2019-2020 Winter Bulletin

THE BREARLEY BULLETIN WINTER 2020

610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #129 19464

THE BREARLEY BULLETIN

Together ,

i n d i f f e r e n t wa y s , w e h av e all p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e r e a l i z at i o n o f t h i s magnificent schoolhouse

SPECIAL ISSUE | WINTER 2020

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THE BREARLEY BULLETIN

ogether ,

d i f f e r e n t wa y s ,

av e all p a r t i c i p a t e d

r e a l i z at i o n o f t h i s icent schoolhouse “it is such a pleasure to open the academic year in this b e au t i f u l n e w p e r f o r m a n c e h a l l , a fac i l i t y t h at w i l l s e rv e the intellectual, artistic and social lives of brearley s t u d e n t s , fa c u lt y a n d s ta f f f o r g e n e r at i o n s t o c o m e .”

— ja n e f o l e y f r i e d , m i d d l e a n d u p p e r s c h o o l a s s e m b ly, s e p t e m b e r 9 , 2 0 1 9 SPECIAL ISSUE | WINTER 2020

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CONTENTS VOLUME XCV

NUMBER 1

WINTER 2020

THE BREARLEY SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2019–2020

2 “590, We Are Here”

Christine Frankenhoff Alfaro ’91, President

Opening Celebrations

David Philip, Senior Vice President

8 Sustainability at Brearley

Nicholas Bienstock, Vice President

590 Schoolhouse Curricular and Extracurricular Program Alumnae: Q&A with Lila Preston ‘94 and Lilly Wollman ‘96

21 Next Steps at 610 22 New and Departing Board of Trustees

Jocelyn Strauber ’91, Secretary Modupe Akinola ’92, Treasurer

Tara Abrahams Reza Ali

26 News & Events

Gideon Berger

32 Last Day 2019

Susan Berresford ’61

42 Milestones

Elizabeth Chandler Joseph DiMenna

46 Class Notes

Thomas Farrell

85 No One Brearley Girl

Jane Foley Fried

87 Faculty and Staff Notes

Jane Gladstone ’86 Ivan Hageman

Head of School

Rebecca Haile

Jane Foley Fried

Munib Islam

Editor

Stephanie Perlman

Jane Newman

David Raso

Graphic Designer

Paula Campbell Roberts ’94

Jennifer Bartoli

Terri Seligman ’78

If you have any questions or comments about the Bulletin, please con-

Lita Tandon ’06

tact Jane Newman at jnewman@brearley.org or (212) 570-8588.

Brearley is social!

Facebook facebook.com/brearleyschoolnyc Instagram @brearleynyc Twitter @BrearleyNYC @JaneJfried Alumnae LinkedIn Group www.brearley.org/alumnaelinkedin Alumnae Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/brearleyalumnae Special thanks to Kristen Chae, Ashley Garrett, James Kegley, © Nic Lehoux, Paul Schneck, Adrien Williams and members of the Brearley community for sharing photos and artwork with us.

Athena Tapales Andrew Tsai Alan Yan

Trustees Emeriti Georges F. de Ménil Evelyn Janover Halpert ’52 David T. Hamamoto Stephanie J. Hull Ellen Jewett ’77 Alan Jones Edward F. Rover John F. Savarese Priscilla M. Winn Barlow

Faculty Representative Debra Glick

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590 we are here

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The Story of 590 Since 1929, the Brearley School has resided at 610 East 83rd Street in a building that was expanded by two floors in 1995. The School further benefited from the construction of the Field House at 87th Street in 1997, but the need for more space to support our robust educational program persisted. Cohorts of Trustees studied many possibilities over the years, and the ribbon cutting held on September 7, 2019, was the culmination of a 25-year dream.

Previously holding the address of 70–74 East End Avenue, the corner now proudly known as 590 East 83rd Street was once the location of three apartment houses with ground-floor shops including, at one point, the Rehoboth Deli, which is fondly remembered by alumnae from many years.

The property went into default during the 2008–2009 financial crisis, and in 2010 the School purchased the site at the bottom of the real estate market. This farsighted decision was made by the Board of Trustees under the leadership of Alan Jones, now Trustee Emeritus, and Samara Cohen ‘88, who was then chair of the Board’s Building Committee. The purchase cost was covered through generous philanthropic support contributed during the 125th Anniversary Campaign, and the properties were self-sustaining financially. With a pressing need for expanded facilities, the School had secured a key resource.

In 2012, even with the promising option of adding space to support our educational program at the recently acquired location, Ellen Jewett ’77, who had assumed the presidency of the Board and is now Trustee Emerita, and brand-new Head of School Jane Foley Fried felt it was important to consider alternative sites large enough to house the entire program in a single, new building located in a different part of the city.

The Board of Trustees supported exploring the options, and so the School entered the era of “Is Brearley Moving?” The rumors abounded—moving to Queens? To New Jersey?

To the West Side?! All community members had opinions, and alumnae from all eras voiced both opposition and support for the idea of relocating their dear school—although those opposed were louder and more passionate!

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)

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590 Schoolhouse Ribbon-Cutting and Opening Celebrations

“It is an honor to come together and c e l e b r at e t h e 5 9 0 s c h o o l h o u s e t h at w e h av e l o n g d r e a m e d o f.”

— C h r i s t i n e A l fa r o ’ 9 1 , Board President 4

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(CONTINUED from PAGE 3) In the end, there were no possibilities as appealing as creating a campus and building a partner schoolhouse for 610. When this decision was announced in February 2015 there was an overwhelming and powerful sense of relief experienced even by those who had been in favor of moving the School. The Middle and Upper School girls, who had been very balanced when discussing the pros and cons, cheered deafeningly at the news.

The Brearley School decided to stay put on East 83rd Street next to the river and develop the properties so wisely acquired by the School years before. At this turning point, we engaged the Canadian architecture firm KPMB, renowned for its environmentally responsible design, which worked closely with our community learning the School’s culture and needs and developing the criteria that guided wise decision making. How to distribute the educational program across two schoolhouses swiftly became evident.

To support cross-divisional teaching and to keep the

“together, in different wa y s , w e h av e a l l p a r t i c ip a t e d i n t h e r e a l i z at i o n o f t h i s m a g n i f i c e n t s c h o o l h o u s e .”

—Jane foley fried

younger students mostly in one building, we chose to keep the Middle and Upper Schools together in 610 and create a new home base for the Lower School in 590. To preserve opportunities for intergrade relationships across the School, we decided that older students should regularly attend classes and Assemblies in the new building. To be cost-effective, we chose to build advanced science labs and an acoustically sound Performance Hall from scratch—as improving these “technical spaces” through future renovations in 610 would have been far more expensive.

And so the 590 Schoolhouse developed, designed from the inside out. Site preparation began in 2015, and the groundbreaking was celebrated on a chilly February morning in 2017. Construction commenced immediately and was completed, as planned, in time for the opening of the 2019–2020 school year.

The result is a stunning, bespoke partner for 610 that is already enhancing the well-being of students and teachers and advancing our academic and co-curricular programs. Thanks to the efforts, dedication and generosity of the school community, the 590 Schoolhouse promises to stand the test of time.

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Sustainability at Brearley The 590 Schoolhouse

From the outset, among the goals in constructing a new schoolhouse was to create an educational facility that incorporates sustainable design and prioritizes low energy consumption. Among the strengths of KPMB, the architecture firm Brearley selected for the project, was its expertise in sustainable and environmentally responsible design. To develop a sense of what sustainable design at Brearley could mean, KPMB, in concert with our environmental consultant, Transsolar, sought input from the school community, and at their behest the Sustainability Design Committee was formed in the fall of 2015. Comprising Brearley administrators and leadership, faculty, staff and students, the Sustainability Design Committee served as a sounding board for the architects and consultants to understand how their design ideas could cohere with daily life at the School and within the curriculum. The group met throughout the design process to discuss the proposed integrated design, in which the architecture and technical systems work together to provide low energy use and exceptional indoor environmental quality, and how the building could operate and be used to teach most optimally. Topics of conversation centered on curriculum integration and building interaction like rooftop water use.

Gathering the community feedback resulted in a building design distinguished by resource efficiency and cost effectiveness. To that end, 590 uses one-third the energy of its partner schoolhouse, 610, and is targeting LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. The building’s features include a well-insulated building envelope and durable materials, a water system that is 30 percent more efficient than EPA guidelines, a waterless cooling tower, daylight harvesting and natural ventilation. The four-stream recycling program provides bins on each floor for bottles and cans, paper and plastic, composting, and trash, and there is also a rainwater collection for reuse as well as green roof planters. Students are encouraged to use the stairs, designed for easy walking, rather than the elevators.

As Brearley turns its focus to 610 (see page 21), the School will continue to prioritize sustainability in its renovation plans.

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Curricular and Extracurricular Program The question of how humans can build an environmentally sustainable society to provide the world’s ever-growing population with food, energy, clean air and water without depleting its resources and driving other species into extinction is pondered throughout Brearley’s science curriculum. This comprehensive environmental education begins in kindergarten with the study of leaves and composting and endangered animals in various habitats. The ascending Lower and Middle School classes continue exploring the subject, covering areas such as acid rain, global warming and climate change, and food, water and keystone species. Upper School biology, chemistry and physics courses also address issues of the environment, including alternative energy, ecology, ocean acidification and human impact on natural biomes, and the full-year Upper School elective science course Environmental Sustainability focuses on the role of science, as well as economic and government policy, in developing an environmentally sustainable world. Additionally, this fall Advanced Research Seminar, which introduces students to biomedical research, began a new project tending a rooftop native plant garden and studying its ecological effects.

Brearley’s extracurricular program provides other opportunities for students to explore sustainability and how to create healthy communities and ecosystems. The Brearley Environmental Action ComMolly Rauch ’90, a public health policy director for Moms Clean Air Force, spoke to Middle and Upper School students at a BEAC-organized assembly on November 8, 2019. A national advocacy organization fighting air pollution and climate change for the sake of children’s health, Moms Clean Air Force is the largest parent-oriented climate change organization in the world.

mittee (BEAC) is dedicated to raising awareness within the Brearley community about issues of climate change and sustainability at the School and in the wider world. Both a Middle and Upper School club, BEAC sponsors events that support environmental organizations, arranges guest speakers at Assemblies and runs the seasonal Farm Co-op, which provides local, sustainable produce for community members who wish to join. BEAC also often works in tandem with other Brearley departments or groups to develop and launch school-wide sustainability initiatives. One example is the composting program; a collaboration with the Facilities and Food Services Departments, it became official at Brearley in 2015 when the New

York City Department of Sanitation confirmed the School’s organics collection eligibility and added 610 to its curbside service route. On a daily basis, approximately 640 pounds of food scraps and recyclables (now also from 590) are picked up by sanitation trucks for deposit at a transfer farm in Brooklyn.

Recently, Brearley joined the Billion Oyster Project, a citywide movement engaging students and educators, volunteers and restaurants in the restoration of oyster reefs in New York Harbor which will, over time, renew the local marine ecosystem’s natural mechanisms for maintaining itself and yield cleaner water and greater biodiversity. Brearley’s commitment involves monitoring a cage at the 90th Street Pier/East River. As with the objective of the Sustainability Design Committee and the endeavors of BEAC, this too illustrates the School’s community efforts in sustainability, for monitoring may be done by Class IX Biology, Advanced Research Seminar and Middle and Upper School BEAC. 10 WINTER 2020

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“by making brearley greener we in turn contribute to making the world more e c o n o m i c a l ly a n d s o c i a l ly e q u i ta b l e a n d h e l p t o s t r e n g t h e n i t f o r i t s i n h a b i ta n t s a n d t h e l i v i n g s y s t e m s t h at a r e v i ta l t o o u r e x i s t e n c e . i l ov e wo r k i n g w i t h s t u d e n t s i n e d u c at i n g t h e s c h o o l c o m m u n i t y o n s u s ta i n a b i l i t y. t h e y n e v e r l e t m e d ow n. t h e y u n d e r s ta n d w h at ‘a c t i o n ’ m e a n s a n d t h a t t h e i r s i s t h e g e n e r at i o n t h at m at t e r s . e v e ry ac t i o n t h e y ta k e , e v e ry i n d i v i d ua l t h e y p e r s ua d e t o c h a n g e h i s o r h e r h a b i t s , every community t h e y c o n v i n c e t o d o s o m e t h i n g — a c t ua l ly d o e s a n d w i l l m at t e r .”

— d r . l au r i e s e m i n a r a , b e a c fa c u lt y a d v i s o r a n d m e m b e r o f t h e s c i e n c e d e pa rt m e n t

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“Constructing a new schoolhouse posed a c r i t i c a l o pp o r t u n i t y to build in the right energy uses for many g e n e r at i o n s t o c o m e .

T h e r e s u lt i s a LEED - C e r t i f i e d b u i l d i n g t h at e m b e d s s u s ta i na b i l i t y w i t h i n the architecture, allowing students and fa c u lt y t o u n d e r s ta n d and model essential a t t i t u d e s a n d b e h av i o r s for our future.

I am proud of the l e a d e r s h ip a t B r e a r l e y for rising to the c h a l l e n g e .”

—Julia Pershan ’88, c u r r e n t pa r e n t a n d former trustee

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“ T h e S c i e n c e D e pa rt m e n t i s c o m m i t t e d t o r e l at i n g t h e c o n c e p t s s t u d e n t s l e a r n i n c l a s s t o t o pi c s a n d i s s u e s t h e y s e e i n t h e o u t s i d e wo r l d . At a t i m e w h e n o u r g ov e r n m e n t i s i g n o r i n g s c i e n t i f i c e v i d e n c e , w e a k e n i n g e n v i r o n m e n ta l p r o t e c t i o n s a n d p u l l i n g o u t o f g l o b a l c l i m at e ag r e e m e n t s , w e a r e pa rt i c u l a r ly c o n c e r n e d w i t h p r ov i d i n g s t u d e n t s ac c u r at e i n f o r m at i o n a b o u t e n v i r o n m e n ta l s u s ta i na b i l i t y a n d d i s c u s s i n g s o lu t i o n s t o e n v i r o n m e n ta l i s s u e s s o t h at t h e y w i l l u n d e r s ta n d w h at t h e y c a n d o t o p r o t e c t t h e i r f u t u r e .”

— Ja m e s K a r b , H e a d o f t h e S c i e n c e D e pa rt m e n t

Brearley Sustainability Primer brearley environmental action committee (beac): in existence since

building envelope:

daylight harvesting:

leed (Leadership in

the physical separator

a system that uses daylight

Energy and Environmental

between the conditioned

to offset the amount of

Design): a type of rating

and unconditioned

electric lighting needed to

system meant to objectively

1991, an extracurricular club

environment of a building,

properly light a space in

measure how sustainable a

that is committed to

including the resistance to

order to reduce energy

building is in several key areas

educating the school

air, water, heat, light and

consumption. This is

including impact on site and

community about climate

noise transfer.

accomplished using lighting

location, water and energy

change and other global

control systems that are

efficiency, material selection

environmental issues and to

able to dim or switch electric

and indoor environmental

promoting awareness of spe-

lighting in response to

quality. A project can earn

cific actions we can take to be

changing daylight

certification on one of four

more sustainable.

availability.

levels—Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum—for which the new 590 Schoolhouse is currently under evaluation.

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did you know?

B r ea r l e y ta k e s pa r t in P r intRe l ea f, a C e r ti f ication S y s te m and So f t w a r e P l at f o r m f o r A uto m ated G l oba l Re f o r e s tation . T h e Sc h oo l o f f s et s t h e tota l page s o f pape r con s u m ption f r o m it s p r int pub l ication s b y p l anting an e q ui v a l ent v o l u m e o f t r ee s in ce r ti f ied f o r e s t r y p r o j ect s a r ound t h e w o r l d . T o date , B r ea r l e y h a s r e f o r e s ted 2 1 6 t r ee s in B r a z i l , Madaga s ca r , t h e D o m inican Repub l ic and t h e U nited State s s ince j oining P r intRe l ea f in 2 0 1 8 . in addition , a s t h e l ogo ( be l o w r ig h t ) indicate s , t h i s m aga z ine i s p r inted on r ec y c l ed pape r .

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a conversation with lila preston ’94 (below) and lilly wollman ’96, co-heads of growth equity strategy at generation investment management, a sustainable investment firm co-founded in 2004 by al gore.

Alumnae in Sustainable Investing w h at i s s u s ta i na b l e i n v e s t i n g ?

Lilly: At Generation, we believe that we are in the early stages of a technology-led sustainability revolution, which has the magnitude of the industrial revolution and the speed of the digital revolution.

As such, we are looking for great companies and great management teams supporting the transition of large industries toward sustainability. In our private equity business, which makes up one part of Generation Investment Management, we focus on three investment areas: planetary health, people health and financial inclusion.

w h at i s a s u s ta i na b l e c o m pa n y ?

Lilly: When we talk about sustainability, we are looking at both what a company does—the products and services it sells and how those are accelerating us to a more sustainable economy—and how a company operates: its management practices, culture, governance structures, supply chain management and so on.

We look to support businesses which will thrive as they drive a no-carbon, prosperous, equitable, healthy and safe society.

would you say there’s e s p e c i a l ly a n u r g e n c y f o r s u s ta i na b i l i t y i n v e s t i n g t o day ?

Lilly: The topic is receiving much more global public attention (and capital) today than ever before—perhaps because the effects of climate volatility are now very tangible. There is also a new generation of founders who are mission-oriented and want to use the success of their businesses to drive meaningful change in climate, health and finance. So overall, the requirement for action is immense and the opportunity to fund great companies supporting sustainable methods has never been greater.

Lila: Incremental improvements to address challenges like climate change are no longer enough. We see an urgent need to fundamentally upgrade our economic system. Shifting consumer expectations, rapid technological changes and evolving policy frameworks are just some of the reasons, not to mention the demands of the younger generation.

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w h at l e d yo u t o g e n e r at i o n i n v e s t m e n t ? how did you team up?

Lila: I was one of Generation’s early employees, having joined right out of business school in 2005.

Living in London at the time, my husband and I would often host an alumnae reception when the Brearley exchange program took place each year. At one of those receptions, I reconnected with Lilly (whom I remembered from the gymnastics team!). She was also working in finance, and we later met up to talk about careers with kids (at the time Lilly was expecting her first baby). When we were looking for a member of our Growth Equity team, I introduced Lilly to the team.

Lilly: I actually joined Generation because of Lila! I always thought Lila had a brilliant job, and when the Growth Equity position opened, she encouraged me to apply. I started interviewing about eight weeks after the birth of my first son—none of my suits fit! Two years ago, in preparation for Generation raising its third $1 billion Sustainable Solutions Fund, Lila and I were appointed as co-heads of the Growth Equity platform.

wa s s u s t a i n a b l e i n v e s t i n g a n a r e a o f f i n a n c e y o u w e r e a l wa y s i n t e r e s t e d i n ? d i d y o u s t u d y i t i n g r a d uat e s c h o o l ?

Lila: I studied English and Latin American Studies at Stanford, and then ended up in Southern Chile on a Fulbright Fellowship focused on sustainable forestry. I returned to the US in 2000 at the peak of the dotcom boom, soon to be followed by the crash. The private sector seemed volatile to me, so I actually ended up getting my early financial training in the nonprofit sector, and then worked as a consultant helping to scale social enterprise. I chose to get an MBA so I could wrap business skills around maximizing social and environmental impact. At London Business School I headed up the Net Impact chapter which was a club focused on business and sustainability.

Through that, I was introduced to Generation.

Lilly: I studied mathematics at Dartmouth and have an MBA from Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) and an MSc Finance from London Business School, but none of these had dedicated sustainability programs when I was a student. Just over a decade ago, I began to see that we were at a really interesting inflection point in the viability of sustainable technologies. Technologies which enable sustainable solutions (such as solar energy, lithium ion batteries, genetic sequencing, to name a few) have gotten so much cheaper in the last two decades that sustainable solutions can win not only because they are the best product (for the environment and for consumer well-being), but also because they are the cheapest. This will precipitate a huge shift toward sustainable goods and services.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)

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( C O N T I N U E D FR O M P A G E 1 7 )

any advice for brearley students considering s u s ta i na b l e i n v e s t i n g a s a c a r e e r ?

Lila: There are so many different paths or careers in finance, and I really wish that young women had more exposure to the diversity of jobs—it is a fantastic place for curious, analytical, longterm thinkers. It is clear that the industry is going through a pretty big shift and we think mainstreaming of sustainability into investment is at a tipping point.

Lilly: Investing is a wonderful career as you actually get paid to learn about a multitude of industries, business models and people. Sustainability investing is particularly exciting as we focus on the largest technology disruptions and innovations today so that we have a perspective on a better future world. I love growth equity investing as it marries futurist tendencies with the ability to do deep, research-led dives into company fundamentals and the analytics behind investing in early-stage businesses. My best advice is always the quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Investing appeals to my polymath interests and desire to continually train myself on new ideas. I’m also attracted to the thesis in The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity and believe that today’s complex world allows us to have multiple career paths and interests.

l a s t t i m e yo u w e r e b ac k at b r e a r l e y : Lila: I spend a lot of time at Brearley as I have two daughters at the school now—Sage in Class VII and Summer in Class IV. It has been amazing to walk the halls now as a parent, especially as the girls have had several of my teachers and even wear some of my old Brearley attire—go WHITES! Lilly: About four to five years ago and, alongside several members of my class, I went top to bottom through the building, traversing each floor and then going down the opposite stairwell. We all stood for a moment in 6A, each of us thinking “I learned more in this room than any other room of my life.”

I will always remember Ruth Carpenter perched on the desk in that room, giving some of the greatest lectures I’ve heard (and I also remember the first time Mrs. Carpenter came into the room, sat on the desk, crossed her legs and said, “Hi, I’m Ruth Carpenter,” and I just about fell off my chair as I didn’t know Brearley teachers had first names). I always thought the only reason I would ever move back to the USA would be to send my girls to Brearley—but now I have three sons! I’ve had to change my life’s calling from raising strong women to raising strong men who value strong women.

h av e t o a s k — w h a t wa s y o u r f av o r i t e f o o d i n t h e brearley caf?

Lila: Muenster bagels and Joey’s rolls. In fact, I am somewhat worried that there were years when that was all I ate.

Lilly: Definitely the orange American cheese and fake mashed potatoes. I always came home and asked my mother why she couldn’t make powdered mashed potatoes at home.

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campus plan

Next Steps at 610 What can you be doing?

SUGGESTIONS FROM BREARLEY STUDENTS

Excerpts from the Head of School and President of the Board of Trustees’ letter to the Brearley community, November 18, 2019 “We are writing today to announce the beginning of the second phase: the renovation of 610 East 83rd Street, which will occur a

You know the old adage “How do you get to Carnegie

floor or two at a time during the summer months. The first trans-

Hall?” To which the answer is “Practice, Practice,

formative project at 610 will be the relocation of the Middle and

Practice”? Replace “get to Carnegie Hall” with “live

Upper School Library to the 10th floor with its beautiful light and

sustainably”; replace “Practice” with “Recycle.”

the potential for expansive and inspiring views of the East River.

Three times.

Building a new library for the two divisions of older students rep-

Most of us can’t be like Johnny Appleseed and spend our days planting apple trees. We can, though, chan-

resents both an extraordinary opportunity and essential next step for Brearley’s future.

nel our inner Johnny Appleseed and compost our

“While our beloved 610 Schoolhouse, which was praised for its

apple cores and other fruit scraps. Waste from fruit

pioneering, purpose-driven architecture when it was built in

makes for especially balanced composting materi-

1929, remains tried and true, we are undertaking this renovation

al. If you don’t have a home compost or access to a

program with two goals in mind. First, we aim to further reor-

compost pick-up service, composting drop-off sites

ganize and renovate the space to best support the educational

are located throughout the country. Check your local

program; and second, we will upgrade the building systems that

government website for further information.

require attention.

Use less water and power.

“The 610 projects will be undertaken one at a time in the sum-

Turn off lights when you leave a room.

Garbage belongs in trash cans, not littered on the street.

Reduce use of plastic: Carry a reusable shopping bag and invest in a reusable water bottle or thermos.

When you can’t recycle, upcycle—turn grandma’s moth-eaten sweater into a hat or leg warmers!

And always, teach, encourage, remind.

mers as funding allows. Unlike 590, which was funded through a combination of generous philanthropic support, a long-term loan secured at highly favorable rates and funding for new construction from the past campaign, the costs to renovate 610 will be supported entirely through new gifts to the School.

“Together, we will create a new center of learning for Brearley!

We are grateful for your partnership on this remarkable journey and look forward to keeping you updated as planning for the renovations in 610 moves ahead.”

READ THE FULL LETTER W W W. B R E A R L E Y. O R G / 6 1 0 R E N O VAT I O N S WINTER 2020 21

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NEW MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2019–2020

Clockwise from top left: Tara Abrahams, Athena Tapales, Alan Yan and Thomas Farrell.

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Tara Abrahams is a senior advisor at Arabella

Advisors, a philanthropic consulting firm that works with a range of clients to help them achieve their social impact goals. A global advocate for girls and women, Tara also serves as the board chair of She’s The First, an organization that fights gender inequality through education. Tara began her work in girls’ education and women’s empowerment as the president and deputy director of Girl Rising, a global movement and subsequent feature film that raised awareness about the importance of educating girls in the developing world. Tara also served as founding director of the Maverick Capital Foundation, a strategy consultant at The Bridgespan Group, and a managing director at Acelero Learning. She has advised a variety of leading girls- and women-focused initiatives, from Girls Who Code and the International Center for Research on Women to The Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance. Tara is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, and she leads local and international efforts related to women’s empowerment as a board member of the Harvard Alumni Association. She and her husband, Riad, are the parents of Serena and India, in Class III and Class I, respectively, and a four-year-old son, Conrad.

Thomas Farrell is a managing director at

Savanna, a real estate private equity firm and asset management company, where he is a member of the investment committee. Responsible for acquisition sourcing, underwriting and structuring as well as asset and project management, he also coordinates Savanna’s fundraising efforts and oversees ongoing communications with Savanna’s institutional investor base. Prior to joining Savanna, Tom spent four years as an associate at K. Backus & Associates (KBA), a real estate development consulting firm in New York City, and before that as a policy analyst in the Mayor of the City of New York’s office of operations. A graduate of McGill University with a master’s degree in real estate finance from New York University, Tom is married to Kathryn Sukey Farrell. They have a daughter, Amelia Farrell, in Class IV, and a son, Porter Farrell, in 2nd grade at St. Bernard’s.

Athena Tapales joins the Board for a one-year term as the president of the Parents’ Association. She worked as a senior research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, where she studied contraceptive use and trends in unintended pregnancy among women in the United States and overseas. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Athena began her professional career as a financial analyst before returning to school to earn a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota and eventually a PhD in social demography from Johns Hopkins University.

At Brearley, Athena has served as a class rep, co-chaired the Grandparents and Special Friends Committee and Community Life and Diversity Committee, and worked on the Festival of Cultures and Nominating Committees.

Athena and her husband, Giri Devulapally, have two children, Ellora Devulapally, in Class X, and Kailas Devulapally, in 8th grade at Collegiate, where Athena was also active in the Parents’ Association.

Members of the Board of Trustees—a deliberative body that arrives at decisions by consensus, made up of parents, alumnae and educational leaders at both the second­ary and college levels, along with the Head of the School—devote their energy and personal resources to Brearley’s ongoing success. In theory, the Board has a straight­forward job: It hires and then supports the Head of the School, oversees the School’s financial health and is responsible for setting the School’s mission. In practice, when considering building projects, fund­ raising or the elements of a new Strategic Plan, the work of the Board is of tremendous importance to the School.

—from The First 125 Years: The Brearley School

Alan Yan is founder and chairman of WuKong Network Inc., an online real estate transaction services platform, and Four Seasons Financial Services Co., Ltd, which provides online financial services to real estate-related transactions. Alan is also a co-founder and director of Lakeshore Capital Co. Ltd, a fund management company specializing in distressed asset investments. Previously, Alan founded and served as chairman and CEO of AdChina, a leading big data marketing technology platform that he launched with a group of former eBay/PayPal colleagues in Silicon Valley in 2007 and sold to Alibaba Group in 2015—he remains as strategy advisor. Alan received a bachelor of science from Ocean University of China and an MBA from the Massachusetts of Technology. He is married to Yukin Zhao, and their daughter, Meg Yan, is in Class V.

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RETIRING TRUSTEES

SINCERE THANKS

To Our Retiring Trustees

Clockwise from top: Elisabeth Cannell, Noah Gottdiener, Carter Brooks Simonds ’95 and Virginia Connor. .

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It is a pleasure to recognize the members of the Board who retired in June 2019. During their tenure Brearley developed and launched such initiatives as “Opening Doors,” the School’s Strategic Vision; a campus plan with the construction of 590 East 83rd Street and renovations to 610; a comprehensive fundraising campaign in support of our strategic plan’s goals; and an enhanced commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, social and emotional learning, and sexuality health education within the K–XII curriculum. We thank these trustees for their service and tireless dedication to Brearley.

Elisabeth Cannell

Trustee and President of the Parents’ Association, 2018–2019 Building/Real Estate Committee Development Committee

Virginia Connor

Trustee, 2013–2019 Audit Committee Development Committee

Noah Gottdiener

Trustee, 2013–2019 Executive Committee, Treasurer, 2014–2019 Budget Committee Finance Committee Building/Real Estate Committee Compensation Committee

MISSION STATEMENT THE BREARLEY SCHOOL Established 1884 K–XII independent school for girls in New York City Academic excellence. Liberal arts tradition.

Cross-divisional teaching.

The Brearley School challenges girls of adventurous intellect and diverse backgrounds to think critically and creatively and prepares them for principled engagement in the world.

Guided by a dedicated community of adults, students develop a command of many disciplines, a love of learning and a resilient and generous spirit. The bond among students and with their teachers is rooted in a passionate exchange of ideas and an appreciation for the unique and lively contributions of each individual.

A Brearley education unfolds over a lifetime. The School instills in its alumnae the confidence to pursue their ambitions and the wisdom to live balanced and purposeful lives.

Carter Brooks Simonds ‘95

Trustee, 2013–2019 Executive Committee, Vice President, 2014–2018 Senior Vice President, 2018–2019 Budget Committee Finance Committee Compensation Committee Investment Committee Trusteeship Committee

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NEWS & EVENTS

REGI NAL EVENTS COLORADO

SEATTLE

BOSTON

NEW YORK

RECENT GATHERINGS

COLORADO: Rocky Mountain alums spent quality time together.

SEATTLE: In town for the 2019 People of Color Conference, Tanya Huelett, Director of Equity and Community

Engagement, Melissa Cassis, Director of Middle and Upper School Admission and Financial Assistance (third and fourth from left), and Danielle King, Director of Athletics (far right), met with Pacific Northwest alums.

BOSTON: Jane Foley Fried (back row, third from left) and Associate Director of Development Phoebe Geer ‘97 (front row,

second from left) made their second yearly pilgrimage to Cambridge for a soiree with New England-based alumnae.

NEW YORK: Alumnae enjoyed lobster rolls and rosé on the Pier at this annual young alumnae event.

If you’re interested in hosting or helping to plan a regional event, please contact Alumnae Relations at alumnae@brearley.org.

R E C E N T LY P U B L I S H E D B O O K S B Y A L U M N A E Please send covers of your new books to classnotes@brearley.org.

Jan Eliasberg ’71

Susanna Leonard Hill ‘83

Susanna Leonard Hill ‘83

Alison Green ’85

Bess Williamson Stiles ‘94

Aarti Shahani ’97

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THA NK YO U hispanic heritage month Observed in the United States between September 15 and October 15, this national event commemorates the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans. In collaboration with the Music and Technology Departments and the Ella Club, on October 2 the Modern Languages Department presented Brearley’s first Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration Assembly. Claudia Salazar Jiménez, the Peruvian writer, was the keynote speaker and also led a creative writing workshop for Upper School students in advanced Spanish classes. Other activities included a percussion workshop with Peruvian percussionist Juan Carlos Polo and an Inca symbol 3D interdisciplinary project.

Together, the combined gifts of alumnae, parents and friends of the School are opening new and varied doors for Brearley girls. With nearly 4,000 generous donors contributing to Brearley during our comprehensive campaign thus far, every gift for every purpose impacts Brearley’s success and brings us closer to our $100MM goal. To date, we have received $89MM in combined gifts and pledges.

We appreciate the strong show of loyalty from our community. Gifts through the Annual Fund are a vital part of our success, and we are grateful for your continuous support. Together, we can reach our Annual Fund goal before June 30, 2020. Every gift of any size matters. Thank you for being a Brearley champion!

onl i ne g i v i ng : www.brearley.org/donate Venmo: Brearley_af From left: Modern Languages faculty Ana Cladera, Wanda Rivera-Rivera and Sylvie Lucile with Jane Foley Fried (center) and author Claudia Salazar Jiménez (right).

SATURDAY SAUNTERS

Gifts of Stock: www.brearley.org/stock

g ifts v i a cas h o r check : Please mail or deliver your gift to The Brearley School 610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028 Attention: Development & Alumnae Relations Office For any questions, contact Amina Holman, Annual Fund Director, at aholman@brearley.org or (212) 570-8610.

The beginning of the 2019–2020 school year also brought the beginning of a new Brearley activity: walks for students and parents “in the wilds” of New York City led by Jane Foley Fried, Head of School, and Maria Zimmermann, Assistant Head of School for Student Life and Head of the Lower School. As Ms. Fried comments, “Not only is walking good exercise, but being surrounded by nature has beneficial effects on our emotional health and well-being.” Walks are planned through the year in all five boroughs; so far groups have traveled to the North Woods of Central Park, where they spied a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk, and Prospect

ANNUAL FUND

2019–2020

Park in Brooklyn (above), where a great blue heron was milling about the shoreline.

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NEWS & EVENTS

HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO OTHERS?

The Middle and Upper School Thanksgiving Assembly has become a time for the Brearley community to gather and reflect on service and gratitude, and to showcase student projects that illustrate how young people can be active, principled and purposeful citizens in the world. This year, the audience was treated to presentations from students working with Days for Girls, an organization that endeavors to increase global access to menstrual care and education by creating menstrual kits for girls living in impoverished communities (top), the BEAC co-heads about student activism around climate change (above), and the Service Club co-heads on educational equity and the School’s partnership with the Clarke School for Hearing and Speech.

Book Brigade then and now

then: “On Friday, March 16, 1984, all Middle and Upper School classes were canceled for a unique event; Book Moving Day. Faculty and staff as well as all of the students moved 12,617 volumes with nary a dog-eared page.

The Higginson Library had served us well since 1929, but growth of student body, as well as the body of knowledge, required more pace and thus, the new library on the main floor of the School was conceived and built. The cooperative effort was photographed as the students and adults carried three-quarters of our collection—from hand to hand-down five flights of stairs and placed it on the brand new shelves. A veritable ‘book brigade’!”

—Reprinted from the 1984 Spring Bulletin redux: On September 13, 2019, the second book brigade in the history of Brearley took place.

This time, the route involved asphalt as the entire Lower School and faculty vacated their classrooms at 590 East 83rd Street to cross East End Avenue and head to 610, where they entered through the eastern doors and filed into the Lower School library through the back entrance. In twos they collected books from the librarians and departed from the main library door, passing through the lobby and exiting from the main entrance of 610.

West they continued, back to 590, where they deposited their books in the new Uris Children’s Library.

beyond: Among the renovations planned at 610 is the relocation of the Middle and Upper School Library to the tenth floor, which will occur in summer months (see page 21). Stay tuned for Book Brigade III—while all indoors once again, the steepest course yet.

New Brearley Travel/Study Opportunity This spring, Modern Languages faculty and a group of Upper School students who study French will be spending a week in Québec City, Canada. The latest addition to the School’s travel/study offerings, this language and cultural immersion program features a homestay experience. All activities and tours, which include visiting the First Nations Community Onhoüa Chetek8e Huron Village, the Parliament of Quebec, Montmorency Falls and museums as well as a dog-sledding adventure, will be conducted in French.

In addition to Quebec City, trips to Alabama and China will be running this year. Designed to cultivate learning that both enhances and transcends the classroom and to foster a habit of reflection, travel/study programs enable students to engage in a new culture and accomplish cross-cultural dialogue by collaborating on tasks that are mutually beneficial. Students must apply.

Need-based financial assistance is available through Brearley travel/study endowed funds.

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Save the Date!

ONE Amazing BREARLEY Reunion WHEN: Friday, April 17–Sunday, April 19, 2020 WHERE: The ONE and only BREARLEY School WHO: All alumnae WHY: Because together, we are ONE BREARLEY www.brearley.org/reunion20 Celebrating classes: 1945 • 1950 • 1955 • 1960 • 1965 • 1970 • 1975 • 1980 • 1985 • 1990 • 1995 • 2000 • 2005 • 2010 • 2015

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MATH TEAM SCORES AND SOARS AT TRINMAC

The Upper School Math Team was more than prepared for the challenges of the inaugural Trinity Math Competition (TrinMaC) on November 23, 2019, placing third in the team round and second in individuals. One of 19 schools in attendance, Brearley was represented by (from left) Eileen Ye ‘22, Maya Narang ‘21, Mariyam Khandaker ‘21, Emma Zhu ‘21 (co-captain), and Rebecca Golovanov ‘20 (co-captain).

START:

WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK? EVELYN SEGAL, HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT LIFE 1. Family photos—my son and daughter, and my husband and step-children.

2. Flowers for Friday Flower, now called Day 6 Daisy. 3. Elephants. I collect

them, and these three have particular meaning for me: the glass one was a gift from the Grade Heads, the jewel box from my assistant, Lisa Pollack, and the colorful one from another colleague. 4. Beaver—I can’t have a parade of elephants on my desk without at least one Brearley mascot. 5. The origami is what students or I have made when I’ve subbed in Advisory this year.

6. Glasses—I always keep an extra pair on my desk.

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NEWS & EVENTS

Thank You!

TO OUR FACULTY AND STAFF WHO DEPARTED AFTER MANY YEARS OF SERVICE IN 2019

judith reibel, educational consultant, 1987

marilyn heineman, learning skills, 1998

elisabeth umlandt, play and crafts, 1972

heyden white rostow ’67, english, administration, 1978

A specialist in child development, Judy was an invaluable resource for teachers, students, parents and Admissions.

Committed to “supporting our girls in any way that will enhance their success,” she leaves with “the greatest fondness and respect for my colleagues of the past 32 years.”

Her first decade at Brearley spent as a Kindergarten Assistant Teacher, Elisabeth returned in 1986 and developed the Play and Crafts program as well as crafts units for Kindergarten and Class I. Generations of students treasure memories of making gingerbread houses, tooth pillows and hobby horses, and fondly recall her as a crafts mainstay of Summer Start.

Working closely with students in Classes I–III on vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, oral reading fluency and writing was a thrilling opportunity for Mariyn. She also taught K and V students, whose curiosity and insightfulness about everything they read never ceased to impress her.

Class VI, VIII, IX and XI English, Medieval Texts, Anglo Saxon, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Geoffrey Chaucer are just some of the courses Heyden taught. Additionally, she spent 15 years as Academic Dean, 10 of which were also as Dean of Faculty. Heyden first arrived in 1957 as a member of Class III, and although she left Brearley more than once, it will never leave her.

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tammy zazuri, p.e., athletics, 1986

joan kaplan, admission, 2000

katherine henderson, p.e., 2003

susan sagor, english, 1977

As P.E. Head and Athletics Director, Tammy instituted a no-cut Middle School policy, increased the number of teams from 14 to 36 and helped to develop the Field House. Coaching was a great passion, and the Athletic Association Banquet, Summer Start and Homecoming were all launched under her tenure.

Starting her Brearley career as a head lacrosse coach, Katherine concluded it as P.E. Department Head. Her varsity coaching led those teams to several state tournaments, and as a co-founder of GLSEN, a nonprofit addressing bullying and LGBTQ issues in K-12 schools, Katherine was adamant in promoting fairness, sportsmanship and equality on her teams.

As Director of M.S. and U.S. Admission and Financial Assistance, Joan aimed to make the admission process one of “clarity and transparency, accurate communications and warmth.” A defining goal was making a Brearley education more affordable for low-middle- and upper-middle-income families.

Teaching every English course from VII to XII, senior mini-courses—even X American History—Susan found great satisfaction in working with students and providing the opportunity for them to approach a variety of texts with growing understanding over time. Among her many other roles were serving as Department Head for 10 years and offering literary discussions for alumnae.

to read their full bios, visit www.brearley.org/2019departees

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LAST DAY 2019

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REMARKS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Cultivating a Sense of Adventure Welcome, families, faculty and staff, students and the Class of 2019. As is tradition, we gather in this Assembly Hall for a simple and elegant ceremony, Last Day. While we have replaced class cheers with songs and no longer serve ice cream at the conclusion, little has changed from Brearley’s early ceremonies. Of course, there is one big change coming when we move Last Day exercises to the new performance hall in 590 next year. XIIs, you have the distinction of being the last class to celebrate this ceremony in this beloved Assembly Hall, and XIs, you’ll be the first to graduate in our new building. Both are special in their own way, and I can’t think of people I’d enjoy these celebrations with more than all of you here in this room.

Continuing with the exercise at hand, I offer my letter to the Class of 2019.

Dear Seniors, In preparation for my remarks, my mind drifted to the wide variety of areas to which you have contributed at the School. An early memory is of your Class VIII dance. Before your class hit the scene with its energy and organization, dances at Brearley seemed to be going the way of the dodo. But you broke the mold by organizing a rocking affair that has carried into Upper School. The Coffee Houses are more fun and well attended, the Halloween party and BUSCOW have taken on a whole new level of creativity and competition, and Mountain Day and Field Day were full of cheer, spirit, friendly—and fierce—competition. You are a class that works hard and plays hard. You’ve also thought deeply and challenged yourself to address issues of culture in the School, sponsoring Town Halls on mental health and ways to maintain a close sense of community when we expand to two schoolhouses. You’ve created the Lower School Lunch Buddy program. You’ve educated Middle School students about the benefits and pitfalls of social media and founded our first student-led diversity day, Belonging at Brearley. Your class gift, which provides for the beautification of the pier and a planter outside 590, is no surprise, as strengthening divisions and the community has been an overarching theme of your leadership. You are the glue that holds our community together and your esprit de corps is evident in all you do.

So it may surprise you that my inspiration for this speech came as a result of accompanying my 88-year-old mother-in-law and her friends to a movie matinee in Boynton Beach, Florida, over spring break. Allow me to explain.

On this rainy afternoon, as we were settling into our comfy reclining seats, a series of previews began. We all quieted down when Maiden, a documentary about the first female crew to sail the Whitbread, a 33,000-mile, nine-month, round-the-world treacherous sailing race, illuminated the screen. I know very little about sailing, but watching the original footage of this thrilling adventure made me well up with tears. While that may not surprise you as I am apt to do that, when the trailer was over I heard sniffling in the audience, zippers opening and purses snapping as people, including the women next to me, pulled out tissues to wipe their eyes and blow their noses. I was rapt.

Our attention was diverted by the ensuing feature film, but as soon as the credits started rolling, talk about Maiden commenced.

To be sure, the film footage was awesome, and I mean awesome in its original definition: to cause feelings of great admiration, respect or fear. The young female crew, led by 24-year(continued on next page)

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LAST DAY 2019

“

XIIs, you have the distinction of being the last class to celebrate this ceremony in this beloved Assembly Hall, and XIs, you’ll be the first to graduate in our new building.”

old Tracy Edwards, a cook from a charter boat, struggling to sail perilous seas and through enormous winds, would grab anyone’s attention. But it was the clips of the interviews that touched me, and even more so my senior friends. The women mariners’ voices carried the exquisite balance of confidence and humility that can only be honed by adversity. These women, now in their 60s, reflected on what the journey meant to them: Sailing meant freedom.

No one thought we could do it.

I wanted an adventure.

This was the first time in my life I had stood up for something I believed in. The harder it became the more I wanted to do it.

We were told we were not strong enough, not skilled enough....

Listening to these women talk about their odyssey captured our imaginations. Their self-doubt supplanted by self-assurance, they did what no one else thought they could do—they finished the race and proved that they were equal to some of the greatest sailors of the day. My movie dates explained over dinner that while they certainly had morsels of adventure in their lives, their tears came from never having had an opportunity to test their mettle through adventure, to prove to others and more so to themselves that they were strong, capable of anything. They were 30 years, a generation, too early. Now, in the final stage of their lives, emboldened by experience, they pictured themselves on that racing vessel, drenched with sea water, tethered by ropes, pulling together to race the wind. I can still hear their chuckles as they called each other out on who would be skipper, tactician, trimmers, cook. That they were all widows was not lost on them.

They had a freedom of sorts now; their minds were sharp but their bodies, though in great shape for their ages, would not hold up to the physical exertion. We thought about what kind of adventure was available to them.

It grew quiet for a moment and I could feel the vacancy in their souls from having “missed the boat.” The silence was broken as Myrna shared that even talking about a personal adventure made her self-conscious, as if

she were ungrateful for the wonderful life she had led, for her family. We changed the topic—grandchildren and great-grandchildren resumed center stage and adventure was left to the big screen.

This experience made me think about you at this inflection point in your lives: the ending of high school and the advent of college. Minds sharp and bodies strong.

Times have changed for women. You have all the opportunities anyone could dream of having. But is that true?

Would you say that you have lived adventurously thus far in your lives?

Will you feel the freedom in college to go beyond the familiar, or will you feel pressure to follow a prescribed path?

Recognizing the reality of the doorways and gatekeepers that exist in life—grades, test scores, the cost of an education and its burden on families and young adults—I’m not naïve about the waters you need to navigate to become a contributing member of society. The time has arrived for you to leave Brearley and go to college next fall or the year after. And at some point it will be necessary for you to move out of your home too. (As much as your families love you, they don’t really want you to live with them forever—or at least most of them don’t.) Supporting oneself and taking care of others are important parts of a fulfilling life. But, thinking of my new friends nearing the end of their lives, my question is: How can you, so full of life, hold on to the expectations of success and thrill of adventure— growing and nurturing that for yourself and encouraging that in others?

Here are a few bits of advice for cultivating a sense of adventure in your life, as you transition to the next step in your educational journey.

1. Try to go to as many things as you are invited to and be present while there because you never know where you will find inspiration. Case in point: my visit to the Cineplex in Boynton Beach. When I go on what my assistant, Mrs. Medina, calls my walkabouts throughout the building and beyond, I witness small instances of adventure. Examples: Listening to an Middle School docent describe what she sees in a provocative piece of an Upper School student’s work at the Art Show. Watching athletes prevail under the pressure of a shoot-out to win the league championship or sitting in the first row of this Assembly Hall during a mainstage production, so close I practically feel the breath of the actor who is singing her heart out to the audience. These are some of the moments that inspire me, and I know a lot of people, at this gathering. But one has to be there to feel it.

Get out of your dorm and go on your own walkabouts on campus next fall.

2. Embrace being a novice. If you want to live adventurously, you undoubtedly will find yourself in situations where you need to apply your skills in novel ways. I worry that society places so much emphasis on young people developing an expertise that we are raising a generation of children who are becoming averse to learning something new. Here you need to sail against the current.

This is counterintuitive because expertise feels good. We are motivated when we see evidence of our hard-won progress. However, this current can push us off course from the thrill of immersing oneself in new fields and making new connections in one’s area of interest.

Take your senior spring. Many of you discussed in your presentations embarking on a project—an internship, a mini-course, a first job—in a field in which you are a novice. You recounted the excitement of being a new learner.

Remember that and helm your novice status as you move on to college.

3. Resist the obvious. Prevailing winds on college campuses will direct you toward friendships, courses and extracurricular activities that fall in your comfort zone from day one. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you

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find yourself with friends of only your own race, socioeconomic background, religion or political point of view, you are missing out on a social adventure. If you find yourself in classes that draw only on your strengths, you’re missing out on an intellectual adventure.

Curate your acquaintances, courses and activities, for they have the capacity to shape your life.

4. Live in a way that makes you a little afraid every day. There is nothing more exhilarating than “Doing,” as Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged, “that thing you think you cannot do.” Self-confidence comes from these experiences and whether you want to be tested in this way or not, you will because uncertainty is a certainty in life.

When I think back on my life, my most important moments of development were born from not just surviving but thriving in life’s uncertainty. Too much caution and preplanning, in my opinion, dulls the senses and leaves a residue that dims the light. The colors are brighter, reflexes quicker and thinking sharper when you welcome a little fear in your life.

5. Finally, protect what brings you joy. Do you know what makes you feel joy? I promise you there is something. Think back to your younger self.

That’s what my new friends in Boynton Beach did during our conversation about adventure in their lives. They reminisced about learning how to ballroom dance, swimming alone far out into the ocean and singing show tunes in front of an audience. Those moments brought them joy.

Perch in the crow’s nest to watch for those prevailing winds. You’ll be recruited to apply your formidable skills in areas that are obvious for someone with your academic background. It feels good to be wanted, especially when you’re new. Save space for finding and pursuing what makes you feel alive. Despite the responsibilities in college, at work and for your family, you can develop something in your life that takes your breath away. You may be great at it and you may not. That does not matter. That you feel joy in doing it is all that matters.

You’ll have to fight for this in your life. Rare and fleeting as these experiences may be, they are uniquely yours, packed with power and, con-

nected to one another, what make an adventurous life.

As I look up in the audience at the women who have helped you become the people you are today, I’m wondering how many of them have felt a sense of adventure in their lives. Ask them and invite them to join you on one. Intergenerational adventures create a special bond that strengthens relationships and, as we have established already, you have an affinity to forge and cement connections.

Beyond this internal and, I hope, familial experience that you build and nurture, how else is adventure relevant in your life? This, too, has to do with moving on from this community.

At Brearley you are given an explicit message that you can do anything that you are willing to work for. This can be true, but you, undoubtedly, will meet people, those gatekeepers, who may not see you as we see you, but you will be far away from here when that happens and our faculty and staff sitting just at the edge of the stage will not be present to reinforce your value.

However, what if we shift the paradigm? Adopting an adventure mindset, proving that you are worthy to yourself rather than to others frees you to take on a challenge without worrying about impressing others or meeting their expectations. You are in command. If you are looking for inspiration, are comfortable with being a novice and embracing a little fear and know that you will grow from the experience, then no course is off limits. This is a bold starting point to confront what we have learned is a pattern of behavior of women to question their fitness for a position or promotion despite being just as qualified as, or more qualified than, any male applicant.

Adventures rarely turn out as expected—the uncertainty is certain— but they always result in tremendous personal growth, as they did for those brave young women on the Maiden. It inspired them and a group of octogenarians 30 years later.

This is what I wish for you as individuals and as a class. Return often to share your adventures with us.

Godspeed.

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No One

Brearley girl.

RED OR WHITE: Red FAVORITE BOOK(S) YOU READ AS A STUDENT: The Witch of Blackbird Pond

FAVORITE ASSEMBLY, TRADITION OR SONG: “Oats peas beans and barley grow”!

A RULE YOU ALWAYS FOLLOWED…OR DIDN’T:

Did not follow that assembly was mandatory junior and senior years.

MEMORABLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES: Definitely running the “mile” every Monday or Tuesday for PE, mostly my experiences with the soccer team.

HOW YOUR BREARLEY EDUCATION HAS INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE:

Emma Ladouceur ’17

I’m in an undergraduate business school and am consistently spoken over. It’s a really small ratio of girls to boys and I have a much better ability to speak up and not let myself be interrupted than some of my friends. It’s nice to be able to speak up knowing that I have the right to be heard and shouldn’t be ignored just because of my gender. *Pictured with my sister, Sarah Ladouceur ’14 (far left).

What makes you a Brearley Girl?

Share your story at www.brearley.org/share WINTER 2020 85

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590 east 83rd street

On the river, on East 83rd Street, we will be here.

Create a legacy for Brearley.

Incubator, proving ground, home. Brearley is a singular place that is all about the girls—who they are, what they are capable of, and what they can become.

When you include Brearley in your estate plans, you join a generous group of supporters who safeguard the Brearley experience for the girls of future generations.

For sample language to use in your will or trust, and further information, please contact: Phoebe T. Geer ’97, Associate Director of Development (212) 570-8609 or pgeer@brearley.org

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THE BREARLEY BULLETIN WINTER 2020

610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #129 19464

THE BREARLEY BULLETIN

Togeth

in different w

w e h av e all p a r t i c

i n t h e r e a l i z at i o n

magnificent schoo

SPECIAL ISSUE | WINTER 202

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