Letters to the Editor

Volume CXI, Number 2 (USPS 349-900) Winter 2022

Elizabeth L. Hillman

Nikole Hilgeman Adams

Allison Rost

Nancy Siller Wilson

Tri-an Cao ’21, MFA ’22

Debra Connick ’85 Lila Goehring ’21 Jessica Lipsky Moya Stone, MFA ’03

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Mills Quarterly 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613 The Quarterly reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. As an English major from the Class of 1952, I was enchanted by the reminiscence about Libby Pope in the summer Quarterly. It brought back such rich memories—she did, indeed, embody Dr. Hedley’s deathless line: “The magical madness of Mills.”

I have recently been immersed in the Oxfordian position regarding the authorship of the canon known as the works of William Shakespeare. My erudite cousin has been plying me with a series of very impressive tomes that make it perfectly clear that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, is the obvious wielder of the pen that produced these works under the pseudonym of William Shakespeare. Having just finished the latest offering, Shakespeare Revolutionized, in which James Warren does a thoroughly admirable job of organizing the history and documentation of the Oxfordian movement to date, and the impressive body of evidence backing up the claim of Oxford as the true author of the works, I can only wish that I could discuss the whole thing with Dr. Pope. How I should love to hear what she would have to say about it all, knowing how dear the various Shakespeare theories were to her heart.

We were so fortunate to be at Mills during the golden years, with Libby Pope, George Hedley, Alfred Neumeyer, Luis Monguió, the Milhauds, and all the rest! Those enchanted days have so greatly enriched all the many days of my long and interesting life.

Dr. Pope is deeply missed and truly honored in memory. Carol Holtzman Wolf’s shared memory brought back such a flood. –Marie Muirhead Escher ’52 Arcata, California

Bravo for the current fine issue of Mills Quarterly!

I strongly support the proposed Mills College merger with Northeastern University, based on solid information and support provided.

The angry lawsuit against this merger did not propose a “Plan B” or other viable option for the future of Mills College. In my opinion, that omission left it ineffectual. –Mary Parker Lawrence ’57 Portland, Oregon

It is difficult to read the letters in the Quarterly. So many are joyfully optimistic or justifiably concerned.

We can argue about the practicalities of the current and future state of Mills forever, but I believe the emotional impact that this transition holds is unarguable.

When I think about my beloved campus, which really was an “alma mater” for me as for so many of us, Mills was home in every sense of the word. When I imagine the halls of Ethel Moore or the corridors of Orchard Meadow being traversed by young men, my heart sinks a little. Or when I think about the small class sizes that allowed us to speak up and out and share ourselves in safe ways, I am saddened by the loss of that same spirit. I am a professor myself now, and some of my most cherished students are cisgender men, yet I am thankful every day for my time at Mills as it gave me and other young women and nonbinary students a place to find our voices—and strong ones at that—when the wider world didn’t make space to listen.

I write today simply to acknowledge the emotional impact this has on our Mills community versus glossing it over with pleasantries. In the end, this will affect the majority of us alums, I would assume, in a way that is hard to put into words.

My heart is in the fabric of that place, and I pray that it is respected and protected for a younger generation to experience someday while still feeling the power of the trailblazers that traversed its grounds. –Emily MacDonald ’03 San Pedro, California

“What? Are you even American?”

At one of my first workplaces after I graduated from Mills, this was my co-worker’s response to me saying that I felt more emotion watching Return of the Jedi than The Notebook. The office was mostly women— about 95%—and it was in a small town in North Carolina. We had a Jesus statue in

the lobby. I was asked, as was typical in the South, what church I attended as general small talk.

The assumption that a space with mostly or all women is safe was an assumption I had when I applied to go to Mills—even though I assumed I would be mocked for wanting to have children. I was wrong on both accounts. What Mills, the mostly women workplaces I have been in, and my now-decade of residence in the UK (which is becoming known as “TERF Island”) have taught me is that feminist—as in actually feminist—spaces are important and desperately needed.

I grew up hearing US congresspeople compare my mother and people like me and my friends to child molesters for being gay, and now I live in a place where the same is happening to me and my friends who are nonbinary and/or trans, all in the name of people who claim to care about women. Maybe it’s because of where I am right now that I see the need for Mills to extend the education it gave to me to anybody who wants it.

A space with a majority of women is not inherently feminist and not inherently safe. Mills does not have to lose its focus on women empowerment. In fact, many of my men professors and lecturers at Mills taught lessons that were just as feminist as any woman professor. And trust me, so much of the world needs it.

Sticking with a tradition merely because it’s tradition is not progressive. And I would much rather have a Mills education be available to everyone than no one. –Lola Phoenix ’09, London

Mills was a safe haven for me and my sisters. Further back in our family history, several of our ancestors worked in service at Mills, sewing dresses and watching as more privileged persons engaged in study. Hard lessons were learned on campus.

And now, the culture of belligerence and talking loudly without listening has taken center stage. I saw this even during my time at Mills—the loudest were the ones who were heard and accepted. That is no way to live or to love. It is better to be honest and open.

The impression I get from some of this (incredible, wonderful) community is that they would rather Mills not exist at all unless Mills remains “the same.” What is “the same”?

Mills was built on a strong foundation of change and has always adapted.

Mills has been on its way out from being a traditional women’s college for a long time. I believe that Northeastern University and Mills will have a mutually beneficial relationship, and not just the schools but current students and the alumnae/i community as well.

Let us try to remain grateful for the opportunity for Mills to remain in existence. I needed Mills at a desperate moment in my life and I know many others found Mills at similar moments in theirs. Mills must remain open and thrive. The world needs institutions like Mills to set an example of support throughout the educational journeys we embark upon. –Emily Nicole Mella Cedano ’13 Tampa, Florida

As former presidents of the Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC), we see such a promising future for Mills students, faculty, staff, and alumnae with the announcement of the union of Mills College and Northeastern University.

As you know, Mills has a long tradition of women’s empowerment, with roots in the Young Ladies’ Seminary founded by Mary Atkins in 1852. It became a chartered college three decades later, under Susan and Cyrus Mills. Though we are sad that Mills cannot remain a women’s college, we realize that it has already seen many profound changes in its 169 years.

Today, changes are necessary for Mills College to continue to serve current and future students and provide an excellent education capable of preparing leaders for our communities and for the world.

Alumnae can play a role in keeping alive our alma mater’s most profound traditions—such as its commitment to women’s empowerment and social justice—at Mills College at Northeastern University. We can continue to support students, faculty and staff, and each other. We can ensure that we persist as a community.

But alumnae cannot be fully effective in any of this as long as the association we served for so many years continues its lawsuit against Mills—a lawsuit that has already burned through nearly $1 million of AAMC funds. We are adamant that the AAMC must end its lawsuit, work to rebuild our alumnae community, and help engage all of us in supporting the campus community as it makes the transition to Mills College at Northeastern University. Alumnae are ready to move forward: more than 450 of us have signed a petition, submitted to the AAMC Board of Governors the week of October 11, to vote on withdrawing the AAMC from lawsuits against Mills.

With the belief that the AAMC can still play a constructive role in Mills College’s future, we recently sent a letter of support to Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82, current AAMC president, offering to help in this leap forward.

Mills is starting to communicate with alumnae to ask you for your help during this transition and afterwards. Mills alumnae have always been passionate about our alma mater. Please join us to ensure success for the Mills community in the future. –Muffy McKinstry Thorne ’48, Oakland;

Anita Aragon Kreplin ’63, Oakland; Sue Tucker ’68, Sacramento; Susan Brown Penrod ’71, Piedmont; Lucy Do ’75, Lafayette; Thomasina Woida ’80, Alameda; Karen May ’86, Kentfield;

Linda Jaquez-Fissori ’92, San Anselmo, California

In the fall 2021 issue, we misspelled the name of a former Mills dance professor in the article “The Lord of Lisser.” The correct spelling is June Watanabe.

We also misstated the name of a work by Igor Stravinsky in the Campus Kudos section. The correct name is “Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring).”

We apologize for the errors!