulfill this demand, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 27 percent from now to 2032, much faster than the average for all occupations.

About 12,200 openings for physician assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

“We want to help prepare students for healthcare professions in the metro-Atlanta area and the state of Georgia through the development of a program that will train and equip future PAs and help address the healthcare shortage that is happening in the nation,” said Shoshana Katzman, director and associate professor of medical sciences at Agnes Scott. “The PA program we’re developing at Agnes Scott is going to help meet this rising need.”

Kelly Ball, associate vice president and dean for graduate studies, said she began researching the creation of a PA program in summer 2022 after wondering what it would take for Agnes Scott to offer such a program. The college plans to launch the PA program in October 2025, pending accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant.

“For years, Agnes Scott has supported students on their journey to medical school, PA school and other health-professions programs,” Ball said. “I knew Agnes Scott needed to offer a professional health program of our own in order to best support the professional success of our students, and to make a stronger difference in the diversity of healthcare providers.”

Known for its rigorous curriculum, and due to the strong interest among prospective students, PA programs are often more competitive than medical

schools for admission. PA programs require a bachelor’s degree, completion of courses in basic and behavioral sciences as prerequisites and often recommend students have experience in direct patient care. Most physician assistants begin practicing after two to three years of post-baccalaureate education.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants reports there are currently more than 168,300 PA practitioners in the U.S. engaging in more than 500 million patient interactions each year.

With 100 percent of qualified Agnes Scott master’s and post-baccalaureate students admitted to the medical school or health professions program of their choice during the 2022-2023 medical school application cycle, Agnes Scott is more than prepared to tackle the growing need for healthcare professionals.

“As we develop the PA program, we will hold true to how we develop all our graduate programs – with an innovative mindset focused on equity, inclusion and excellence,” Ball said. “We are developing the program to include community health and women’s, maternal and neonatal health as areas of focus.”

According to Ball, developing a PA program is transformative for Agnes Scott and further checks multiple strategic priorities for the college by supporting students’ professional success through strong program outcomes and professional opportunities.

“The developing PA program also enhances the academic community of the college by adding more dynamic faculty, students and staff, and it enriches the broader community by diversifying healthcare with inclusive leaders ready to tackle social challenges,” she noted. “It also plays a critical role in the college’s longterm financial sustainability. It’s a win-win.”

LeAnne Martinelli, program director and professor of physician assistant studies, is equally excited, noting that diversity will serve as a core value of the PA program.

“We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment for all students, staff and faculty,” Martinelli said. “The college’s mission and values empower students to think deeply, innovate and promote inclusivity. The PA program will embody the diverse culture of Agnes Scott and educate students to provide community-based healthcare.”

Alicia Sands Lurry is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and communications and public relations professional whose work focuses on advancing educational equity.

“We want to help prepare students for healthcare professions through the development of a program that will train and equip future PAs and help address the healthcare shortage that is happening in the nation.”

— Shoshana Katzman, (seated in photo), director and associate professor of medical sciences

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Celebrating Our 1889 Society The 1889 Society, established in 2012, honors the college’s most generous benefactors. It recognizes donors with cumulative lifetime giving of $500,000 or more and includes donors dating back to the founding days of the college. Agnes Scott College is pleased to announce the newest members of the 1889 Society from fall 2019 through June 30, 2023.

Maryann Cochran Abbott ’43* and Forrest Abbott* Melanie Best ’79* Alice Davidson ’66 Edwina Davis ’46* Harriette Huff Gaida ’70* Julia Gary* Mary Duckworth Gellerstedt ’46* and Lawrence Gellerstedt* Joan St. Clair Goodhew ’58 and Bill Goodhew Margaret Moore Hall ’68* and Conrad Hall Margaret Hooker Hartwein ’53* and Kenneth Hartwein* Jane Coughlan Hays ’42* and William Hays* Rosemary Kittrell ’61* Elizabeth Anderson Little ’66 and Christopher Little Clair McLeod Muller ’67 and Thomas H. Muller Everdina Nieuwenhuis ’60* Mildred Love Petty ’61 and Robert Petty Maria Wornom Rippe ’64 Cottie Slade ’63* Julia Grier Storey ’54* and Robert Storey* Delores Taylor Yancey ’58* *Deceased

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class notes ’47 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Charlotte Clarkson Jones recently celebrated her 98th birthday! She currently lives at Trezevant independent living in Memphis, Tennessee. Another alum, Susanne Darnell ’57, also lives at Trezevant with Charlotte.

Charlotte volunteers at a secondhand shop in the library, which she adores.

Genevive Harper Alexander continues to live on her own and work part time in the family business.

Genevive has invested time into making new, younger friends, as she has lost many close to her over the years. With her new friends Genevive stays active and social despite the rapidly changing world we live in. ’48 Adele Dieckmann McKee adelemckee46@msn.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’49 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Lucy Mohr Gunn considers herself very blessed to still be living on her own at 95 and continues to drive! Lucy’s son and his family are only a short distance away, meaning she sees them all the time.

Between friends, family and her time at church, Lucy lives a very happy, active life. She writes, “Life is good to me.”

Olive “Ibby” Turnipseed writes, “My love and gratitude to ASC friends; what a blessing they have been.”

After a fall last year broke her leg, Mary Aichel Samford has moved to a nursing home in Greenville, South Carolina. While her memory is slipping, she has great caretakers and is doing very well. The best way to reach her is by contacting her daughter Margaret Day. Martha Ann Howell continues to live at Presbyterian Village in the cottage she and her husband moved into in April 1999. In August, Martha’s children and grandchildren came to visit for her 95th birthday!

Mary Price Coulling writes that she has no special news, except for her second great-grandchild! Mary still lives in the same retirement complex, a nice cottage where she lives independently.

Virginia Skinner Jones recently celebrated her 95th birthday and writes that she’s still going strong!

Virginia has been blessed with five grandchildren, many friends and good health.

Following her Agnes Scott graduation, Nancy Ryle was asked to lead a retreat for youth leaders of Christian college groups in 1951.

One member of this retreat, Andy, stuck out in Nancy’s memory; she learned recently that Andy became a great civil rights leader. After 72 years, the pair reconnected and shared memories. Nancy is so thankful for the bonds of love and fellowship she has been given. ’50 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Mable Hudson writes that while age is slowly creeping up on her and Doug, they continue to live in their home. Mable teaches art one

day a week, and Doug continues to cut stone. They feel their blessings every day.

Betty Phillips Lindsay still lives in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She continues to be active and grateful for her wonderful friends and the amazing staff. She is thankful for family visits and the recent addition of her 15th great-grandchild.

Diana Durden Woodson lives in Woodstock, Georgia, with her son Jeff. Her daughter Trudie is nearby with Diana’s two grandchildren.

Life is good, but Diana would love to hear from any Scottie friends!

Cama Clarkson Merritt spent a wonderful week with family this summer. Cama was the oldest in the bunch at 95, and her greatgranddaughter was the youngest at 10 months! ’52 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Adelaide Ryall Beall recently had a family reunion at Amelia Island in Florida! ’53 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Keller Barron shares news of her four children and seven grandchildren and the anticipation of her first great-grandchild coming in October!

Lilla Kate Parramore Hart feels very privileged to have attended the 70th reunion this past spring, though she wished more classmates could have attended. Lilla was also lucky enough to witness her youngest grandchild graduate from college!

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class notes

’54 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Martha Gail Conner reports nothing new to share. She has made it through the pandemic, now blessed by 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren who recently threw her a big 90th birthday party!

Our hearts go out to Elizabeth Craig DuBose, as she lost her husband, Cantey DuBose, this past May. Elizabeth met Cantey during her senior year at Agnes, and they had been married for 68 years. Our deepest condolences.

Jane Crook Cunningham shares a funny story from life at her retirement home: “While walking with my therapist on the grounds, I passed my friend Jane. I waved and said hello to her. About 50 yards later, I saw another friend of mine, also named Jane, so I said hello to her too. Not mere minutes later did I see another friend of mine, you guessed it, named Jane! It was such a funny coincidence. We joked I must really be losing it to keep calling everyone Jane!

Martha Duval Swartwout has spent the past year adjusting to life as a widow, no small feat. Since losing her husband, Ron, last year following 68 years together, Martha has found great comfort in her children and their families.

Our hearts are with Martha as she continues to navigate this incredibly difficult time.

After a two-month battle with COVID, Doris Lassiter has had a wonderful, active year. She’s taking advantage of her life post-COVID with a family trip to Iceland.

Doris sends wishes of health and prosperity to her fellow classmates!

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’55 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Margaret Maxwell feels much better after her recent back surgery.

She even spent a week in Beckett, Massachusetts, on a lake with her family! ’56 Helen Haynes Patton helenpatton@comcast.net

Callie MacArthur ’55, Helen Jo Hinchey Williams ’55 and husband Roy, celebrating Callies 90th birthday!

Callie McArthur Robinson (pictured at right) is excited to report that she recently celebrated her 90th birthday with friends and family, including her college roommate Helen Jo Hinchey Williams ’55 and Helen’s husband, Roy. Callie also writes that she loves to see all the wonderful things her fellow Scotties are reporting in Class News.

Carolyn Alford Beaty writes that last year she and her husband, Roy, moved to Ardenwoods Retirement Community in Arden, North Carolina. The couple also writes that their granddaughter Jane was born last Aug. 15.

Jo Hinchey Williams writes that no news is good news! She is enjoying life at her home in Florida.

Betty Ann Miller expresses joy and gratitude for the beach trips she has been able to take with her two daughters and their families.

Last year the family enjoyed time at Bald Head Island, North Carolina, and this year they spent time at Cape Charles, Virginia. Betty spent her time on these trips lounging, reading and enjoying the company of loved ones.

Ann Alvis Shibut continues to enjoy country life while doing some yardwork, knitting, quilting, a lot of reading — 79 books read in the first half of 2023 — and cooking when she wants to. She says it’s great to be with family, which is still growing: “Another foster child is in line for adoption if all goes well. It’s a good life. I have no complaints!”

Sarah Davis Adams decided it was time to downsize from the big house she shared for 50 years with her husband, Tom, until his death at the end of 2021. With her health good so far, she was not ready for senior living, so she bought a condo in the village of Pacific Palisades, where several friends live. Sarah continues to sing in the church choir, take piano lessons and stay busy with community activities.

Members of her family are spread all over California.

Rameth Richard Owens, whose husband, Walt, died in 2022, has chosen to stay “where it’s been home since 1967,” and she hopes to remain there as long as her health is good. Rameth’s granddaughter, Ruby Ladd, is following her mother’s footsteps at Emory Medical School, completing her first year in 2023.

Stella Biddle Fitzgerald reports that granddaughter Lucy Fitzgerald received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in mechanical engineering and applied science, and she got a job immediately at a think tank in Charlottesville.

Stella’s travel report this time included only a few days’ trip to Avon, North Carolina.

Helen Haynes Patton’s daughter, Rebecca Falco, has produced a documentary series on open adoption, based on her family’s experience. The story has also been an important feature in grandmother Helen’s life. Released in August, “Family Forest” can be viewed on youtu.be/ Q85ph4IY2UY.

Dede Farmer Grow and husband Bob moved in May 2022 to an independent living facility in North Richard Hills, Texas. Unfortunately, six months after their move, doctors found lung cancer in Dede, who has now undergone a few rounds of chemo. We are sending strength and love to Dede and Bob as they combat these health complications.

’57 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Marti Slife has retired for the second time! Over the years Marti has been a music teacher, a minister of music and a choral singer. While she continues to sing in her church choir, Marti has given up her other roles. Marti currently lives with her daughter in Jonesboro, Georgia.

Cynthia Pyle has enjoyed her recent move from Ocala, Florida, to suburban Houston where she is now closer to her children and grandchildren. She is grateful for this new blessing in her life!

Elizabeth Ansley Allen is happy to report the recent birth of her first great-grandchild, named after Elizabeth’s mother, Vivienne, another Agnes alumna. Here’s to hoping baby Vivienne will follow in their footsteps!

Lucy Robertson Greene has been named one of three national Defense Community Champions for the American Association of Defense Communities for work with airmen and families.

Martha Jane Petersen is heading up a six-week class, which began in mid-September in her retirement community. Titled “The Gifts of Aging and Dying,” the two-hour weekly course will focus on positive approaches to old age and dying.

Martha serves as the coordinator for the class.

Carole Myers Thompson wishes to share the passing of her dear friend Harley, a wonderful husband and father, who passed on June 9, 2023. Carole wishes to honor his memory and his brave fight with heart and lung disease. Our hearts go out to Carole and to Harley’s family as they grieve this great loss.

’58 Elizabeth Hanson Duerr ebelld@aol.com The class of 1958 celebrated its 65th reunion in May. A total of eight classmates were able to attend some of the activities and share life experiences. In attendance were Anne Blackshear Harmuth, Becca Fewell, Caro McDonald Smith, Hazel Ellis, Elizabeth “Libby” Hanson Duerr, Ann Stein Alperin, Joan St. Clair Goodhew and Martha Davis Rosselot. Anne Blackshear brought her daughter Susan Wilson.

Nancy Alexander Johnson had a visit from Jean Clark Sparks and Jean’s daughter in early spring.

Nancy reports that she and her husband, Pierce, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in June 2023.

Mary Ann Campbell Padget blesses her Kindle reader that has made reading so much easier for any of us with diminished eyesight.

She reports that she gobbles up all the free and reduced-price offerings, which supply her with a fine supply of trash … especially a flood of apocalyptic survival junk.

Marion “Pinky” McCall Bass published a fine art photography book, “Entwined,” with a friend, Carolyn DeMerritt. Pinky says she is still playing around with art and enjoying her life and family.

Clara Ann Starnes Fain enjoyed an extended visit from her son, Taylor Fain.

Elizabeth “Libby” Hanson Duerr drove up to North Carolina in July to visit her daughter, Lisa Ann Duerr ’87, after having to replace the drive shaft on her car, barely missing being hit by an exploding truck tire in Alabama, and then having a flat tire on the interstate leaving Atlanta. It took at least a week to recover!

Celeste “Tissie” Rogers Thompson enjoys playing duplicate bridge, traveling with her senior center, and going to see musicals, tribute bands and plays.

Nancy Niblack Dantzler reports that she and her husband, Larry, are doing OK, but they lost their son, Lorenzo, in 2021 and their daughter-in-law, Susan Warren Dantzler ’83, in 2019. ’59 Blanche Helm Nichols nchobo331@gmail.com Willa Dendy is back in Dalton, retired after 27 years as executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia. She loves living near her daughter Dendy Marshall and son Bob Goodroe.

Grandson Sam is assistant golf pro at Chattanooga Country Club; granddaughter Layton is working toward an engineering degree.

In May, Jane King Allen, with her daughter Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s husband, Pete, hosted a visit from her Boston grandson, Bona “Monty” Montgomery, and greatgranddaughter Alexis. Six-monthold Eliza and Jessica, Monty’s wife, were unable to make the trip because the baby got sick.

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class notes

Blanche Helm Nichols ’59 and Mary Clayton Bryan DuBard ’59 could not think of a happier place to spend a Sunday afternoon visit than with Lila McGeachy Ray ’59 in her lovely Montreat home.

Jan Fleming Nye and Michael have moved from South Florida to a retirement community in Myrtle Beach. Jan moved to assisted living in May to be with Michael, who developed memory issues, though she was still able to live independently. Claire Seaman Rogers and Leah “Bugs” Mathews Fontaine are still primary on her contact list, and they stay in touch. In addition, she is in contact with Martha Starrett Welsh ’60, who now lives in Olathe, Kansas.

Pat Forrest Davis and Ed have relocated to Charlottesville’s Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge. They moved with one surviving cat and eight adult piano students. Pat is finding ways to contribute to the community through her music. She stays involved with several local music organizations — especially the Charlottesville Symphony and Charlottesville Opera.

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Pauline Winslow Gregory reported on recovering their home after massive damage from a pipe that burst when they were out of town. They were grateful for the refuge of their mountain home about an hour away and the help of a great contractor and their daughter Polly. They are back to normal now, looking forward to our class reunion next spring.

Last March, Maria Harris Markwalter and her longtime tennis partner competed against world-class players and took the Bronze Ball in Houston’s National Women’s Clay Court Championship (85 Division)! Dick had some health issues that have happily been corrected in recent months. They are disappointed that they will miss our reunion, but a granddaughter will be getting married that weekend.

Martha Holmes Keith and Garnett are living in Lexington, Massachusetts, near their son Geoff and his family. Their daughter Suzanne and her family live in Montana. Martha loves gabbing with her grandchildren, reading good books and gardening.

Garnett, at 87, is still working and keeping connected with friends.

Mildred Ling Wu and her husband are living in an apartment community in Suwanee, Georgia, close to the grocery store and many medical offices. It is in a very good location. She thinks of her classmates with loving regards.

’60 Ellen McFarland Johnson ecmcjo@gmail.com Lesley Sevier Simmons writes from Bainbridge, Georgia, that she is doing well, is living with her daughter and has three greatgrandchildren.

Margaret Havron reports that she was excited to meet briefly with Corky Feagin Stone, who was visiting Nashville. Margaret lives in the Meadows retirement community and volunteers at several places each week.

Rebecca Evans Callahan and her husband, Tom, are well and enjoying life on a North Georgia lake. Becky sends news that Myra Glasure Weaver and her husband, C.D., are well. The main

topic of her communications with Jane Law Allen has been the adventures of their grandchildren.

She also talks frequently with Barbara Specht Reed, who spends summers in her Rhode Island home.

Anita Moses Shippen is very proud of her granddaughter Mae Shippen, who will graduate from the Naval Academy next spring.

Mae was badly injured in training during her first year and was afraid that she would be dismissed.

But she recovered and is on her way to becoming a shipboard intelligence officer. Anita is also proud of another granddaughter, Mary Ellen Sanders, daughter of Margaret Shippen Sanders ’85, who is returning to Agnes Scott for her third year. Three grands are still in high school and four are out of school and in the workforce. No great-grandchildren yet.

Carolyn Hoskins Coffman and her husband, Turner, will celebrate their 63rd anniversary in November. They are well but slowing down a bit now that Turner has been assessed as a “fall risk.” They continue to be active church members and keep up with Facebook and a weekly couples’ breakfast. Carolyn is in a book group, and they both enjoy reading. Their family is in Richmond, Panama City and Texas.

The youngest granddaughter is a sophomore basketball player at Marymount University.

The following paragraph is Phyllis Cox Whitsell’s story of how three sisters from southwest Virginia ended up in South Central Pennsylvania: The story begins when Phyllis moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1965, where her husband, Bill, took a job on the faculty of Franklin and Marshall College. Phyllis taught English there and later directed the college’s Writing Center. Harriet Cox York ’62 left Agnes Scott to finish college at the University of

occasions together. In class photos, they are pictured at the celebration of Harriet’s 81st birthday. ’61 Dee Irwin dee.irwin@gmail.com

Alixe Jo Cox Cobin ’67, Harriet CoxYork ’62 and Phyllis Cox Whitesell ’60 celebrate Harriet’s 81st birthday.

North Carolina. She returned to the Atlanta area to work for C&S Bank. Eighteen years before her retirement, she became a vice president at Wells Fargo in Los Angeles. After graduation, Alixe “Jo” Cox Cobin ’67 worked for John Hancock in Boston. She married a co-worker, Elliott Cobin, who, following graduate work, became an actuary. In 1985 they moved to Paoli, a suburb of Philadelphia, just 50 miles from Lancaster. There, Jo worked with middle school students in English as a Second Language and reading. Phyllis and Jo were now in Pennsylvania, but all were worried about their elderly parents, retired teachers in their 80s living alone on a farm outside of Galax, Virginia. The sisters urged them to move closer to family. Finally, after a bad winter in 1985, they sold the farm and moved to Homestead Village, a retirement community in Lancaster just a mile and a half from Phyllis. Here they thrived and lived to ages 94 and 96. For Phyllis and Jo, having their parents close by allowed them to see them often and enabled their granddaughters, while in high school and college, to get to know their grandparents.

It was a gift for all. Meanwhile, Harriet visited often for holidays and birthdays. After the death of her second husband, Jim York, she moved to a cottage in Homestead Village. Two years later Phyllis and Bill moved to a cottage just across the street. Now the sisters see each other regularly and celebrate special

Judy Albergotti Hines has moved into a retirement community since losing her husband, Paul, in 2020.

She keeps busy with art, Italian, gardening in the community garden, and progressive political action.

Alice Boykin Robertson writes that the best thing that happened to her this past year was the arrival of her great-grandson, James Worthy McBrayer III, aka Jay. Bunny Henry Coates’ route since she left Agnes Scott in 1960: 1. Moved to NYC and worked for the advertising department of The New Yorker magazine.

2. While married with two sons ages 12 and 8, went to Bryn Mawr College to complete her degree, graduating cum laude with a degree in anthropology.

3. Completed her education with an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the Classic Maya Site of Copan, Honduras.

4. Contributed a chapter with her cousin Susan Pepper Treadway on their great-aunt Adeline Pepper Gibson titled “Adeline Pepper Gibson: Her Family and Her Travels to Madurai” for the recently released volume “Storied Stones: Reframing the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s South Indian Temple Hall,” published in 2021 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press.

In the fall of 2022, Kacky Chambers Elliot and her husband drove from Greenville, South Carolina, to The Greenbrier for a three-day stay to see how the really rich spend their spare time. They had a lovely visit there, plus the weather cooperated for the trip there

and home again. In 2023 she swam in swim meets in January, February and June. As the oldest female with no competition in her age group (and y’all KNOW what that is!), she didn’t do too badly. As the 93-yearold on her swim team says, “It helps to outlive the competition!”

Esther Thomas Smith is moving from St. Simons to Savannah, Georgia, where she will be at a small but highly rated assisted living facility just a few minutes from her son and his family on Wilmington Island, Georgia. She will miss her oceanfront view on East Beach, but it’s the thing to do!

Her younger daughter is moving from Washington D.C. to Athens, Georgia, where she has a large circle of friends— a coincidence that she welcomes!!

Dee Conwell Irwin and husband Tom are enjoying living in Augusta, Georgia, near one of their daughters and classmate Jane Weltch Milligan. Dee still enjoys regular jogging (slowly!) and her annual downhill ski trip to Colorado, along with quilting (a new hobby since COVID) and helping others with technology issues.

Marlin Day Cwach writes that after 45 years in the Denver metro area, she still occasionally meets someone with ties to Agnes Scott, generating great conversations about “back in the day” times. She taught English and Latin in Austin, Texas, before moving to Denver.

In Denver, she formed a nonprofit group, “Storytellers of Littleton,” with tellers in all the public schools from grades pre-K through middle school. She lost her husband of 60 years in 2020, with whom she had three daughters and now has 10 grandchildren and six great-grands.

She enjoys friends, bridge, mahjongg, book club and writing.

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class notes

’62 Milling Kinard emkinard@verizon.net In June, Betsy Jefferson Boyt spent a delightful week in Taos, New Mexico, taking care of a friend’s lovely cat and relishing the atmosphere in the mountains as opposed to the oppressive heat in Texas.

Sue Amidon Zoole has been adjusting to new living arrangements in a retirement community and to the sad news of old friends passing on. She has finally realized deep in her psyche that she is no longer 50 and can now be old and pursue life and her interests. She hung some of her art in the retirement community’s gallery. She draws comfort from her weekly trips to her mountain retreat.

our Winnie-the-Pooh dilly-boppers and marched to the alumnae convocation with our Pooh cutouts.

There we received the trophy for the “Highest Percent Giving”!

Credit for success goes to Sandra “Sandy” Johnson Barrow, our tireless fund chair.

Incidentally, one constant from then ’til now is that Anne Miller Boyd, Valerie McLanahan Goetz, Cheryl Winegar Mullins and Betty Ann Gatewood Wylie have continued to get together monthly at their book club since its organization in 1971!

As we gathered for our class party, organized by Anne Miller Boyd, we viewed slides taken over the years, assembled by our secretary, Mary Beth Thomas.

Following dinner, Ipek presented a summary of her career as an artist whose work has addressed the sociopolitical issues of our times. As reunion souvenirs, Anne provided 60th reunion bookmarks and copies of vintage Pooh-themed books. We left the reunion eager to remain in touch and have already had a Zoom reunion (“Zunion”) titled “From Then ’til Now: a Slide Show.”

Lydia Wammock Ramsey reports that after 30 years at the same home in Savannah, she downsized three years ago, swearing never to move again. Now, however, she is moving to live next door to Sally Bergstrom Jackson and husband Charles at the Marshes on Skidaway.

Helen Jones Robin and Ty have moved from their Birmingham home of 50 years to their vacation home in the Georgia mountains, their new permanent residence.

Beverly Mason Askren echoed Sue’s lament about growing old and missing many of her friends.

She says she is lucky to feel pretty good for her age! She enjoys being a great-grandmother to twin girls who turned 4 in July.

In July, Milling Kinard traveled to Florence, Italy, for a glorious week of singing with the Berkshire Choral Festival. After intense daily rehearsals, the chorus (140 strong) presented the Verdi Requiem in a concert at the Teatro Verdi. The orchestra, soloists and conductor were splendid, making the experience very special. ’63 Mary Beth Thomas thomasmb1980@gmail.com

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We began our 60th reunion at the Outstanding Alumnae Awards Luncheon on Friday, honoring our own Ipek Aksugur Duben, recipient of the Distinguished Career Award. She and husband Alan came from Istanbul for the event. At the class meeting, led by our president, Gloria Ellis Pylant, we (including Alan Duben) donned

Stokie Cumming Mitchell ’63, Lucy Gordon Andrews ’63, Valerie McLanahan Goetz ’63 and Sandy Johnson Barrow ’63 in their class of 1963 Pooh dilly boppers at their 60th reunion.

A former client of Betsy Schenck Kylstra and Chester gave them his hotel on the beach in Costa Rica for two weeks, where they were joined the second week by seven other couples. Stokie Cumming Mitchell and Marion and their family, including their two daughters, Anne Mitchell ’97 and Caroline Mitchell Hamilton ’00, spent two weeks in Montreat, North Carolina.

Gloria Pylant was there for a week after enjoying a week at North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Her granddaughter Lila McMaster begins her second year at Agnes and her grandson his junior year of high school.

Nancy Duvall Hargrove’s granddaughter graduated from Mississippi State University summa cum laude in aerospace engineering.

Two days later, she left for Texas to take a job with the same company at which she had held a co-op position. Nancy’s family had their usual summer gathering in Cashiers, North Carolina.

Well past “retirement age,” careers continue for several classmates.

A staged reading, “Scenes from ‘The Milliners,’” coauthored by Lynn Denton, was held in New York City. Lynn’s film, “The Only Life You Could Save,” was selected as part of New York Women in Film & Television’s 6th Annual Online Shorts Festival presented by iWomanTV. Several pieces of Ipek Duben’s work were included in the book “Vitamin C+, Collage in Contemporary Art,” which contains the works of 100 artists from around the world. Storyteller Betty Ann Gatewood Wylie has been invited to again appear as “Scatty the Scarecrow” at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (atlantabg.org/ calendar/shows-for-seedlingsscatty-the-scarecrow-with-bettyann-wylie) and as “Serena the Christmas Fairy Godmother” at Atlanta’s Piedmont Driving Club.

Mimi St. Clair plays the flute in a woodwind quintet, sings second alto in her Womens Choral Society and tenor in the Shedd Institute Choral Society. Gloria Pylant volunteers at her local hospital and works in various mission outreach projects at church.

We were saddened by the loss of classmates Cantey Bryan Mills, Lynne Cole Scott and Suzanne Smith. Our hearts go out to classmates who recently lost their husbands: Anne Miller Boyd (David), Mary Ann Gregory Dean (Donovan), Lucy Morcock Milner (Joe) and Cheryl Winegar Mullins (Al).

’64 Brenda Brooks Jackson beba@jacksonPNW.com Brenda Brooks Jackson has added a total reverse shoulder replacement to her collection of bionic body parts. She already had an artificial knee and an artificial hip. Her recovery since her late May surgery has been quite smooth, and she is thankful for her husband, Duke, who has been an extraordinary caregiver. They are looking forward to enjoying the many cultural activities in the Seattle area this coming year that they have missed for the past several years.

Lucy Herbert Molinaro ’64, Joh-Nana Sundy Lybass ’64 and Eve Anderson Earnest ’64 during their third minireunion at Joh’s North Carolina home.

In July, Eve Anderson Earnest and Lucy Herbert Molinaro joined Joh Sundy Lybass at her mountain home in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, for another mini reunion. They have been enjoying these get-togethers for the past three years. Eve shares that she had been told by someone at ASC that the 60th class reunion is the last one the college officially sponsors.

After the 60th class reunion alumnae are welcome to take part in any Alumnae Weekend they would like. This will be the last time we will be encouraged to attend as a class during Alumnae Weekend.

If you are able, try to attend this “last” official class reunion.

Mary Womack Cox and her husband, John, joined other choir members from the Charlotte Holy Comforter Episcopal Church to sing at the National Cathedral on Sunday, July 16. They sang for the morning Eucharist and again at Evensong. Both she and John have sung in choirs since they were 7 years old and consider singing at the National Cathedral as octogenarians a gift! The National Cathedral posts videos of services for those interested. Mary and John also were in D.C. in May for John’s 65th reunion of Sidwell Friends School. It was well attended, prompting Mary to wish the same for our class this coming spring!

Catherine “Katie” Shearer Shane and Nina Warren Jagers are next-door neighbors at St. George Village independent living apartments in Roswell, Georgia.

They are both members of a choral group called The Villagers. The group puts on four shows a year, and these two ladies have sung at several of their performances. This August they performed “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” as a duet.

Katie said they would get so tickled during their rehearsals.

Ann “Penny” Pennebaker Arnold has moved to Blakeford at Green Hills in Nashville, where one of her sons has lived for 20 years.

She chose this location between her daughter in Minnesota and another son in Massachusetts because it had less snow and ice than either of those locations and was centrally located. The move came together swiftly, and she sold her own home before her new home was ready. She spent three months as a vagabond, living from a suitcase, before she could move in and get settled permanently. Her email and phone remain the same, but her new address is 11 Burton Hills Blvd., W572, Nashville, TN 37215. She has an extra bedroom, and she has invited classmates to come and visit.

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class notes

Norma Alvis “Betty” Gerardeau has continued to work as a mobile signing notary in addition to traveling to photo workshops. Her last workshop was in Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently taking Retro Fitness classes twice a week to ready herself for her next workshop in Mongolia! In her “spare time” Betty is studying French with Duolingo. She reminds us that we will be celebrating our 60th reunion next April. She asks that any classmates who would like to help put that together or to offer their name as a class officer to contact her ASAP. ’65 Carol Sutton Lumpkin lumpkin@optilink.us Jere Keenan Brand flew to Iceland in July with her cousin Ann. As the pair prepared for their third trip to Iceland together, they hoped for many whale sightings. As Jere approaches 80, she writes that she is blessed with decent mobility and good health. She sends her best wishes.

Sandra Prescott Laney writes she is doing well, has several health issues, and is loving family and beautiful Pacific Northwest weather.

Marcia McClung Porter reports that she and husband John have spent the summer in Kingsport, Tennessee, where they have stayed busy with yardwork, golf and tennis and have been blessed by beautiful weather. Marcia shared her appreciation for the time she spent with classmates during the reunion last fall. She sends thankful sentiments to all who made it happen.

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As Dee Hall Pope celebrated her 80th birthday in April, she recognized the gift of her connection to her fellow classmates.

Dee and husband Jim spent the summer at their beloved Lake Burton home, named Reunion.

They’ve had the joy (and

exhaustion!) of spending long days with those they love. Soon the pair will be returning to their “new” home in Atlantic Beach, Florida, just north of Jacksonville. Send her a note if you’re ever in the area!

Dee writes, “Life is good. Different.

Unpredictable. Memories of so many of you bring me joy and make me laugh! Be well. Be happy. And keep on keeping on!”

Margaret Smith Sollars attended Agnes Scott for her freshman year but had to move back home to be with her mother following her father’s illness. Margaret attended LSU and the law school, and since then she has been practicing law in Louisiana. She writes that she is well and that she remembers Dottie Strumpf Noble and Betsy Bainbridge very well.

May C. Brown reports that at the end of this year she will be retiring from her position as director of music at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church and as director of Seedtime and Harvest, the supported employment gardening program for persons marginalized by poverty or mental illness. The program is one of several at the Friendship Center, a ministry begun by the church in 1996. ’66 Peggy Marion Ryals mryals001@sc.rr.com Alice Lindsey Blake feels travel-deprived, especially since her grandson Jeremy studied for several weeks in Prague and her granddaughter Lauren went to Spain!

Nancy Bland Norton reports that her life in Seattle is anything but dull. While she no longer rides her bicycle, walking is now her sport of choice, especially in places like Volunteer Park, Washington Park Arboretum, numerous Japanese gardens, and many others where beauty abounds. Nancy invites Madelines to visit her!

Alice Davidson ’66 and Katherine Mitchell ’68 enjoy a woodsy hike in cool Vermont.

Alice Davidson and Katherine Mitchell ’68 visited a good friend in Vermont, where they escaped the July Atlanta heat and enjoyed beautiful woodsy hikes.

Barb Symroski Mayer visited her son and his family in Volcano on the Big Island. Her granddaughter Lyra had a traditional Hindu hair-cutting ceremony on Kaua’I, designed to help her grow up to be a humble person.

B.J. Brown Freeman and Martha Thompson stole away for a girls’ day/night in Asheville and had a swell time!! They toured the Arts District, shopped at a beautiful store, had Esalen-style massages and finished off with dinner at Curate.

Carol Davenport Wood and Tom volunteered at the Antiques Road Show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they escorted people to the proper appraisers in an old church at the Rural Life Museum. Carol still volunteers at a food pantry and a thrift store and will serve on a future session for Hammond First Presbyterian Church.

Karen Gearreald spent a brief but delightful time in New York, where additional footage was taken for the “College Bowl” movie. The filmmakers then went to the Agnes Scott campus for additional shots.

Martha Thompson met Nancy Bruce Truluck in the North Carolina mountains to see Ben Long Frescoes. They then went to Abingdon, Virginia, to the Barter Theater to see “Sense and Sensibility.” Martha also visited Peggy Marion Ryals and Allen for a long lunch and a boat tour at Brookgreen Gardens.

Mary Brown Bullock and George spent a week in Washington D.C. where they saw many good friends, including Martha Thompson.

Mary Brown and George also enjoyed a cruise to Panama.

Nancy Whiteside spent her 38th summer in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. The rest of the year Nancy enjoys with good friends all that Boston has to offer, from concerts to matinees, even “Barbie”!

Susan Tribble’s community in Decatur offers many opportunities to contribute. As a member of the Environmental Protection Committee, she is involved with recycling activities and even learned to grow milkweed in support of a local effort to increase the number of butterflies. She is one of many progressives in her community who works on both local and national issues and elections. Susan attends Decatur Presbyterian Church, sings in the Chancel Choir and has been privileged to serve as an ordained elder since January 2023.

Suzanne Scoggins Barnhill received Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (MVP) designation again this year. This award recognizes “outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others.”

Suzanne has been providing help with Microsoft Word since 1998

through her website (wordfaqs. ssbarnhill.com/index.htm) and through the Microsoft Community support forums.

Virginia Quattlebaum Lacy and Nelson are living in Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia, South Carolina, Nelson in a skilled nursing unit and Virginia in an independent living apartment. She says that this has been a good move for both of them and that there are many things that they can still do together or separately. They also live near three of their five sons. ’67 Avary Hack Doubleday avaryd@juno.com Marty Ryan Clayton loves the ICF (concrete) house she built on Pensacola Beach, and she is having fun growing “designer weeds,” crazy artwork and dragon fruit in her yard. She lives on the same street as the famous “spaceship house” so figures she, too, will be allowed to live there in peace. Beaches are her “happy places.” Recognizing that she is “aging,” she is endowing a $500,000 scholarship fund for the undergraduate performers in the Flying High Circus at Florida State University, where she performed on the trapeze and other acts after transferring there in 1965. Other sports/physical activities at colleges receive scholarships, so she decided it is time for the circus performers to receive some assistance as well.

She still has some of the proverbial “sawdust in her veins”!

Lucy Ellen Jones Cooley and her husband, Pem, have enjoyed traveling, making up for time lost during the pandemic. They have visited Iceland, Switzerland, France and Alaska — to name a few places. Their favorite was a trip to Boston for a baseball game at Fenway Park, a stop in Groton, Connecticut, where they lived years ago, and New York City where they

saw a play. Their son Brian and daughter Laura did all the planning and were there with them.

In April, Ann Divine went on a monthlong knitting cruise that circumnavigated Japan and then sailed for seven very bumpy days across the northern Pacific to Alaska. In June, she and her sisters organized a family reunion for descendants of their mother and her two sisters, all Agnes Scott graduates (as well as their two cousins from Augusta). Among the attendees was her first cousin Betsy Mitchell Keyes, class of 1961.

In March, Avary Hack Doubleday and her husband, Gerry, were able to experience the twice-delayed Coastal Civilizations tour. They embarked on a beautiful small ship in Lisbon, Portugal, for seven days along the coasts of Portugal, Spain and France, disembarking in London, England.

The highlights were stops in Bilbao, Spain, when they visited the Guggenheim Museum, and a visit to the Normandy beaches in France. They had hoped to spend two or three days in London, but the whole town was booked for King Charles III’s coronation!

Cookie Johnson Mallory Kohn wrote from Florence in July, where she was traveling with two grandchildren, Kendall and Samantha. See the photo she shared from the Colosseum.

Cookie also shared a photo of her brand-new great-granddaughter, Sullivan Elizabeth. Florence was hot, but not as hot as Texas, where she lives.

In sharing the news of Claire Allen D’Agostino’s death, Barbara Bates Wince shared some sweet thoughts about friendship from our days in college: “I heard from Claire Allen D’Agostino’s daughter, Gaby Sussmann, that Claire passed away in her sleep last night (July 28). She had been suffering from

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class notes

Alzheimer’s for the past three years.

Claire, Ida Copenhaver Ginter, CeCe Ford Fisher and I got together every year for fun and girl time. We shared our life experiences and helped each other through so many landmark moments in our lives. After CeCe lost her life to cancer, Claire, Ida and I continued our annual reunions. Many of our friends would comment that they wished they had friendships that spanned their lives. It was a blessing. Margaret Calhoun (who passed away on July 16, 2023), Avary Hack Doubleday and I shared a special three years as “working girls” in Atlanta after graduation. I have so many wonderful memories of our time together as we enjoyed figuring out what we were going to do next in our lives. We continued to keep up through the years. I am so thankful that these five Agnes Scott friends were all able to attend my son’s wedding in Peachtree City 17 years ago. I am so sad that two of these special companions in my life have left us in the past week.” ’68 Betty Derrick bderrick@agnesscott.edu After the reunion, Lucy Hamilton Lewis, husband, Eric and John Bacon (husband of Betsy White Bacon), toured Lucy’s cousin’s locomotive business in Greenville.

They saw how the engines were built, and all three drove a locomotive!

In July Ann Glendinning and husband, Dale Kelly completed a three-week adventure down the Mississippi River. They report gaining an overwhelming appreciation for the variety of our country.

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In June, Chee Kludt Ricketts traveled to Paul Smith’s College near Lake Placid, New York, to join 100 other plein air artists for a week of painting.

Laura Warlick Jackson went to Hawaii in July with son Pate and his family. All loved snorkeling, particularly in Captain Cook’s Inlet. Her 5-year-old granddaughter did everything, including eating poke, a raw tuna dish.

monthly series on the French Revolution. In May, they attended grandson Mac’s high school graduation from Greensboro Day School (North Carolina), where Marilyn enjoyed a surprise reunion with Lee Davis Blackman, whose granddaughter was also graduating.

Graduation time at Gué Pardue Hudson and Bill’s: granddaughter Addie graduated from Lovett with highest honors and will attend Georgia Tech. Grandson James graduated from Busy Bee in Arlington, Virginia, with the highest cuteness.

Nicky Herranz ’23, recipient of the Class of 1968 Scholarship, and Mary K. Owen Jarboe, president of the class of 1968.

Mary K. Owen Jarboe and family attended grandson Jackson’s graduation from Texas A&M University. Jackson graduated magna cum laude in biomedical engineering. Mary K. also met the Class of 1968 Scholarship recipient at the Agnes Scott Scholarship Luncheon in March. Nicky Herranz ’23 graduated summa cum laude with majors in political science and history and was recognized with the Michael Brown Prize in History.

Vicky Plowden Craig is steadily recovering from surgery at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston in June for chondrosarcoma of the sternum. Her prognosis is good, as her condition was discovered despite no symptoms. Physical therapy for an earlier shoulder surgery provided such large pectoral muscles that they were sufficient to cover the metal in her chest rather than having to use thigh muscle.

Marilyn Johnson Hammond and Dean are enjoying Park Springs, a welcoming community of interesting people — including Mike Brown, who is doing a

As the founder of the Alabama Reading Initiative, which provides teacher and principal professional development, Katherine Mitchell was invited to speak at its 25th anniversary. Alice Davidson ’66 and Katherine spent a week in Vermont in July “to get in shape” for a Cotswold hike in September with JC Williams and other Scotties with whom they have hiked for 35 years.

In February, Nonnie Carr Sharp, Sarah Madden Roggenkamp and Judith Smoot Holland met in St. Augustine. They had a grand time, sightseeing, trying out the local fare and talking, talking, talking.

Virginia Russell enjoys an art class each semester. She also is thrilled to ferry her granddaughter to art camp from school.

Sarah “Sally” Harrold loves life on the Oregon coast. She continues to teach a memoir writing class and to throw pots.

Janet Hunter Ouzts and James have moved to Boone, North Carolina, to help with five grandchildren, ages 1 1/2 to 11 years.

An interesting phase in their lives!

Nancy Thompson Beane is chair of Theological Horizons, a faithbased organization for Christians and seekers, at the University of Virginia. The organization hosted

Terri lives. They were able to go to many museums and historical sites and to attend concerts. Ruth also visited with Terri’s husband, Stephan, and their son, Nathan. It was a full and lovely trip for these two ASC roommates.

Susan McCann Butler ’68, Susan Stringer Connell ’68, Virginia Russell ’68, Betty Derrick ’68, Chee Kludt Ricketts ’68 and Nancy Thompson Beane ’68 register for their 55th reunion.

Bryan Stevenson in late March in Charlottesville, where over 5,000 people heard him in person and over 1,000 watched him online!

Susan Aikman Miles reports life is good at Presbyterian Village, Austell. Peggy Johnston Nesbit ’69 and Vance are her neighbors.

Betty Layng and husband Bill have recently adopted a corgi pup named Pixie! On their way to the beach this summer, the couple took a wrong turn and drove past a sign saying “Corgi for sale” on their way to Chick-fil-A. Betty and Bill enjoyed their stay in Longboat Key visiting family and friends, all the while thinking of a corgi pup. Once home, Bill found a breeder in their area, and the rest is history! Love at first bark! ’69 Lalla Griffis Mangin lallamangin1@gmail.com Mary Anne Murphy Hornbuckle mahornbu@charter.net Lalla Griffis Mangin and Al recently moved to Del Webb Lake Oconee, just 10 minutes away from their old house. Lalla reported that it is great to downsize to a smaller house and smaller yard, with the

added benefit of being able to clear out things they no longer need! Their new address is 1010 Muskogee Way, Greensboro, GA 30642.

Marion Hinson Mitchell and Jack have plans for several trips: to St. Croix with their son and daughter-in-law after Christmas, a river cruise in Europe and their quarterly trips to Isle of Palms, with the added bonus of visiting their daughter and family in Mt. Pleasant. Marion looks forward to seeing classmates at our 55th reunion, April 19-21, 2024.

Linda Gibson Wages and Dan have had ups and downs with medical issues this year. They have been able to help their daughter with her property development, Grateful Flats, in Crawford, Colorado, while she grieved the sudden and unexpected death of her partner and then also a close friend. Linda wishes she could get to Georgia for a visit, but it is not possible at this time.

Ruth Hayes Bruner visited Terri Langston in Europe from late May until early June 2023. They met up in Paris, moving on to Amsterdam and then Berlin, where

Mary Anne Murphy Hornbuckle and Jon spent a long weekend in Charleston with Mary Anne’s siblings. It was a fabulous mixture of great food, long walks, sightseeing and comparing memories of family history. It was interesting to compare notes on their individual recollections of family events!

Bill and Ellen Joyce Sherling celebrated their 50th anniversary on July 7, 2023. Their older daughter, Miller, and her husband, Nathan Herring, orchestrated a trip for them to Yellowstone National Park, where Ellen had worked for three summers at Old Faithful Inn. Leaving for home in August 1967, she fully expected to return the next June. That never happened. Fifty-six years later, the park remains a wonderland. Herds of huge bison now outnumber the elk, causing what used to be called bear jams. The trip included Miller and Nathan and their daughters Mabry, 16, and Calliope, 9, who drove from their home in Seattle to meet the Sherlings for the golden adventure at the park. ’70 Janet Pfohl Brooks JBrooks48@aol.com Jane McMullan Darnell and Jim met Sharron Downs Landers and Fred on July 4 at Brevard Music Center for a patriotic concert and also saw Cheryl Granade Sullivan at the gate.

Ruth Hyatt Heffron and her husband, John Vernelson, helped Betsy Sowers and Paul celebrate Betsy’s 75th in Belfast, Maine.

Ruth, Betsy, Hollister Knowlton, Susan Ketchin, Mary Margaret

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class notes

Macmillan, Debbie Kennedy Williams ’73, Judy Mauldin Beggs and Nat FitzSimons Anderson continue to meet by Zoom twice a month. Ruth and John will celebrate 25 years of marriage on September 5!!

Katherine Setz Horne and her husband moved in May to their new home on Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia. After dealing with mountains of boxes and paper, they are finally beginning to feel settled and enjoy their home.

Christine Pence had an article, “Photographing Mating Grouse in the Wild, Wild West,” published in the July issue of the “Photographic Society of America Journal.” She has been traveling extensively, including to India and Dubai, and photographing her adventures.

Mary Alice Isele is still loving life on St. Simons Island and stays busy with her many activities at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Cassina Garden Club and pickleball. Both of her sons and their families live in Denver, and she travels there twice a year. She loves to travel and is always on the lookout for travel partners.

Cathy Vogel saw Sharon Downs Landers and Sharon’s husband, Fred, on a Decatur Cemetery tour in May. Fred is a valuable volunteer at the cemetery for the “Gardening Among the Graves” project.

Janet Pfohl Brooks and Chuck toured southern Italy in May, after three years outwaiting the pandemic travel ban. In July they were able to visit Bebe Guill in her lovely garden while they visited their daughter and family in North Carolina. ’71 Cindy Ashworth Kesler cindyk315@gmail.com Edna Lowe Swift had the pleasure, in early June, of traveling to New York City for the first time and had an amazing visit. Her eldest daughter, Shanika Dawn Swift ’93, is a newly elected member of ASC’s Alumnae Board. Her granddaughter, Tori Cole Cervantes ’17, landed a job at The Lovett School, her alma mater, as assistant director of strategic activities.

Evelyn Brown Christensen and her husband, Ralph, moved less than a mile from their previous home in June. They’ve found the task of sorting and discarding things to be a huge one.

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Lynn White Montanari is now living in a facility in New Canaan, Connecticut, after receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. She is thankful that her sons and grandchildren live in the area.

Her mother, still in good health, continues to live in her hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Gayle Gellerstedt has moved back to Decatur, Georgia, and looks forward to seeing old friends and classmates more often.

Sarah Ruffing Robbins, still teaching full-time at Texas Christian University, is codirecting a yearlong (2023) public humanities project linked to the anniversary year of the Phillis Wheatley Peters publication of her “POEMS” in 1773, the first book of poetry by a Black woman writer in North America. Many of the events are online via Zoom webinar, so ASC alums are invited to check out the website, where resources for reading and studying Wheatley Peters are ever growing: wheatleypetersproject.weebly.com.

’72 Anne Kemble Collins annekcollins@gmail.com In May 2023, Gretchen Smith Mui and husband Lincoln traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands: Ghent, Bruges, Delft and Amsterdam, lovely destinations all. The 15th-century Flemish art brought back memories of an Agnes Scott College summer study trip to Germany in 1971, led by Herr Bicknese and Mrs. Pepe, focusing on German literature and art of the Northern Renaissance.

Gretchen remembers the trip as a great experience even though it was 52 years ago. One highlight of their current trip was the opportunity for Gretchen and Lincoln to see innovative Dutch technology, engineering works of art, applied to storm surge control in the North Sea. Their memorable last evening in Amsterdam saw Gretchen and Lincoln attending the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum.

Gretchen says that Vermeer’s paintings “glow like jewels.”

Belita Stafford Walker writes that she’s having a “lazy, hazy summer.”

On Aug. 1, she and husband Price celebrated 50 years of marriage. As Belita puts it: “Yikes!” In June, three grandchildren came to visit while they attended their first week of Vacation Bible School. Having three grands with her for a full week was a firstfor Belita. She says that although she and the young ones survived, she spent a week or so following their departure recovering. Belita also prepared her first-ever standing rib roast, a success and a hit with her family. Belita reports that the roast was “perfecto!”

Deborah “Debbie” Jordan Bates writes that her and husband Jerry’s antebellum house (c. 1859) and their cars took a real beating about 10 months ago in a freak hailstorm.

They have finally celebrated completing all the repairs: new roof, painting and replacing antique glass windows. Although Debbie

appreciated the initial cooperation of their insurance company, at renewal time the company raised their rates so much that they had to search for another carrier that was willing to cover a historic property.

A few months ago, Jerry went to a photography workshop in New York City. Debbie hoped for a prize in a little blue box, but Jerry, after being so very careful about COVID for two and a half years, brought back the big C instead. Vaccines and boosters did their thing, and Jerry’s COVID was like a bad cold, not even as rough as influenza. The couple is now dreading their next electric bill as it has been hot, hot, hot in Augusta.

Kathryn “Kath” Metts Murray sends greetings and writes that it is definitely less humid and cooler most nights in the Asheville, North Carolina, area than it was in Charleston, South Carolina.

While she misses high school and local South Carolina friends (and the charm of her birth city with its fine eateries and historic sites), the Blue Ridge Mountains have cast their spell. Kath hosted a weekend gathering at her home in April for guests Debbie Jordan Bates, Virginia Uhl Tinsley, Sally Barron LaBadie and Pat Carter Post. Kath will send pictures and a few details of her September Bordeaux cruise for the next “Onyx.”

Pam Westmoreland Sholar writes that she is in contact with Donna “DD” Francke, Charlotte Stringer Stephens, Juliana Winters and Helen Webb Godwin. Pam continues to work full time and is not sure she will be able to attend future reunions.

(Class secretary note: We hope Pam will find a way to attend our 55th!)

Patricia “Pat” Austin writes that she will be doing book launches and school events locally in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area for both of her books this fall. “Tales from a Teaching Life: Vignettes in Verse” invites readers along on the

journey of Pat’s 46-year teaching career. “Elephant of Sadness, Butterfly of Joy,” illustrated by Megan Elizabeth Baratta, is a collection of 24 picture poems linking animals with emotions to spark wonder and paint word pictures to ponder.

Mary Ann Powell Howard ’72 and daughter Christy Thrasher, spring 2023, with Sue Sloth atYellow River Wildlife Sanctuary in Atlanta, celebrating Mary Ann’s birthday.

Mary Ann Powell Howard loves adventures. For Mary Ann’s birthday, daughter Christy Thrasher treated Mary Ann to a personal encounter with the sloths at the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary. The pair petted, fed and learned all about Sue Sloth, while Sam Sloth lounged in his hammock. Running has continued for Mary Ann, as she ran in the Hunger Walk, the Atlanta Women’s 5K and her 17th Peachtree Road Race. In July, 13 family members enjoyed vacationing at Hilton Head Island where they saw live starfish and sand dollars and enjoyed a sunset dolphin cruise. Mary Ann and grandson, 3-year-old Jack, met with Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Patrol on one of their early-morning walks and got to see a loggerhead turtle egg that was laid the night before. They learned the Turtle Patrol takes one egg from each nest for research.

The encounter made it an exciting

morning for Mary Ann and Jack!

Mary Ann is also thrilled that Anne Kemble Collins has joined her as a volunteer at Mission Haven Clothes Closet, which ministers to missionaries and Columbia Seminary students.

Sandra Smith Harmon sends news of a trip to Luanshya, Zambia, in June. She and husband Paul traveled with five others from their Methodist church in Wellington, Florida. Sandra worked in a medical clinic and brushed up on her microscope skills, seeing several malaria patients and their blood parasite slides. Before leaving, the couple traveled to Victoria Falls and Botswana for a mini safari. Closer to home, Sandra was privileged to attend plein air oil painting workshops with Anita Elder in Suches, Georgia, and with Bill Davidson in Highlands, North Carolina. Sandra and Paul look forward to spending time in August with Tristan, her 15-yearold grandson.

Patricia “Pat” Carter Post sends news that in April she and Virginia Uhl Tinsley, Deborah Jordan Bates and Sally Barron LaBadie had a wonderful threeday visit with Kathryn Metts Murray at her lovely home and gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. The group all agreed that they got to know each other better than they ever did at Agnes Scott.

They talked, visited art galleries, ate fantastic food and talked even more. At the end of June, Pat, husband John, and several of their children and grandchildren went on a family vacation to one of their favorite places, Linwood Park on Lake Erie in Vermilion, Ohio. There they stayed in a “cottage” near the beach (no sharks, no salt), paddleboarded, walked, rode bicycles, shopped in the quaint shops, did puzzles, played games, read books, ate lots of ice cream, had a talent show staged by very talented children and grandchildren, and just had

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class notes

lots of family fun! This July they have enjoyed eating and sharing the fruits of John’s labor with their garden’s harvest of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and peppers.

Lately, Pat and John have enjoyed watching their daughter, Kristin, and two oldest granddaughters, Brooke and Lauren, perform in the Disney musical “The Descendants” at Onstage Atlanta. In August, Pat and John are planning on going to a 40th high school reunion of some of Pat’s former students and also to Pat’s own 55th high school reunion.

Pat says she doesn’t know which one makes her feel older!

Louise Röska-Hardy tells us that while visiting her daughter in Huntsville, Alabama, in March, she had lunch with Lucinda Martin Schreeder. Louise had a delightful time with Lucinda getting caught up on the events of our 50th Agnes Scott class reunion.

This trip to Huntsville in July was for the annual beach vacation with her sisters and their families and for Louise and husband Karl Oscar (K.O.) to visit their three grandchildren living in Huntsville.

Their other three grandchildren live in Germany. Although Louise is semiretired, she teaches one or two graduate philosophy courses at the University of Frankfurt each semester and continues as a senior researcher at the Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen. Louise has recently been publishing and doing podcast interviews on the intersection of neuroscientific research and the humanities. Like her most recent publication, “Das Default Netzwerk: Die Quelle des Neuen?,” everything is in German. Had anyone told her she’d be teaching and publishing in German in the future, Louise says she would have taken German at Agnes Scott instead of French and Greek!

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Paula Wiles Sigmon was able to enjoy a brief but fun encounter during a very hot June week in Rome, Italy. Another tourist noticed

her Agnes Scott baseball cap and introduced herself. She turned out to be former volleyball coach Catherine Geerlings, who was recently inducted into the Agnes Scott Athletics Hall of Fame. It was a thrill to meet a Hall of Famer and also to have that ASC cap recognized for the first time after so many trips! From Rome, Paula and husband Hugh headed to Madrid, Spain, to meet their new grandson, Tiago. The whole family, including Tiago, his proud parents, Eric and Katy, and new uncle Jeremy, escaped the heat by heading to the north of Spain, where they spent a week replete with beautiful weather, coastal views and breezes, seaside hikes, art museums, prehistoric caves, and even a kickoff event for the Tour de France. Paula, in her capacity as our fund chair, has also been working diligently, encouraging her classmates to support the ASC Annual Fund.

Mary Beaty Watkins is excited about the surprise she’s giving husband Jim for his 80th birthday this fall. Mary has planned a trip to “Guerre Mondiale II plages de Normandie” in France. She’s also including Giverny and Honfleur, France, because her husband loves WWII history. The couple will travel following their own itinerary, “just doing their thing,” without joining a tour, which is how Mary likes to travel.

Nancy Weaver Willson writes that it is so hot that even the idea of fall news sounds wonderful. In late July, Nancy traveled to Eastern Europe for two weeks, from Budapest to Bucharest, Hungary. The trip was a cruise on the Danube to the Black Sea with a couple of final nights in a hotel in Bucharest. Nancy traveled with a friend also wanting a getaway. Nancy and her husband have reached the difficult decision to give up their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and are planning to move to a CCRC (continuing care retirement community) in Asheville, North Carolina, within

the next year. Nancy will be near her mom, Nancy Deal Weaver ’48, her two sisters, Ann Weaver Evans ’84 and Carolyn D. Weaver ’89, and her brother. Nancy and her husband love Santa Fe and their home there and are not looking forward to leaving, but Nancy will also be able to see some of her classmates in the Asheville area.

She remembers our 50th reunion fondly and was so glad to see everyone there! As a footnote to her time in Hungary, Nancy reported temperatures of 95 and 106 on consecutive days in Bucharest.

She supposes that sweltering in an exotic place is better than sweltering at home and closes with a wish for all of us to “stay cool!”

Katherine “Montie” Smith Acuff writes that she and husband Steve have stayed put in Savannah, Georgia, this year. They babysit sweet granddaughter Reese and have taken a couple of camping trips in their 1968 vintage Airstream. Post-COVID, the couple resumed traveling to their dental clinic in Belize and in February 2023 completed their 32nd year of service there. To date they’ve treated over 20,000 children.

Montie and Steve enjoy being active in their church community.

For 36 years, the Acuff family has traveled to Hendersonville, North Carolina, to spend a week at Kanuga, an Episcopal conference center that offers “Guest Periods” in the summer when families are invited to come and take part in activities tailored especially for them. After COVID, they resumed snow skiing in Colorado where older son David, who lives and works in Boulder, joined his parents for a week. Younger son Drew, wife Katy and Reese live only a couple of miles from Montie and Steve.

Drew and Katy work as a team at Katy’s furniture and lighting design business in Savannah. Montie and Steve are able to step in as part-time sitters for Reese while her mom and dad are at work.

The Acuffs celebrated their 50th

anniversary in June 2022 with a trip to Paris, France, and a river barge trip near Strasbourg, France.

’73 Peggy Callaway Pcallaway51@gmail.com

Anne Kemble Collins is enjoying a new volunteer job at Mission Haven Clothes Closet in Decatur, Georgia. The Clothes Closet provides Columbia Theological Seminary students and Presbyterian missionaries with temporary housing, clothing and household items. Working alongside Mary Ann Powell Howard, a seasoned volunteer, is a pleasure, and helping at Mission Haven is proving to be time well spent. Anne and husband Steve’s two children, older son Stuart and younger son Penn, are doing well in Jeongeup, South Korea, and New York City, respectively. Stuart and wife Goree team-teach English at their own after-school tutoring program while raising their amazing son, Odhran (Anne and Steve’s first grandchild and whom the proud grandparents hope to visit in the fall). Penn is a clinical researcher in cardiac electrophysiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and regularly takes some time out of his busy schedule to visit his mom and dad.

For the most part, Anne and Steve spend their days in that timehonored occupation practiced by adults who are well past middle age called “puttering.” Puttering for the Collinses involves housework, gardening, and keeping up front and backyards. They also have the happy job of caring for their sweet, smart and funny elderly dog, Paddy. Ongoing maintenance and restoration projects on their 1907 house (and outdoor areas) occupy much of Steve’s time, while Anne works at organizing (and sometimes actually discarding portions of) the accumulation of possessions from 46 years of residency in the same place. Though some may wonder, Anne and Steve see themselves as very fortunate to be relatively healthy, active and in possession of (most) of their faculties, considering their advanced age. :)

Congratulations to the class of 1973 on its 50th reunion celebrated in May of this year. Our appreciation goes out to all who made this event possible, especially Marcia Knight, who graciously led our planning committees. New friendships were formed and many friendships renewed.

Pat Powell Mason was kind enough to create a beautiful sketch of Main Tower to place on the cover of the memorial bulletin we used at the reunion. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the drawing, which you could frame, please contact Peggy Williams Callaway, one of your two co-secretaries. She will send you a copy in the mail.

She just might be a bit faster about fulfilling your request if you send along some information about yourself that could be published in the next issue of “The Onyx.”

For 20 years Jean Lee McDonald acted as the office manager for Peach Area Habitat for Humanity.

She continues to live in Fort Valley, Georgia. Both her husband and her twin, Valeria Jan Lee ’74, have passed away, but Jean enjoys spending time with her daughter, who lives nearby in Macon.

Erin Sherman Wright lives in Macon, Georgia, where she and her husband restore historical properties. Erin has been able to use her degree in art from ASC to illustrate children’s books and to create various types of paintings and other forms of art. You can see some of her work by Googling her name and by searching Pinterest.

In celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary, Jake and Judy Hamilton Grubbs took their entire family to Scotland to experience ancestral heritage and soak up the culture. Their stay included a trip to Brodick Castle,

onetime seat of the Hamilton clan. The six adults and six grandchildren felt quite at home in the land of the Scots.

After our 50th reunion, Sally Bryant Oxley extended her world travels by visiting Dubai on her way to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Sally thoroughly enjoyed the seven game drives and saw spectacular wildlife. She reports that the South African people are warm and welcoming, and the cuisine is outstanding.

Sally also enjoyed visiting the Stellenbosch wine country.

Gene and Paula “Polly” Barnes Holmes escaped the heat of Texas and visited Alaska and Canada during July, starting in Fairbanks and ending in Calgary. Send a friend request to Paula Holmes on Facebook if you want to see pictures of their many adventures in the lands up north.

Ann Hall is in Sweden for several months visiting friends and family.

Her oldest son, Christopher, and his family are there as well for a month. She is enjoying spending time with her three grandchildren: Erik, Lucas and Finn.

Mary Paige Lucas spent time this summer touring Poland and exploring Prague. She says that Poland is an undiscovered gem! ’74 Ann Elizabeth Clites annclites52@gmail.com Betsy Bean Burrell, skiing enthusiast, was joined by her 6-year-old granddaughters and their parents in Snowmass, Colorado, for the girls’ first ski experience. Everyone had a wonderful week, with no broken bones. Later on, Betsy traveled to Italy for the first time. In addition to enjoying the incredible art and architecture, she and her brother climbed the 486 steps to the top of the Duomo in Florence.

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class notes

Karen Dick Bruhns and Taffy Stills enjoyed a two-week tour through England, Wales and Scotland in May.

Teresa Lee ’74 and Reunion Chair Ann Early Bibb ’74 attend the Class of 1973 reunion dinner to get ideas for their 50th reunion in April 2024.

Ann Early Bibb, our reunion chair, reports that the college decided on our 50th reunion date, which is April 19-21, 2024. She and class president Teresa Lee attended the class of ’73’s 50th reunion dinner to get ideas.

Mary Jane Kerr Cornell and husband Gary had a wonderful trip to Alaska in July. On the way there they stayed in Seattle with son Glen and daughter-in-law Alison to meet their 6-week-old grandson, Teo Kerr Shin-Cornell.

Eleanor White Deierlein reports that she and husband Walter live in Blythewood, South Carolina, just north of Columbia. She is now a retired librarian and enjoys being a grandmother to 4-year-old Jackson and 7-year-old George. Eleanor enjoys painting as well as traveling every chance she gets.

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Karen Lortscher, aka Sister Karen Ann, went to Ireland with two sisters from her Benedictine community. Karen was also able to visit with distant cousins that her mother found back in 2003 while researching their family history.

“Alas,” writes Karen, “I came down with COVID soon after returning.”

Jamie Osgood Shepard officially retired from full-time employment and transitioned to being a contract instructor with the Florida Veterans Business Outreach Center in July.

She reports that she can’t decide what to do with her unobligated time ... maybe traveling for leisure for a change and putting those e-bikes to good use. Jamie and husband Randy celebrated 49 years of marital bliss in July. Doesn’t seem like so long ago, just like our ASC days.

Mary Jane Warren Stone’s husband, Lincoln, succumbed to kidney failure on March 24.

Jan Fredrickson and Camilla Brannen Baker drove over from Augusta for the memorial service in April. Anne Gwynn Culberson attended virtually from Asheville.

Mary Jane is grateful for the wonderful support from family, friends and church family. She still works part time as a teaching artist for Fulton County Schools, which continues to be fun and fulfilling. She, Jan and Camilla had a mini-reunion in July with lunch at Manuel’s and a visit to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Kathy Maynard Swick enjoys working in rural northeast Georgia in the foothills of the Appalachians.

In May, she welcomed her daughter Anna’s first baby, James Bryan McVae, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Kathy has six other grandchildren in Dallas, Texas. “We are blessed!” writes Kathy.

Martha Howard Whitaker and husband Richard traveled to New York in March for their son’s wedding. It was a small, intimate ceremony with a larger reception two days later. Son Nathan Whitaker and bride Caitlin Curtis live in Milwaukee. Richard officiated the ceremony. Martha was able to dance at the reception and give a toast using her digital voice. “ALS may

have slowed me down, but it has not stopped me from enjoying life and family — especially grandson Isa!” reports Martha. ’75 Marie Newton mhnewton@sbcglobal.net Also, thanks to Rebecca Thompson, who has agreed to serve as our fund chair. Please welcome her to this important position and support her efforts in raising funds for Agnes Scott. We are definitely grateful to Virginia Parker Ennis, who served in this position for many years — well over a decade — and resigned for personal reasons.

Lyn Satterthwaite enjoyed a beach vacation in July and loved seeing Laurie Williams Bentley while traveling.

Tammi DeVore had fun in early summer in Nashville with her son Taylor and later in New York City with her son Trent. She enjoys gardening and works a plot at a church where much produce is donated to the food bank.

Margaret Williams Johnston regretted missing the Savannah weekend, but it was shortly after her father’s death and the same timing as his memorial service.

Beth Fite Bussey and Andy were able to attend the service. Margaret and Rip are traveling for fun again and attended a fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July with both daughters and two grandchildren.

Beth was able to join us in Savannah on Friday for lunch and afternoon adventures.

Condolences also to Margaret Robison Lemon, whose sister Anne Stuart Robison DeFoe died on July 3, 2023. Margaret hosted a family dinner for 20 the night after the memorial service.

Victoria Burgess Stephan loved seeing so many Scotties in Savannah. She is enjoying retirement and a lot of travel. She and Bruce hiked in Bryce and Zion National Parks, are on the hunt for another boat, and are enjoying their baby granddaughter, Sophia Victoria.

Nancy Oliver LeSourd sadly missed the Savannah weekend but loved seeing her son Luke that weekend for the first time in a year.

She is in her 40th year with her law firm. Nancy, Jeff and their grown children Luke and Cate had a magnificent two-week vacation to Scotland and Ireland in July.

Laurie Williams Bentley enjoyed seeing everyone in Savannah. Marie Newton and Wendy Lemen Bredehoft were there and had been in her 1975 wedding. Laurie had lost touch with almost everybody. She is a retired Lutheran pastor, lives on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and is currently a happy part-time Presbyterian visitation pastor. She does not plan to lose touch with Scottie friends again!

Wendy Lemen Bredehoft had fun seeing old-time friends. She transferred after our freshman year to the University of Northern Colorado, met her husband, Roger, and received a BFA in visual art and later an MFA from Vermont College. She has been married for 50 years and celebrated the anniversary in Norway. Wendy lives in Laramie, Wyoming.

Rebecca Thompson has retired as special counsel to the clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She was there for 24 years and has had a total of 40 years of law practice. She helped her brother Jim on a second edition of his book “South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice,” which was published by the South Carolina Bar in February 2023.

Virginia Parker Ennis enjoys retirement and spending time with her two granddaughters, Tinsley and Penelope.

exploration of the northern coast of Spain and the French Pyrenees.

We loved spending time with Lily Chan, who came from Malaysia.

Lily was able to spend time after the reunion with her son in California. We were thrilled that in addition to Beth Bussey, a few ladies were able to come for a limited time but maximized their time with many friends. ’76 Brandon Fortune fortuneb@si.edu Pam Braswell has been on the move, traveling from Tennessee to California for a six-month contract practicing law. Then she moved back to Tennessee, thinking she was retired. Unexpectedly, she reports, she returned to California. She’s still practicing law, auditioning and writing.

M.A. Bleker, her wife, Angela, daughter Ava and sister Maurine experienced a 22-day self-driving

Ginny McGuire Poole ’76 with granddaughters Ellie & Isla.

What a wonderful time 30 of us had in Savannah! Many thanks and praises to Lyn Satterthwaite, who put together the perfect weekend from May 18-21, 2023. We are all so grateful for her extensive planning, attention to detail, desire for all to have great experiences together and care for each of us individually.

Ginny Poole is very, very busy at being retired — gardening, reading and spending time with her two granddaughters. In late July, she visited her sister Tricia McGuire ’86 and her twin, Kenny, in Miami.

The three of them have milestone birthdays next summer, and they were meeting to plan a special birthday cruise to celebrate the years!

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class notes

Genevieve Chaffee reports two weddings! On Nov. 5 her son Lt. Col. Alfred Chaffee married Allie Ballenger, and on Nov. 17 her son Kenneth Chaffee married Aisha Okoroafor. In August her husband, Alfred, retired from the Air Force, and she retired from teaching at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy School in Washington, D.C. For Catherine DuPree Shields, this year has been full of joys and sorrows. She welcomed three more grandchildren, bringing the total to 12 ages 8 and younger. Huston was born in October, Eden in December and John in June. But tragically, shortly after John was born, Catherine’s husband, Jamie Shields (Georgia Tech, class of 1973), fell in the driveway. He injured his spinal cord and his brain stem. He never regained consciousness and died two days later on July 17, 2023.

Susan Grier thoroughly enjoyed attending the college’s reunion weekend in May along with Nancy Leasendale Purcell to gather ideas for our 50th reunion in 2026. A bonus was getting to visit with Brandon Brame Fortune, who was there as a member of the Alumnae Board. It was a treat to see Nancy and her husband, Roger, again for dinner in July when they were in Charleston, near Susan’s home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

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Nancy Leasendale Purcell writes that while she retired as a full-time assistant principal in 2016, she still had some classroom teaching left in her soul and was blessed with an offer of a 49 percent English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher position at her local middle school, which she held from 2016 to 2022. Some of the students needed to learn only the English language while others needed to learn to read as well. Now she is a full-time “gram”! Her family includes two darling grandchildren, Paul, age 5 1/2 and entering kindergarten, and granddaughter

Tate, age 3 and starting pre-K. Their parents are all in Brunswick and live 12 minutes from Nancy and husband Roger. Nancy also reports her trip with class of ’76 reunion co-chair Susan Grier to the 2023 ASC reunion weekend and her excitement to begin making initial plans for our 50th. She urges us all to mark our calendars for May 2026 in Decatur and plan to be there!

Brandon Brame Fortune, Cherry Joy Beysselance and Sally Echols Leslie, along with Deborah Harris Painter ’75, met in Charlottesville, Virginia, in early March for a girls’ weekend (with a special guest appearance by Bob Leslie). ’77 Ruth McMullen Bursi ruthbursi@bellsouth.net Mary Anne Barlow sends news that after teaching 31 years, she’s completing her 15th year as an editor for a state history publishing company! She says she didn’t intend to start a second career, but time flies by, as we all know. She has two terrific great-great-nephews, ages 5 and 3, who recently welcomed a little sister. Everyone’s thrilled.

“They call me GranMary, and that makes me smile.”

Sue Jinks Robertson has quite an exciting trip coming up — she writes, “I retired from Duke on June 30 and am now an emerita.

Pat McWaters and I are heading to Costa Rica with an organization called Adventure Women for an active, one-week trek.”

Ellen Fort also has been doing some traveling. She and partner Jim visited Scotland and Ireland.

She’s went to Germany in early September to celebrate granddaughter Gigi turning 6; her other granddaughter Ava is 8 months and just relocated to Philly from New York with her parents.

Ellen is still working full time; she’s currently president of the Raleigh professional women’s forum.

Renee Anderson Collins ’77 Anne Alexander Patterson ’77 and Cindy Hodges Burns ’77 in a field of sunflowers

Anne Alexander Patterson writes that she’s spending a week with Renee Anderson Collins and Cindy Hodges Burns for a girls’ trip to Asheville.

Your class secretary, Ruth McMullen Valdez, traveled stateside this summer to a wonderful family camp in the north woods of Wisconsin, where she and her family enjoyed archery, riflery, sailing, hiking, crafts, even woodworking, with some of their 15 grandkiddos. Ruth will be volunteering this school year at a nearby elementary school. ’78 Mimi Holmes mimiholmes@mindspring.com Martie Lovvorn Moore works part time directing the Food Outreach Ministry at her church as she schedules and manages 40 volunteers each Tuesday to prepare, take delivery and hand out food. Martie also manages the food pantry and community partnerships and oversees a federal grant for the program.

Cindy Peters celebrated her 45th anniversary working at Duke this August!

Catherine imagines how much more travel awaits once Bernard is completely retired.

Ron and Janet Kelley Jobe made it to Japan, their fourth attempt thanks to COVID disruptions.

Janet had two slab pottery pieces accepted into her first juried show, and her and Ron’s yard was featured in the Master Gardener annual garden tour.

Marguerite Booth Gray missed our 45th reunion due to the high school graduation of Madeline, one of her eight grandchildren. Seeing these grandkids is a highlight of retired life that also includes luxurious dog walks and enjoying card games with friends.

Bill and Kathleen O’Brien Burchill enjoyed a delightful two-week Viking Cruise around Scandinavia but report having a harder time with long flights and jet lag as they age.

Beverly Brown Schmidt’s son Paul and wife had a baby boy (just turned 1), and daughter Joy moved out into her first home; now Joy is a grandmom with lots of space!

Beverly co-leads a widow’s group that provides hope and purpose to the participants; she also volunteers at a food bank.

Judy Miller Bohan ’78 and Mimi Holmes ’78 enjoyed dinner at Mimi’s Minneapolis home with their husbands.

Mimi Holmes had an ASC July: She drove to Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to visit Shariya Molegoda ’81 on sabbatical, and a week later hosted Michael and Judy Miller Bohan for dinner in Minneapolis.

What fun to catch up on life journeys! Mimi hadn’t known that Michael and Judy have been sweethearts since seventh grade.

Bernard and Catherine McLaughlin Hylands traveled recently to Morocco (Tom) and Britain (Ian) to see their sons’ families. Here in the U.S., road trips took them from New Mexico to Virginia and to the Snowbird Lodge reunion with Scotties!

Rev. Anita Plunkett Sayles retired this year and celebrated 45 years with her husband, the Rev. Dr. Guy Sayles. Two B.A.s, a master’s and seminary left her having to prove her ability time and again. Adaptability and a willingness to shape-shift led to jobs as interim director of music, youth, education, groups, events, “you-name-it” in Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist and not-forprofit institutions. Anita worked in adult education at community colleges, at men’s minimum- and medium-security prisons, as a curriculum writer and trainer for Smyth & Helwys Publishing, and as a life enrichment director. Her favorite position was as an associate chaplain at a CCRC. Even though she never got to accept a call as a minister to a local church, Anita thinks she helped the causes of the underutilized, especially women in ministry. Son Eliot celebrated his first wedding anniversary by taking Anita and Guy to Istanbul, Turkey; daughter Amanda works in the nonprofit arts world, starting another theater while balancing her day job. Anita writes: “We still delightfully serve as opportunities arise and are still grateful we married 45 years ago. Love to all the

Scotties for their life and education lessons! We haven’t changed the world enough yet — so, even retired, let’s never tire of our life’s work.”

Sarah Arthur Spears ’78, Martha Jane Cates ’78, Judy Miller Bohan ’78, Ann Turner Kinsey ’76, Catherine McLauchlin Hylands ’68, Lynne Oswald ’78, Betsy Fletcher ’78 and ElaineWilburn Zullo ’78 enjoy their annual mini-reunion at the Snowbird Lodge, Robbinsville, North Carolina.

Sarah Arthur Spears participated in the annual mini-reunion at Snowbird Lodge with Elaine Wilburn Zullo, Lynne Oswald, Judy Miller Bohan, Catherine McLauchlin Hylands, Martha Jane Cates, Betsy Fletcher and Ann Turner Kinsey ’76, where the order of fun was talking, eating, drinking and hiking. Sarah also traveled to Wimbledon, reconnecting with her junior-yearabroad roommate and spending three days in London touring and sharing stories. ’79 Leslie Doyle lesliedoyle26@gmail.com Anne Griner Watkins is excited to share that her daughter, Rev. Julia Watkins, has accepted the call to serve as chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life at Davidson College. She moved to Davidson, North Carolina, and started this new position on Aug. 1, 2023.

Eleanor Graham visited Sandy Fowler in Charleston for a week in June. One of the highlights was attending the Spoleto Arts Festival.

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class notes

Our condolences to K.C. Docie, who recently lost both her mother, Marilyn DuBrul, and older brother, Steve Docie, within six months of each other. K.C. was thankful to have her husband, Larry, and a strong support network along the way. K.C. and Larry, who live in Canada during the summer and then in Florida, sold and bought new homes in each place!

Their new home in the Village of Westport, Ontario, is closer to the grandkids and was built in 1834.

While the outside has remained the same, the inside has been modernized. They look forward to learning more about the history of the house and the area.

In May, class of 1979 alumnae Virginia Rockwell, Ginny Lee McMurray, Sandy Fowler, Lynden Harris, Eleanor Graham and Elizabeth Wells Lang at the 2023 Alumnae Awards Luncheon to celebrate Lynden Harris, who received the award for Service to the Community.

Virginia Rockwell spotted #FlatAgnes on a recent fun trip to Scotland (attending the International Forum on Sustainability), Northern Ireland and Dublin (conducting family history research). While she was in Belfast getting familiar with the historical context of the

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Ulster Plantation to understand multiple branches of her family tree migrating from Scotland to Ulster, she visited the Discover Ulster Scots Museum/Information Office.

On the last wall of the display, she looked up and there was Agnes Irvine Scott (appropriately under the word “Kin”)!

Laurel Kramer is working full time as a psychologist at SSM Health and is hoping to start cutting back next summer. She is thankful that husband Dennis has successfully completed treatment for cancer. In 2024, Laurel and Dennis hope to have a camper to start taking some fun trips to different parts of the U.S. with their golden retriever and energetic service dog, Lola. They decided Dennis is Lola’s service person rather than Lola being his service dog. They have five grandchildren (twins 8, 11, 13, 15) and would love to see them more often as they are growing up so fast!

Ginny Lee McMurray and husband Shawn are thrilled about the birth of their first grandchild, Wendell Stephen McMurray Mowery, on June 20, 2023. Ginny and Shawn (Gigi and Gumbo) are thankful they live in Little Rock to be near little Wendell and his parents. They recently traveled to Atlanta to hear their daughter Margaret McMurray perform with Capitol City Opera. Elizabeth Wells Lang and her husband, Don, joined Ginny and Shawn for the performance. Last October, Ginny, Elizabeth Wells Lang, Eleanor Graham, Sandy Fowler and Linda McInnis spent a literary weekend in Oxford, Mississippi.

A highlight of the weekend was Elizabeth’s book report on Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” — complete with stick puppets for every character.

’80 Sarah Fairburn Pannill thepannills@gmail.com Kathleen “Kathy” Hollywood has been enjoying travel in 2023. In April, she attended a family wedding in Virginia and reconnected with both of her brothers and her sister. As the siblings live in all parts of the U.S., getting all four Hollywoods in one place was a rare pleasure. In July, she and her husband, Bruce, spent 10 days in Alaska, mostly on the Homer Spit. Highlights were a boat trip to Seldovia, a floatplane trip to Katmai National Park (alas, the very cold temps kept both the salmon and the bears away), and meeting up with their son, who was visiting Anchorage. When not traveling, Kathy is thoroughly delighting in being Nana to her three grandchildren.

Katherine “Kathy” Zarkowsky Broderick has been attending lots of family events, including baseball tournaments in Cooperstown and Alexandria with two of her grandsons and a robotics competition in Dallas. While traveling to Dallas, Kathy was able to stop and have a great visit with Debbie Boelter Bonner in Orange Beach, Alaska. Kathy and Debbie had a lot to catch up on — and realized they parted without taking a picture to commemorate the occasion (oops!). Both report another visit is planned soon.

Gwendolyn “Gwen” Spratt reports they have downsized to a townhouse and are enjoying spending many weekends at a family home in Lake Rabun in northeast Georgia. They are not missing the outside maintenance!

Gwen and family took a 16-day trip to Scotland in June. Gwen relays it was an amazing vacation, although they did have to deal with the heat wave of highs in the upper 70s. :)

Joy “Wendy” Brooks Crew continues to be busy with her law practice in Birmingham and her involvement with the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as the incoming president of the U.S. chapter. In April, Wendy and husband Richard traveled to Arizona with the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. Working “out of the office” on Fridays, Wendy enjoys being able to spend extended time in Miramar Beach, Florida.

Sarah “Sally” Harris reports that in the past year she has witnessed how agreeable retirement can be as her wife, Flo, has relished her first year of retirement. Plans are in the offing for Sally to join Flo soon!

Sarah Fairburn Pannill celebrated the graduation of two of her daughters in May. Her youngest, Annalaura, graduated from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, with a B.S. in environmental science and a minor in natural resource management. Her oldest, Ruth, graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson with an M.S. in water, society and policy.

Sarah Hunter has relocated from Huntington Beach, California, to Buford, Georgia, following the passing of her husband, Rob, in January 2023. Our sympathies to Sarah and her family.

Leigh Clifford Drake reports that her husband, Marty, is entering retirement after 49 years in the military. They enjoy spending time with grandchildren and working on house projects, developing patience for the architectural review process that comes with living in a historic neighborhood. Leigh and Marty recently visited Maine and hiked in Acadia.

Stephanie Segars Blevins left her position with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as he finished his term and then took a job with the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. She and her husband are finally empty nesters, and Stephanie is using that extra time and space to advance her art, including developing a new social media presence for it. She has been asked to present her art at a tech summit where it will be manipulated by AI to show the ways that AI can affect the arts.

’81 Liz Steele Forman yellowpages1981@gmail.com The Yellow Pages continue to celebrate retirement as they set out on new adventures and delve more deeply into their interesting hobbies.

Katie Bonta is still working full time as a software sales manager.

She and her boyfriend are traveling to exciting places such as Berlin and Paris. Her life and schedule are her own … no kids or grandkids and happy as a clam!

Liz Steele Forman ’81 and Rachel McConoughey ’05, the two met when Rachel bought Liz’s grandparents’ house in Greenville, South Carolina.

Liz Steele Forman has been involved in genealogy for decades and now takes on clients who are trying to build their own family trees and/or find their birth families. She had an amazing experience this past June when sharing the history of her grandparents’ house in Greenville, South Carolina, after seeing that

it was for sale. The current and new owner invited her to come see the house at closing, and Liz was thrilled to find that the new owner, Rachel McConoughey ’05, was also a Scottie!

Kate McCunniff Grice is loving life in Macon and has a parttime job working with an interior decorator, which she absolutely adores! Kate’s hobbies are working in her yard, loving her pups, exercising, being a grandmother, sewing for her grandson, and being with friends and family at every possible opportunity.

Laura McCrary Hurban recently became a grandmother! Her beautiful granddaughter, Mary Lile Bell, was born to her daughter and son-in-law, English and Thomas Bell.

This has been a busy year of travel for Laura, and many of her trips have afforded her the opportunity to catch up with classmates, including Laura Klettner Bynum, Becky Durie Cottingham, Darby Bryan Craddock, Malinda Roberts Hill, Leigh Armour Watters and Lynda Wimberly. Since retirement, Laura’s new favorite hobby is biking.

What started as enjoyable peddling around a beach on vacation evolved into a bike trip through the Bordeaux region of France (biking and drinking wine ... two hobbies!), with more trips planned in the future.

Lucia Rawls Schoelwer stays busy with family and volunteerism.

She is in year four of Education for Ministry, serves on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity, coordinates a lecture series for the Lancaster Community Library, moderates the local Great Decisions group, tutors in the public school, and serves on the vestry of her church, where she volunteers extensively.

Genealogy seems to be a popular hobby for the Yellow Pages...

Sarah Campbell Arnett inherited hundreds of letters that her grandfather wrote during WWII

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class notes

(from China, India and Burma).

She has been transcribing and scanning those along with the photos he took. That has led her to working in genealogy on both sides of her family. Sarah and her husband, Steve, took a 30th anniversary trip to Nova Scotia, where they worshipped in her thirdgreat-grandfather’s church and saw where her ancestors had lived. ’82 Kathy Fuller-Seeley khfuller@aol.com Lee Kite lee.kite@alum.agnesscott.edu No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretaries. ’83 Margaret Kelly Parry maggieparry@comcast.net No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’84 Linda Newland Soltis linda.soltis@international.gc.ca Fran Ivey Lemmen franlemmen@gmail.com

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Class president Carla Eidson Pierce enjoyed volunteering at Alumnae Weekend 2023 and was excited to catch up with classmate Celia Shackleford Booher and several members from the class of ’83, including her big sister Carie Cato ’83 and senior capper Karla Sefcik MacKenna ’83. Carla and class officers and reunion chairs Tiz Faison Benson and Nancy Griffith Lewis are excited about planning the upcoming 40th class reunion. Carla reports that all are working hard to address every detail, including class outreach. More details will be shared with everyone as plans evolve. Carla asks everyone to mark April 19-21, 2024, on their calendars for this important event!

In 2020, Cayce Callaway and husband Matt sold their house in Atlanta and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Cayce’s hometown.

She lives on Lookout Mountain and loves being back home near family. For the past seven years, she has owned a full-service travel agency, working with many alumnae to send them to wonderful international destinations. Clients include Suzanne Feese, Shari Nichols Clifton ’83 and Elizabeth Walden ’83. Matt owns Scenic City Wine, at the foot of Lookout Mountain. Cayce extends an invitation to look her up if anyone is bringing their grandkids to the Rock City tourist attraction.

Louise Gravely Hughes is taking time from her job at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality in Raleigh to recover from a June 2023 hip surgery. She is spending the lengthy recovery time doing projects at home with her retired husband, John. In 2022, she and John attended daughter Rebecca’s Ph.D. graduation from University of Birmingham, England. In May 2023, John performed the marriage ceremony for their youngest son, Joshua, who was commissioned as a U.S. Army second lieutenant upon his graduation from North Carolina Wesleyan University.

In summer 2023, Beth Finklea Freeman relocated from Houston, Texas, to Florence, South Carolina, the area from which both of her late parents hail. She will be teaching business classes at West Florence High School.

Kathi Welch Campbell lives in Sanibel Island, Florida, which she calls “ground zero” for Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28, 2022. Her home had extensive damage, forcing temporary relocation well into 2023. She is managing the many repairs, including fortification for the next storm, and has lots of hurricane tales to tell.

Kathi enjoys being a first-time

grandmother, though her son is stationed in England on a pilot exchange program between the Royal Air Force and the USMC. Her daughter is closer in Tampa, finishing graduate school. ’85 Ellen Grant Walker arizonascarlett@yahoo.com Salutations, Sundance Kids! As I write this on the first Saturday of August, I have already been back to school for a week, having started my 29th year in the classroom, teaching 10th-grade honors English and taking the role of student council advisor. I am greatly looking forward to this year and all it holds. But I am also beginning to think about April 2025. I ask that you start thinking about it too and plan to attend our — dare I say it?

— 40th REUNION!! However, in more recent news…

Jill Whitfill has moved back to Texas as a medical librarian at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and as liaison to the new School of Public Health. Jill lives in Richland Hills, takes the train to work (the station is five minutes from her house and lets her off right on campus) and is able to work from home most of the time. She says she and the dogs love it, though the heat is taking some getting used to.

This has been Ann Fitzgerald Aichinger’s year for four weddings and a funeral … sounds like a movie. Ann officiated at all! One wedding in Chattanooga, a funeral on the beach in Florida, a wedding in Chicago, and two other weddings closer to home. Ann also found time for a trip up the Danube River visiting four countries with her parents, George and Stella Bidde Fitzgerald (class of ’56), and her good friend Barbara. And if that hasn’t kept her busy enough, Ann is still doing daily videos on Facebook … over 1,200 since the start of the pandemic on March 13, 2020.

Sharon Core writes that she is on sabbatical July-September. In addition to getting some good rest, she traveled to Scotland where “I hiked Ben Lomond and spent a week on Iona. My husband, Nick, and I traveled to Budapest and Stockholm.” ’86 Holly Rogers Markwalter hmarkwalter@yahoo.com Joany McRae Kleinlein visited Ruth Feicht in the UK for the inaugural cruise of Sol Mate, Ruth and Iain’s new solar-powered, electric narrowboat. They traveled

Iain, husband of Ruth Feicht ’86, along with Ruth and ZeynepYalim-Uzun ’90 in Cambridge, England

from Oundle to March together over three days, going through lots of locks; they managed to run aground and had loads of fun.

Joany went to Limerick to present a paper. Ruth, Iain and Mays continued to cruise the canals of the UK for the summer. They also met up with Zeynep Yalim-Uzun ’90 in Cambridge.

Amy Jackson Hoskins taught a summer program to first through eighth graders called Growing with Amy about growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. Amy started

teaching at Harvest Hands, harvesthandscdc.com/, the local after-school program, in early April.

Presentations from the local USDA agricultural extension program also included a free canning workshop.

There was food from the garden with the parents on the last day.

Their Nashville neighborhood is a food desert, so the program is very impactful.

Beth Baxter Smith has been expanding the umbrella of MamaDuck Art to include not only watercolor fine art prints and greeting cards but also digital surface pattern designs and “functional art.” Check out MamaDuck Art on Facebook and Instagram, or join the email list on mamaduckart.com to be the first to know of new products and events.

Nancy Carter Cooke and her daughter, Erica, took a wonderful mother-daughter trip to Paris in May. They climbed two levels of the Eiffel Tower, toured the Louvre and made a purchase at the House of Chanel. Additional highlights of the trip were their day trip to Champagne country and a cooking class with a Le Cordon Bleutrained chef. The cherry on top was having a day at Roland Garros (French Open) to see the top tennis players in action, including Novak Djokovic and Jessica Pegula.

Elizabeth Webb was promoted to director, ESOL, Title III, and International Welcome Center, for the Cobb County School District, the 24th largest district in the U.S., in June 2023. She had been serving in the role of supervisor, ESOL, Title III, and International Welcome Centers for three years prior to that. She is also serving a second term as president of Georgia TESOL, the state affiliate of TESOL International.

Andrea Morris Kasuya celebrated her 59th year with a two-day hike to the summit of Mt. Fuji along with friends visiting from Georgia! She was so grateful for this special, once-ina-lifetime, memorable experience and accomplishment and got to witness a beautiful sunrise above the clouds!! They welcomed 50+ kids for an English summer kids’ camp, as well as many other guests, at their guesthouse/TEAM Center where they are serving as hosts in Mitaka, Tokyo!

Pam Tipton enjoyed hanging out with Ruth Feicht and our sister class of ’88 during Alumnae Weekend in May as she carried out her annual tradition of golf cart driving throughout Alumnae Weekend. She and her husband, David, visited Laura Smith, Laura’s wife, Krista, and son Cooper in Sky Valley, Georgia, at Laura’s parents’ mountain home during June. A surprise party for Laura’s parents was a huge success!

’87 Melissa Martin Calandro melissajcalandro@gmail.com Keicia Cunningham Vaughn was nominated to serve on the Agnes Scott Alumni Association board of directors and has the pleasure of serving as secretary alongside Ellen Parker Gaffney, alumni president.

In early 2023 Jacqueline “Jackie” Stromberg DeCarlo’s wife, Kristen, was diagnosed with a rare lymphoma that caused three lesions in her brain. The outpouring of support in the form of calls, notes, prayers and stories of struggle from Scotties has helped Jackie navigate a very difficult time. As of this writing, Kris has defied odds and astounded medical professionals. The future is still uncertain, but Jackie is very grateful for the care and concern that supports her family.

Carol Valentine McBride has taken a position as event coordinator for unfoldingWord, an international Bible translation organization. Serving on the marketing team is something she

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never imagined as an ASC biology major, but she is thankful for that liberal arts background.

’88 Susan Martz Hutchinson suzaruuu@gmail.com

Lori NeSmith’s mother, Jean, died on Dec. 15, 2022. Shortly after, Lori experienced another loss when her cat Duckie died in February.

Since then, she has adopted a female cat and her kitten. The kitten was born June 6, 2023, and is named Queen Charlotte. Lori is close to her nieces, Mia and Fiona, who are 21 and 13. Mia became a licensed cosmetologist in April 2023, and Fiona is in eighth grade.

No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary.

Pam Callahan Sandlin is celebrating the birth of her first grandchild, Hazel Christmas Sandlin, who was born on June 6, 2023.

’89 Dolly Purvis dali.llama@yahoo.com With profound sadness and deepest condolences, the class of 1989 reports that Carolyn Weaver’s husband, Scott Klap, passed away on March 11, 2023.

Classmates may recall meeting him at our last reunion. Carolyn and Scott would have celebrated their 50th anniversary this year.

And, as Carolyn put it, “in other news,” she adopted/rescued a pup that had previously been an abuse victim, an 8-year-old Labradorhusky mix named Ellie. ’90 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Celebrating Meredith Gaffney Agarwal!

Jennifer Spurlin Barnes ’87, Meg Jenkins Locke ’84, Ellen Parker Gaffney ’87, Heather Moseley Harte ’87, Melissa Martin Calandro ’87 and Mary Humann Judson ’87

Ellen Parker Gaffney ’87 and her husband, Chris, enjoyed celebrating the wedding of their daughter Meredith Gaffney to Rajat Agarwal at Kanuga in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the weekend of June 2-3. They were surrounded by family and friends, including the following Scotties: Jennifer Spurlin Barnes, Melissa Martin Calandro, Mary Humann Judson, Heather Moseley Harte and Meg Jenkins Locke ’84.

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spring semester. Her son, Dalton, graduated from Pope High School in Marietta, Georgia, on May 23 and is now working full-time as an automotive tech at Import Auto Services in Roswell, Georgia.

Katie Pattillo Fisher retired from Lenoir-Rhyne University on May 31, 2023, after 21 years with the institution. Katie began as a faculty member but served as dean of students for the past 14 years. She is looking forward to spending more time with family and friends as well as taking time to travel the world. ’91 Annmarie Anderson Anderson.Annmarie@gmail.com Tammy Shirley’s daughter, Sophia Vashakidze, graduated from Peachtree Ridge High School in May. Sophie is attending Georgia State University where she will be pursuing a degree in psychology.

Tammy’s son, Nicholas, is a rising senior at Kennesaw State University where he is studying mechanical engineering. Tammy and her husband, David, are bittersweetly taking Empty Nesters 101, simultaneously happy for their kids and sad not to see them every day.

Heather Kelley was promoted to associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where she teaches playful design. Recent adventures include repainting her 1890 row house and bicycling in Pittsburgh’s Critical Mass and Underwear Ride events.

Claire West Jones ’90 at her son’s high school graduation in May.

Claire West Jones was promoted to director of professional services at Revel Systems in April 2023.

She is enjoying the challenge of new responsibilities and working to close deals with the sales teams.

She traveled to Florence, Italy, to visit her daughter, Shelby, who was studying abroad during the

Jennifer Prodgers Johnson had a busy summer. Her daughter Mary graduated from the University of Virginia and moved to New York City. Her daughter Hanna is a rising junior at Washington and Lee, and in June the family all climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa.

Stephanie Wallace is letting her natural hair grow out after being inspired by watching YouTube.

She is looking forward to the time

and money she will save over the years. Her nephew Chase and niece Molly Kate both graduated from college this year. Stephanie loved singing “Rocky Top” at the UT graduation with her mother, who also graduated from UT.

’92 Aida Najarian aidanajarian@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’93 Elena Adan Esquen elenaesquen@gmail.com In May 2023, the class of 1993 celebrated their 30th class reunion during Alumnae Weekend.

Everyone who attended had a wonderful time catching up with each other and spending time back on campus. For those who were not able to attend, we missed you!

During the reunion class meeting, the following class officers were elected: president — Helen Nash, VP — Sarah Fisher-Brady, secretary — Tonya Smith Grieco, fund chair — Meredith Jolly, reunion co-chairs — Staci Catron and Angela (Angie) Tacker.

Cara Cassell ’91 and Kerri Williams ’95 traveling friends to Vancouver and Alaska.

Cara Cassell and Kerri Williams ’95 traveled with friends to Vancouver and Alaska in July.

Whales and eagles and seals and sea lions and waterfalls and glaciers, oh my!

Betsy Johnson Burn’s daughter Riley graduated from River Bluff High School and will attend the honors program at Winthrop University studying biology/ conservation with a minor in community education. Betsy and husband Chip are equal parts excited and sad about their upcoming empty nest!

Michelle Irvin hosted Betsy Johnson Burn for a weekend in Mobile, Alabama, in June. Michelle is mourning the loss of her dear husband, Matt Irvin, but Betsy and Michelle enjoyed their time together.

This summer, Mary Frances Kerr, Helen Nash, Angie Tacker and Staci Dixon ’92 gathered at Sarah Fisher-Brady’s house for a celebration of summer birthdays.

Angie made the cake! Helen, Staci and Sarah took Angie’s daughter, Anabel, to her first concert. They loved hearing the Indigo Girls play at Chastain Park.

Cherokee Garden Library Director Staci Catron was recently awarded the Garden Club of America 2023 Medal for Historic Preservation. The medal is given for outstanding work in the field of preservation/restoration of historic gardens or buildings of national importance. Staci was recognized for her significant contributions as a garden preservationist and scholar. Check out the article at atlantahistorycenter.com for more on her amazing accomplishment.

Andrea Bradner Sorrells was promoted to head of the Math and Computer Science Department

at Choate Rosemary Hall. She is excited to support the 24 members of her department to better their craft and focus on DEI initiatives.

After living in the dorms for the past 13 years, her family recently moved into their own house on campus.

They are excited to have their own space with a great screened-in porch for hanging out with friends, especially any Scotties who happen to be in the New Haven/Wallingford, Connecticut, area.

In April 2023, Capt. Kathleen Manning Edelman, MPH, RD, retired from the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) with a combined total of 25 years of active-duty service between the United States Navy and the USPHS. Thank you, Capt.

Edelman, for your service!

Mary Curtis Lanford Pizzano started her own company, Assisted Living Locators of Tampa, in April 2023. She is a resource to seniors navigating the complex world of senior care. She is excited for this new chapter and the opportunity to help the senior community. Mary Curtis and her husband love life in Florida. They keep busy managing their property with fish, cows, alligators and all the fun things that come their way! She’s only an hour from Disney and would love to host anyone who wants to visit.

On July 31, 2023, Laura Barlament completed the 50th Anniversary Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), riding 500 miles between Sioux City and Davenport, Iowa. What a fun summer adventure!

Tracy Peavy Roussey and her husband recently sold their beloved home in Falls Church, Virginia.

They are currently living in nearby Vienna, Virginia, while completing renovations on their new home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They hope to be enjoying amazing views from their new mountain retreat in about

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a year. Meanwhile, Tracy has started her own professional organizing business, Treasure Editor. Find her on Instagram @TreasureEditor. ’94 Nikki Webb Alger nicolealger@me.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’95 Lillian R. Sambuco ruth.sambuco@gmail.com Margaret Bickers enjoyed a family vacation to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona. She reports that she is still teaching at a private school, writing books and singing!

Lisa Durette has been appointed chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. It’s a really long name for a busy and detailed job! They train 40 psychiatry residents, five fellows (child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry) and operate two large clinics in Las Vegas serving adults with severe mental illness and youth with complex psychiatric disorders. Lisa and her colleagues published an article this past year focused on a critical look at the biomedical model of psychiatry and the importance of a whole-person approach: ijhc.org/2022/04/05/ brown-et-al. Also, Lisa’s daughter is considering ASC for college!

Nichole Reynolds is proud to report that her daughter, Amelia, is a first year Scottie!

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’96 Mary Carol Patterson Sheffield msheff@uga.edu

After 19 years of working for our alma mater, Emily Stone is moving on to a new job as a senior post-award fund manager for the University of California, San Diego.

It’s a remote job — don’t worry! She will still be living happily in Decatur and probably still going to Evans on Wednesdays for fried chicken!

Esther Dunn-Fellows ’96 and Mary Carol Patterson Sheffield ’96 caught up over dinner in Portland, Oregon, in March 2023.

Esther Dunn-Fellows and Mary Carol Patterson Sheffield caught up on our Scottie days in Portland, Oregon, in March 2023. Esther and her husband, Chris, live in Portland, where Esther serves as an attorney advisor at the U.S. District Court. Mary Carol was visiting Oregon for work and was delighted to visit with Esther! ’97 Deanna Turner georgiagirl121@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’98 Ann Marie Taylor Malkoc anntaylormalkoc@gmail.com Teri Lippincott Anulewicz is co-chairing the fall luncheon for the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter and sincerely hopes all of our Atlanta area ’98 alums are able to attend!

Riley Coopwood, daughter of Erica Stiff-Coopwood and Reginald Coopwood, graduated from Hutchison School for Girls last May. During her matriculation at Hutchison, Riley earned

many top honors, including AP Scholar with Distinction, 2022 Harvard Prize Book Award, and numerous honor societies, including the National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, National History Society and Cum Laude Society, which is the high school equivalent to Phi Beta Kappa honoring highest scholastic achievement in secondary schools.

During her senior year, Riley served as president of Hutchison School Honor Council. Riley was awarded Boston College’s Gabelli Presidential Scholarship, and she will attend Boston College beginning fall 2023 where she plans to major in psychology and neuroscience. ’99 Liza Fewell scottiegossip@gmail.com Annie Kuo rebuilt her life after becoming a widow at 43; she has a new boyfriend, a new job and a new direction. She founded Club Wid Meetup for widowers in Seattle, Washington, and shared her personal story “Wildcat Encounter: Finding Love After Loss” in Northwestern’s alumni fall 2023 magazine. Annie recently gave a Seattle Ignite talk, “How Masculinity Culture Is Killing Men,” which can now be viewed on YouTube.

Gemma Philage completed her PhD in 2021 and led the Counseling Advocacy Program at the U.S. Naval Station Rota’s Fleet and Family Support Center in Southern Spain for four years.

She received the Navy Civilian Service Commendation Medal for her distinguished contributions and service. Gemma, her husband, Tom, and their dog returned to Chicago, Illinois, and welcomed a baby girl in May 2023.

Helayna Hoss Trask is proud of her son, who was accepted to Texas A&M in College Station for engineering. Her daughter has begun driving, so between car insurance and college tuition, Helayna is extra grateful for the large age gaps between her children!

Dr. Birgitta Johnson will be featured in the juvenile nonfiction book “A Year of Black Joy: 52 Black Voices Share Their Life Passions,” published by Magic Cat (UK) this fall. She has also been named series co-editor for Taylor & Francis Congregational Music Studies Book Series.

Heather-Leigh Owens Nies graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia in May 2022 with a master’s degree in social work. She then passed the LMSW exam, became a clinical associate with StorieBrook Therapy, and entered her third year as a service unit director for Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta.

Heather had two ACL replacement surgeries but manages to keep up with her three minions and their various activities (Catherine, 17, Roz, 15, and Vivian, 13). ’00 Yalonda Rice yalondarenee@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary.

’02 Deborah Vincent Scianna deborahscianna@yahoo.com Erika Robinson served as a panelist for the Miss Tennessee pageant.

Sarah Fragale Roberts is thankful to be a part of the first cohort of the San Francisco School of Needlework & Design’s Mentorship & Technical Certification Program. She is hopeful that formal studies in surface hand embroidery will bring more wonderful commission work as well as inspiration to create and teach workshops across the country.

Sarah loves connecting with others who share an interest in heritage textile crafts and their histories. She loves crafts such as bobbin lace, Teneriffe lace, crochet, quilting and, of course, hand embroidery!

If you are in the Atlanta area and interested in learning to embroider or you have a special piece in mind to be embroidered, check out Sarah’s website: quiet-hours.com. ’03 Angela Gisclair Etheridge butterflyanla6318@gmail.com Jenny Young Davis opened a second location for her private tattoo studio, The Inkbunny Studios. The first location is in Roswell, Georgia, while the second location is in Roseville, California.

’04 Martha Gaston magaston@aol.com Kateena Johnson AddaeKonadu completed a maternalfetal medicine fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in 2022 and joined Kaiser Permanente as an MFM attending in Atlanta. She and her husband also welcomed the birth of their son, Grayson Peter Addae-Kondau, on April 25, 2023.

Emily Bielawski Buckley recently climbed to 14,000 feet on Mt. Bierstadt in Colorado.

Ashley Bivens Busby has been with BlackRock for more than a year in a dual role: head of recruiting for technology and operations and Atlanta recruiting leader. She and her husband, Tad, are enjoying being super hosts at their short-term rental in Peachtree City, Georgia, and hope to add more to their portfolio as part of Tad’s firefighter retirement plan. Besides recruiting and real estate, Ashley’s staying busy with her second-, fourth- and sixth-grade kiddos.

Hollie Craig finally moved back home to be with family in Salem, Virginia, with her 6-year-old son. She had been away since transferring to ASC in 2001. Hollie has accepted a position as technical support chemist at QualiChem, Inc.

’01 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba gave a TED Talk in Vancouver in April on the global demographic shift to aging and shrinking populations. The experience was incredible — and also the hardest thing she’s ever done professionally. The talk was posted online on Oct. 2, and she hopes all Scotties will share it widely!

Jamie Thomas attended Winter Institute, the annual conference for the American Booksellers Association, in Seattle. For the third year in a row, she presented on a panel — this time around an idea exchange about creative employee compensation packages.

She also attended the Children’s Institute in Milwaukee.

Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba ’01 spoke about global population aging on the TED stage in Vancouver in April 2023. Photo credit: TED/Jason Redmon

Von Diaz is serving as a senior producer for StoryCorps, producing weekly broadcasts for NPR’s “Morning Edition.” In 2022,

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she won an Emmy in the category of News & Documentary for “Un(re)solved.” Her second book, “Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking,” will be published by Chronicle Books in March 2024.

Von is also the founder of La Piña — a Substack newsletter covering the people, ingredients and systems that shape global cuisine.

Kate Miller Tucker moved to Woodstock, Georgia, and has been promoted to management principal at Deloitte LLP within their Office of General Counsel.

Candace Donaldson-Scott started a solo mental health therapy private practice in Atlanta, Sunny Wellness of Honey. Her practice has been featured in VoyageATL and Shoutout Atlanta.

Adrienne Gonzalez successfully completed training as an RN in May 2023, graduating at the top of her class and with honors. She currently works at a local nonprofit hospital in Tallahassee, Florida, where she lives with her husband, Gilad, and 1-year-old daughter, Sylvie.

Alexandra Pajak entered Tulane University graduate school to pursue a doctorate of social work. She is also in the process of recording her third contemporary classical music album.

Recording took place at Spivey Hall in July 2023 in collaboration with Atlanta-area classical musicians and with Centaur Records. She resides in Atlanta and loves all things Agnes Scott!

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Kate Newburg Nock completed her Master of Science in organizational development and leadership from Saint Joseph’s University and was accepted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society for business.

Mollie Barnes was awarded a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities summer stipend to support research for her book “Paper Heroines: How Women Reformers Wrote One Another’s Lives in the Sea Islands, 1838-1902.”

Rachel Wilson ’05 was married on February 13, 2023.

’06 Courtney Ware Lett courtneydware@gmail.com After a nationwide search process, Lindsay Cronk has been named Tulane University’s dean of libraries.

Noted for her ingenuity and teambuilding, Lindsay credits her liberal arts education for her success in academic library leadership.

Courtney Ware Lett gave birth to her daughter, Suraiyah Celeste Lett, on May 9, 2023, at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Courtney and her husband, Chris, are enamored with their bright, beautiful and brilliant baby girl.

Courtney Sotherland Roddenberry was promoted to director, learning strategy and execution at The Home Depot.

Courtney and her team support the learning needs of all associates in supply chain and private fleet at The Home Depot.

Lauren Schreck moved to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, in August 2023 for a new job. She is working as an instructor for the U.S. Army.

’05 Ruth Owen Sambuco ruth.sambuco@gmail.com Briana Dayton transitioned from teaching high school for 14 years to educational consulting with the National Institute for Student Success at Georgia State University. They work to identify and remove institutionally created barriers for undergraduate students at universities and colleges nationwide. This work most greatly impacts first-generation, lowincome and minoritized students in removing hurdles to degree completion.

Miles Smith McWilliams, born to Emmeline McWilliams and husband, May 9, 2022.

Aislinn Belton ’06 and Ruth Grune Gilgenbach ’06. February 26, 2023. Lake Memphremagog,Vermont.

Ruth Grune Gilgenbach participated in the Lake Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, swimming several events in subfreezing water. She was accompanied by Aislinn Belton, who was horrified at the entire concept.

Shiloh Booker moved to Chicago, Illinois, and started a new job as assistant director of the Learning Center at Elmhurst University.

In May, Kathryn Smith was one of the founders to complete the first cohort of the Truist Foundation & Watson Institute Fellowship for social impact businesses. As part of the program, she hosted a program called Venture[48] in partnership with the Hatchbridge incubator at Kennesaw State University.

Venture[48] was a two-day event geared toward helping new

businesses launch a product or idea in 48 hours. In addition, she was named to the Georgia Tech Alumni Association 40 Under 40 list for her work in advocating for women and underestimated founders (gtalumni.org/40under40). Kathryn was also recently nominated and chosen to join the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Cobb Class of 2024 (cobbchamber. org/get-involved/join-a-group/ leadership-cobb). On top of these big accomplishments, Kathryn and her company, Walton Birch, are recipients of the 2023 Founders First CDC National Pride grant (foundersfirstcdc.org/2023-pridefinalist-announcement). Congrats, Kathryn!

Section) Award at the American Association of Law Libraries’ Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2023.

Justine Schwartz and wife Chelsea are happy to announce the adoption of their daughter, Maddi Sell!

Charleen McClure collaborated on “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” with friend Raven Jackson, who wrote and directed the film. It premiered at Sundance in January and premiered internationally at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

’07 Kristin Hall krelhall@gmail.com

Caroline Martin ’11, Emily Weiss ’11 and Emily’s daughter, Lanie

Caroline Martin received her Master of Social Work from Case Western Reserve University in spring 2022. She now works as a therapist for Equitas Health, an LGBTQ+ healthcare center in Ohio.

No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’08 Dominique Khan dkhan08@gmail.com Sabrina Cintron Cassell sabrina.cintron@gmail.com

Sarah Bauer ’10 and Luicen Lawakua Zuyi MakotoYee in August 2020

No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretaries.

Sarah Bauer welcomed Luicen Lawakua Zuyi Makoto Yee in August 2020. She also started a new job as grants analyst for the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

’09 Tiffany Claiborne mermaidkween@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’10 Renu Sagreiya rsagreiya@gmail.com Olivia Greene-Knight ogreene87@gmail.com Renu Urvashi Sagreiya, JD, received The Spirit of the FCILSIS (Foreign, Comparative, and International Law-Special Interest

’11 Sarah Bowen Hersh sbowen314@gmail.com Rebecca Lunny Knisely accepted a role as senior account manager at EAB in their Marketing and Enrollment Solutions division focusing on graduate and adult learners. She and her husband recently bought their first home in Highland, Maryland, so her weekends are now full of home improvement projects and multiple trips to Lowe’s and their local hardware store.

Chelsie Buckley Rivera coauthored a book released Aug. 8, 2023, by Penguin Random House called “How to Live in a Chaotic Climate.” The book focuses on ways to find meaning, joy and connection in the face of the climate crisis.You can find the book here.

Sarah Bowen Hersh gave birth to Helen Murrell Hersh on May 17, 2023. Sarah and her husband, Eric, are hopeful they have a future Scottie on their hands to continue her family’s legacy of Scotties (Sarah’s mom and two aunts also attended ASC).

Annie Graefe started a new fully remote job in July 2023 as executive assistant to the senior directors of strategy at Ascension.

She is excited to learn about the decisions that are made behind the scenes in the medical industry, which help hospitals, their staffs

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and their patients thrive. She is living in Nashville, but now that she can work from anywhere, she hopes to move to Chattanooga in the near future.

Lintonia Davis is living and working in Costa Rica with a language institute and has been with them for the past seven years.

She is now working full time as a human resources coordinator for English as a foreign language teachers.

Stephanie Scott Parker is still annoying liberals each day by working, succeeding and being happy. She and her husband are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary in October, have a full house with four kids ages 1-17, and live in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.

Leslie Burhenn’s mother, Darlene Eiford, shared: “Your fellow Amazon classmate Leslie Burhenn passed away after a brief illness in January 2022. At the time of her death she was the senior engineer at the data analytics company Cardlytics. She was a great promoter and supporter of the college (a Bell Ringer and a Fideles Society member). In fact, she drove with a temporary tag on her car for over a year while she patiently waited for her Agnes Scott car tag to arrive. Following Leslie’s memorial service in the Julia Thompson Smith Chapel and in recognition of the important part that Agnes Scott played in Leslie’s life, an endowed scholarship was established in Leslie’s name. The first scholarship will be awarded to a Scottie in the fall of 2024. Leslie’s Scottie spirit lives on. You can find Leslie’s obituary here: legacy.com/ us/obituaries/atlanta/name/leslieburhenn-obituary?id=33721831.”

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Lee Taylor Morris and her husband, Scott, celebrated the birth of their second child, Wilson Whatley Morris, on Feb. 7, 2023.

They live on a farm in Rome, Georgia. Lee choreographed for the Distinguished Young Women’s program of Georgia this year and looks forward to more dance projects.

family relocated from Atlanta to Williamstown, Massachusetts.

They’re currently getting settled and thoroughly enjoying their new home in The Berkshires.

’12 Devin Alford dlalford@comcast.net No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’13 Rachel Branning Rieman rbranning@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’14 Aminah Hussain aminah4488@gmail.com Jess Magno moved to Massachusetts for grad school last August and completed her master’s in animals and public policy at Tufts’ vet school by the end of August 2023. In the words of her friend Carlisa, whom she asked what else she should write for her update, “Big things poppin’, lil’ things dropping — PURR.” Mariah Brobbey and her husband, William, welcomed their second daughter into the world in March 2023. Her name is Ava! Mariah is hopeful that her daughters will consider being Scotties in the classes of 2038 and 2041.

Suzannah Haasbroek and her spouse, Marlize, welcomed baby boy Rowan Neill Haasbroek on March 26, 2023. Shortly after his birth, Suzannah accepted a new position as assistant director for arts, media and entertainment career development at Williams College. While she loved her time working at Agnes Scott for the past couple of years, it was time to move on! In June, she and her

Alex Ambrose ’14 with husband Andrew Scott and their newborn son, Owen Scott.

Alex Ambrose had a busy year.

She and her husband, Andrew Scott, welcomed their son, Owen Page Scott, into the world in January 2023. Alex completed her psychiatry fellowship training in August, and she will be starting as a consultation liaison psychiatrist at VCU Health in October. ’15 Shekinah Phillips sphill@uab.edu Amy Pipher was promoted to senior consultant at her company, Resultant. Resultant is a data, technology and digital transformation consulting firm, and Amy helps lead their work with nonprofits and helps them leverage data and technology to improve the services they provide to their communities.

Bria Carr has started a visual podcast series, “Breaking Barriers with Bria.” It showcases individuals from minority communities who have been resilient and continue to persist onward through different forms of adversity. Ensuring that the show is a safe space for all, Bria encourages empathy, social

advocacy and acceptance. While driving home the notion that we aren’t so different from each other, she reminds us that none of us are truly alone in our struggles.

’17 Jessica Luegering jessica.marie.luegering@gmail.com

In February 2023, Sierra Beasley moved to Kent, Washington, for work!

’16 Claire Kircharr clairemk14@gmail.com Bryn Higdon recently completed her Master of Public Health in behavioral, social and health education sciences at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. She also accepted a position in November 2022 as a public health analyst with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Office of Policy and Partnerships.

After eight years together, Halden

Lex Pfearsen ’14, Halden Pfearsen ’16 at their wedding in Maryland, November 5 2022

(Ingwersen) Pfearsen married Lex (Pulice-Farrow) Pfearsen ’14 at a sunset vineyard ceremony on Nov. 5, 2022. They’ve selected a new shared surname and look forward to a happy lifetime of using it together. Naturally, the many Scotties in attendance danced to “The Wobble” and scream-sang “Beer, Beer, Beer” at the reception!

’18 Abigail Camden camden.abigail@gmail.com

Denisse Saucedo Petree ’17 and Jessica Luegering ’17 at Leon’s Baptism Party

Denisse Saucedo Petree had her little boy, Leon, baptized. She honored Jessica Luegering by asking her to be Leon’s godmother.

Elizabeth “Stokes” O’Shields also attended the ceremony.

Darcy Fahey graduated from Montana State University in summer 2022 with a Master of Arts degree in history, which focused on the historic lack of mobility for Native women and girls on reservations due to American colonization. Following this, she served as coordinator and then director at the Wesley Chapel Mission Center, an inner-city nonprofit providing services such as after-school tutoring for children.

She has been accepted to the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she will begin in fall 2023 in hopes of becoming an Ohio Innocence Project Fellow to help exonerate wrongfully imprisoned inmates.

Lacey Wilson relocated to Washington D.C. and has begun the second year of her art history graduate program at American University. In her first year at American University, Lacey was a co-curator for the exhibition “Still, Moving” at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center and was published in the exhibition catalog with an essay on an untitled piece by the D.C. artist Carroll Sockwell. She has accepted a Smithsonian internship with the “Archives of American Art Journal” to proofread articles for their fall 2025 publication.

Congratulations, Lacey!

Sarah-Meaghan Eiler is excited to announce she has obtained an earth science teaching license. In a similar vein, she has fulfilled a lifelong dream of turning her whole yard into a vegetable garden.

Rebekah Fields began the master’s in library science program at the University of South Carolina.

L-R Tushar Gupta and Celeste Minor ’18

Celeste Chamlee Minor and Tushar Gupta were married on Sept. 4, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia, in a Christian ceremony. On Nov. 5, 2022, they had a Hindu ceremony in Panna, India. They met in college while Celeste was attending Agnes Scott College

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and Tushar was attending Georgia Tech. They now reside in Decatur, Georgia, after moving back to Georgia in 2021. ’19 Catherine Curtin catherine.e.curtin@gmail.com ’19 Miranda Moore was recently promoted to a fixed-income analyst at F.L.Putnam Investment Management Company. As a fixed-income analyst, she helps oversee the firm’s proprietary fixedincome strategies. In this role, she is responsible for credit analysis, trading across all fixed-income asset classes, and the implementation of portfolio strategy in accordance with client objectives.

What a full circle year! Milka Kiriaku received the wonderful opportunity to join the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta in August.

As a nonprofit development professional, I know how important it is to maintain relationships.

She was so happy to attend the Women’s Global Leadership Conference at Agnes Scott as a representative of the Girl Scouts in October.

Elizabeth Kell has recently assumed the position of senior manager of social media and content at the Atlanta Vibe in Atlanta. The Atlanta Vibe is one of the inaugural teams of the Pro Volleyball Federation, which is a brand-new women’s professional volleyball league in America. Even though she has just started, Elizabeth has already created a video that has gone semi-viral with 1.2 million views on TikTok.

’20 Madeline Brasgalla mbrasgalla11@gmail.com In May 2022, Sonia Patel completed her master’s in healthcare administration and a master’s in business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Post-master’s – she got accepted into a healthcare leadership one-year residency program at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. After completing the residency in August 2023, she continued with Hopkins as the operations manager for the Johns Hopkins Bayview Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. ’21 Teresa Enriquez Texis tenriqueztexis@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’22 Ziyana Greene amil.greene1@gmail.com No news was submitted. Please send your news to your class secretary. ’23 No identified class secretary.

Please send any news to share to alumnae@agnesscott.edu.

births ’03 Julia Michelle, born to Lisha Daniels Storey and husband Bobby Storey, February 5, 2023

’04 Grayson Peter AddaeKondau, born to Kateena Johnson Addae-Konadu and husband, April 25, 2023

’05 Terran Conor Parsons, born to Alexis Crane, March 24, 2023

’06 Miles Smith McWilliams, born to Emmeline McWilliams and husband, May 9, 2022 Suraiyah Celeste Lett, born to Courtney Ware Lett and husband Chris Lett, May 9, 2023

’11 Wilson Whatley Morris, born to Lee Taylor Morris and husband Scott Morris, February 7, 2023 Helen Murrell Hersh, born to Sarah Bowen Hersh and husband Eric Hersh, May 17, 2023

’16 Dakota Rose Jones, born to Stephanie Berry Jones and David Jones, November 2022 66

deaths ’45

’51

’58

Beverly King Pollock, May 29, 2023

Marianela Segura Oritz, September 18, 2023

Mary Ann Wilhelmi Betke, August 13, 2018

Mary Hunter Ratliff, September 16, 2023

’52

Eugenie Lambert Hamner, March 28, 2021

’46

Roberta Jones Austin, September 21, 2022

Harriet Hargrove Hill, July 25, 2023

Frances Sells Grimes, May 31, 2023

’47

Lorynn “Tootsie” Crocker Adderholdt, June 23, 2023

’59

Marianne Sissy Jeffries Williams, April 17, 2023

Helen Land Ledbetter, August 2, 2023

Frances Carol Rogers Snell, April 15, 2023

’48

’54

Mary Paula Pilkenton Vail, June 30, 2023

Julia Ann Coleman Twilley, January 23, 2023

Phyllis Twinney, December 2, 2021

Howatt E. Mallinson, husband of Minnie Hamilton Mallinson, February 16, 2023 Marian Yancey Carroll, May 11, 2023 Elizabeth Blair Carter, July 28, 2023

Gloria Price Pickett, October 4, 2022 Eleanor Hutchinson Smith, May 29, 2023

’55

Carol Pike Foster, June 18, 2023 Susan Purser MacKinnon, June 23, 2023

Dale Dick Halton, March 21, 2023

’60 Alice Prather McLeod, June 23, 2023 Mary Stubbins Cooper, August 9, 2023

Patricia Hale Forrest, Early 2023

’61

’56

Sarah Helen High Clagett, February 6, 2022

Melda Burdsal Davis, May 6, 2023

Sarah “Sally” Shippey McKneally, June 23, 2022

Harriet Smith Bates, October 18, 2022

Marjorie Marks Martin, August 6, 2023

Jane Frist, May 28, 2023

Sue McCurdy Hosterman, December 30, 2022

’49

’50 Anne Aldridge Roberts Groce, July 31, 2022 Katherine Dickey Bentley, March 22, 2023 Martha Warburton McMurran, May 18, 2023 Margorie “Marge” Major Franklin, July 31, 2023

Virginia Love Dunaway, November 28, 2023

Anne Frazer Drake, February 6, 2023

’57

Alice Frazer Evans, May 3, 2023

Gloria Calhoun Edwards, April 14, 2023

Jane Bennet McLane, May 27, 2023

Juliet Purcell Atkinson, June 5, 2023

’62

Suzanne McGregor Dowd, June 16, 2023

Hazel Berman Karp, August 1, 2023

Irwin Townsend Hyatt Jr., husband of Margaret Minter Hyatt, September 15, 2023

Betty Jean Combs Moore, September 16, 2023

Jacquelyn Roundtree Andrews, September 26, 2023

John LaBrie, husband of Ann McLeod LaBrie, September 18, 2023

67

class notes

deaths CONTINUED

’63

’67

’76

Suzanne Smith, August 16, 2022

Katherine “KC” Cameron Stubbs, April 18, 2023

James “Jamie” Curtis Shields, husband of Catherine DuPree Shields, July 17, 2023

Lynn Cole Scott, December 6, 2022 Joseph O’Beirne Milner, husband of Lucy Morcock Milner and brother-in-law of Day Morcock Kennon ’67, May 27, 2023 Alfred Louis Mullins Jr., husband of Vera Winegar Mullins, June 9, 2023 David Emory Boyd, husband of J. Anne Miller Boyd, June 13, 2023

Christopher David Rimes, husband of Jennie Albritton Rimes and father of Elizabeth Rimes ’20, May 3, 2023 Gail Aileen Harrison, July 4, 2023 Margaret Cromartie Calhoun, July 16, 2023 Claire Allen D’Agostino, July 28, 2023

Cantey Bryan Mills, June 29, 2023

’68

Donovan Dean, husband of Mary Ann Gregory Dean, July 24, 2023

Olivia Ann Hicks, April 8th, 2023

’64

’69

Barbara Duncan Fulton, June 2, 2023

Judith Harrold Schneider, January 11, 2023

’65

Marvin Clifford, husband of Helen Stavros, February 11, 2023.

Barry Wise, husband of Elaine Orr, May 22, 2023

Lucy Taylor Chapman, April 3, 2023.

Betty Armstrong Fenasci, July 7, 2023

Ruth Everett Whitehead, August 29, 2023

Mary Jean Crawford Cross, August 14, 2023 Carolyn True Sharpe, September 16, 2023

’66 Sarah “Sally” Pickett Richardson, June 15, 2023 Sharon “Sherry” O’Neill Bassett, July 12, 2023 Harriet Holt Whitley, August 23, 2023

Betty Love “Betsy” Emmons Swaim, June 27, 2023

’74 Lincoln Hickox Stone, husband of Mary Jane Warren Stone, March 24, 2023

’75 Anne Stuart Robison DeFoe, sister of Margaret Robison Lemon , on July 3, 2023.

Richard DeLamar “Dick” Williams, father of Margaret Williams Johnston, on April 29, 2023

’84 Frank Leeming, father of Patti Leeming Barrett, February 25, 2023 Ann B. Mason, mother of Susan Mason, May 14, 2023 Mary Connor Adcock, sister to Sarah McCullough, May 20, 2023 Julie Mason Brantley, sister to Susan Mason, June 15 2023

’89 Scot Klap, husband of Carolyn Weaver, March 11, 2023

’91 Matthew Scott Irvin, husband of Michelle Roberts Irvin, April 4, 2023

’92 John Boardman Thompson, husband of Rebecca Boone Thompson, April 11, 2023

’96 Billie Stephenson Patterson, mother of Mary Carol Patterson Sheffield, February 16, 2023

’98 John Rop, father of Ami Rop Dziekan, July 2, 2023

’11 Leslie Burhenn, January 2022

68

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