Class of 1975: Moving Forward Memorial Day weekend saw almost seventy members of the class of 1975 and their guests gather for the thirtieth Reunion. Looking back but always moving forward,
these MHC alums found that friendships begun in the 1970s had grown stronger over the years. Wrote a fellow classmate, “This Reunion makes me more determined than ever to stay in better touch with my classmates, since I think I feel more connected with them than with any friends I’ve made since!” Tours of Kendade, the Art Museum, Pratt Hall, and Blanchard Campus Center highlighted the sensitivity of those architects who had created or recreated these buildings. Saturday evening featured a reception on the balcony of Willits-Hallowell, followed by dinner. Reunion Chair Judy Karlen Stein presented a video composed of photos of our College years set to music of the 1970s (of course) and reminded us that the passage of time had not dimmed our spirit, despite a few minor physical changes. Fireworks over Lower Lake served as a prelude to milk and cookies back at the dorm. Walks, talks, and laughter led to a farewell brunch at Woodbridge’s. Could a reunion of bright, talented, and compassionate women on the campus of one of the most beautiful colleges in the U.S. be better? The class of 1975 left South Hadley with the anticipation that the thirty-fifth reunion might just be a contender. —Eileen Leahy Epstein
Class of 1980: Top Ten Reunion High Points 1 MHC in springtime…without exams on the horizon. 2 Being applauded by the class of 2005, and applauding them in return, as we passed along the parade route. 3 Meetings between old friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while but found they could pick up where they left off. 4 Meetings between classmates who didn’t know each other in College but plan to get together post-reunion. 5 Comedienne Jane Congdon, who had all of us rolling off the sofas on Saturday night. (Who knew menopause, teenagers, and Connecticut could be so funny?) 6 Reunion Chair Jean Osachuk’s fantastic gift bags, which some classmates relinquished so they could be given to the students who served and cleaned up after us at Prospect on Saturday night. 7 Wonderful music: “Bread and Roses,” Beth Balmuth Raffeld’s jazz trio at Prospect, the Alumnae Choir at Abbey, and the senior canoe sing right outside our dorm on Saturday night. 8 The Griffin Award, presented to the class for the largest percent increase in dollars given from a nonreunion year to a reunion year. 9 Connecting with our collective past. 10 Looking forward to returning for our thirtieth. See you then! —Diane Kiffin Nardin
Medal of Honor Bestowed on Nine Alumnae
Ben Barnhart (left), Paul Schnaittacher
Nine women received Alumnae Medals of Honor this year in recognition of their outstanding service to the Alumnae Association. To read the medalists’ citations, please visit www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/go/moh
Reunion I medal recipients were (left to right) Elizabeth Dippel Archambeault ’65, Katherine Murphy Maloney ’45, and Cynthia L. Reed ’80.
Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly | Summer 2005
Reunion II medal recipients were (left to right) Nancy Kirshner Rodriguez ’85, Gail Moffat Hudson ’60, Virginia Beal Grissom ’40, Ann Kingman Williams ’60, Marg Stark ’85, and Jill M. Brethauer ’70.
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Class of 1970: Save Those Letters There’s something about a red feather boa, our parade accessory, that not only brings out the Gypsy Rose Lee in all of us, but also fuels our creative juices. A handful of ’70s created the new fractured Alma Mater [read it at www.alumnae.mtholy oke.edu/go/alsma] and presented it at the Alumnae Association meeting. Beware the boa, however: it’s lethal when combined with luggage zippers. First-ever Reunion attendees Lynn Wallisch, Diana Dearth, Jenni Dieter Buhr, and Ann Thurber mixed with veterans who reached a consensus that, while all Reunion I’s are marvelous, Reunion II’s are our favorites, given their quieter pace and greater coffee klatsch-ability. Even as we mourned our departed Donna Claytor, Stephanie Williston stepped up to inform the fifty-plus of us present that we are now archival! The College wants our college correspondence. So all you women of letters, scrounge your attics and cough them up. —Boots Whitmer