Mills Quarterly, Spring 2020

C L I M AT E C H A N G E AT M I L L S  A L U M S I N S C I - F I  T R U S T E E E L E C T I O N

Mills Quarterly Spring 2020

MAKE YOUR MILLS GIFT and slide your class pennant up the participation pole!

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Small gifts make a big impact. In a typical year, over

2,800

donors make gifts under

$5,000

1950 1988 1950 1989 1950 1990

Chart represents undergraduate giving participation July 1, 2019, to March 1, 2020.

GIFTS TO THE COLLEGE send a powerful message to potential students and donors that the Mills experience is worth their investment. Your participation yields benefits well beyond the dollar amount of your gifts, from boosting the College’s rankings—along with the value of your own Mills degree—to inspiring gifts from foundations and corporations, What’s more, when you maintain giving for three or more consecutive fiscal years, you will be entered into the El Campanil Club, named for the campus’s signature bell tower designed by Julia Morgan. Benefits include an invitation to a special event at Reunion and other acknowledgements of your support.

Show how much you value your Mills education. Make your annual fund gift today and push your class’s participation rank to the top!

Please make a gift to the Mills College Annual Fund by calling 510.430.2366, visiting alumnae.mills.edu/give, or returning the enclosed envelope.

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Mills Quarterly

CONTENTS

Spring 2020

8 The Defining Issue of Our Time by Susan McCarthy While climate change is more of a reality and less of a hypothetical, there are still actions the College can take to lower its carbon footprint.

14 Expanding Worlds (and Minds) In a roundtable discussion, three alumnae working in speculative fiction talk about how the genre has grown to encompass creators and fans from all walks of life.

32 Doing Her Family Proud by Allison Rost Centenarian alumna Theresa “Terry” Loewy Breyer ’37 followed her mother and aunt to Mills.

Departments 2

Letters to the Editor

3

President’s Message

4

Mills Matters

20 AAMC News 24 Class Notes 29 In Memoriam

On the cover: We won’t see wind turbines and solar panels taking over the Oval anytime soon, but it’s going to take bolder, more creative solutions like these to lessen the College’s impact on the environment when the obvious fixes have already been made. Read (and see) more on page 8. Original photo by Allison Rost, illustration by Nora Aoyagi.

Letter to the Editor I just read (cover to cover) the fall 2019 Volume CIX, Number 3 (USPS 349-900) Spring 2020 President Elizabeth L. Hillman Vice President for Institutional Advancement Jeff Jackanicz Senior Director of the Annual Fund and Alumnae Relations Nikole Hilgeman Adams

issue of Mills Quarterly and felt so proud of the direction the College is taking.

The fact that you have adjunct professors who truly feel connected to their departments is encouraging—in my observations at community colleges, they are dreadfully exploited. That seems not to be the case from the testimonials in the magazine, and I was happy to read that the College is hiring a lot of tenure-track

Managing Editor Allison Rost

folks as well.

Design and Art Direction Nancy Siller Wilson

“Building Community, Building Leaders.”

Editorial Assistant Lila Goehring ’21

can’t quite believe how you arrived in

feelings of young women not groomed by

such a special place, is something I did as

their high schools or families to attend an

Contributors Nora Aoyagi Susan McCarthy Angelica Navarro ’21 Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13

a young lawyer. At that point, there were

elite college.

Editorial Advisory Committee Angela Bacca, MBA ’12 Sheryl Bize-Boutte ’73 Melissa Bender Henley ’99 Dawn Cunningham ’90 Myila Granberry ’05 Sarah Lehman ’86 Mira Mason-Reader ’15 Mari Matoba ’03 Livi Perez ’14, MA ’17 Mason Stockstill, MFA ’09

I was also quite moved by the article Confidence building, especially when you

not a lot of women lawyers in my commu-

Keep up the good work. I’m impressed

nity. The Summer Academic Workshop

at how the College is evolving when I

as presented now seems well crafted, and

had previously been very concerned for

I’m thrilled that it is not only academi-

its future.

cally rigorous but also empathetic to the

–Margaret Fawcett ’63, Sausalito, California

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 © 2020, Mills College Address correspondence to Mills Quarterly, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Email: quarterly@mills.edu Phone: 510.430.3312 Printed on recycled paper containing 10 percent post-consumer waste.

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2

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

to see additional photos, links to stories in the archive, and sneak peeks of future issues!

A Message from the President of Mills College

By Elizabeth L. Hillman AS MANY LOYAL READERS of the

ties to excel, as evidenced by our recent

Quarterly well know, challenges related

citation as a top producer of Fulbright

to enrollment and finances are not new

Scholars (see below for more).

to Mills College. While we’re now in the

As Mills embraces changes in our

first spring of a brand new decade, those

undergraduate and graduate curricula,

challenges have not abated. The over-

we also recognize that a rapid increase in

all demand for college degrees contin-

our enrollment is unlikely; indeed, despite

ues to grow because of both increased

all the changes to date, we are now enroll-

affordability and accessibility and the

ing about 20% fewer students than we did

economic payoff of a college degree

just five years ago. In the years ahead, our

has never been higher, yet liberal arts

enrollment—and the economic model that

and women’s colleges face increasing

supports the success of our students—will

headwinds. Just as the battle to make

continue to be constrained by rising

the Mills campus environmentally sus-

competition in higher education as well

tainable—the focus of an article in this

as alternative educational pathways; the

issue—is one that we must win, so is the

widening divide between highly selective

battle to find a sustainable economic

colleges and universities and those that,

structure in which Mills can serve its

like Mills, are committed to access; and

students and pursue its mission.

the shifting preferences of students who

The College’s efforts to adapt and respond to the changing climate of

often select online, low-residential, or

this summer, and we are seeking deeper

very low-cost programs.

collaboration with UC Berkeley. Many

higher education have, of course, been

Because of this new climate, Mills has

other women’s colleges are likewise

fervent and extensive. In just the past

been actively courting strategic partners

altering their programs to serve more

three years, we’ve reset tuition to better

to create synergies, build new revenue

students by opening new enrollment

communicate the actual cost of a Mills

streams, and reduce costs. Sharing our

and revenue possibilities. The College’s

education, restructured academic pro-

campus with other mission-congruent

location in the suddenly fast-growing

grams to offer innovative paths to the

partners and considering the possibil-

and diverse city of Oakland, the thriving

most sought-after majors, explored adult

ity of building on undeveloped parts of

economy of the San Francisco Bay Area,

degree completion to open doors for stu-

the campus will enrich our academic

and Northern California’s diverse higher

dents with some college credits but no

programs while engaging the commu-

educational sector offer us many oppor-

degrees, and launched Mills’ first-ever

nities around us. For example, the Starr

tunities for creative, strategic partner-

fully online degree, a master’s degree

King School for Ministry will join several

ships that can provide the sustainable

in educational leadership. There’s a lot

other non-Mills programs on campus

future our mission demands.

to be excited about—M POWER, our signature undergraduate experience, has great potential to improve retention; interest continues to grow globally in STEM equity (Mills sends the same percentage of its biology majors into PhD programs as Stanford!), which will accelerate interest in Mills’ science programs; and the promise of the new tech economy to elevate the liberal arts by prizing creativity and transforming the jobs and professions of the future. The support and engagement of our Mills alumnae and friends continues to provide the foundation to all of these efforts, and they make a tremendous difference in our students’ and faculty’s abili-

A Note from the Editor We sent this issue of Mills Quarterly to the printer in mid-March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began to drastically change life at the College. Classes went online for the rest of the 2019–2020 school year as the entire Bay Area was placed under a shelter-in-place order, and Commencement was postponed as the extent of the crisis remained unknown. By the time you’re reading this, life will have undoubtedly changed even more.

For the most part, this issue is basically the same one we sent to print. We were able to make some last-minute changes (including this note), but you may still spot some details that we didn’t get to in time. Please forgive us, and know that we are working diligently—from home—to cover this situation in its entirety in our summer issue.

We send our gratitude to everyone fighting the pandemic and helping out however they can. Wishing good health to you and yours.

–Allison Rost, Managing Editor

SPRING 2020

3

Mills Matters Big gifts create big opportunities at Mills Mills College gratefully acknowledges

Linda K. Jesmok ’68 is establishing

the following donors for gifts, grants,

the Kraft-Jesmok Endowed Scholarship

and pledges of $50,000 or more received

to provide financial aid to students

from July 1 to December 31, 2019.

studying in the liberal arts, including

The Fletcher Jones Foundation gifted the College with a five-year grant

the Yellow Chair Foundation aims

program to help transfer students make

to empower educators to improve

successful transitions to Mills through

learning outcomes through teacher-led,

emphasizing college-level skills,

collaborative inquiry. have pledged to underwrite faculty

informational and financial literacy.

development with a generous gift, enabling professors to stay nimble in

Foundation has provided a two-

the constantly changing environment

year grant to support the Creating

of higher education.

Conditions for Adult Learning Project,

The Taube Foundation for Jewish

which develops partnerships with

Life & Culture is supporting the Taube

school districts to create programs

Family Student Scholarship to make

for adult learning.

a Mills education accessible to more

The ongoing campus optimization

students.

project, which aims to locate new

The Bernard E. and Alba Witkin

sources of revenue for the College

Charitable Foundation is financing

from existing physical spaces, received

Mills College Children’s School

big boosts from Kathleen J. Burke

Preschool and Infant Care Program

and Ralph Davis, Michele Van

assistantships to provide professional

Blitter-Kirsch ’83 and Steven Kirsch,

development for those teaching young

and Leslie Decker ’79 and Stephen

children, as well as scholarships for the

Rimmer.

Children’s School.

Kathleen J. Burke and Ralph Davis

Kathleen Terman is establishing

also supported the Mills Community

the Sally Briscoe Terman Endowed

Farm, bolstering the farm’s role as a

Memorial Scholarship, in honor of her

living lab for students and a hub for

late mother, to sponsor students who

food justice.

are interested in studying the fine arts,

Barbara Wolfe ’65 has made a donation to the Mills branding

especially music.

The estate of Josephine Malti ’62

initiative, which will refresh the look

is establishing the Josephine Malti

of the College and help launch new

Endowed Scholarship for undergraduate

admissions efforts.

students majoring in the liberal arts and

Mills’ Greatest Need benefited from

the Josephine Malti Music Fellowship

the generosity of Catherine Coates ’65,

for female-identifying students in

Mei Kwong ’70 and Laurence Franklin,

graduate music programs.

and Ann S. Wolff ’42.

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Karen May ’86 and Keith Shultz

mentoring, and proficiency in The William and Flora Hewlett

4

With a Mills Teacher Scholars grant,

for M POWERed for Transfer, a summer

planning for student success, peer

The typical autumn weather blew onto the Mills campus in October and November, bringing with it howling winds and several days of cancelled classes thanks to threatened power shut-offs by PG&E. (The shut-offs never materialized.) But it did make way for an unusual partnership— staffers at the Oakland Zoo visited campus to salvage branches and leaves from an acacia tree that was brought down by winds near Reinhardt Alumnae House. While the tree is no longer part of the College’s ecosystem, it did provide a tasty meal for the zoo’s giraffes.

humanities and fine arts.

Starr King School for the Ministry to make its new home at Mills A new partnership between Mills and Starr King School for the Ministry promises exciting opportunities for the College. On December 12, 2019, President Elizabeth L. Hillman announced that, thanks to the hard work of Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Renée Jadushlever, Starr King would relocate to the Mills campus in fall 2020 as part of ongoing

“ The school’s inclusive, affirming orientation and emphasis on social transformation helped prepare me to serve a place like our community at Mills, with our curious, diverse, passionate, and dedicated students, staff, and faculty.”

–Dara Olandt, Mills chaplain and graduate of Starr King

efforts to bring in new educational partners. Campus leaders are hopeful that this particular partnership will connect

“respect for the interdependent web of

Henry Reinhardt, who served as the

Mills to an institution with complemen-

all existence of which we are a part.”

first female moderator of the American

tary values and intertwined histories.

While details such as the school’s

Starr King is one of two UU seminar-

Unitarian Association for 12 years and

ies in the country and was founded in

was a member of Starr King’s board of

location on campus and educational

1904 as the Pacific Unitarian School

trustees. “A Unitarian ethical framework

opportunities for Mills students are

for the Ministry. Its first classes were

undoubtedly shaped Reinhardt’s life

forthcoming, the success of past

held at the First Unitarian Church

and compelled her to make leadership

partnerships such as the one with

of Oakland, but in 1906, it moved to

choices that furthered opportunities

the Middlebury Summer Language

Berkeley to be near other seminaries

for positive social change,” Olandt

Institute show what can be gained

and the University of California, where

explained. To honor Reinhardt, Starr

when the College collaborates with

students were free to take classes. From

King has held an endowed faculty posi-

like-minded organizations.

the beginning, the school welcomed

tion in her name since 1981.

Starr King, a part of the Graduate

students from other parts of the world

In a letter announcing Starr King’s

Theological Union (GTU) and cur-

and denominations, as well as women.

move, President Rosemary Bray McNatt

rently located in Berkeley, offers

In 1941, the school took on its current

wrote that “[Mills’] educational phi-

graduate degree programs in divinity

name in honor of Thomas Starr King,

losophy beautifully matches our own

as well as social change. The school is

a Unitarian and Universalist minister

commitment to educating to counter

rooted in the Unitarian Universalist

who served the San Francisco Unitarian

oppressions.” Similarly, Olandt notes

(UU) faith, a non-creedal religion that

Society during the Civil War.

that Starr King’s values “are absolutely

encourages a “free and responsible

Mills Director of Spiritual and

and beautifully congruent with the

search for truth and meaning.” While

Religious Life Dara Olandt—a UU

values that have been important at

based on liberal Christian theology,

minister and graduate of Starr King

Mills, past and present.” As the work

the Unitarian Universalist Association

herself—says she holds bright hopes for

of Starr King starts to make a home at

broke away from the Christian

this partnership. “The school’s inclu-

Mills College, the campus looks forward

church, and members combine all

sive, affirming orientation and empha-

to seeing what will grow out of this

manners of spiritual and religious

sis on social transformation helped

partnership.

practices and beliefs into their faith.

prepare me to serve a place like our

The Seven Principles of Unitarian

community at Mills, with our curious,

Universalism include values that

diverse, passionate, and dedicated stu-

resonate deeply with the Mills com-

dents, staff, and faculty,” Olandt says.

munity, such as “justice, equity, and

Besides Olandt, Mills and Starr King

compassion in human relations,” and

share someone else in common: Aurelia

–Lila Goehring ’21 and Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13

SPRING 2020

5

Redwood Regional Park receives familiar new name There was already Reinhardt Hall and Reinhardt House, but now there’s also Reinhardt Park.

On October 15, 2019, members of the East Bay Regional Park District’s board of directors voted to amend the name of Redwood Regional Park, located just a few miles from campus on the other side of Skyline Boulevard, to Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. The vote was timed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage by Congress, which secured women’s right to vote.

In addition to her long tenure as president of Mills, Aurelia Henry Reinhardt was also key to the 1934 founding of the park district, and of the five original board members, she was the only woman. Her work (and admiration of redwood trees) helped lead to the original incorporation of the park that now bears her name.

Dee Rosario, the park district’s director, spearheaded the effort. “Aurelia had a long history of public service and advocacy for human and environmental rights,” she told the Livermore Independent. “She was an amazing woman whose legacy is still alive today in the park district’s 73 regional parks and 125,000 acres of preserved open space.”

Calendar

Mills College Art Museum Fault Lines: 2020 Senior Thesis Exhibition March 31–April 19 Opening reception ■ April 4, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm Studio art majors exhibit work in their first show in a professional art museum.

D E L L E C N A C

Pow Wow 2020

April 5 A gathering that celebrates Native American community and culture, the Mills College Pow Wow is a longstanding community event supported by the Bay Area’s Native American community. This is the eighth anniversary of the Indigenous Women’s Alliance and the Mills College Ethnic Studies Department leading and organizing this event.

10:00 am–4:00 pm, The Oval.

2020 MFA Thesis Exhibition May 3–31 Opening reception ■ May 2, 6:00 pm-8:00 pm Completed bodies of work from MFA recipients in studio art.

. du s.e l il Contemporary Writers Series tm a fo April 7 ■ mai c. doan & Aiden in e r Thomas Mo ic. mai c. doan, MFA ’16, is poet and m e writer from Southern California. Her and p 9 first full-length collection, water/ -1 ID tongue, was published by OV C e Omnidawn in 2019. AidenthThomas o originally t ’10, MFA ’15, is a YA author ue from Oakland whoD now lives in Portland, Oregon. Aiden’s debut novel, Cemetery Boys, is forthcoming from Macmillan in July 2020.

5:30 pm, Mills Hall.

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

mai c. doan

The museum is open 11:00 am–4:00 pm Tuesday through Sunday and until 7:30 pm Wednesday. Admission is free. Visit mcam.mills.edu for more information.

Artist Lectures All events are free.

April 8 ■ Sofia Córdova Born in 1985 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and currently based in Oakland, Sofía Córdova’s work considers sci-fi and futurity, dance and music culture(s), the internet, mystical objects, extinction and mutation, migration, and climate change under the conditions of late capitalism and its technologies. She is also one half of the music duo XUXA SANTAMARIA. 7:00 pm, Danforth Lecture Hall at Jane B. Aron Art Center.

April 15 ■ Intimate Artists Talk In conjunction with Fault Lines: 2020 Senior Thesis Exhibition. An evening discussion in which a moderator will interview a panel of three to five artists about their work and their relationship to sexuality, bodies, gender, and trauma. 7:00 pm, Reinhardt Alumnae House.

Campus kudos A selection of recent achievements by faculty, staff, and students Holland Professor of Early Childhood

ensures that LGBTQ+ history has a

for The Conversation, an independent,

Education Priya Driscoll offered advice

place in public-school textbooks, and

nonprofit publication, about the role

in the Washington Post article titled

explained how teachers can adapt to

that hip-hop can play in the classroom.

“The Socially Awkward Person’s Guide

the changes of the law.

to Playing with Children,” which was published on October 11, 2019.

Professor of Music Nalini Ghuman

A highly anticipated exhibition

by Professor Emerita of Studio

was commissioned by the British

Art Hung Liu at the UCCA Center

Library to write an article on the

for Contemporary Art in Beijing,

was a featured performing artist at

influence of Indian culture on English

China, was cancelled by the Chinese

SALONE! by the Society of Fellows of

composer and arranger Gustav Holst.

government. The San Francisco

Professor of Dance Molissa Fenley

the American Academy in Rome, which

In fall semester 2019, Associate

Chronicle covered the controversy

took place at Roulette in Brooklyn, New

Professor of Public Policy Mark

and Liu’s work in general in an article

York, on March 24. Her company also

Henderson and Assistant Professor of

published on November 21, 2019.

danced the first variation of Cosmati

Practice Adam Parker taught a course

Variations, which Fenley composed

on the census. Henderson and Parker

Distinguished Visiting Professor

while in residence at the academy

were interviewed by the Oakland Post

Tomeka Reid and her quartet released

in Rome.

about the course, and the story also

their second album, Old New, on

included a quote from Caroline Love ’21.

October 4, 2019.

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Education Victoria Forrester wrote a

Associate Adjunct Professor of

Cellist and Darius Milhaud

Professor of English and Dean of

piece for The Hill on the new Inclusive

Education and Director of Online

Graduate Studies Juliana Spahr spoke

Curriculum Law in Illinois, which

Programs Nolan Jones wrote a piece

with WFHB’s “Interchange” about her book, Du Bois’s Telegram: Literary Resistance and State Containment, which was released by Harvard

Performances

University Press in 2018. The book was

March 6 ■ Senior Thesis Dance Concert This year’s program will include the work of four graduating senior dance majors: Ariel Green-Hill, Casey Moorhead, Alex Tiscareno, and Stephanie Tobon. 4:00 pm, Lisser Hall.

also covered in the Los Angeles Review

April 1 ■ One Drop of Love A multimedia one-woman show exploring the intersections of race, class and gender in pursuit of truth, justice and LOVE. One Drop is written, produced, and performed by Fanshen Cox. 7:00 pm, Lisser Hall.

Transitory Matter: [Mostly] ephemera

D E L L E C N A C

Music Department Concerts

March 30 ■ The Whale Listening Project .

Annie Lewandowski performs her immersive du s.eCatherine Pooley Senior Vocal musical piece, The Whale Listening Project, April 11 l■ il with humpback whale songs she recorded Recital tm a o pm, Littlefield Concert Hall with renowned bioacoustician Katy Payne and nf8:00 i the Hawaii Marine Mammal Consortium off of re o April 16 ■ California Electronic Music Hawaii’s Kohala Coast in February 2019, ic. M Exchange Concert m e commemorating the 50th anniversary ndof Songs 8:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall a p of the Humpback Whale.

-19 D April 26 ■ Mills College Choir Concert VIthe Music All events start at 7:30 pmCOin 3:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall e h Building Ensemble Room o t (unless otherwise t e $10 to alumnae, seniors, noted). $15 general, June 3 ■ Constance Hockaday: Old Man, Du and non-Mills students. Visit performingarts.

Dance mills.edu for more information.

Final performance from the Mills artist in residence. 7:00 pm, Lisser Hall.

of Books in September 2019.

Professor of Book Art Kathleen Walkup displayed her wares in an exhibition at F. W. Olin Library titled from the presses of Kathleen Walkup.

The works were on display through December 13, 2019.

Adjunct Professor of Ethnic Studies Connie Wun spoke with KQED about her research of and experience with the sex industry on January 24.

Adjunct Professor of English Stephanie Young, who recently released a book of poetry titled Pet Sounds, participated in a live performance at Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 1, 2019.

SPRING 2020

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The Defining Issue of Our Time Climate change has become an existential threat, disrupting normal life across the globe—including at Mills. How is the college reacting?

ORIGINAL PHOTO: PHIL BOND

Words SUSAN MCCARTHY, Illustrations NORA AOYAGI

THE AIR ITSELF WAS FILLED WITH THREAT as Mills held an environmental forum on climate change in December 2018. Smoke was drifting into the Bay Area from wildfires exacerbated by high winds and exceptionally dry weather conditions, but it didn’t take unhealthy air to tell the Mills community that climate change is a reality to be faced and fought. (See facing page for more information about the forum.)

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

The College was already tackling climate justice,

Panel on Climate Change made it clear that the

linking it with social justice. “The Mills mission

world has a long way to go. “We need more con-

is to really focus on climate justice issues and the

crete plans, more ambition from more countries

role of women and people of color in the transition

and more businesses,” said UN Secretary-General

to what might be a new, more climate-friendly

António Guterres. “We need all financial institu-

system,” Professor Kristina Faul says. Urgency is

tions, public and private, to choose, once and for

expressed by the administration, faculty, and stu-

all, the green economy.” Mills is an institution

dents, the latter group having grown up worrying

that is determined to make that choice.

about climate change. “It was always there,” says Dalia Bender, a first-year public health and health

Climate Action Plans

equity major.

When Mills reduced emissions by 15% under the

“Young people care about this. We’re going to

first CAP, it did so through equipment upgrades

have to live with this,” adds Caitlyn Marianacci, a

and behavior change campaigns (such as using

graduate student in the School of Education.

cold water for laundry, holding “power down

Mills has employed a sustainability coordi-

days,” and organizing carpools). Meeting the 2017

nator since 2007, which was also the year then-

CAP goal—reducing emissions 40% by 2025—will

president Janet Holmgren signed the American

be more challenging. Director of Construction,

opposite

College

Climate

Compliance, and Sustainability Karen Fiene, who

Commitment (ACUPCC) to pledge the College

has been deeply involved in emissions reduction

in pursuit of carbon neutrality (balancing car-

on the Mills campus, says, “The smaller, lower-

bon emissions with carbon removal). A Climate

hanging fruit has pretty much been picked.”

The City of San Francisco recently shut down a portion of Market Street to private vehicles.

Imagine a world where Mills did something similar to make Richards Road greener. Bicycles and shuttle buses could theoretically transport all students and staff onto campus.

&

University

Presidents

Action Plan (CAP) that Mills issued in 2010 set a

Natural gas is the largest contributor to Mills

goal of reducing those emissions by 15% by 2015,

emissions, at 41%, so many efforts focus on fund-

which was exceeded. The College is currently

ing projects such as insulating roofs. These proj-

operating under a 2017 CAP that aims to reduce

ects will pay for themselves with lower heating

emissions by 40% by 2025.

costs—eventually. Buildings the CAP indicates

Signs of Mills’ commitment to climate justice

would bring the biggest emissions and money sav-

are all around. The campus already features elec-

ings include the Warren Olney, Orchard Meadow,

tric car recharging stations, compostable and

Mary Morse, and Ethel Moore residence halls.

recyclable containers in the Tea Shop, and water-

Two newer buildings are stellar performers

efficient showerheads and washing machines in

from an emissions standpoint: the 2007 Betty

residence halls. The College has upgraded some

Irene Moore Natural Sciences Building (NSB) and

boilers as they become outdated, and is gradually

the 2009 Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and

replacing outdoor lighting with more efficient

Public Policy Building have both earned high

LED bulbs. But it’s becoming increasingly obvious

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental

that actions such as recycling and banning plastic

Design) scores. The high scores were awarded for

straws aren’t enough to solve the problem: A 2018

such things as reduction of light pollution, diver-

United Nations study by the Intergovernmental

sion of construction waste from landfills, use of

December 2018

Climate Change Forum

Mills faculty are supporting and, in some cases, researching climate action.

In the sciences, geochemist Kristina Faul and biologist Sarah Swope have reached out to the community to discuss climate mechanisms. In the public policy realm, professors Sam Evans and Mark Henderson have taken part as well.

At the December 2018 Climate Change Forum, these four talked about their research and climate to an enthusiastic response. “Students said it was super helpful and super interesting,” says Swope. “They liked bringing people from different parts of the campus.”

“We were positively surprised by how many people registered,” Henderson says.

“Some members of the public also came.”

Another forum is planned for April’s Earth Week. If the last one was about what faculty are up to, this one will be “more climate-focused, student-interactive, and student-led. We want it to pull in more of the Mills community,” Evans says.

“Students feel like this is one of the defining issues of our time.”  SPRING 2020

9

ORIGINAL PHOTO: ALLISON ROS T

The Moore Natural Sciences Building already incorporates a rainwatercollection system, so what about adding one to an existing structure?

One atop the Tea Shop and Rothwell Student Center could possibly gather enough water to replenish the fountain in Adams Plaza.

regional and low-emitting materials and certified

“approximately 80,000 solo round trips per year.”

wood, and roofs that avoid attracting too much

Pieces of the solution being considered include

heat from the sun. The NSB also earned points for

compressed workweeks or telecommuting, pro-

its “living roof” porch area. Of the NSB, Fiene says,

moting low- or zero-emission vehicles, car-shares,

“We wanted to get LEED silver or better, and we got

biking, improving the campus shuttle fleet, and

platinum!” The Lokey building earned LEED gold.

advocating for better bus service.

Reducing emissions is trickier with older struc-

Faculty use of air travel has been slowly declin-

tures. “People always say, ‘Solar,’” Fiene notes. But

ing, says Joanne Wong, the College’s sustainabil-

many of the College’s lovely old buildings feature

ity coordinator. “It is challenging. Sometimes it’s

sloping clay tile roofs, shaded by 100-foot trees,

the cost of doing business,” she says. Still, she has

making solar roofs more difficult to implement.

a suggestion: “Can you do a video chat for that

For both solar panels on newer buildings and

particular talk or meeting?”

solar hot-water heating, the CAP suggests seeking

These kinds of personal choices play a big part

donations of systems from for-profit institutions,

in current emissions-cutting efforts. The 2017

individuals, or groups of individuals who would

CAP advises that Mills give high priority to low-

receive a renewable energy tax credit. Some build-

and no-cost measures such as community advo-

ings that aren’t suitable for solar roofs could still

cacy and behavior change, then to efficiency

accommodate partial solar hot-water systems,

changes and renewable energy and fuel costs.

with the largest savings at Orchard Meadow,

“We look for opportunities that are very low risk

Olney, Ethel Moore, Mary Morse, and Founders

to the campus. We look for grants. We’re looking

Commons. Solar panels could be installed on

at zero-interest loans in trying to achieve some of

CPM, GSB, Lucie Stern, and the F. W. Olin Library

the energy efficiency goals,” Wong says.

buildings, and a shade structure with solar panels could be put up at the Trefethen Aquatic Center.

10

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

However, the plan also itemizes many changes that Mills can’t afford to make. It would cost

After natural gas use, commuting is the biggest

$326,000 to put solar panels on the roof of the

contributor to emissions at Mills, at 28%. Here

Olin Library, which would pay for itself in 12

is an area where behavior change can help. The

to 13 years. The library is eligible for an EBSCO

CAP estimates that large percentages of the fac-

Community Impact grant that would cover

ulty and staff and off-campus student commute—

$100,000, but the rest would be up to the College.

This is one of the cases where the CAP suggests looking for a donation from an entity that could make use of the renewable energy tax credit.

Sometimes, as Wong puts it, the sustainability

December 2018

Climate Change Forum

team must say, “This is what we need to do to achieve infrastructure upgrades. But on the other hand, if we can’t fund that, then behavior change is the next recommendation.”

Higher Education Leadership Forum In February 2019, Karen Fiene and Professor of Geochemistry and Environmental Geology Kristina Faul attended the Higher Education Climate Leadership Forum in Arizona. The higher education sector of the economy is significant—2.5% of US gross domestic product—so there’s a lot of room to make big changes.

At a session on smaller colleges, Fiene and Faul made a presentation on the link between social and environmental justice. “You can’t separate the two,” Fiene says. They argued that climate change disproportionately affects women and communities of color—and that higher education has an opportunity and a duty to ensure a just transition to a post-fossil fuel economy. “Universities have an ethical imperative to influence the outcomes of society,” they said in their talk. “We have a big impact because we create leaders and teachers.”

The forum was sponsored by investors and investment companies—ironic, given that many had previously claimed that green investments perform poorly. “Their whole shtick was to divest,” Fiene says, referring to the current movement for institutions to move investments away from funds that support fossil fuels. “I learned that green investments can perform as well.” Soon after the forum, “our own investment company came and did a presentation. It was very enlightening. They were already doing quite a bit. I was impressed,” Fiene says. “I think it’s gotten better even since then, because I was kind of on the warpath. Can we say we’re 100% divested? Not yet.... At some campuses they really have a hard time convincing the top brass. I’ve always felt lucky that we’ve had the belief, and the support, at Mills. But we’re scrambling for resources.”

Some schools have already gone “net zero” (the same as carbon neutral). One method by which schools such as the University of California system achieve this is through buying carbon credits—which takes money. “We do great for our size and our resources,” Fiene says.

Afterward, Faul and Fiene gave a presentation to Mills faculty and staff about their experience at the

Sarah Swope

Sam Evans

At the 2018 climate forum, Assistant Professor of Biology Sarah Swope gave a talk on “How Will Endangered Plants Fare in a Rapidly Changing Climate?”

An evolutionary ecologist, Swope studies three rare local plants— the Tiburon Mariposa Lily and two species of jewelflower—and how they adapt to changing conditions.

“The Economic Impacts of Wildfires” was Sam Evans’s topic at the 2018 climate forum. He’s an assistant professor of public policy. “I’ve spent the last year or so working on wildfires in California, and their economic dimensions,” he says.

“How do wildfires affect property markets in California, one of our largest economic assets?”

With other faculty and staff, she’s putting together another climate forum on April 23 for Earth Week.

This one will be more interactive.

“Students have very specific questions,” she says. “They want to understand the science of it: Why do warmer oceans lead to colder winters? Why are species going extinct, and why can’t they adapt? They also want to know about policy.”

“The 2017 Sonoma fires got city folks thinking about climate change. It makes us understand how connected we are to our natural environment,” he says. It also points out equity issues. Of the 2018 fires, he notes, “We just got nailed by all that smoke for two weeks. I was able to take my family away, but we were lucky.

Lower-income workers have to live with the health consequences.

There’s an environmental justice component to that.... If we’re going to solve this problem we’re going to have to pay for it. Who pays? We can design policies that are more or less progressive or regressive.”

Swope adds, “This second forum is really driven by students coming and asking questions.

Most students are not going to take science classes. They have questions ranging from mechanistic ones about the effects of ocean acidification to what is our moral and spiritual obligation to other species.”

Of her study species, Swope is not optimistic about jewelflowers.

“They have low genetic diversity, and they’re very sensitive to drought years,” she says. On the other hand, the Tiburon mariposa lily has the ability to go dormant in hard times: “I think it might be okay.”

Evans adds that we have good tools for solving the problem. “The big challenge now is political: where we need to decarbonize; how to reduce emissions,” he says. “We need a big coalition of young folks who have got great ideas and great energy, together with people who have been working on this a long time and understand how to turn the gears of government.”

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December 2018

forum, focusing on how the College can lead in this

Climate Change Forum

field. “There was lots of really good, interesting, positive feedback,” Faul says. “There was great interest in how to ensure a just transition for marginalized groups, on whom the climate crisis will have the most impact—women and children and the poor.”

Student Organizations In general, students say they feel supported by Mills in pursuing climate justice goals. “They expect Mills to step up, and I think they know we’re doing the best we can,” Wong says.

“I see us doing a lot already,” says first-year student Bender, who praises Wong’s help. Bender is part of the Climate Task Force and involved with the Mills Sunrise Movement. But, she adds, “To what degree we’re seeing it as an emergency is

Mark Henderson

Kristina Faul

Mark Henderson, associate professor of public policy, researches environmental policy in the United States and China, focusing on urbanization and land use planning and on global climate change. At the 2018 climate forum, his talk was titled “Climate Change and Land Use Policy.”

“It was a really good event,” says Kristina Faul of the 2018 forum.

“The four of us at Mills working on climate change issues hadn’t really gotten together and talked about it together before. That was good.”

Faul, professor of geochemistry and environmental geology, presented “Ocean Dynamics and Climate Change.”

“We clarified a lot of the science.

On one side, they say it’s ‘simply a science problem.’ On the policy side we say it’s entirely a political problem. That’s where the change has to happen,” he says. “The costs and consequences are not evenly distributed among all humans.”

He believes students understand the basic situation with climate change.

Some feel uncertain how they can act, “until they discover the social consequences of it.”

“We were positively surprised by how many people registered for the forum,” Henderson says. “Of course, classes were canceled because of smoke.” But the interest is deeper than that. He did nothing to spread the word about his latest class on environmental policy, yet it’s already over-subscribed. “So there’s interest there,” he says.

Henderson also sits on the Mills sustainability committee. “We have thought about how we manage the campus as far as climate goes. How can we absorb more carbon, and manage the landscape in a way that keeps things fire-defensible?” he says.

12

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

debatable.”

Mills has been active in environmental issues.

EarthCORPS is a campus organization where students “talk about anything sustainability-related,” says president Lena Liu ’20. She’s an environmental studies major whose thesis is on the roles that cities play in mitigating climate change. Recently, EarthCORPS toured the landfill local to the Mills campus, and a group project has involved recycling pill bottles. Liu ran an environmental club in high

Faul, who also describes herself as “a deep-sea paleo-oceanographer,” talked about the ancient history of climate changes and what it tells us about climate today. “I looked at the Miocene [Epoch] changes,” she says. “We don’t know how oceans might respond to climate change. The Miocene was warmer than today, but not a particularly warm period of the whole Cenozoic. We were looking at whether micronutrients from a volcano could help fertilize the oceans and then draw down CO2, and release oxygen to the atmosphere.” In this process, more plankton grow in fertilized oceans.

Their bodies eventually fall to the sea floor and get buried, thus taking CO2 out of the system.

school, but it was at Mills where she started seeing

She also clarified the non-intuitive concept of “positive” feedback loops, as when plants in a warming climate actually take up less CO2, worsening the situation.

learned with the Mills community.

“People were very interested.

There was a lot of interaction,” she says. “People asked a lot of questions—students and community members.”

into the future as they make decisions.”

the connection between environmental and social justice. “There was a People’s Climate March in April 2017—that’s where it sparked,” she says.

In the academic vein, Faul’s students have done research projects on water quality, carbon cycling, and metal cycling (due to old mining residues) in Lake Aliso and Leona Creek. In a reparative vein, students on campus take part in Creek Care Fridays or volunteer on the 2.5-acre Mills Community Farm—which also offers credit to those who enroll in the Campus Farm Practicum.

Last year, Wong co-led a trip called “Bay Area Spring Break 2019: Environment, Food, and Justice in Action,” which focused on local environmental and social issues that intersect with or are climate issues. The students who participated are working on a bridge event to share what they “They’re definitely interested in action,” Faul says of students. “What I need to give them—what I can contribute—is my knowledge of how earth systems work so they can take that knowledge Some Mills students are involved in the Sunrise Movement,

which

grad

student

Marianacci

describes as a national organization of young

ORIGINAL PHOTO: DALE HIGGINS

people working to stop climate change and creat-

held a Climate Anxiety Support Circle, and they

ing jobs in the process. Having attended Sunrise

plan another for 2020. These are for members of

events in the Bay Area, she realized that many

the Mills community to talk about their worries

Mills students couldn’t attend because they don’t

about climate, and their role in action. “It was

have cars, so she began looking into starting a

addressing the fact that there are a lot of people

Sunrise “hub” at Mills. “They don’t get too much

struggling,” Gutman says. One issue was strikes or

into the science stuff, because it makes people

marches as forms of political action: One student

feel it’s not accessible to them,” Marianacci says.

voiced that they didn’t want to strike, so the circle

Indeed, she adds, “For a while, on the issue of

brainstormed ways they could use their skills to

climate change, I felt like I couldn’t be useful

do climate justice work without hitting the streets.

because I didn’t understand greenhouse gases...

“Climate change is really overwhelming. It’s really

parts per million... carbon cycles... When I found

scary. People have expressed that they’re really

out it was also a social justice issue, that’s when I

nervous about it. They kind of go into denial

got interested.”

mode,” Gutman says. “We wanted to acknowledge

Marianacci says that Sunrise is trying to be dif-

that, and work with them, so they can connect

ferent from other environmental organizations.

with the environmental movement through their

“It’s not just about ‘nature,’ as we think about

passions.” She adds of her hard-working class-

the pristine landscapes. It’s about urban environ-

mates, “People may not have space in their lives

ments, like the Chevron refinery in Richmond,”

to take action on climate change, but that doesn’t

she says. “For me, what’s at the core of climate

mean they’re not going to be affected by it.”

justice is understanding that we’re part of the environment.”

Coco Gutman, a second-year public policy major, also links environmental and social jus-

“The Sunrise Movement looks a lot at the Civil Rights movement for inspiration and guidance,” Marianacci adds. “This is a moral issue. We need to take risks.”

tice. “Many people see all the social issues as con-

Mills hears that, and recognizes that younger

nected, and then environmental issues are over

generations have a lot more at stake. It was a

there,” she says. “That’s harmful, because it allows

quote from the 17-year-old Swedish climate activ-

environmental issues to be pushed to the side.”

ist Greta Thunberg that took center stage in the

In 2019, the Climate Task Force (newly formed

by Wong and students) and the Sunrise Movement

To optimize space, the future of gardening is vertical. The living garden on the roof of the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy and other spaces like the Community Farm and Botanic Garden could be configured to accommodate more native plants and crops for food.

2019 Mills holiday card: “You must do the impossible because giving up can never be an option.” ⓦ

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Illustrations by Angelica Navarro ’21 OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, popular culture has embraced science fiction and fantasy in ways it never has before. What was once considered niche—after all, the first Star Trek television series was cancelled after three seasons—now leads the zeitgeist; every year, a different movie based on a comic book seems to take the top spot at the box office. (Last year’s record holder was Avengers: Endgame.) With such explosive growth in the genre, it would seem to follow that more opportunities would be available for all kinds of content creators—though results have been mixed.

Three alumnae who work in the space—Alex Brown ’05, Stephanie Der ’13, and Sarah Kuhn ’99— recently chatted with Mills Quarterly about their experiences navigating what can be a tricky landscape.

Read the full conversation at quarterly.mills.edu.

Quarterly: What piece of media did you see or read in your childhood that inspired you to pursue your interest in genre fiction?

SARAH KUHN: I grew up in a really small, really white town, and sci-fi and fantasy showed me the potential for a bigger world out there. I grew up obsessed with all the big tentpoles—I loved Star Wars, I loved Star Trek; Deep Space Nine is my jam. I loved the X-Men in part because they were the superheroes that spend as much time arguing about their feelings and interpersonal dramas as they do fighting evil.

When I was younger, being into those things was not cool. Our library had one wall with all the sci-fi and fantasy books, so I would find a series and read everything obsessively, and I would try to find ways to sneak it into conversation even though no one knew what I was talking about. Some of the series I loved when I was younger were Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern and everything Ursula K. Le Guin.

Of course, a lot of those things were still pretty white, not super diverse. I remember it was a huge deal when Deep Space Nine came out because a black man was in charge of the space station, and that was definitely a meaningful moment. But it has taken these franchises a long time to progress toward the kind of diversity that we think of as the future.

ALEX BROWN: As a kid, I really loved Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel were basically my entire life as a teenager. This was back in the days of landlines, so my friends and I would run to the phone and call each other during the commercials. Then, in 2008, a friend of mine sent me a clip of Spike (James Marsters from Buffy) making out with another man in a scene from Torchwood! I found out Torchwood was a spinoff of Doctor Who, so of course I had to watch that too. I became madly obsessed, and it reignited the love of science fiction and fantasy that I had as a kid. And my obsession with Doctor Who led to my job on Tor.com because I was writing massive essaylong comments about episodes of the show, and they were like, “Do you want to just get paid to write?”

I’m not a huge science fiction person—once characters start talking about hyperdrives and how a spaceship 14

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

“ It’s a thing a lot of women of color go through—we don’t see ourselves as protagonists. That’s changing now, but it’s sometimes hard to believe that –Sarah Kuhn you can be a protagonist in your own life. works, my eyes glaze over. But I liked Star Wars because it’s basically magic in space—they’re just pretending it’s science fiction. The more I read of it, the more I got into fantasy, and I like reading light sci-fi. Science fiction/fantasy in particular does things that standard literature doesn’t do, and it reignites that love of reading for me. It hasn’t been a continuous love, but I love it now.

In recent years, [what’s really interested me has] been the explosion of diversity in young adult fiction (YA). There’s so much in YA that you don’t get in regular (particularly genre) fiction for adults.

STEPHANIE DER: I started out by reading a lot of Greek and Roman mythology, and once I aged up, fantasy seemed the logical next step. I joined a teen book club that was predominantly science fiction and fantasy. That really cemented my love of the genre, and that’s pretty much exclusively what I read until college.

When I picked up N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms at Mills, that

Buffy and having this fandom explode around

marked my turn from reading a lot of white

me, with this group at Mills, it was really special.

authors in science fiction and fantasy to more

Alex: The last few seasons of Buffy were airing

works by and about women of color. I also grew up

when I was in college, and I had a little TV with a

watching Hayao Miyazaki, so before I knew what

VCR attached to it, so we taped the shows and on

fantasy was, I was watching Kiki’s Delivery Service

the weekends we’d get together in one person’s

and My Neighbor Totoro, and there was something

dorm room and watch. But I studied abroad my

really endearing and magical about those movies,

junior year and I couldn’t get American TV, so my

so that’s also where my love comes from.

friends taped the entire season of Angel. When I

SARAH: It’s funny, Alex, that you mentioned

came home for winter break they gave me a stack

Buffy. That show started airing when I was in col-

of 10 VHS tapes so I could catch up, and we would

lege, so it was a huge part of my Mills experience.

email back and forth about the show. Vampires

Back then, if you had a TV in your room, it was

bringing people together!

low-tech and had rabbit ears. My friends and I got so obsessed with Buffy that it’s one of those things I can’t decouple from my whole Mills experience.

Sarah Kuhn ’99 is a third-generation Japanese American and an author. Her Heroine Complex novels feature Asian American superheroines, and she has ventured into Young Adult novels with I Love You So Mochi as well as graphic novels with Shadow of the Batgirl, which was published earlier this year.

Among other awards, she has been a finalist for two prestigious honors: the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment’s New Writers Award, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Quarterly: Along those lines, how did your time at Mills play into your interests?

This group of us was so obsessed with the show

STEPHANIE: Ajuan Mance’s Survey of African

that we would watch all the episodes in one per-

American Literature introduced me to Octavia

son’s dorm room. It was almost like things came

Butler. The class required Kindred. I had to take

full circle: I had grown up bringing up all these

a bus to Kaiser and I binge-read it on the bus, and

things I was obsessed with in conversations with

I was like, “Whoa, this is great, I’m enjoying read-

people who did not care, and with something like

ing a required book!” And then I proceeded to read SPRING 2020

15

that you can be a protagonist in your own life. Vivian really pushed me, and that is something I’ve carried to this day. I’m so grateful that Vivian made me feel like I could write about fictional characters that look like me, that have some of my experiences, and that could still be important enough to be a main character. If it weren’t for Vivian, I don’t think I would be doing what I’m doing now.

ALEX: For me, the biggest thing was just being at Mills. There were, like, four black people in my graduating class in high school. So being at Mills and around black people in Oakland for the first time—it was the first time in my life I felt genuinely black—so just being there was hugely influential in developing my sense of identity. But specifically, I took a sociology class where we read a lot of Jennifer Finney Boylan and talked about all of these sexual identities, and ways of being queer. Seeing those identities at Mills helped when, a decade and a half later, I was like, “Oh, I’m actually not straight.

There’s this other world out there.”

Alex Brown ’05, who majored in anthropology and sociology at Mills, also holds a master’s of library and information science and a master’s in US history. She works as a teen services librarian for the Sonoma County Library system, but she explores her love of science fiction and fantasy books, comics, and pop culture after hours on Tor.com and her website, BookJockeyAlex.com.

Alex is also the author of the book Hidden History of Napa Valley, which came out in 2019.

16

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

her catalog of work over winter break, beginning with Fledgling. I was fortunate that in my last year at Mills, the English department offered a science fiction course, and Darshan Elena Campos was an

Quarterly: As people involved with the industry, does it seem like genre fiction is widening to allow for more voices?

ethnic studies guest lecturer on campus in the

ALEX: I think it depends on the aspect of science

spring and taught a science fiction course as well,

fiction/fantasy you’re examining. If you’re look-

so I was lucky to take two classes on the subject.

ing at the big corporate entities like the Marvel or

That made it easy to lobby my professors to let me

Star Wars movies, then I’d say probably not. But

write my theses on science fiction and fantasy.

then you look at comic books and see something

SARAH: There were several things at Mills that

entirely different: Doctor Aphra is one of the best

influenced my work and reflect what I’m doing

Star Wars comics—it’s great, it’s awesome, and it’s

now. I ended up with an ethnic studies minor

begging for an adaptation.

in part because a professor I loved, Vivian Chin,

Again, talking about YA: most of the books I

taught what were basically Asian American liter-

read in 2019 are fantasy, and most of those are

ature courses. That really opened my eyes to the

YA. I ended up reading more by marginalized

long history of Asian American women writing

authors—queer people, people of color, any inter-

about their experiences. It was in that class that I

section they’re in—than I did by cisgender, hetero-

got introduced to writers like Lois-Ann Yamanaka,

sexual, white authors. I didn’t necessarily do that

who had written about growing up Japanese

intentionally; I just chose the books I wanted to

American in Hawaii and everything that entailed.

read, and there are so many out there. So yes and

She specifically had a book chapter about a young

no: I think we obviously have a long way to go, but

girl having dinner at a white friend’s house, and

it’s definitely better than when I was a teenager.

she was so blown away that they put butter on their

SARAH: I think yes and no is the best way to put

rice! And I remember having that experience as a

it, honestly. On one hand, yes, it is much better

kid, and I had never read that in a book before—

than when we were growing up, and I have been

something that was so specific and so Asian.

very encouraged to see women of color just being

It’s a thing a lot of women of color go through—

really excellent in both adult and YA genre fiction.

we don’t see ourselves as protagonists. That’s

Finally, some of us are breaking through, and our

changing now, but it’s sometimes hard to believe

ideas are not considered “niche” anymore.

What’s interesting, of course, is what happens

some really problematic stuff happening with

whenever you see a few people starting to get

the Vietnamese storyline—there was!—but they

some shine. One example is N.K. Jemisin winning

made intentional choices to diversify not just cast

best novel at the Hugo Awards for the third year

but crew, writers, and production staff. And with

in a row. It was amazing watching that. I felt like

something like Star Wars, you can tell that there

I was watching the tide turn in real time. But of

weren’t any black people involved in writing. So,

course, when anything like that happens, there’s

it’s a yes and no thing again. It’s the choices.

pushback from the people who want to send

STEPHANIE: Speaking of Watchmen, there’s a

things back to the Dark Ages. Even those who are

scene where the Regina King and Hong Chau

very aware and progressive will say that it’s all

characters are speaking

about diversity and no one will buy a white pro-

Vietnamese,

tagonist. There’s no problem with white people

was the first time I actu-

being published! But when marginalized people

ally saw people on tele-

start breaking out, suddenly everyone’s saying,

vision talking in their

“Oh, now it’s all about that.” It’s really not.

language so that white

I remember when the new (female) Doctor Who

and

that

people wouldn’t under-

got announced, I saw a lot of this “OK, we’re done

stand

now!” attitude. Yes, it’s amazing, but it’s by no

family does that all the

means the end of the representation road. There

time! Sometimes they do

are still a lot of people who have not seen them-

that so I don’t understand

selves in that role, so we need to keep pushing

what they’re saying! I was

forward. It’s wonderful that there are high-profile

like, “Wow, I’m living to

successes and women of color who are getting

finally

their books published, but that doesn’t mean

that’s relevant to my fam-

that the majority of books are not still written by

ily on television.”

white authors.

Quarterly: Does the scale of the production or the publisher make a difference?

them.

see

Like,

my

something

SARAH: We still have a long way to go. I still want [Star Wars characters] Finn and Poe to kiss

ALEX: For me, it comes down to intentional-

at some point! A lot of it

ity. Disney made an intentional choice for the

goes back to what Alex

only gay representation in Star Wars: The Rise

said about diversity in

of Skywalker to be a .02-second kiss in the back-

the people who are mak-

ground that you only see if you know it’s com-

ing the choices and doing the creating. When I

ing. That’s a choice that they made. When it

started writing the first Heroine Complex book,

comes to big corporate properties, the example I

I had a lot of built-in self-rejection. In conceiv-

always like to use is The CW television network.

ing the characters, I thought that having the lead

Something like two-thirds of its directors are peo-

character be an Asian American woman meant

ple of color or women. And it’s true—I’m always

that I couldn’t make her love interest a person of

surprised when I watch the credits on a CW show

color, because no one would buy it. That’s what

because there’s a whole range of people. And

they’d make me change. All of these things we’ve

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in particular is such a

been told and have internalized. By the third

diverse show. Yes, the main character is a white

book, I realized that this kind of thinking is toxic

woman, but she’s a bisexual white woman whose

to me as a creator. And if someone’s not telling

queer relationship is a main part of the show.

me that, it’s just myself telling me that—it might

There was intentionality, and you can tell there’s

not actually be true!

some diversity in the writing. The show is part of

But I hope that the powers behind these fran-

a big property with DC Comics at the top, but the

chises see that if you do make something more

showrunners make choices to ensure they are as

diverse, it’s truer to life. It also looks more like the

representative and respectful as they can be.

future, and it’s something younger audiences are

I mean, even Watchmen on HBO… [show-

very hungry for. Young viewers and consumers of

runner] Damon Lindelof is not necessarily the

entertainment don’t necessarily have the biases

person I would turn to if I wanted diversity, but

we grew up with. One example is this show Pair

he took a step back and hired a super diverse

of Kings. It’s basically about these twin brothers

writers room. That’s not to say that there wasn’t

who are secretly the rulers of a fantasy kingdom,

Stephanie Der ’13 has championed representation in genre fiction for years, including with a series of workshops on advancing social justice through science fiction and fantasy with former Mills visiting professor Darshan Elena Campos.

The duo presented at a number of conferences, including the Empowering Women of Color Conference in 2015 and 2016, and the Friends of the Genre Conference in 2016. A voracious reader, she works at a public library and helped start the Napa Women’s Circle Feminist Book Club.

SPRING 2020

17

“Kids need to see experiences that are not just their own. They need to see people of a variety of identities living a variety of experiences, because otherwise you cannot understand the world.” –Alex Brown

and one of them is a pale white kid, and the other

by Heidi Heilig, and it was checked out most by

is black. My friend has two young boys who were

white boys. Teenagers want to read interesting

watching the show, and as an adult viewer, she

books; nobody just wants to read about the same

asked them, “How does that work?” They were

kind of person over and over again.

like, “Oh, they’re brothers, no further questions,

I also have the opportunity to open the door to

we accept this unconditionally.” I don’t know

authors who may have a harder time getting in

what will happen, but I hope the gatekeepers

front of kids. I can hand them Dhonielle Clayton’s

now are seeing that young audiences really like it

book, and they’re like “The Belles is great—my dad

when something is reflective of their experience

and I both read it!” and they wouldn’t necessarily

and the much more diverse world that they’re

have gotten that unless I handed it to them. It’s

growing up in.

my job to get as many people through that door

STEPHANIE: Piggybacking off of Sarah, I had

as possible; whenever I compile book lists, I try

noticed in my own writing—at least with fan-

to skew it about 70% marginalized voices and a

dom—that I had been writing a lot about white

variety of identities.

men. I was like, “Wait a minute, I think I want to

Kids need to see experiences that are not just

change this!” That’s how I fell out of being active

their own. They need to see people of a variety of

in that particular fandom and moving my work

identities living a variety of experiences, because

toward writing about communities of color and

otherwise you cannot understand the world—you

queer people of color—that was a moment of “wait

only see your tiny little sliver—and that does not

a minute, something’s kind of wonky here…” In

make us good people.

my own writing, that’s what I’ve been trying to do, both in my original works and fanfic.

Quarterly: For those of you who work with libraries, how do you bring those sensibilities to kids in those spaces?

18

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Quarterly: What goals do you have for your career, but also for the industry as a whole?

SARAH: I want everybody to be able to see themselves as someone who is worthy of being a protagonist, as a hero, and as a main character. I spent a

STEPHANIE: I did workshops in the past about

lot of my life considering myself a sidekick not just

utilizing science fiction and fantasy storytelling

in fiction but in my life, and that’s messed up. One

for social change. Darshan Elena Campos, who

of the most exciting things with Heroine Complex,

I met when she was a Mills professor, and I col-

my first book, was that it has two Asian American

laborated on making work stations, like prime

women on the cover who look different from each

directive: What are your goals for interacting with

other because they’re from different backgrounds.

other people of different cultures? Or, if you’re at a

We have a great cover artist for the series, Jason

remote space station on Saturn, what kind of self-

Chan, and he always makes [characters] look how

care package would you want for yourself to make

they are supposed to look. I was showing the cover

the time in deep space tolerable?

to a few friends, including one whose 9- or 10-year-

ALEX: In terms of teen librarianship, there’s a

old daughter was there, and she’s also a mixed race

lot of strong opinions and I’m constantly getting

Asian American girl. She saw the book and her eyes

into arguments. Many librarians do not share my

got so big—and she was trying to grab it out of my

opinions! For me, diversity for teens—and the term

friend’s hand! I really want every kid and every per-

“diversity” is so unspecific anyway—is more about

son to be able to have that experience where they

promoting marginalized voices. When I was work-

see something on a cover that maybe they haven’t

ing at a high school, something like 80% of the

seen before, and they’re immediately like, “I need

books that I purchased were #OwnVoices YA [the

this, this is mine, this is a piece of genre fandom

movement of marginalized authors writing about

that belongs to me, that represents me.”

their own experiences]. My first year there, the No.

But also, there should be multiples of that,

1 checked-out title was The Girl from Everywhere

because whatever background you’re from, you

don’t have the same experience as every other person who’s of that background. So different stories and characters will resonate with you. In sci-fi and fantasy especially, we’re dealing with these largerthan-life heroes in fantastical situations, and so I think it’s cool if everyone can believe that “I can be that superhero, I can be the Jedi, and I can be the captain of the starship.”

Quarterly: What are you specifically working on at the moment?

STEPHANIE: FIYAH literary magazine hosted a November writing challenge, so I’ve drafted a short story about ghosts in Tulocay Cemetery in Napa coming for reparations for their descendants: What do you do when your queer people of color love story happens when PG&E has knocked out your power in the cemetery?

For my writing, I really want to write stories that provide comfort, affirmation, and joy to readers, just as I’ve found in a lot of the genre fiction I’ve read. I had a long dry spell where I wasn’t writing, but I’m falling back in love with it and recently discovered I’m capable of writing novel-length works,

going to talk about are immigrants! About Mexican

which is really exciting.

people in Napa! Let’s talk about what it was like

SARAH: I’m working on a bunch of projects that

to be Chinese!” So again, it’s another book about

all fit under what I think of as my theme: “Asian

marginalized people in Napa, but food is the fancy

girls having fun.” Showing women of color expe-

cover. People always talk about Napa in particular:

riencing joy feels so revolutionary, and I want to

“Oh, it’s so white, the wine industry…” And I’m like,

keep doing that. I’m revising my fourth Heroine

“Look, you don’t have Napa today without all the

novel, Haunted Heroine, which actually has a set-

people of color who built the wineries and cooked

ting inspired by Mills, a haunted women’s college

in the houses and built the houses and cleaned

in the Bay Area! And I just released Shadow of

them.” That’s true in a lot of things—you can’t look

the Batgirl, a graphic novel for DC Comics with

at anything contemporary without all of the labor

artist Nicole Goux, which is all about Cassandra

from the people of color from the last 400 years.

Cain, the Asian Batgirl. I want kids of color to be

And I think that’s really important to bring it down

able see themselves taking on these really iconic

to the local level and see how we’re doing it in our

mantles. It all goes back to everyone being able to

day-to-day lives, to not keep it so big and theoreti-

see themselves as a hero.

cal and on the national level. I’d also like to write

ALEX: On the library side, all I basically do is throw authors of color and queer authors at

some more fiction with nothing but queer people of color.

people—I don’t necessarily tell them that, but I’m

STEPHANIE: Napa Women’s Circle came to me

like, “You need to read Reverie right now,” On

and asked, “What would you recommend for a

Thursdays, there’s this hashtag on Twitter called

feminist book club?” And I said, “I want to put in

#AskALibrarian, and I always make an effort to

some romance and sci-fi.” I knew the go-to for a

respond with as many authors of color and mar-

lot of women’s groups has been The Handmaid’s

ginalized authors as humanly possible. My sec-

Tale, and I was like, “Let’s read Parable of the Sower;

ond nonfiction book comes out in April—on food

I guarantee it’s great and just as relevant as The

and food history in Napa—but it’s really another

Handmaid’s Tale.” I do my best to recommend

way to write about people of color. It’s like, “Look,

people come into the fold—we’re great, you’ll learn

I’m gonna talk about food! But what I’m actually

Angelica Navarro ’21 is a studio art major from South Pasadena, California, who has also worked as a graphic design assistant for The Campanil. While she’s exploring oil painting through her art classes at Mills, her passion is drawing digitally in Photoshop.

She has been making art for about 10 years, concentrating on the macabre and horror genre—a way in which she explores her mental health through her art.

See more of her work at instagram.com/ cabezadealteza.

something, it’ll all be fine. ⓦ

SPRING 2020

19

AAMC NEWS & NOTES One AAMC committee, the Alumnae of Color Committee (AOCC), has been showing their support for the College by steadily adding to the Alumnae of Color Endowed Scholarship Fund, created in honor of President Emerita Alecia DeCoudreaux to support students of color. The committee is working hard to grow its endowment to $200,000. The AOCC had quite a successful fundraising campaign in the fall, as well as a fantastic fundraising concert in February featuring Oakland recording artist Kev Choice, singer Jennifer Johns, and the Lucy Kinchen Chorale. You can contribute to the scholarship fund at alumnae .mills.edu/alumsofcolorgive.

The AAMC has also been the beneficiary of Mills graduates’ generosity. We recently welcomed back into our circle of donors a number of alumnae who

A Message from the AAMC President

have not made gifts for more than 15 years. Contributions to the AAMC Fund support a wide range of activities, from events for students to our MillsConnect

I

networking and mentoring program had hoped to tell to you about all

you are able, please consider support-

(connect.mills.edu), and we are deeply

the ways the AAMC would cel-

ing our alma mater. College leaders, fac-

grateful to all our donors, new and old.

ebrate Mills students this spring,

ulty, and staff are working tremendously

You can also express your support of

with events like the Pearl M Dinner and

hard to keep the community safe and

Mills and the AAMC by voting for our

the International Student Dinner. But

continue to provide students with an

alumna trustee nominee (see facing page

just before this issue of the Quarterly

empowering education. Mills will face

and inside back cover) or by serving

went to press, the COVID-19 pandemic

additional financial strains as a result of

on a committee of the AAMC Board of

changed everything. Instruction for all

the pandemic. At the same time, it con-

Governors. I encourage you to peruse the

classes moved online, and most students

tinues to address a structural deficit and

AAMC website for a list of the commit-

returned to their homes. Spring events

must seek new ways of fundraising and

tees and descriptions of their activities.

were cancelled or postponed, including

new revenue streams to close this gap,

As spring blossoms all around us, I am

Commencement and the AAMC annual

as President Hillman has noted in her

reminded that Mills College has endured

meeting that would have taken place on

Quarterly letters.

longer than any of us have been alive. It

The AAMC proudly supported the

has been through all manner of crises,

As I write this, at the end of March,

College by extending a $2 million line of

and it will surely weather this pandemic

California remains under a “shelter in

credit in 2017. This loan helped fund two

with integrity and strength. I am grate-

place” order. The campus is closed to all

important academic initiatives: redesign

ful for our donors as well as alumnae

visitors, including alumnae. AAMC staff

of the undergraduate student experi-

who serve the AAMC in various ways to

and volunteers are working from home.

ence, known as M POWER, and the

enrich our legacy and ensure our com-

This situation may change by the time

creation of online degrees for selected

mitment to Mills for the next generation.

you receive this magazine; please email

School of Education graduate programs.

Warmly,

us at aamc@mills.edu for an update.

We continue to look for ways our asso-

Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82

ciation can help strengthen the College’s

President, Alumnae Association of

financial position.

Mills College

the same day.

We are all confronting unexpected challenges during this pandemic. But if 20

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Approve your alumna trustee Vote by Monday, June 1, to approve the

prove her appointment using the paper

thank her for her service to the AAMC

nominee of the Alumnae Association

ballot on the inside back cover of this

and the College.

of Mills College (AAMC) to serve as the

magazine or the online ballot available

voice of Mills graduates on the Mills

at

alumnae.mills.edu/alumna-trustee-

bylaws, scheduled meetings of the Board of

College Board of Trustees from July

ballot. See detailed instructions about

Governors, or the nomination and election

1, 2020, to June 30, 2023. This alumna

how to vote on the inside back cover.

process, call 510.430.2110 or email aamc@

trustee will also serve as a member of

All members of the AAMC are eligible

the AAMC Board of Governors during

to vote; any former Mills student who has

this same period.

completed at least one full-time semester

Alumnae trustees present the views of alumnae and of AAMC governors to

For more information about AAMC

mills.edu.

and whose class has graduated from Mills is considered a member of the AAMC.

the leadership of Mills College. They are

All ballots must be completed and

full members of the boards of both the

received at Reinhardt Alumnae House

AAMC and the College, responsible for

by 5:00 pm on June 1, 2020.

participating on committees as well as in

If approved, Adrienne Foster ’74 will

board meetings, and serving as liaison

join continuing alumna trustee Debi

between the two boards.

Wood ’75 on both boards. Ammie Felder-

Please review our nominee’s state-

Williams ’76 is completing her term

ment, then vote to approve or disap-

as alumna trustee in July. We proudly

It’s my hope and expectation for Mills College to continue as one of the premier colleges for undergraduate women and for all in graduate studies. Mills must focus on its fiscal stability, educational programs, alumnae relations, and campus climate. Mills must continue to be the place for more women to “get their voices.”

The relationship between the AAMC and the College must be that of a symbiotic nature. Each one should benefit from each other through whatever it takes to make each a success. The interaction between us will be able to produce the desired outcomes, the synergy. Having served on the AAMC Board of Governors (BOG), I have been able to better understand how we can work together to get results.

Mills provided me with lifelong friendships, which helped me navigate my professional and life choices. With more than 35 years of experience in higher education, I believe that I will be able to provide insight and direction to Mills. My experiences in community colleges include faculty roles and administration in academic affairs and student services.

My experience on the BOG and the interactions with the College administration

Adrienne McMichael Foster ’74 Los Angeles, California Education: BA in psychology, Mills College; MA and PhD in education, UCLA

opened my eyes to know that my higher education experience would be put to better service in a role as a trustee in addition to the BOG. I feel that I would be able to provide some insight into the future educational development and strategic planning of Mills College.

My strengths seem to lie within my leadership skills. I’ve been dean of academic affairs and dean of student services, and I’ve served in faculty positions such as president of the academic senate and state academic senate representative. These positions have afforded me the opportunity to engage in educational discourse that led to significant learning outcomes. I know how to get a group to engage and get to the desired outcome.

SPRING 2020

21

Alumnae revive role in student recruitment Mills College’s Office of Admissions and the AAMC have launched a program that enables alumnae volunteers to play a key role in recruiting undergraduate students across the country. Since the program’s debut in fall 2019, 19 alumnae volunteers have represented Mills at 18 different college fairs in California and Massachusetts. They have spoken with dozens of prospective students about their time at Mills and their professional accomplishments after college.

Julia Almanzan ’92, president of Los Angeles Mills College Alumnae, is one of these volunteers. She believes that “more alumnae involvement ultimately results in better recruitment of students and better retention,” she says. “Students who really know what to expect are more likely to want to stay.” Alumnae make excellent recruiters, Julia adds, because

Isis Blanchette-Marcelin ’11

“Mills alumnae have the enthusiasm and a passion that cannot be bought

started in 1932. Mills hired Diana in

or faked. Mills alumnae truly love the

1977 to overhaul the existing program

school, and that love is infectious.”

and give it more structure. What was

Los

Amanda Ridley ’15 and Julia Almanzan ’92 22

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

alumnae

originally a six-month hire turned into a

courted Julia as a prospective student in

Angeles–area

Mills

10-year tenure for Diana. She eventually

the late 1980s. Julia says these alumnae

became dean of admissions.

are now like family to her, and she went

The AAR Program sought to create

on to recruit prospective students her-

and maintain a network of informed

self starting in 1997 as a participant in

alumnae to assist the College in recruit-

the Alumnae Admissions Representative

ing and retaining successful Mills stu-

Program (AAR), designed by Diana

dents. It worked to improve the visibility

Odermatt ’60.

and image of Mills College among high

Mills has a history of engaging alum-

school students and college counselors,

nae to recruit prospective students that

and to provide feedback to the Office of

goes way back to the early days of the

Admissions on the concerns of prospec-

College, but its first formal program

tive applicants and their parents.

ALUMNAE AWARDS CALL

Honor our best and brightest with the 2020 alumnae awards Nominate honorees for the AAMC’s coveted alumnae awards, presented during the class luncheon at Reunion in October. We are seeking qualified candidates for: • Distinguished Achievement, for distinction in professions, arts, or sciences; • Outstanding Volunteer, for commitment in serving the AAMC and the College; and • Recent Graduate, for volunteer efforts that exemplify a spirit of caring and community.

Nominations must be received by July 15 and candidates must be able to attend the awards ceremony in October. To nominate candidates, please send information about their achievements to Alumnae Awards Committee chair Susan Ardisson ’77 at aamc@mills.edu or AAMC, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., MB #86, Oakland, CA 95613.

All the while, the AAR role provided

new ways of deploying alumnae that

professionalization panels. In the future,

an opportunity for alumnae to remain

are attuned to both the changing inter-

we hope to expand the effort to more

connected to the College and the AAMC,

ests of today’s prospective students and

domestic regions as well as internation-

and to gain tangible skills that could be

the evolving college search process.

ally, and there may be opportunities for

applied to their professional lives. Over

With this new iteration of the program,

alumnae to host panel events and networking receptions themselves.

the years, hundreds of alumnae repre-

Admissions and the AAMC continue to

sentatives from all around the world

look for more ways alumnae can sup-

The AAMC thanks the many alum-

have participated, many of whom would

port enrollment efforts. This spring, the

nae who have been involved in Mills

return to campus every two or three

Office of Admissions will be featuring

College recruitment programs, old and

years for AAR training workshops.

alumnae profile spotlights on its social

new. You have provided crucial support

The AAR Program was suspended

media channels, and a toolkit of talk-

for the College, and we hope to build on

several years ago as a result of budget

ing points and marketing materials is in

that support going forward. Assistant

and staffing constraints in the Office

development for alumnae who want to

Director of Admissions Diana Martinez

of Admissions and the need to develop

speak at events such as career days and

has trained 12 new alumnae volunteers thus far, and we hope to add many more to the roster. If you are curious to learn more, or want to get involved, please reach out to AAMC Communications and Volunteer Program Coordinator Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13, at karobinson@mills.edu.

–Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13 A special thanks to Julia Almanzan ’92, Diana Odermatt ’60, and Nangee Warner Morrison ’63 for their help with this article.

Julia Almanzan ’92 and Nangee Warner Morrison ’66 SPRING 2020

23

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College alumnae community.

To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills. edu.

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of the Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills.edu.

A gift that pays me back?

What’s not to like?

With a Mills gift annuity, you can provide long-term support to the College and receive lifetime income for yourself and a loved one.

Set up your charitable gift annuity today! Contact Mark Jones, Mills’ legacy-giving specialist, at 510.430.2343 or markjones@mills.edu, for more information and a personally tailored illustration.

In Memoriam Notices of deaths received before January 3, 2020 To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123

Alumnae Ruth Young Herbert ’41, September 26, 2019, in Corvallis, Oregon. Ruth met her late husband, Charles, at a sock hop when she was in high school, and they married in 1941 after both graduated from Stanford.

She was a champion crossword puzzler, winning contests in Harper’s Magazine and The New York Times, and earning the nickname “Ruthless.” Ruth also loved music, enjoying a personal singing performance just days before her death. She is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

Phyllis Reese Pavelka ’44, November 15, 2019, in Rapid City, South Dakota. A music major, Phyllis married her late husband, Robert, at Mills just after graduation. Following his wartime stint in the Marines, the family moved to Nebraska, where Phyllis indulged her love of music by directing and starting choirs in various cities across the state. After the birth of her second child, she began teaching and later moved with her family to teach in Colombia. She is survived by two children, two grandchildren, and a sister.

Barbara Tiffany Tizard ’44, November 25, 2019, in Phoenix, Arizona.

After Mills, she continued studying music at the University of Arizona, where she met her late husband, William. Active in civic organizations, Barbara cofounded the Phoenix chapter of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists in 1975. Her family remembers her as vivacious and passionate for golf, detective shows, pinot grigio, and travel. She is survived by four children and three grandchildren.

Hazel Soares As an alumna, Hazel Soares ’10 holds a record that no other graduate has touched—the oldest student to ever receive a degree at Mills. She graduated from the College with a degree in art history at the age of 94 and soon found fame around the world: Not only did she graduate from Mills later than anyone else, but the fall 2010 issue of Mills Quarterly notes that Hazel was the second-oldest student to ever earn a college degree. It’s tough to say for sure, but research indicates that she likely held that title until her death.

The Great Depression put college out of reach for Hazel upon her graduation from Oakland’s Roosevelt High School in 1932, and through the premature death of her first husband and raising six children, her dream continued to languish. But she finally got her chance, receiving an associate’s degree in humanities at Chabot College in 2000, later enrolling at Mills in 2007. Hazel faced a unique set of challenges; not only did she have to take an upper-division math class, but she needed to learn how to use a computer.

Post-graduation, her goal was to work as a museum docent.

Hazel spent many years serving in similar ways; she was on the board of Oakland Community Concerts for nearly 20 years and volunteered with the Fairmont Hospital Service League for 10. She was also a massive fan of the San Francisco Opera, attending performances for more than 50 years. Hazel died on November 19, 2019, at the age of 104. She is survived by three children and 12 grandchildren.

Eleanor Fisk McCabe ’45, December 10, 2019, in Savoy, Illinois. She later earned a master’s degree in psychology from Eastern Illinois University and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Indiana State. Those degrees were put to good use as a teacher and guidance counselor in public K-12 schools, and later as a counselor at Eastern Illinois and in private practice. Eleanor also loved to knit, especially as part of the layette group at her church. She is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

Anne “Nancy” Jessup Wells ’45, October 22, 2019, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Nancy earned her pilot’s license after one year at Mills and joined the US Naval Reserve, also known as the WAVES. After living in San Francisco and The Hague, she and her second husband settled their combined family in Wilmington, Delaware. There, she was active in community affairs, and she was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the Kennedy Center’s National Committee for the Performing Arts as a charter member. She is survived by two children, six stepchildren, and a grandson.

Ruth Liu Ah Tye ’45, December 11, 2019, in Simi Valley, California. Her music degree served her family well, as Ruth played violin and piano herself and passed her talents on to her children. Later in life, she worked for Simi Valley Adult School, where she was named Employee of the Year. Ruth was also devoted to her favorite pastimes of reading, writing, and cooking. She is survived by her husband, Tom; two children; and four grandchildren.

Yaada Cottington Weber ’47, October 2, 2019, in Oakland. While studying at Mills with Darius Milhaud, she composed a piece of music that was performed by the French national orchestra in Paris. Yaada spent 16 years as the principal flutist for the Oakland Symphony, and she taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music into her 80s.

She also spent 20 years with pianist Philip Manwell as the group Duo Linos, performing throughout the world.

Elizabeth “Betty” Peck Hutchins ’47, October 30, 2019, in Danville, California. She worked alongside her late husband, Darwin, in real estate development, later retiring as a contracts administrator with Contra Costa County. Betty also volunteered as a docent at the Blackhawk Museum, board member for a Christian missionary organization, and president of San Ramon Valley Republican Women Federated. She is survived by four children and two grandchildren.

Florence Davis Clifford, MA ’48, November 24, 2019, in Columbia, Maryland. With her husband’s career in the military, she moved all over the world with her family and served as a single parent when he was deployed. After his retirement, they settled in Columbia, where Florence used her award-winning creative talents as a commercial artist, interior decorator, and adjunct art professor at the University of Maryland. She is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

SPRING 2020

29

Dorothy Lamar Skelley ’48, September 27, 2019, in Azusa, California.

After Mills, she graduated from Stanford with a degree in physical therapy. She studied to be a nurse in the 1970s after her first husband’s death, eventually rising to the role of director of health services at Riverside Community College, where she worked for 13 years. Along with her second husband, Dorothy was an avid golfer, and she loved playing music and spending time at the beach with her family. She is survived by three children and four grandchildren.

Sarah “Sally” Siverling Sanders ’50, October 2, 2019, in Stockton, California. Sally spent 62 years of her post-Mills life in Los Angeles, where she oversaw hiring for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games and held leadership roles in the Freedoms and Achievement Rewards for College Scientists foundations. Sally was a great storyteller who, among other things, helped publish her mother’s autobiography in 1984. She also served on the board of and as the president of the Alumnae Association of Mills College. She is survived by her husband, Ray; three children; and four grandchildren.

Margaret “Peggy” Wulsin Kite ’50, October 28, 2019, in Montgomery, Ohio. Part of the family that built Baldwin Piano Company into a nationwide brand, Peggy welcomed music into her life from the very beginning. She studied music at Mills before transferring to the

University of Michigan and graduating with a degree in music literature.

Peggy was married shortly thereafter and taught the piano at Cincinnati Country Day School and through private lessons, as well as to her children. She is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.

Betsy Rietz Dingwell ’51, November 1, 2019, in Hillsborough, California.

Betsy and her late husband, Park, settled in Hillsborough in 1966.

Among her many volunteer activities were the Junior League and KQED, and she studied cooking with master chefs in Mexico and Italy. As a proud member of the Hillsborough Garden Club, she was an advocate for raising environmental consciousness. She is survived by three children, three grandchildren, and a sister.

Joan Siverling Poehler ’52, October 24, 2016, in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Emily Platt Hilburn ’53, November 1, 2019, in Falmouth, Maine. With her husband, Roy, Emily operated the Maine Sailing School in Seaside, Maine, and she worked as a special education assistant in Portland and Cape Elizabeth schools. After retirement, the couple traveled frequently, splitting their time between Maine and Florida, and built their own log cabin. She is survived by Roy, four children, and two granddaughters.

Judith Hill Jensen ’54, January 5, 2017, in Fresno, California. She is survived by four daughters and eight grandchildren.

Gifts in Memory of Received September 1, 2019 – November 30, 2019

Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34 by Margot Jones Mabie ’66

Annis Aiyar by Stefanie Moreno ’04

Tony and Oletta Morency by their daughter, Virginia Morency Rich ’73

Basia Mimi Alouf-Schulman by her grandmother, Janet Pethen Hurwich ’84

Meredith Morrill Neill ’51 by Joanna Shelton vonBehringer ’50, MSK ’51

Georgette Judith Alouf-Schulman by her grandmother, Janet Pethen Hurwich ’84

Helen Pillans by Jan Broman Westmore ’70

Hector Cavallari by Blanca Aguirre Ramirez ’16, MFA ’19 Ella Marie Crain by her daughter, Susan Crain Hansen ’78 Joy Waltke Fisher ’55 by Diane Smith Janusch ’55 Lori Fong by her cousin, Marilyn Fong Barbara Coleman Frey ’68 by Clarence B. Coleman & Joan F. Coleman Charitable Foundation

Penelope Peterson ’67 by Dianne Sanders Howlett ’67 Elizabeth Pope by Elaine Bowe Johnson ’62 Eda Regan by Carol Jarvis Marion Ross ’44 by Wendyce “Wendy” Hull Brody ’68, Sharon Page-Medrich ’05, Linda Tu ’91 Sarah “Sally” Siverling Sanders ’50 by Los Angeles Mills College Alumnae, Carole Joseph Silva ’54 J. Roussel Sargent by Elaine Bowe Johnson ’62

Mary Gautreaux by Carrie Gotkowitz ’83

Anne Hummel Sherrill by Carolyn Devol ’72

Harold “Douglas” Harvey by his spouse, Joy Glascock Harvey ’60

Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt ’60, MA ’62 by Estrellita Hudson Redus ’65, MFA ’75

Edward “Terry” Hogan, spouse of Elizabeth Livingston Hogan ’63 by Suzanne Hausch, Barbara Hunter ’57, Helen Lechner, Charlotte Olstead, Lorinda Bader Reichert ’67, Diane Sheptak, Sylvia Wirtanen Bette Jackson Hurlbut ’44, P ’75 by Molly Fannon Williams ’75 Barbara Newman Kines ’55 by Diane Smith Janusch ’55 Jane Cudlip King ’42, P ’80 by Suzette Lalime Davidson ’94 Alice Goodwin Lenz ’52 by DeeAnn Antonini, Douglas Brown, Jacklyn Gilson, Caroline Gwerder, Stacey Rey Lucy Cowdin Maisel ’38 by Carol Galaty, Sally Popper, Leslie Stein Selcow ’63

Ariel Eaton Thomas ’63, P ’92 by Leslie Stein Selcow ’63 Virginia Van Derveer Trask ’65 by Cheryl Mathe Ginzton ’65 Anne “Nicky” Nicholson Turchi ’47 by Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75 Robert and Nancy Warner, P ’63 by their daughter, Nangee Warner Morrison ’63 Yaada Cottington Weber ’47 by Gretchen Hardman-Riedell ’61 Errata from the winter 2020 issue: Theodora “Thea” Faust Anderson ’14 by her aunt, Rhoda Faust

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

30

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Patra Mitchell Straub ’55, March 12, 2019, in Oceanside, California.

She is survived by two children.

Julianne Papst ’55, September 11, 2019, in Las Vegas. She is survived by two sons and a sister, Caroline “Maxie” Papst Corazza ’61.

Penelope “Penny” Plummer Saylor ’55, March 31, 2018, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. She is survived by two children.

Marion Huggins Brace ’56, November 12, 2019, in Concord, Massachusetts. After earning her real estate broker’s license, she and a friend founded their own firm in 1981, where Marion worked until her retirement in 2000. Marion loved horses as a child and owned a 15-hand Connemara pony as an adult. The small cottage she purchased in Vinalhaven, Maine, was her home away from home. She is survived by three children, a grandson, and a sister.

Diana Lee Johnson Nicholas ’56, June 16, 2019, in Los Angeles. Inspired

by Mills, she lived her life filled with art, music, friends, family, and joy.

She is survived by her husband, two children, and five grandchildren.

Gwendolyn McClelland Segale ’56, October 23, 2019, in Stockton, California. After Mills, she graduated from the College of the Pacific and taught in elementary and junior high schools for 35 years.

However, her favorite job was always working as cashier at the family business, Seagale Brothers Christmas Trees, every December. She is survived by her husband and high-school sweetheart, Wayne; three children; and eight grandchildren.

Merna Eastman ’57, November 26, 2013, in Bellingham, Washington.

Jean Reynolds Lindborg, Cred ’58, September 12, 2019, in Oakland.

Jean earned her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1938. After moving to Oakland and obtaining her credential at Mills, she taught in Oakland until she retired in 1973. She also spent years in community leadership positions, including on the board of directors for The Heart-Warmers Association. She is survived by a daughter and three grandchildren.

Edith “Edie” Lieberman Plotinsky ’59, September 25, 2018, in San Francisco. She is survived by two children and four grandchildren.

Mary Avary Whittier ’61, October 14, 2019, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As a child, Mary lived in Brazil and Switzerland before coming to Mills. After her husband’s untimely death in 1966, she moved her family to North Carolina, where she cultivated a strong community of friends. In her later years, she designed and built a home with the help of her son that now houses the extensive genealogical archive she compiled on her family and others. She is survived by three children and five grandchildren.

Beverly Savage ’64, October 8, 2018, in Bellevue, Washington.

Louise Ware Still ’64, December 21, 2018, in Fullerton, California.

Christine Enright-Reffalt ’66, April 7, 2018, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ann Herzog Schneider ’69, November 6, 2019, in Portland, Oregon.

Ann spent much of her life in the Portland area, save for her early years in North Dakota, her time at Mills, and studying abroad in Brazil. Her vocation, inspired by her deep faith, was supporting new members of her community through her work with refugees and immigrant job seekers at institutions such as Portland and Mt. Hood Community Colleges. She is survived by her husband, Stephen; two daughters; two grandchildren; and cousin Patricia Taylor Lee ’57.

Patricia “Trish” Beall ’70, December 11, 2019, in Berkeley. Trish took her degree in American studies and worked as a writer, researcher, and

editor for a broad variety of publications, including Freedom News and Economic Democrat. After a spell in Southern California, she returned to the Bay Area in 1989, first working for the California Medical Association and then as a freelance editor until her death. Her eclectic interests included baseball, politics, cooking, and literature. She is survived by a niece and many cousins.

Floretta Chaney-Brumfield ’71, January 21, 2012, in Vallejo, California.

She was an integral part of Vallejo City Unified School District for more than 30 years as a mathematics instructor, math coach, and teacher leader in the district. Floretta was also an active member of Kyles Temple AME Zion Church, Kappa Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Vallejo Chapter of the Links. She is survived by her parents, four siblings, two daughters, and two grandchildren.

Gwen Naguwa ’71, June 2, 2015, in Honolulu. Gwen retired as a professor of medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu. She is survived by three brothers.

Joyce Blair ’80, November 29, 2018, in Sacramento, California.

Kathleen Stanley Rose, MA ’92, January 31, 2017, in Emeryville, California.

Grace Murphy-Jenkins, MA ’08, November 29, 2019, in Benicia, California. Grace loved to teach reading and writing, working as an English teacher for many years and retiring after 19 years as librarian at Lovonya DeJean Middle School in Richmond. Her many creative outlets included cooking, arranging flowers, and decorating cakes, and her family’s favorite recipe was her strawberry trifle and strawberry Bundt cake, which was featured in the Benicia Herald. She is survived by four siblings, three children, and two grandchildren.

Spouses and Family Richard Banker, husband of Nancy Sirmay Banker ’67, June 13, 2019, in Santa Rosa, California.

Prodyot Bhattacharya, father of Suparna Bhattacharya Jain ’87, March 9, 2018, in Davis, California.

John Clouse, husband of Lynne Allred Clouse ’61, May 18, 2019, in Springfield, Oregon.

Richard Croul, husband of Jane Bell Croul ’52, July 29, 2019, in Corona del Mar, California.

Rita Daubenspeck, mother of Elizabeth Ann Daubenspeck Marks ’71, October 24, 2019, in Seattle.

Ronald Dupzyk, husband of the late Isabelle Forbusch Dupzyk ’55, October 29, 2019, in Livermore, California.

Charles Elbaum, husband of Eleanor Dinaburg Elbaum ’56, March 4, 2018, in Providence, Rhode Island.

James McFarland, husband of the late Elizabeth “Betty” Howard McFarland ’51, November 13, 2019, in Portland, Oregon.

Faculty and Staff Georgia Wright, former professor of art, December 20, 2019, in Berkeley.

Friends Donald Schneider, October 1, 2019, in Walnut Creek, California.

Amy Shen, October 2, 2019, in Walnut Creek, California.

Bernard Tyson, November 10, 2019, in Oakland.

SPRING 2020

31

DOING HER FAMILY PROUD

BY ALLISON ROST When Theresa “Terry” Loewy Breyer enrolled at Mills in 1933,

only did she know her stuff, but we got to furnish our house!”

she was carrying on a family legacy that also saw her mother

Baker says. “Antiques Roadshow is still one of her favorite shows.”

and aunt attend the College when it was still known as the

“I made a good thing out of [Laurel House], and I had lots of

Young Ladies Seminary. But when she collected her diploma

fun doing it,” Breyer adds. She’s even given lectures on antiques

four years later, it was her father who cried. He had never gone

at San Francisco Towers, the retirement community where she

to college himself, but he married a Mills alumna and sent two

has lived since the facility opened 23 years ago.

daughters there. (Breyer’s sister Hazel-Clair Loewy Dwoskin graduated in 1943.)

At 104, Breyer still shows off her style—she dresses in cardigans and pearls, and the walls of her apartment are decorated

Fast-forward more than 80 years, and Terry Breyer still shares

with prints from Laurel House. She enjoys playing bridge with

her father’s pride in her Mills degree. In the apartment where

other residents and reading the newspaper, and relatives come

she lives mostly on her own, among decades of family photo-

by frequently; she’s known as Gigi to her seven grandchildren

graphs, her diploma always sits on a special stand—and not just

and 10 great-grandchildren. A recent visit from the newest

when a Mills-related visitor is coming by. “Of course I’m proud of

great-grandchild, at 8 months old, was a popular attraction for

it,” she says. “I’ve taken good care of it.”

many of Breyer’s neighbors.

At Mills, Breyer lived in Orchard Meadow and majored in

While neither of Breyer’s two daughters went to Mills—Baker

economics, particularly enjoying classes with Professor Glenn

“considered it,” she says—the family connection to the College has

Hoover. “Terry has always had an affinity for numbers,” says her

lived on. Breyer’s aunt, Rose Loewy Coleman, had a son named

daughter, Barbara Baker.

Clarence who married Joan Feldman, the daughter of Florence

Despite her family legacy, Breyer did not grow up in the Bay

Bloch Feldman ’21. Clarence and Joan sent their two daughters,

Area—she was born in Stockton, but she spent her childhood in

Barbara Coleman Frey ’68 and Elinor Coleman ’71, to Mills, and

Seattle. Ever since meeting and marrying the late Stan Breyer, a

several grandchildren attended the Mills Children’s School.

graduate of UC Berkeley and a San Francisco native, she has lived in Northern California. The two wed not long after Breyer’s grad-

And that strong Mills connection came entirely through her proud papa.

uation from Mills and moved to San Francisco, later relocating to Kentfield in Marin County with their three children. There, she co-managed and volunteered at Laurel House Antiques, the consignment store at the Ross Art & Garden Center, for several decades, pairing her economics degree with her love of decorating and helping others find hidden gems for their homes. “Not 32

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

This is the second in a series of stories celebrating the lives of Mills alumnae who have reached the century mark. Are you (or do you know of) someone who we should feature?

Tell us about the centenarian Mills graduates in your life at quarterly@mills.edu or 510.430.3312.

Alumna Trustee Ballot To vote on paper:

The statement of the AAMC’s 2020–23 alumna trustee nominee is printed on page 21.

• Do you approve or disapprove the appointment of Adrienne Foster ’74 as alumna trustee?

We offer two ways to vote—online and by paper ballot!

 Yes, I approve  No, I do not approve

To vote online: • Go to the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu/alumna-trustee-ballot

• Please mail ballot in a private envelope to: Chair, AAMC Nominating Committee, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd, MB #86, Oakland, CA 94613

• Alumnae must be registered with the online community in order to cast their vote online.

• Registration is free and easy! Visit alumnae.mills.edu/ alumna-trustee-ballot to register and to vote. Your alumna ID is required to register and can be found at the top of your Quarterly mailing label.

• Online voting will end at 5:00 pm (PDT) on Monday, June 1.

VOTE ONLINE OR ON PAPER

BY JUNE 1

• Paper ballots must include the mailing label on the reverse side.

To maintain confidentiality, voter names will be inked out before ballots are passed on to the Nominating Committee chair.

• No faxed ballots or call-ins will be accepted.

• Ballots must be received at Reinhardt Alumnae House by 5:00 pm (PDT) on Monday, June 1.

NOTE: Whether you vote online or by paper ballot, only one vote per alumna will be accepted. Any alumna casting multiple votes will invalidate all of her votes. Upon request, the Alumnae Association of Mills College will send a spring Quarterly to replace the one from which you have removed this ballot. Call 510.430.2110 or email aamc@mills.edu.

ALUMNAE TRAVEL Join fellow Mills alumnae on one of our upcoming travel programs. These trips offer exciting destinations, deep dives into history, and camaraderie and fun with alumnae of all ages!

Given the current global pandemic of COVID-19, the status of these trips is unclear.

Please be aware of current travel recommendations and restrictions when booking.

Look out for updates and advisories on the AAMC travel website.

Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Passion Play August 31–September 10, 2020 Explore the interconnected history of central Europe starting with a cruise across the glacial Lake Constance, surrounded by its majestic mountain vistas.

Spain’s Andalucía in a Parador September 10–18, 2020 Spend seven nights in a first-class, modern parador in Antequera, and discover Neolithic tombs just outside the city. Book by April 28, 2020 and save $500 on couple’s pricing!

See the AAMC travel website at alumnae.mills.edu/travel for full itineraries of these and other upcoming trips. For reservations or additional information, call the Alumnae Association of Mills College at 510.430.2110 or email aamc@mills.edu.

Granada SPRING 2020

33

Mills Quarterly Mills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613-1301 510.430.3312 quarterly@mills.edu www.mills.edu

S TE VE BABULIJAK

Join us for Commencement 2020!

An honorary degree will be awarded to Elizabeth J. Cabraser, a civil litigator who has spearheaded some of the most well-known class action lawsuits in American history.

She has been inducted into the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer of Fame and teaches at the Berkeley and Columbia law schools.

POSTPONED

Commencement kicks off at 9:45 am on Saturday, May 16. If you wish to process in the ceremony with your fellow alumnae, robe up at Reinhardt Alumnae House starting at 8:00 am.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More info at mills.edu.

CITIZEN UNIVERSIT Y

This year’s speaker is Alicia Garza, a co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Garza is also the co-founder of the women’s activist hub Supermajority and the founder of Black Futures Lab, which aims to elevate the voices of black communities in politics.