What is the most significant legacy of Alecia DeCoudreaux’s presidency? Seven leaders in the Mills community share their perspectives. I deeply appreciate President DeCoudreaux’s focus on a long-term vision even as she addressed important present-day challenges. She planted the seeds to realize some big dreams for Mills, inspiring investments in a vibrant campus community. As a result of her leadership, Lisser Hall will become a modern gathering place in the heart of campus. She carried the students’ dream of an urban farm to reality. And a corner of venerable Carnegie Hall is now an innovation space. – Kathleen Burke, chair, Mills College Board of Trustees Alecia DeCoudreaux has been embraced by alumnae and has embraced us in return. She attended every one of our AAMC Board of Governors meetings. Because of her work, we feel more engaged with the College and feel that we’re a priority for the College. This has led to the signing of our historic AAMC-College compact. It’s also important to us that she instituted best practices in budgeting so that the College can survive into the future. – Lucy Do ’75, president, Alumnae Association of Mills College
President DeCoudreaux has inspired alumnae to feel not only included, but valued. The academic standards are high, and the curriculum is rigorous. Our campus is more diverse than ever before, and the average student is awarded a larger financial aid package than in past years. President DeCoudreaux helped us to understand that we must give in order for Mills to have the diversity we are so proud of. She has laid the groundwork for all alumnae, including women of color, to make major contributions to Mills College. – Linda Stingily ’78. She and her sisters—Jacquelyn Stingily Major ’78, Paula Yvette Stingily-Williams ’85, Gloria Helen Stingily ’90, and Adilisha Stingily Hodari ’91, Cheri Stingily—and brother, Richard Stingily, contributed generously to the Alumnae of Color Endowed Scholarship in Honor of President Alecia DeCoudreaux, in memory of their parents, Clyde and Hattye (Parker) Stingily, and eldest sister, Deborah Stingily I am particularly grateful for Alecia’s work to develop the strategic plan and to engage the entire campus community in moving it forward. – Melissa Stevenson Diaz ’91, alumna trustee
Last fall, due to financial considerations, we raised the possibility of closing the under-graduate dance major. In response, our dance faculty worked hard to re-imagine the major and make it more relevant to today’s students, with the goal of increasing enrollment in the program. They listened to students of color to learn how to make the program more engaging for them. They coordinated with faculty in other departments to make it simpler for students to double-major in dance. The faculty saved the dance major and, at the same time, they cut costs.
We laid the groundwork for a campus farm. Although Mills maintained a working farm early in its history, the idea for our new organic farm was inspired by a gift from the Class of 2010. Since then, we’ve set aside a 2.5-acre site near the front gate and developed plans for the farm. We hired a farm manager with the help of a generous gift from Kathleen Burke, chair of our board of trustees, and her husband, Ralph Davis. Students have already started cultivating a portion of the site, and this spring a biology course, Plant Ecology and the Urban Farm, held labs at the farm. In the future, we can look forward to harvesting healthy food from the farm for the campus and the broader community.
We have no more secrets about the College’s financial challenges. I don’t feel the same sense of joy about this accomplishment as I do about the others. At the start of my presidency, I was shocked to learn that the College hadn’t analyzed the costs of its programs. So we opened up all of the closets and all of the drawers to investigate our financial affairs. We shared what we learned, and now the whole community understands our circumstances. We implemented best financial practices, gradually reducing the payout from the endowment from 7 percent to 5.25 percent. It’s been painful, but essential for the long-term viability of Mills. We are not out of the woods yet, but with new information and financial discipline, College leaders are better equipped to make informed decisions, put in place a sustainable financial model, and educate generations of students to come. 8
M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly