AAMC News

It was so wonderful to welcome you back to Mills for Reunion after not being together for more than a year. Convocation is always a special time, with alumnae joining students in the processional while carrying their class year banners. This year was extra special given that it was the last Convocation for Mills College students before the merger with Northeastern.

This was my sixth time as president of the AAMC to address students and share my thoughts and congratulatory message with them. My theme was about facing unexpected challenges in our lives and how to work through them. I shared about my debilitating accident during my first year at Mills, which caused me to take all incompletes for that semester. While I lay incapacitated in bed, days turned into months, and fearful thoughts about my future began to fill my mind. But with prayers and support from my Mills and church communities, those days became more bearable and also taught me many life lessons. While some things in my life would be altered forever, there was the hope of new possibilities. My dreams did not come to an end: I graduated and went on to earn my doctorate and find a calling to a vocation I did not expect.

The third chapter of Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament is instructive of life with its beginnings and endings:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.

There have been many births and rebirths with Mills, beginning with the Young Ladies’ Seminary for Christian women in Benicia, to the secular Mills College for women—with men later being admitted to graduate programs—to Mills going on to welcome transgender students. Each of these changes must have felt drastic to make way for new plantings. Each change altered Mills and enriched it.

Now that the Board of Trustees has voted to merge with Northeastern, there is another change coming our way. The future seems uncertain to some, while to others it offers a way to preserve the campus as a degree-granting institution, albeit under the Northeastern umbrella.

At this time, to many it feels like a death of a different kind, mourning the many things that will no longer be alive in the new merger. While it is a time to mourn and bid goodbye to Mills, it can also be a time to rejoice and remember. To remember how we have been nurtured by our cherished fostering mother, and to celebrate our treasured time as students. To remember and thank the faculty who taught us with dedication and commitment, to appreciate the staff and administrators who made our time here meaningful and memorable. These things will never die; they live on in each one of us. These past few months have tested our commitment to each other and to the leadership at Mills. I take heart in this quote from the late General Colin Powell: “The ties that bind us are stronger than the occasional stresses that separate us.” The current stress of the merger has separated us alumnae, but I believe and hope that our bond will help us overcome this unprecedented time of change in the history of our beloved alma mater and unify us.

This winter, the Board of Governors and its committees are preparing to celebrate a holiday luncheon with students and to honor and celebrate our mid-year graduates at a special event on December 3. Future events for students at Mills will also change, but I am confident that we will find ways to support students and celebrate the accomplishments and milestones in their lives and the lives of those in our alumnae community.

During this season of Thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude to so many of you who have supported and worked alongside the AAMC these past several months.

I want to leave you with this simple but profound quote from the Dalai Lama:

“Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.”

My hope is that even as Mills changes, we as alumnae can work towards ensuring that the mission and values we cherish will continue.

Sincerely, Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82 AAMC President

The AAMC honored six awardees at the Alumnae Awards Luncheon on the Saturday afternoon of Reunion. This event honored two years’ worth of awardees, as there was no Reunion held in 2020.

Distinguished Alumnae Award: Kirsten Saxton ’90 Outstanding Volunteer Award: Marge Miskelly Thomas ’67 Recent Graduate Award: Dorothy Lawrence-Akaeze ’11

Distinguished Alumnae Award: Joan Millar Lincoln ’66 Outstanding Volunteer Award: Carol Alcalay ’52 Recent Graduate Award: Amanda Page Harper ’09

During the Saturday morning AAMC update/annual meeting, current members of the Nominating Committee were voted on to serve another year. Alexa Pagonas ’91, Chair Myila Granberry ’05 Courtney Long ’01 Benita Harris ’74 Camellia Franklin ’73 Lynette Castille-Hall ’75 Trina Cook ’93

The College is willing to send out messages periodically on our behalf, but we are striving to build our own list of alumnae interested in emails from the AAMC specifically. If you have not yet done so, please subscribe to our mailing list at aamc-mills.org/ subscribe!

The petition to recall the alumnae trustees has been withdrawn in the spirit of compromise as Jacki Brown ’74 has resigned, and the petitioners believe they will secure representation on the Board of Trustees. Therefore, there will not be a re-vote to recall the alumna trustees.

Dynamic duo Sissy Cutchen ’81 and Ann Kasper ’81 will host the largest auction to benefit the AAMC in its more than 100-year history. The event seeks to raise more than $100,000 with the auction of more than 150 items. How can you help?

Here is a list of the type of items that will work well for the auction: • Art: preferably originals, including prints, music, textiles, jewelry, paintings, and sculptures. • Experiences: meals, vacation homes, tastings, tours, sporting events, concerts, and any event tickets. • Fashion: high-end new or gently-used vintage and/or designer bags, belts, clothing, and jewelry, including costume jewelry. Visit aamc-mills.org/fgs#auction to donate items. Look for the auction dates to be communicated in the coming months.