Mills Quarterly winter/spring 2010

2008–09 Annual Report

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T h e m o s t g e n e r o u s g e n e rat i o n

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C o l l e g e p ra n k s 1 0 1

Mills Quarterly Winter/Spring 2010 Alumnae Magazine

the

Value added

issue

Women’s perspectives inform economic studies

Who gives to Mills?

Kate Eltrich ’99 Associate Director for Legislative Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, The White House Career:

Major:

Political, legal, and economic analysis

“Rowing crew. I was never terribly athletic, but at Mills there were women at all levels of ability. The most important thing was to contribute to the team.”

What she learned to love at Mills:

“Being able to interact with people from any background. Having an ease about meeting people has been good for me professionally.”

Most useful thing she learned:

Why she contributes to the Mills College

“To make sure that women are always able to go to Mills and benefit from the small class sizes, opportunity for discussion, and strong sense of community.”

Annual Fund:

Join Kate in supporting the education of tomorrow’s leaders. > Make a gift by talk to the student who calls you on behalf of the Mills College Annual Fund or call 510.430.2366. phone:

> Send a gift in the enclosed envelope.

> Give online at www.mills.edu/giving.

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Mills Quarterly

contents 3

Winter/Spring 2010

A message from the President and the Chair: Leadership transition

President Holmgren announces that she will not seek renewal of her appointment as President beyond June 30, 2011

9

More than money by Kate Rix

In both research and teaching, Mills economics faculty bring a woman-centered perspective and other alternate analyses to their field.

12

Women power the transfer of wealth by Janis Johnson

As trillions of dollars pass from one generation to the next in the coming decades, women have an outstanding opportunity to support the causes they believe in.

14

A family affair by Heather Haas

A clan of Bent Twigs honors family bonds and the tradition of music at Mills by naming seats in the Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall.

26

Sound off! What is your best Mills prank?

The college lifestyle is tailor-made for creative practical jokes. Mills pranksters and prankees alike share some of their “extracurricular activities.”

Departments 4

Mills Matters

15

Class Notes with Notes from Near and Far: Alumnae Activities Report

23

In Memoriam

Cover illustration by Stephanie Dalton Cowan

Special insert

Building on Our

Gifts

2008–09 Annual Report of Giving With much gratitude, Mills publishes this honor roll of donors who made gifts to the College between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.

winter/spring 2010

1

A Message from the Chair Volume XCVIII Number 3 (USPS 349-900) Winter/Spring 2010

How fortunate Mills College has been to

President Janet L. Holmgren

Holmgren’s decision to step down from

Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement Ramon S. Torrecilha

ship transition at Mills that follows an

Vice President for Institutional Advancement Cynthia Brandt Stover

under the President’s leadership, the Mills

Senior Director of Communications Dawn Cunningham ’85

total is nearly double the average amount

Managing Editor Linda Schmidt

President

Design and Art Direction Nancy Siller Wilson Contributing Writers Heather Haas Janis Johnson Kate Rix Editorial Assistance Kelsey Lindquist ’10 Special Thanks To Anita Aragon Bowers ’63 Cynthia Guevara ’04 The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly by Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California, and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send address changes to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Copyright © 2010, Mills College.

have Janet L. Holmgren serve as our President for almost 20 years! President the Presidency in 2011 initiates a leaderamazing era of transformation and growth.

As you will read in our annual report, community raised $18.2 million for the College in the 2008–09 fiscal year. This raised annually in the early 1990s, when Holmgren

arrived

at

the

College. Also in the past year, we added

programs of the past 20 years of recom-

a new architectural treasure to the cam-

mitment to women’s education and carry

pus: the building for the Lorry I. Lokey

this forward into the future as a mandate

Graduate School of Business. Its opening

for the next President of Mills College.

represented the culmination of a decade

We are now convening a Presidential

in which Mills invested $100 million in

Search Committee to be led by Wendyce

capital projects. Meanwhile, the value

Hull Brody ’68, who is a Mills College

of our endowment increased from $71.2

Trustee as well as an alumna. This com-

million in 1990 to $175 million today.

mittee will work closely with the Board

While

strengthening

the

College’s

of Trustees and will seek input from

finances and physical plant, President

alumnae and other members of the Mills

Holmgren has also transformed Mills’

community on the attributes and com-

student body. Since 1991, the College’s

petencies we seek in our next President.

enrollment has climbed from 1,044 to

In the weeks ahead, we will outline our

1,510 students. Diversity has increased

search process on a special section of

apace, with a population of 39 percent

the College’s website. Meanwhile, we are

undergraduate students of color and 25

developing a series of events to honor

percent faculty of color today, compared

President Holmgren’s contributions to

with 21 percent students of color and 5

the College. Alumnae will have many

percent faculty of color in 1991, when

opportunities to participate.

President Holmgren arrived.

President Holmgren’s work at Mills

Generations of students to come will

College is not done. We are fortunate to

Address correspondence to the Mills Quarterly, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity or length.

benefit from the President’s thoughtful,

have her energetic and dedicated leader-

strategic, and creative leadership in posi-

ship over the next year and a half. We

tioning Mills to continue as one of the

will continue to build for the future as we

country’s leading women’s colleges. The

simultaneously celebrate her leadership

Email: quarterly@mills.edu Phone: 510.430.3312

Board of Trustees is deeply committed

and seek a worthy successor.

to fulfilling the College’s mission of edu-

Thank you for providing the support

Printed on recycled paper containing 30 percent post-consumer waste.

cating undergraduate women and pro-

that will sustain our forward momentum

viding strong professional and graduate

throughout this period of transition.

programs for women and men. We will

Sincerely,

build on the strengths and innovative

Kathleen J. Burke Chair, Board of Trustees

2

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Leadership Perspectives

A Message from the President

Leadership transition continues a tradition of institutional renewal “Building on our gifts,” the theme of

classroom with students—especially the

our 2008–09 annual report at the cen-

engaged, inspiring students who make

ter of this Quarterly issue, highlights

Mills such an exciting place to be.

the enormous contributions of our

Our leadership transition process will be

alumnae and friends in making Mills a

inclusive and thoughtful. A Presidential

strong, creative, diverse institution.

Search Committee, made up of alumnae,

With your help, we have built a wom-

Trustees, faculty, students, and staff, will

en’s college of national prominence. We

be convened to identify my successor.

have supported cutting-edge curricula,

You will hear more about this committee

research, and creativity. We have devel-

and the national search process in future

oped innovative graduate programs

communications from Mills and the Chair

that leverage the strengths of our

of our Board of Trustees, Kathleen Burke.

undergraduate departments. We have

In the remaining 16 months of my pres-

preserved and enhanced our human

idency, I will work to ensure that Mills

and physical resources, while raising

continues to attract outstanding students

enrollment to an all-time high. We are a

and faculty and to raise the funds needed

diverse community committed to intel-

to support the College’s mission. I will be

lectual and social integrity.

turning to you for help in making these

There is no better place to study,

efforts a success.

no better place to teach or work, and

We will have many opportunities—

certainly no better place to be a college

including Commencement in May and

president.

Reunion in October—to come together in

Our position of strength makes this an

celebration of the College’s achievements

ideal moment to plan for changes that

since its recommitment to women’s edu-

will ensure Mills’ future. At the end of

cation 20 years ago in May 1990. At that

February, I announced a big change to

historic moment, heeding protests by stu-

alumnae (via email) and to the campus

dents and alumnae, the Board of Trustees

community: I have decided not to seek

reversed a decision that Mills would

renewal of my appointment as President

become coeducational at the undergrad-

beyond June 30, 2011, the 20th anniver-

uate level.

sary of my arrival at Mills.

Today, the College is unwavering in its

I love Mills and am deeply grateful for

commitment to women’s education and

the amazing opportunity I have had to

leadership. I am proud of our shared val-

lead and support the College. But now

ues, and I am grateful for the support that

I am called to return to writing and

has enabled us to achieve excellence in

research that I have put on hold for

all that we do. I look forward to your par-

nearly two decades. I also plan to teach

ticipation as we continue to build on our

as a member of the Mills faculty. This

gifts in the coming months.

semester I am teaching Development

Sincerely,

of the English Language, and I am

Janet L. Holmgren

rediscovering the joy of being in the

President

For more information on the presidential search, visit www.mills.edu/presidential_search winter/spring 2010

3

Mills Matters Athletics Department honored for diversity efforts The Mills College Athletics Department has received a Diversity in Athletics Award for its diversity strategy from the Laboratory for Diversity in Sports at Texas A&M University in collaboration with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Mills was one of 11 award recipients selected from 199 NCAA Division III athletics departments. Criteria for

Cyclones dash to victory

selection included the influence of diversity on the department’s processes and outcomes; its proactive diversity management strategy; its inclusive work environment; and steps taken to ensure

As Mills student-athletes sprint, row,

Cazares ’10 (lead runner in photo

the diversity-related momentum in the

paddle, and volley their way through

above). At an awards ceremony follow-

department.

spring meets and matches, many of them

ing the championship meet, co-captain

are propelled by pride in the accomplish-

Perla Cantu ’10 was honored with the

ful student-athlete population,” says

ments that defined this year’s fall season.

National Association of Intercollegiate

Athletic Director Themy Adachi.

Athletics (NAIA) Champions of

Reflecting on Mills athletes’ participa-

California Pacific Conference meet in

Character individual award, an honor

tion this year in national championships

early November, a victory that took them

given to one athlete on each team com-

in cross country and swimming, Adachi

to the NAIA National Championships

peting in the championship meet who

observes, “These successes stem from

hosted by Cascade College and Nike

models the qualities of respect, respon-

an inclusive work environment with

in Vancouver, Washington, later that

sibility, integrity, servant leadership,

coaches who are encouraged to under-

month. In competition with more than

and sportsmanship. Cazares and fellow

stand and honor differences…. It’s not

300 of the best runners in the country,

senior Elena Adler were recognized as

about molding each person to fit into a

the Cyclones performed well; their top

Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes for

team system, it’s about discovering what

three finishers were co-captain Angie

maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.5.

makes each person whole and what

The cross country team won the

makes each one thrive.”

Sandoval ’10, Kim Chew ’11, and Lupe

Adachi receives Trailblazer Award

student-athletes, Adachi has been

Themy Adachi, director of athletics at

Alameda County’s diverse populations,

Mills College, has received the Northern

particularly through her efforts in

California Diversity Committee

co-founding the Mills Community Tennis

Trailblazer Award from the United States

Program in 2000. The program provides

Tennis Association (USTA). The award,

personalized tennis instruction and

presented in San Francisco on January 30,

academic tutoring for elementary and

honors Adachi’s “lifelong and ground-

middle school students in Oakland, many

breaking service in bringing tennis to,

of whom have had little or no exposure to

and growing the sport in, traditional and

the sport. Program participants gain

non-traditional communities.”

familiarity with a college environment

In addition to her work with Mills 4

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

“We have a very diverse, success-

Photos by Elese Lebsack

instrumental in providing community outreach and accessible programs to

and have the opportunity to enter Mills

Rothrock accepts second term as Alumna Trustee

At Mills, for Alumnae Alumnae Relations and Annual Giving www.mills.edu/alumnae 510.430.2123 Alumnae-relations@mills.edu Find out about Reunion, alumnae clubs, and events; update your contact information; and request our @mills enewsletter.

Laura Gobbi, Senior Director........ 510.430.2112

Gayle Rothrock ’68, who has served as Alumna Trustee since 2007, will continue to hold this position for the period 2010– 2013.

“It has been my privilege to serve the interests of the Rothrock. “I am fascinated by

Alexandra Wong, Associate Director, Alumnae Relations........................ 510.430.3363

the work and feel particularly

Caitlin McGarty, Coordinator........ 510.430.2123

alumnae and the College,” says

engaged by the sustainability issue, both as applied to the operation of the College and campus and to our financial health. I think it is applicable to the relationship of the College and its alumnae, too.”

A resident of Vancouver, Washington, Rothrock has 36 years of experience in public and nonprofit administration and community college teaching. She has served on state boards adjudicating land use, natural resources, pollution control, and large-scale energy plant siting proposals and permit appeals. She has been a board member and volunteer for several nonprofit organizations and is a certified community mediator.

Rothrock currently chairs the Board of Trustees’ Ad-Hoc Committee on Alumnae Relations. “We look closely at the continuing improvement and robustness of the ties between alumnae and the College,” she says. “The talented and motivated College staff and AAMC officers and branch activists are finding their way to intelligent and practical resolution of outstanding matters and putting us on good footing for this 21st-century environment.

“Serving on the AAMC Board of Governors and the College’s Board of Trustees means keeping the past, present, and future all in mind. I look forward to being an Alumna Trustee for another three years.”

College’s nationally acclaimed Upward

In 2005, Adachi was inducted into

Bound program. The Community Tennis

the Alameda County Women’s Hall

Program runs each fall semester and is

of Fame.

now led by Head Tennis Coach Jesse Medvene-Collins.

Adachi has been a strong leader of

“The Trailblazer Award acknowledges that others have noticed what a difference Mills students are mak-

other community service activities,

ing,” Adachi says. “Mills strives to

including the Women’s Cancer Resource

educate women to ‘make the world

Center’s Swim-A-Mile fundraiser; the

more,’ and our Mills Community

Mills College “You go, Girl!” afterschool

Tennis Program is one way students

program, which builds self-esteem

can practice being leaders and giving

through participation in sports; and unit-

to their communities. Students learn

ing the athletic teams to complete one

the power and satisfaction of making

major community service event per year.

a difference in the lives of others.”

Career Services 510.430.2130 Learn how Mills can help with your career.

Alumnae Admission Representatives 510.430.2135 Help prospective students learn more about the College.

Joan Jaffe, Associate Dean of Admission Email: Joanj@mills.edu Giving to Mills www.mills.edu/giving 510.430.2366 mcaf@mills.edu Make gifts to the Mills College Annual Fund or the AAMC endowment.

Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC) Learn about AAMC membership, merchandise, travel programs, Board of Governors, committee meetings, or reach your elected representatives on the College’s Board of Trustees.

Email: aamc@mills.edu..................510.430.2110 Anita Aragon Bowers ’63, President....................................... 510.430.3374 Email: AnitaAragonBowers@alumnae.mills.edu Bill White, Accountant................... 510.430.3373 To contact the Alumnae Association of Mills College, please write to: AAMC, P.O. Box 9998, Oakland, CA 94613-0998

winter/spring 2010

5

Calendar

Mills artist exhibits around the world Professor of Studio Art Hung Liu has created a collection of paintings reflecting on the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in the Sichuan province of her native China, in which nearly 90,000 people were killed or went missing.

The series title, Apsaras, refers to wingless angels or female spirits of the clouds and waters depicted in ancient Buddhist images. When Liu’s images were exhibited at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York last fall, New York Times critic Holland Cotter wrote, “Everything—the images, the overlays, the forthright brushwork, the pictures as a group—is soberly judged, deeply felt, mature. It’s hard to ask for more.”

Come to Commencement 2010

The collection continued on to the Fort Collins Museum of

Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, will be our Commencement speaker on Saturday, May 15, 2010.

Contemporary Art in Colorado, where Kyle MacMillan, the

An alumna of Trinity College, a women’s college in Washington DC, Pelosi has represented California’s Eighth District in the House of Representatives since 1987. Her legislative record includes strong initiatives to improve educational opportunity, environmental policy, women’s health, and workers’ rights.

This exhibition is the latest of several high-profile shows

Denver Post’s fine arts critic, called it a “stunning, at times haunting, exhibition.” and events by Liu. She completed commissions for artwork installed at the Oakland International Airport in 2006 and at the San Francisco International Airport in 2008, and last year the artist traveled to Hong Kong to attend the opening recep-

Join us in welcoming this distinguished and groundbreaking leader to campus as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the student and alumnae protests that resulted in Mills’ recommitment to women’s education.

tion of her solo exhibition, Prodigal Daughters, at the well-

March

9–10  Mills Music Now: X Sound Festival

30  Senior Thesis Exhibition Mills College Art Museum, free; opening reception April 3, 3:00 pm An exhibition of works by Mills senior studio art majors on view through April 18.

30  The Chana Bloch Reading of Writers in Translation: Ammiel Alcalay 5:30 pm, Mills Hall Living Room, free A poet and scholar, Alcalay’s translations include Sarajevo Blues by the Bosnian poet Semezdin Mehmedinovic, Keys to the Garden: New Israeli Writing, and Outcast by Shimon Ballas. For information, call Stephanie Young, 510.430.3130.

April 3  Mills Music Now: Lore of Moments 8:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall, $15 general, $10 seniors and non-Mills students, free with AAMC card

An evening of improvisational music with Mills faculty, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, percussionist Le Quan Ninh, and others. Call 510.430.2296 or see musicnow.mills.edu.

6  Contemporary Writers Series: Laila Lalami 5:30 pm, Mills Hall Living Room, free Lalami’s first novel, Secret Son, was described by the New York Times as “a nuanced depiction of the roots of Islamic terrorism, written by someone who intimately knows one of the stratified societies where it grows.” For information, call Stephanie Young, 510.430.3130.

9  Center for Socially Responsible Business Annual Conference See back cover.

Save the Date

known contemporary art gallery 10 Chancery Lane.

8:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall, free A festival of works by current Mills senior composers. For information, call 510.430.2296 or see musicnow.mills.edu.

15–17  Dance Department Graduate Thesis Concerts 8:00 pm, Lisser Hall, $10; additional performance April 17 at 2:00 pm Graduate dance students present the culmination of their work.

For details, contact 510.430.2175 or dance@mills.edu.

28  MBA Information Session 7:00 pm, Lokey Graduate School of Business Gathering Hall, free Learn about curriculum, admission, and financial aid for the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business. RSVP to Katherine Perry, 510.430.3173 or mba@mills.edu.

May 2  MFA Thesis Exhibition Mills College Art Museum, free; opening reception May 1 An exhibition of works by students completing Mills’ graduate program in studio art, on view through May 30.

15  122nd Commencement 9:45 am, Toyon Meadow, free Gather to honor and celebrate the graduating Class of 2010 with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Alumnae will robe up for Commencement procession at 8:00 am at Reinhardt Alumnae House.

15  AAMC Annual Meeting 2:00 pm, Danforth Lecture Hall, Aron Art Center For information about this important meeting open to all alumnae, contact the Alumnae Association of Mills College at 510.430.2110 or aamc@mills.edu.

Reunion 2010: September 30–October 3

Celebrating class years ending in 5 and 0 and the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1960 6

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

The paintings displayed there were based on a Chinese

Other faculty news

propaganda film from 1949 in which eight women soldiers

• Visiting Assistant Professor of English Stephanie Young was

fight off the Japanese and, with their backs to a river, choose to drown rather than be taken prisoner. This spring, her paintings are on display at the Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco and, until April 11, at the Bedford Gallery of the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California.

Liu has also collaborated with poet and playwright Michael McClure to produce the artist’s book Deer Boy, published

by Magnolia Editions in 2009.

awarded the Irvine Fellowship at the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Programs, an international multidisciplinary residency at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California.

The Irvine Fellowship is an award for emerging or mid-career artists from California who are working in areas of visual, performance, or literary arts.

• Professor Maggi Payne, co-director of the Center of Contemporary Music, was awarded a 2009 El Capitan Award in the Environmental/Mountain Film Competition at the 2009 Yosemite Film Festival for her video work titled Liquid Amber, for which she shot and edited the video and composed the music.

• David Donahue, associate professor of education, has published three papers within the past year. His topics cover the experience of students of color in service-learning, professional development in a diverse urban public school, and connecting classrooms and communities through Chicano mural art.

• Professor of Educational Leadership Sabrina Zirkel is part of a team that has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to investigate barriers inhibiting women pursuing stud-

Apsaras, White, by Hung Liu

ies in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Finding the bottom line Mills offers course in financial literacy Mastering your money is more complicated than ever in

“We’ve spent a lot of time examining the importance of liquid

today’s world of volatile financial markets, job insecurity, and

assets and of building your net worth.”

rising debt. But women must learn to do so in order to suc-

Among the 40 students enrolled in the course, one third are

ceed in their careers, support families, and manage wealth.

economics majors; according to a class survey, more than half

To prepare undergraduates for financial independence,

have student loans, and 20 percent carry unpaid credit card

Mills is offering a pilot course in financial literacy this spring,

balances, while 25 percent expressed that they are worried

Dollars and Sense. The course covers topics from managing

about being able to meet future loan payments.

debt (including student loans) and building credit to devel-

“I’ve had students work out their financial balance sheets,

oping a budget, understanding insurance and taxation, and

but we’re also looking at non-financial assets, such as their

planning for large purchases, investments, and retirement.

skills or stable relationships,” says Kennedy. “We have come

Offered by the Economics Department, Dollars and Sense

to see how these things work together. You may have great

also features visits from financial professionals, such as bank

artistic talent, for example, but if you can’t manage a budget to

managers and insurance brokers, who answer student ques-

purchase supplies and materials, you’re prevented from using

tions, and research projects on a variety of topics.

that non-financial asset to its fullest.”

“People can spend money they don’t have quite easily

The course is made possible through a $10,000 grant from

now,” says Robert Kennedy, who teaches the class. Kennedy

Bank of the West, which has also provided support for the

is a property and small business developer who also teaches

Summer Academic Workshop (SAW) and scholarship funding

economics and financial and managerial accounting at the

for students in the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business.

College of Marin. “And most people don’t understand the

“This course gets people started in learning to ask the right

difference between income and wealth, and the trappings

questions,” says Kennedy. “True financial literacy is built over

of wealth—a nice car, expensive clothes, and so on,” he adds

a lifetime.”

winter/spring 2010

7

More than money

By Kate Rix

N

adine Dixon ’09 is in her second semester of the public policy master’s program at Mills, but she’s been an economist most of her life.

As a mother, Dixon fed, clothed, and nurtured more than 30

children—for all but one, as a foster parent—in her San Francisco home, budgeting the limited resources of time, energy, and money. She was, in fact, that anomaly in American society: the paid mother.

“The government paid me to parent other people’s children,” Dixon says. “I went to soccer games. We had homework hour together. We listened to books on tape. I’d ask my kids, ‘What do you enjoy? Do you like to paint? Do you like to play basketball?’”

The Mills Economics Department encourages women’s perspectives and other non-traditional views of the field

As a single parent to one biological daughter, Dixon received welfare. As a foster parent, she received financial support as well, though much more than what welfare paid. Recognizing this discrepancy made her want to understand why care-giving is valued more in the foster system than under welfare law.

During that time she also began to question one of the basic assumptions of market economics—the scarcity of resources—particularly because she had made do with so little for so long.

“Scarcity is a created concept,” says Dixon, who is 50 and received her undergraduate degree in economics from Mills last year. “As women, the concept of scarcity is something we live with on a regular basis, but we have a different mindset. We can create what we need. We always have, for ourselves and for our families. We sew and cultivate gardens. Women are creators.”

With this line of inquiry, and with her experience as a foster mother trading goods and services with other parents, Dixon had entered into an only recently mapped landscape, known to economists as the non-monetary market. It is a place occupied largely by caregivers. In many cases, the network is made up of women who trade support without the use of money. It is a market where the traditional laws of supply and demand are not the only forces at work.

This is a place increasingly familiar to faculty economists at Mills, who integrate concerns about historically “feminine” issues in their research, such as the role of supportive social structures on the economic well-being of women and children, the rise of collaboration rather than competition as a business model, and, perhaps most urgent in our time, the growing importance of ethics in business. In the classroom, too, students like Dixon are encouraged to bring their own perspectives to the analysis, to put the needs and concerns of women at the center of the discussion, and to question the traditional frameworks underlying economics scholarship.

Siobhan Reilly (right) with a student 8

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Nadine Dixon ’09 phil channing

“Economists like to look into the mar-

pose questions about the way society values, or

ketplace, to see what’s bought and sold, what the

does not value, children and their care. One of the

prices and wages are. But a huge portion of what

social realities that drives their research is the high

is important has to do with resources that don’t

poverty rate among children in the United States:

have a market value,” says Siobhan Reilly, profes-

nearly 18 percent in 2007, according to the U.S.

sor of economics at Mills since 2001. “The activities

Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

of the non-market economy include child-rearing,

Reilly and Evenhouse have conducted two

breastfeeding, caring for elderly family members,

recent studies examining the economic impact of

and maintaining a household. These things don’t

welfare law on the behavior of mothers. The wel-

have a price and don’t go into calculating the Gross Domestic Product. This devalues women and gives a distorted view of the economy.”

Reilly and her husband, Assistant Professor Eirik Evenhouse, conduct research together and co-author all of their academic articles. They also have four children. Their lives as parents and partners form a backdrop to their lives as scholars; they have published several papers on poverty, inequality, and welfare reform and they quite specifically Dav id Schmit z

“The activities of the non-market economy include child-rearing, breastfeeding, caring for elderly family members, and maintaining a household.

These things don’t have a price... This devalues women and gives a distorted view of the economy.”

—Siobhan Reilly winter/spring 2010

9

fare system was originally intended to provide cash support for children whose fathers had died or abandoned them. While the rules were later changed to create some small exceptions, Reilly and Evenhouse note that the criterion that made most families eligible was the absence of a biological parent. The cash benefits of welfare may not have amounted to much, but recipients auto-

Eirik Evenhouse

matically became eligible for Medicaid—that is, government-provided health insurance—and food stamps.

“We wondered whether the fact that mothers living with unrelated men were treated so much more generously than mothers living with their children’s fathers might have an actual impact on behavior,” Reilly says.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, Reilly and Evenhouse tracked the variation in welfare benefits among states and over time from 1985 to 1996 (prior to major welfare reforms implemented in 1997). Because the survey also documents the relationship between every pair of individuals in a household, for each woman receiving welfare they were able to determine whether the woman’s children all had the

s te ve babul jak

same father, and also whether her male partner, if she had one, was the father of

activities, you stunt your society,” adds Reilly. “This

any or all of her children. So while right wing pundits often blame government

is what we have done. Under this model, it doesn’t

support to single mothers for the decline of the nuclear family in America, Reilly

pay to take care of the environment, or to take care

and Evenhouse concluded that increased welfare payments do not signifi-

of children or sick people or old people. Nobody

cantly increase the number of children living with only one biological parent.

rushes to do that work.”

“This has big implications for policy,” says Reilly. “Our findings suggest that we could make our social safety net considerably more generous without

Nancy Thornborrow , head of the Mills

producing large negative responses, including split relationships or parents

Economics Department and founding dean of the

shirking their responsibilities.” If welfare benefits could be raised substantially,

Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business, focuses

Evenhouse adds, poor children in the United States would no longer be so

her research on women in the labor force, includ-

much poorer than their counterparts in other rich countries.

ing analyses of the rigidity of fringe benefit plans,

Evenhouse notes that in parts of Scandinavia and Europe, care-giving par-

which would benefit women more if they could

ents receive a government stipend. “Our current American model is highly

negotiate for more pay in place of benefits. Her

compatible with the typical 1950s family, but not modern families,” he says.

paper, “Women in the Labor Force,” co-written

“While our society has made gains in many ways—women’s rights and gay

with Professor of History Marianne B. Sheldon for

rights—even with the family-friendly policies that have been implemented, we

the 1995 book Women: A Feminist Perspective, is a

haven’t taken the hard edges off of capitalism.”

seminal reference for scholars of gender and labor

In short, Reilly and Evenhouse argue, a society in which the economic struc-

issues. She also engages students in challenging

ture supports women and families goes a long way toward solving some of

traditional notions of economics in her course,

our biggest social problems. “If you don’t do things to foster non-remunerated

Women and the Economy.

“My goal is not to dismiss the neoclassical model of supply and demand,” Thornborrow says, “but to expand upon the analysis by including additional

Nancy Thornborrow

variables and information from other disciplines that acknowledge that preferences are also shaped by social norms and by individual psychology.”

She cites labor market discrimination as an example of the irrationality of the marketplace.

According to the neoclassical model, employers who discriminate will be driven out of the market by competitive forces, and wage differentials will disappear in the long run. Since this clearly has not happened, there must be non-market factors that influence economic behavior. Thornborrow has her students read a variety of different writers to analyze this problem and encourages debate about whether economics provides the appropriate tools to analyze gender equity.

10

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

dav id schmit z

While the Economics Department offers

heroic side, there’s the WorldCom whistle-blower, Cynthia Cooper, who dis-

an undergraduate core curriculum rooted in

covered and revealed fraud within the accounting firm where she worked,

rigorous scholarship and critical thinking, it

and Sherron Watkins, a vice president at Enron who helped uncover massive

also supports related master’s degree programs

accounting abuses within that company.

in business and public policy. “Good business

“At great risk to their careers, these women alerted authorities and called

decisions are based on sound economic reason-

attention to wrongdoing within their companies,” Williams says. “We study

ing,” says Thornborrow. She points to the MBA

how these women looked at the problems and what they did to take action.”

course Ethics, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship

Students also review the misdeeds of female executives such as Martha Stewart

to illustrate how Mills encourages alternate

and Leona Helmsley.

models to the stereotype of the economics or

“We study classic cases from contemporary business,” says Williams. “When

business student as a profit-driven corporate

Nike operates in a developing country, should they pay a living wage or the

shark. In the course, students examine potential

prevailing wage? If Merck discovers a drug that cures a debilitating disease in

conflicts between corporate interests and indi-

the third world, but the potential patients cannot afford the medicine, should

vidual responsibility through a variety of philo-

they spend corporate resources and effectively tax shareholders’ dividends in

sophical lenses.

order to provide free distribution?

Nancy Williams, who teaches the ethics

“Milton Friedman wrote that the business of business is business, not char-

course, offers examples of women who, in the

ity,” she continues. “But the only way to make a decision that you can live

end, have made both good and bad decisions

with is to think it through using all of your reasoning tools—including tools of

when confronted with ethical choices. On the

classical philosophy and even religious beliefs.”

“The only way to make a decision that you can live with is to think it through using all of your reasoning tools—including tools of classical philosophy and even religious beliefs.”

–Nancy Williams

Other economics faculty bring their own experiences as women and concerns as citizens to bear in their research and in their course curricula. Assistant Professor Lorien Rice focuses on poverty, discrimination, inequality, and transportation and its relationship to employment. Her paper, “Cars, Employment, and Single Mothers: Do Welfare Restrictions on Assets Have an Effect?”

Nancy Williams

examines how access to transportation affects employment options for poor women. Visiting Assistant Professor Zohreh Niknia has conducted extensive research on immigrant women in the U.S. as well as on gender, globalization, and development.

At Mills, the study of economics is rigorous; the department’s core is built on quantitative accounting and statistics courses. But the department also embraces research that turns traditional economic theories inside out, takes into account the ways that women’s work is often undervalued, and aims to help women become leaders with balanced lives.

The Mills program purposefully expands upon traditional “supply and demand” market discussion and delves deeply into an array of issues that affect economic conditions, including family, education and training, volunteerism, and labor force participation.

Economist Julie Nelson wrote in her 1995 article “Feminism and Economics” that this kind of expanded analysis might not be “feminine” nor “female” but rather “an improvement of all economics, whether done by female or male practitioners.”

Or, as one student wrote in a final exam essay for Thornborrow’s course, “there are many conflicts between work and family, and unfortunately women tend to bear the brunt of that conflict. The solution, however, is not . . . to make it easier for mothers to work, rather for the structure of work to shift, and for participation in the non-market activities to be more equitably shared within families.”

dana dav is

winter/spring 2010

11

women power

the transfer of

wealth

By Janis Johnson

m

ary Lanigar ’38, who made history by becoming the

made a tremendous difference to the College’s financial strength.

first woman partner in a “Big Eight” accounting firm,

In 2008–09, Mills received 30 such gifts, ranging in size from

was a passionate investor in the future. “She understood the

$1,000 to $1.8 million and adding up to $8.9 million, nearly half

importance of philanthropy,” says Clare Harding Springs ’66,

of all private giving in that time period. These gifts help the

an estate planning attorney who administered

College build for the future and make great progress

Lanigar’s $6.3 million bequest to Mills College.

toward its important goals of fiscal sustainability and

Lanigar designated most of her bequest to

institutional renewal.

the Northern California Regional Scholarship,

Many alumnae from the 1930s, such as Lanigar,

now renamed the Mary E. Lanigar Endowed

were able to accumulate wealth partly because of

Scholarship. Twenty Mills students received the

the remarkable economic growth in the half-century

scholarship this year; hundreds more will ben-

following World War II and partly because of the

efit from it in the years to come.

high value they placed on saving. Their propensity

Lanigar’s generous and strategic gift planning

to distribute wealth to charities as part of this inter-

was forward-looking in another significant way.

generational transfer is a fortunate trend, but not a

Her estate symbolizes the power that women

permanent source of funding.

hold in the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next. It also symbolizes their power to sustain the institutions and causes that they believe in—and to exercise this power beyond their lifetimes.

More than $41 trillion is expected to pass from one generation to the next or to nonprofit organizations in the first half of this century. Because women, on average, live seven years longer than men, they are expected to have or inherit

Subsequent generations demonstrate different giv-

Women have stepped up and realize that philanthropy is part of their responsibility.

–Clare Harding Springs ’66

as much as 70 percent of this wealth to spend,

ing patterns. For Baby Boomers, affected in several critical ways by the recent recession, a temporary “reset of the giving button” is already noticeable, says Springs, founder and CEO of San Francisco law firm Springs & Associates, a Mills Trustee for the past 19 years, and chair of the College’s Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2001. “Baby Boomers are facing financial responsibilities for their children’s education and other needs, delayed retirement, and a longer life expectancy after retirement,” she says. Many members of this genera-

invest, and donate, according to a report last year by Boston

tion are reconsidering their giving plans and approaches in light

College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy and Forbes maga-

of these unforeseen obligations.

zine. In fact, their impact is even more sweeping: research by

“But that is no reason to stop thinking about philanthropy,”

the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University shows

adds Springs. “People may need to readjust their sights, but the

that, in addition to their own giving, married women also have a

basic principles should not change. Women should be support-

major influence on their spouses’ philanthropic decisions.

ing the causes they believe in, such as women’s education.”

Estate giving at Mills

Education is a key focus of women donors

More than 400 alumnae have announced plans to make an

New research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute shows

estate gift to Mills—that is, they have included Mills in their

that women who take the lead in making choices for their

wills or have established annuities or trusts that will benefit the

households or who give independently from their husbands

College. Whether large or small, estate gifts have consistently

are more likely to give to education. In such instances, women

12

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Mills women share the wealth Estate gifts large and small help Mills support talented students, recruit top-notch faculty, and develop innovative programs. Here are three more alumnae of different generations whose careful planning has made a big difference at the College.

also give nearly twice as much. “As women’s wealth increases, so does their visibility and leadership in business, government, and the nonprofit sector,” according to Women’s Philanthropy on Campus: Releasing the Energy of Women Donors and Embracing the Winds of Change, published by the institute in December 2009. “Concomitant to these developments is a desire to expand the philanthropic base. Women’s philanthropy is emerging as one of the key trends that will change the course of society and the face of philanthropy today.”

The Women’s Philanthropy Institute has identified a phenomenon it calls “the contemporary women’s philanthropy movement.” As more women attend college, their earnings have increased, enabling them to give independently; in addition, women have begun to realize their power to support causes that are important to them. “Women have stepped up and realize that

Read about Michelle Crede ’70 on page 19 of Mills’ 2008–09 Annual Report of Giving (insert). Crede has used her inheritance to set up an annuity that will fund a scholarship for resumers at Mills.

Upon her death, the principal of the annuity will endow the scholarship in perpetuity.

Marine zoologist E. Alison Kay ’50 earned her PhD at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and served as a professor there until her death in 2008. As a result of her studies of native mollusks, Kay became an environmental activist, fighting to save the volcanic crater Diamond Head from development and serving on the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency. To ensure Mills’ academic excellence, she left $1.75 million for the College to use in fulfilling its greatest needs.

In 1939, Jean Jenkins ’35 sent Mills a gift of $1 with a note that said she wished she could give more. A homemaker and mother, she married a circuit court judge and inherited family wealth. She stepped up to manage the couple’s personal investments and land holdings after her husband suffered a stroke in 1990. When she passed away in 2008, she left 90 percent of her estate to the College. Her gift has provided scholarship support to 293 students.

philanthropy is part of their responsibility,” Springs says.

Understanding women’s opportunities Women can increase the power they hold in the transfer of wealth by carefully planning their wills. They should take into

How estate gifts make a difference at Mills

account the potential impact of estate taxes, ways that planned gifts to charities can reduce such taxes, and the financial circumstances of their loved ones. Some children, grandchildren,

Endowed Student Support 13%

and other family members may have their own earning power, while others may have significant financial needs. “The question to consider is the amount that you feel that you can commit to your charity while still taking care of your family,” Springs

Endowed Academic Support 17%

advises. Conversely, when parents are planning their wills, financially successful daughters can suggest that their stake in

Current Support and Scholarships 70%

a family’s wealth be contributed to Mills or to other nonprofit organizations they support.

Loyalty, passion, and relationships to an alma mater or other cause are major influences in women’s decisions about charitable giving, and many take seriously the chance to teach the next generation of philanthropists to do their part. “Mills has achieved great status, and it’s very important for those of us

This chart shows the distribution of estate gifts that came to the College between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.

who know Mills to continue to support it,” says Springs. “Mills presents an opportunity for women that we must preserve: a high-level education combined with an environment in which women come first. In this economic climate, we need women to

To learn more about how you can contribute to Mills through

think strategically about how they can best use their power and

your estate planning, contact Director of Gift Planning April

wealth to support the people and places they care most about.

Hopkins toll-free at 877.PGMILLS (877.746.4557) or by email

“It’s a good time to rethink the things that are important.”

at aprilh@mills.edu.

winter/spring 2010

13

A family affair

W

Helen Drake Muirhead ’58 and her clan sponsor a row of seats in the Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall

By Heather Haas

hen Mills announced the

women describe their family as

was a resumer working on my

The entire family plans to

opportunity to name seats in

“extremely close,” which meant,

BA, and a friend was prepar-

visit the Littlefield Concert

the newly-renovated Jeannik

in this case, that Helen began

ing to go abroad for a semes-

Hall—and their seats—far into

Méquet

Concert

calling other relatives to see if

ter. We threw a going-away

the future. All say that Mills

Hall in winter 2009, Ellen

they might be interested in cre-

party for her, and her fiancé

has been an important part of

McDaniels Sanford ’88 imme-

ating a row of named seats.

brought

to

their lives, and their relation-

Littlefield

Walter

Sanford

diately thought of her mother,

In all, nine seats were named

the party.” Ellen and Walter

ship to the College is one of the

Dorothy Barton Cone: “My

for members of the family,

soon began dating, and Ellen

many ties that binds them.

mom couldn’t afford to go to

seven of whom attended Mills:

met her future in-laws on the

Mills, but she lived nearby and

Helen; her son, Walter Sanford,

Mills campus. She recalls, “We

walked to Mills twice a week to

MA ’93; Walter’s wife, Ellen;

attended a Shakespeare play

take piano lessons. The 20th

their daughter, Kaila Sanford

in Lisser Hall. I was so ner-

anniversary of her passing is

’11; Krista M. Muirhead ’88,

vous to meet Helen!” Ellen

this year, and I still deeply miss

MD, Helen’s step-daughter and

needn’t have worried, though;

her. My daughter, Kaila, has

an oncologist; Cynthia Morris,

she and Helen grew close, she

now transferred to Mills, so

MD, Helen’s niece, now a fam-

and Walter married and had

it seemed appropriate for my

ily practitioner who completed

a daughter, and Walter began

mom, my daughter, and me to

her

pre-

work on a master’s degree in

‘sit together’ in the beautiful

medical certificate at Mills in

interdisciplinary computer sci-

concert hall.”

1985; and Eric Sanford, MD,

ence at Mills. He would drop

Ellen called her mother-in-

Helen’s son, who completed his

Kaila off at the Children’s

law, Mills Trustee Helen Drake

post-bac pre-med certificate in

School on his way to class. Eric

Muirhead ’58, who remem-

1988 and now practices family

Sanford commented, “We have

bers, “When Ellen told me that

medicine for the underserved.

more generations of girls in

To name a seat—or seats for your

post-baccalaureate

When you make a gift to name one of the Littlefield Concert Hall’s 442 fixed seats, your name—or the name of a relative, friend, or professor you choose to honor—will be engraved on a brass nameplate on the seat’s armrest. Two donation levels are available: with a gift of $2,500, you may name a seat on the main level, which is closest to the stage. With a gift of $1,500, you may name a seat in the upper tier.

she planned to name seats in

“I wouldn’t even be a part

the family who are growing up

entire family—contact Allison

the Littlefield Concert Hall to

of this wonderful family if it

and hearing about Mills, so we

Murdock,

help support the renovation

weren’t for Mills,” Ellen Sanford

may have some additional Bent

coordinator, at 510.430.2301

effort, I was all for it.” Both

explained. “In the late 1980s, I

Twigs in the future.”

or amurdock@mills.edu.

donor

relations

dana davis

Best seats in the house: The Sanford and Muirhead families gather in the Littlefield Concert Hall. Front row, left to right: Walter Sanford, MA ’93; Helen Drake Muirhead ’58; Cynthia Morris ’85, MD. Back row, left to right: Ellen Sanford ’88; Kaila Sanford ’11; and Krista M. Muirhead ’88, MD. Not pictured: Eric Sanford ’88, MD. 14

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

In Memoriam Notices of deaths received before December 31, 2009

Alumnae Elaine Baker ’31, October 5, in Roseburg, Oregon. She was an accomplished weaver, spinning her own wool and attending workshops in Greece and Scandinavia. She is survived by two children and six grandchildren.

Kathryn Miller Bowden, MA ’35, October 4, in Seattle. A docent at the Seattle Art Museum and the Asian Art Museum, she is survived by three daughters and six grandchildren.

Dorothy Shwayder Heitler ’35, November 26, in Denver, Colorado. She is survived by five children, including Lynn Heitler ’70; sister Norma Shwayder Degen ’43; cousin Eleanor Sims ’64; and 17 grandchildren.

Maybelle Clark Macdonald ’40, December 10, in Portland, Oregon.

A leading philanthropist, she established a charitable fund which supported a wide variety of organizations advancing education, the arts, health, and public welfare in the Portland area. She is survived by a son and 11 grandchildren.

Virginia Hoag Stephenson, MA ’40, November 12, in San Antonio, Texas. She spent 20 years as an Army wife before settling in San Antonio, where she was active in the Belle Meade Garden Club and various organizations at Trinity University. She is survived by her daughter and two grandsons.

Ernestine Johnson Gonzales ’42, October 14, in El Monte, California.

Elizabeth Chandler McEwen ’36, January 20, 2006, in Albany, Oregon.

Katherine Eaton Bennett ’43, November 6, 2007, in Monterey, California.

Harriet Burnside Russell ’36, July 7, 2001, in Rancho Mirage, California.

Katherine Philipsborn Rosenblatt ’44, November 10, in San Leandro, California. She was an educator, writer, lesbian activist, and advocate for older women. She also served as class agent and a member of the AAMC Board of Governors. She is survived by her partner, Joyce Pierson, and three children.

Louise Ganteaume Littlehale ’37, October 7, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Yvonne Ford Bowman ’39, October 20, in Salemtowne, Oregon. An Oregon native, she spent most of her adult life in Hawaii, where she was the organist for several churches as well as accompanist for the Honolulu Symphony Chorus. She was also assistant choral director at Kailua High School. Survivors include three children and four grandsons.

Jean Hinton Bennion ’40, June 16, 2003, in Worley, Idaho. A longtime resident of Spokane, she was a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, the PTA, and Chi Omega sorority. She is survived by her husband, Irving; five children, including Kathleen Bennion Barrett ’64; 14 grandchildren, including Andrea Barrett ’90; and niece Margaret Young Orlando ’69.

Mary Scofield McIntosh ’45, April 26, 2009, in Salinas, California.

Margery Foote Meyer ’45, November 25, in Carmel, California. A founding member for the Casa Abrego Club for Women and an accomplished swimmer, she raced from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco at the age of 71 and was inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009. She is survived by her husband, Bruce; two children; and two grandchildren.

Ruth Armstrong Reid ’45, July 29, in Medford, Oregon. She was a master gardener, a dedicated civic volunteer, and a longtime horsewoman and skier. She is survived by three sons and six grandchildren.

Ruth Church Gupta ’38 (left), September 18, in San Francisco. She and her husband established the law firm of Gupta and Gupta, where she practiced until her retirement in 1995. An advocate for women’s rights, she was the first female president of the Lawyers Club of San Francisco, served as the first woman on many professional and government committees and commissions, and was named Hastings College of Law alumna of the year in 1981, the same year she presented the Commencement address at Mills. Survivors include many nieces and nephews.

Elizabeth Raines Harrop ’47, October 11, in San Diego, California. Raised in a Navy family and later married to an Army officer, she learned about cultures surrounding her at posts from Austria to Guam to Palestine. She was a gracious hostess, an active member of the Episcopal Church, and a world traveler. She is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

Marilyn Endres Larsen ’47, October 26, in Sacramento, California. After a 20-year career as a teacher, she enjoyed traveling, playing bridge, and volunteering as a docent at the Sacramento Zoo. She is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

Babette Harris Meyers ’47, May 5, 2009, in San Bernardino, California. She served on her community hospital foundation and the library board, and was a leader in other civic organizations.

She is survived by two sons and three grandchildren.

Jean White Sell ’47, July 1, in Concord, California.

Lucy Perkins Shauer ’48, Sept. 20, in Camarillo, California. Survivors include a son.

Barbara Johnson Piper ’49, August 2, in Hutchinson, Kansas. She had a long career in real estate sales, was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and supported her local library and arts organizations.

Survivors include two children.

Sammie Loftin Carlile ’50, April 18, 2008, in Coronado, California.

Devoted to her friends, family, boating, and cruises, she was a longtime member of the San Diego Yacht Club. She is survived by her husband, Morton; four children; six grandchildren; and her sister, Sterling Dorman ’47.

Philomen Kelly Severance, MA ’50, July 15, in Sonoma, California.

A high school teacher and community volunteer, she was an excellent bowler, chairing the California Senior Women’s winter/spring 2010

23

Tournament for 23 years, competing in 38 championship tournaments, and editing the state Golden Nugget bowling newspaper. She is survived by her husband, Robert, and a son.

Elizabeth Chase Ward Wheelock ’50, November 24, 2008, in Edina, Minnesota. She is survived by her husband, Bob; two children; and five grandchildren. Lucy Wichers Rathjens ’51, June 18, in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Anne Johnson Scepansky, MA ’53, November 4, in Houston, Texas.

As a military wife, she entertained dignitaries in posts around the world; later, she founded a chapter of Pi Beta Phi and was

active in that organization’s activities. She is survived by her husband, Joseph; a daughter; and two grandsons.

Martha McInally Hadsell ’54, January 27, 2009, in Naples, Florida. She was an advocate for education for underprivileged children, an avid golfer, and a skilled seamstress. Survivors include her husband, Norman; three sons; six grandchildren; and sister Mary McInally Grover ’61.

Annette Lee Park ’55, November 24, in Colusa, California. She was co-owner of Chung Sun Market, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and a staunch Republican. She is survived by her husband, So Han; two children; and three grandchildren.

Patricia Ducommun Frey ’56, October 25, in Walnut Creek, California. A longtime resident of Santa Barbara, she was active there with Community Covenant Church. She is survived by her husband, Gerald; three children; and five grandchildren.

Katherine “Kitty” Sinclair Collins ’57, November 7, in Belvedere, California. She was a supporter of the de Young Museum and a longtime member of the Francisca Club. She is survived by her husband, Tim; two children; and three grandchildren.

Wynetta Spencer Kollman ’73, October 13, in Sacramento. She earned her PhD in chemistry at Howard University and had a long career with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. She was a member of Delta Sorority, the Order of the Eastern Star PHA, and the Order of the Golden Circle. She is survived by her parents, four siblings, and many nieces and nephews. A part of Kollman’s estate will fund a scholarship at Mills for African American women pursuing degrees in physical sciences.

24

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Letitia Thoreson Teeter ’57, December 3, in Knoxville, Tennessee. An accomplished flutist, she was a volunteer teacher’s and library aide and worked occasionally as a freelance book editor. She was an active member of Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) and of the Ossoli Circle women’s club. She is survived by her husband, Dwight; three children; and a grandson.

Earlene Neill Martin, MA ’58, June 22, in Bandon, Oregon.

Tekla Henningsen Budd ’60, May 3, 2005, in Welches, Oregon. She is survived by her husband, Donald; two children; two stepchildren; and eight grandchildren.

Judith Kuster Ackerly ’62, October 16, in San Diego, California. She earned her JD from the University of San Francisco and practiced poverty law as civilian counsel for the Navy. She is survived by her husband, Robert Flynn; two sons; and four grandchildren.

Martha Latt, MFA ’67, October 5, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was an artist and teacher in drawing, sculpture, and photography. In later life, she was tour guide to thousands of visitors to the Cleveland area. Survivors include her sister and several nieces and nephews.

James Shields, MFA ’72, September 17, in Oakland, California. He sang with the San Francisco Opera Chorus and Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and served as an Oakland police officer. Survivors include his wife, Mary.

Phyllis Kelsey ’77, October 27, 2008, in Haddam, Connecticut.

Myra Paradise ’77, October 20, in Oakland, California. She worked as an instructor for disabled children, was a gracious hostess, and enjoyed gardening.

Linda Alaniz Graff ’78, December 3, in Alameda, California. She was a preschool teacher and a committed volunteer in many church, school, and community groups. She is survived by her husband, Gary; three sons; and three grandchildren.

Diane Coffelt Crosby, MA ’02, September 4, in Hayward, California. She is survived by her husband, John; three children; and a granddaughter.

Tiffany Thigpen ’05, October 3, in Oakland, California.

Leila Abu-Saba, MFA ’07, October 8, in Oakland, California. She was an English composition teacher at local community colleges and wrote the blog Dove’s Eye View, exploring topics of Middle East peace, literature, cooking, sustainable development, and more. Survivors include her husband, David, and two sons.

Faculty and Staff Effie Lee Morris Jones, a lecturer in education at Mills in the late 1970s, died November 10 in San Francisco. She graduated with a BS and MLS from Case Western University and in 1963 moved to San Francisco, where she became the first coordinator of children’s services at the San Francisco Public Library. A champion of making libraries accessible for all patrons regardless of age, disability, or language spoken, she founded the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association and became the first African American president of the Public Library Association.

Morris served 12 years on the California State Library Board and was a lifetime member of the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society.

Survivors include two children, David and Jacqueline.

Thomas O. Bente, November 13, in Palm Springs. An assistant professor of Spanish at Mills from 1967 to 1972, he taught for 25 years in the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies departments at Temple University in Philadelphia. He retired to Palm Springs in 1999 and continued to teach as an adjunct at College of the Desert. He is survived by his partner, Geoffrey W. LaDomus.

Spouses and Family Yoshiko Adachi , mother of Director of Athletics Themy-Jo Adachi, November 22, in El Cerrito, California.

John Baptista, husband of Mary Brady Baptista ’47, in San Leandro, California.

William Berreyesa, partner of Diane Caleson Merchant ’58, December 8, in Los Altos, California.

Jean Boyce-Smith, mother of Ann Harris Boyce’72, September 25, in Napa, California.

Keith G. Coblentz, son of Jane Cudlip King ’42 and brother of Nancy Coblentz Patch ’80, October 6, while on vacation in South Lake Tahoe.

’70

Gifts in Memory of

John Morris Fenley, father of Molissa Fenley ’75, October 21, in Modesto, California.

Abdul Ghani, husband of Anees Ghani ’91, MA ’94, May 14, in Dublin, California.

Ekkehard Heyder, husband of Betty Wiley Heyder ’60, January 28, 2009, in St. Charles, Missouri.

Marian Jackson, mother of Gwen Jackson Foster ’67, October 2, in Los Angeles.

Chris Johnson, father of Jennifer Kristen Johnson ’09, April 5, 2009, in Calistoga, California.

Harry Kendall, father of Judith Kendall ’84 and Elizabeth Kendall ’75, January 18, 2008, in Oakland, California.

Tor Lyshaug, husband of Elizabeth Wilcox Lyshaug ’51 and father of Anne Kari Lyshaug Wortmann ’81, in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Elaine Lubisch, mother of Karen Lubisch ’92, March 23, 2007, in Winters, California.

James Moritz, father of Ramona Moritz ’89, October 8, in Watsonville, California.

Charles Reno, father of Deborah Reno ’78, September 1, in Green Valley, Arizona.

John Sartin, husband of Norris Murphy Sartin, MA ’45, November 15, in Metairie, Louisiana.

Dorothy Smythe, mother of Suzanne Smythe ’79, June 22, 2009, in Carmel, California.

William Turner, husband of Mary Susan Turner ’57, May 21, 2009, in Mesa, Arizona.

Randall Y. Warner, husband of Elizabeth Avakian Warner ’76, October 20, in San Diego, California.

Delmar Vuksich, husband of Anka Bratichevich Vuksich ’38, August 2, in San Jose, California.

Received September 1–November 30, 2009 Leila Abu-Saba, MFA ’07, by Donna Baranski-Walker and Martin Fong, Nan Bentley, Alistair Black and Deborah Savage, Nicholas Bu-Saba and Maha Farhat, Edythe Chan ’71, MA ’72, Joan Hoelzer, F. Edward Bentley, S. Bayne Bentley, Susan Cregger, Deborah Downer, Eva Eilenberg, Janet and M. Edward Gibson, Joy and Robert Hilden, Ellen and Martin Klein, Katharine Kunst, Lynette Lee, Leah Libow, Stephanie Lipow and Anthony Walecka, Ericka Lutz, Celeste MacLeod, David MacLeod, Lois Mark, Sally and David McIntyre, Eva and Michel Nicola, Katherine and Michael Olivier, Paula Rainey, Hilary and Andrew Redmond, Joan Roderman, Susan and Hiko Shimamoto, Mady Shumofsky, Elizabeth Sibley, John Simon, Vanessa Spear, Susan Yascolt Joan Gilbert Bailin ’51 by Georgian Simmonds Bahlke ’51, P ’80 Sheila Weibert Ballantyne ’58

by Margaret Roberts Tomczak ’58 Janet Costar Bentley ’43 by Evelyn Lenker Hart ’41 Keith Coblentz, son of Jane Cudlip King ’42, by Barbara L. Hunter ’57 Katherine “Kitty” Sinclair Collins ’57 by Jean Mann MacDonald ’57 Jane Curliano ’88 by Cecily Peterson ’88 Evelyn “Peg” Deane ’41 by Mary Hart Clark ’42 Courtney Donnell ’08 by Charles Betsey and Margaret Simms, Carolyn and Elmo Neal, Amber Valdez ’08

David Landes, P ’08, by Daphne Muse, P ’08

Isabel Schemel Mulcahy ’44 by Isabelle Hagopian Arabian ’45, Bret Brodowy, Cathryn and Jon Buurma, C & V Representatives Inc., Anne Sherwood Copenhagen ’44, Michelle Deng, Jean and Arnold Fickett, Julie Wilson Ganz, Marjorie Greene, Judy and Walter Haniger, Allan Howard, Barbara L. Hunter ’57, Jay Jacobus, Albert and Frances Matteucci, Catherine McCormack McGilvray ’56, UCSF Clinical Informatics & Clinical Documentation Team, Janet Meyer, Lorraine and Frederick Mielke Jr., Ronald and Lisa Miller, Tessa Moore and Paul Taylor, Thomas Mulcahy, Newton Remmel Attorneys, Jeanne and George O’Brien, Donald Ostrus, Palo Alto Area Mills College Club, Peninsula Endodontics, Patricia Rivers, Nancy and Norm Rossen, Claudia Rossi and Stephen Sanfilippo, Jeanette Schemel, Kethen So, Joan Spicer, Elizabeth and Raman Stultz, Judith and Larry Suelzle, Neilda and Howard Sussman, Margaret Taylor, Jocelyn Tom, Carol Viele

Marilyn Endres Larsen ’47

by Sheila Zisko

Grace Williams Nicholl ’39

by Nancy Marwick DeMuth ’70

Elaine Lubisch, P ’92, by Karen Lubisch ’92

John Sartin, husband of Norris Murphy Sartin, MA ’45, by Helen Haigh Mills, MA ’46

Edith Lilienthal Dorfman ’42

by Rachel Walter Michaelsen ’41 Sybil “Syb” Johnson Dray ’41, P ’72 by Lester Dray, P ’72, Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34, Barbara Johnson Penhallow ’46, Jean Morgan Randall ’41 John Gilbert Fall, P ’81, husband of Margaret Bard Fall ’50, P ’81,

by Yvonne Steele Byron ’50 John Fenley, P ’75, by the Mills College Club of New York Lori Fong by Marilyn and William Learn Herbert Graham by Carol Lotz Wenzel ’46, MA ’47 Francis Herrick, husband of Mariam White Herrick ’23,

by Sally Mayock Hartley ’48 Wynetta Spencer Kollman ’73 by the De Goff family Jean and Y.H. Kwong, P ’54, P ’70, by the family of Y. H. Kwong, Mei Kwong and Laurence C. Franklin

Boitumelo “Tumi” McCallum ’09 by Mildred Hudson, John Jordan, A. Lenora Magubane, Teboho Moja, P ’09, Margaret Moja, Dolores Morris, Lillian Petty, Cynthia Rountree, Mavis Shepherd, Roberta Yancy Robaline Jenne Meacham ’43, MA ’44, by Phyllis Gardiner, Kathleen and John Swart, Edith Walsh Elsie Richmond Monette ’46

by Betty Taves Whitman ’46 Laura Bliven Moseley ’64 by Oakland-Berkeley Branch, Alumnae Association of Mills College

Barbara Miller Schlauch ’48 by Marilyn Wilson Newland ’48, P ’75 Mary and Walter Schreitmueller, P ’86, by Teresa Schreitmueller ’86 Dorothy Shauer Smythe, P ’79, by the Mills College Club of New York Martha Wickland Stumpf ’46

by Carol Lotz Wenzel ’46, MA ’47, Thomasina Woida ’80 Ann Peck Ward ’38 by Peggy Weber ’65 and Robert Whitlock, P ’02 Shirley Weishaar by Deborah Feldman ’89, Thomasina Woida ’80

p=parent; For information about making a tribute gift, contact 510.430.2097 or donors@mills.edu.

winter/spring 2010

25

Sound off!

Tell us the best prank you pulled— or that was pulled on you. College life isn’t all about serious academic inquiry. Sometimes it’s more about serious fun.

I had a mouse (a real, live mouse) in my Olney Hall dorm room that really irritated me. I convinced the dorm mother, Mrs. Fusco—a very sweet, softspoken woman—to come to my room, but when we got there someone had placed a stuffed mouse near my closet. Of course, Mrs. Fusco was quite relieved and then didn’t believe that there was really a mouse problem at all. To this day I don’t know who put the stuffed mouse in my room.

—Rosemary Passman Trujillo ’63

i l l u s t r at i o n s b y d e b o r a h z e m k e

Want to be part of the next “Sound off”? Sign up for the @mills email newsletter—just send your email address to alumnae-relations@mills.edu along with your full name, any previous name, and class year. Write “@mills” in the subject line of your message. We’ll also post the next “Sound off” question on Mills’ Facebook page.

26

M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

I r etu r n e d to my top-f lo or ro om

I also snuck into Mills Hall’s third floor

in Olney Hall one afternoon to discover

with some friends on a bored night. We

that my bed was teetering on the wall

donned black outfits, berets, and flash-

of the sleeping porch, right above the

lights, studied the frequency of security

entrance to the dormitory! It didn’t take

patrols, and climbed up the tree and fire

long to gather friends to help me pull the

escape. Spooky! There was a big stuffed

bed back where it belonged. I was sure

St. Bernard dog in the top floor middle

I knew who had done it, so I called her

window—his silhouette got all of our

brother, and he sent me a picture taken of

adrenalin pumping!

her when she was a child. I saw to it that

—Stephanie Griffin ’91

the picture was printed in the next edition

a group of us—including Therese Poncy

of the Mills Weekly (now the Campanil).

’87, Karen Simi ’89, and Cindy d’Armand

The perpetrator was my future sister-in-

’87—enjoyed some “liquid refreshments,”

law Aimee Wolff Minkin ’43. We have

then decided to explore the mysteries of

now lived next door to one another for

the upper floors of Mills Hall, which had

35 years so you know there were no hard

been closed since before we arrived on

feelings!

campus. Somehow we managed to pull —Ann Sulzberger Wolff ’42

down the fire escape ladder and climb in through an unlocked window.

A favor ite of th e Clas s of 1952

At some point, realizing our adventure

was ringing the Campanil chimes 52

would be nothing but a memory unless

times and running fast. We also moved

we did something about it, we climbed

all the furniture from the Mills Hall liv-

back down, ran to the dorm, and picked

ing room to the second floor. Aside from

up Ho-Bag. We somehow managed to get

water bagging over the Mills Hall front

him up the ladder in our inebriated state

portico, I think the best was removing

and placed him prominently in the center

bedroom doors (they came up by lifting

window of the fourth floor.

them off the hinges) and installing them

—Cheryl Reid-Simons ’87

under the victims’ mattresses, awaiting discovery when victims finally decided

A s mall ro om off the entry hallway in

to go to bed after a fruitless search. Good

Ethel Moore Hall is called the Date Room,

Lord, we were energetic!

because in the old days when a gentle-

—Louise Levis Weiss ’52

man came to call on a resident, they had to sit together in the date room under the

For whatever reason, a holiday had

supervision of an adult staff member.

been cancelled—it might have been

One of my dormmates had a date

Du r i ng ou r s e n ior year, we had a

Heyday Playday—and classes were to be

with a guy who had never been to Mills

publication party for our literary maga-

held as usual. Someone (not me, really!)

before, so my friends and I made arrange-

zine, the Walrus. Two of my friends left

stole a piece of President Barbara White’s

ments with her. My friend Rebecca, a

the reception, taking with them one of

letterhead and wrote a memo restor-

theater major, dressed up in spinsterish

the delicious sourdough bread bowls

ing the holiday and cancelling classes.

clothes, pinned up her hair, and put on

filled with spinach dip. A friend and I

The typed and signed (forged, of course)

some spectacles. When the young man

decided to “punk” them by sending them

memo was taped up on the doors of all

in question showed up he had to meet

a letter on ASMC Academic Board letter-

the dorms the night before and so every-

the “dorm mother” in the Date Room. He

head, stating that they were seen steal-

one went crazy and made plans to stay up

and his date sat there for almost half an

ing the spinach dip and potentially would

late, sleep in, blow off whatever assign-

hour while Rebecca peppered him with

not be able to walk the stage during

ments were due.… Administration con-

questions to determine his suitability. We

Commencement. They both panicked;

ceded defeat and we had our holiday.

watched from the next room, trying not

one was on the verge of tears. I let them

to giggle too loudly. After he was given

sweat it out for almost 24 hours, then let

strict admonishments to have her home

the cat out of the bag. I endured a couple

Wh e n we c lean e d out the storage

by 10 and to “act like a gentleman,” they

of their loving expletives, then we all had

area in our dorm, Reinhardt Hall, we

were finally allowed to leave. I don’t know

a huge laugh afterward. Yes, those spin-

found an enormous stuffed St. Bernard

if he ever had the courage to come back

ach dips were quite tasty.

that we affectionately named “Ho-Bag.”

for a second date!

—Sara McClure ’81

A few weeks later, on a warm spring night,

—Sonja Piper Dosti ’92

—Stephanie Saad Thompson ’88 winter/spring 2010

27

Mills Quarterly

Celebrate Commencement

Mills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613-1301

May 15, 2010 Honor Mills’ recommitment to women’s education with Speaker

510.430.3312 quarterly@mills.edu www.mills.edu

Nancy Pelosi

Address service requested Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, CA and at additional mailing office(s)

See page 6 for details

The Three P’s: People, Planet, Profit The Second Annual Conference of the Center for Socially Responsible Business Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College Friday, April 9, 2010 r 8:45 am–5:00 pm Business and nonprofit executives, economists, policy makers, scholars, and students are invited to learn how a variety of companies fulfill their commitment to sustain the environments and communities where they do business. Speakers at this free one-day event will discuss the idea of the “Three Ps,” in which a corporation’s success is measured not only by the financial bottom line, but also by its social, ethical, and environmental performance.

Registration is free but space is limited; lunch will be provided in the Student Union.

Please register online by April 8 at www.acteva.com/go/csrb. For more information, visit www.mills.edu/mba/csrb, call 510.430.3248, or email csrb@mills.edu.

The Center for Socially Responsible Business is made possible through generous support from The Elfenworks Foundation.

1. Mike Hannigan, President and Co-founder, Give Something Back 2. Simran Sethi, Associate Professor, University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications; author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy

1

2

Keynote Speaker: Suzanne Fallender, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy and Communications, Intel Corporation