Sargent
Sargent Spirit
Issue 3
'You have to take charge yourself' Marguerite “Midge” Martin (Sargent’47) has repeatedly served on the front line in the battle for gender equality. Consider her struggle with the Longmeadow Country Club, in Longmeadow, Mass., where she and her husband, Charlie, were longtime members. In 1985, Midge asked the club’s board of governors if she could tee off earlier on weekends than the scheduled times for women: after 1 pm on Saturday and 11:30 am on Sunday. “As I’d walk up the little hill on the driveway late and look down the first green, I’d see the male members taking their 16-year-old boys out to play,” she says. “So even the boys could play, but ladies could not. And I’d think, 'How do you like that? That kid has more power than I have because he’s a boy.' I just wanted to be equal.” It was a cause reinforced by her experience at Sargent College, she says—a place where a tight-knit group of strong, independent women trained with professors who were keenly aware of women’s capabilities and rights. Photo: The Republican, Springfield, Massachusetts
You have to do what’s good for you, what’s good for everybody. Sargent embraced that idea."
When the club’s board said no, Midge took the case to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and later filed a lawsuit against the club. Finally, in 1997, they reached a settlement: Longmeadow paid Midge’s $45,000 in legal fees, and allowed women to play before the afternoon heat struck. But she and Charlie, who she says stood steadfastly by her, did pay a price. Club members—former friends—shunned them both. “When we would play, nobody would talk to us, nobody would have lunch with us, nobody would go out with us. That went on for a couple of years. The men took over, and their wives were afraid.” Even so, she would do it all over again. “The victory meant a great deal to me,” she says. “Without that fight, we’d still be in the dungeon.” Midge has spent her life reaching for the heights. She credits her family, in particular her mother, with instilling the courage to do what was right for her, regardless of what others were doing. And she points to the philosophy of Dudley Allen Sargent, who stressed the value of evidence-based physical education for all people, as critical in her egalitarian approach to her own career. As a science and physical education teacher at Brookline High School, in Brookline, Mass., in the 1950s, she fought for gender parity for the girls’ athletics teams, leading to more gym time and coaching for them. She later became the first woman general
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From the Dean Dear Sargent Alumni, This is a profoundly difficult global moment. But leaders are emerging. These leaders will help us respond to challenges and build on opportunities to make change. We often talk about Sargent College as being responsive, nimble, and entrepreneurial—key qualities of leadership that in the past several months have been on full display from both our students and faculty. It is my privilege to be part of a community that has demonstrated resilience, creativity, and, most of all, an unwavering commitment to our students and the pursuit of scholarship and knowledge. I know that many of your lives have been upended by current events. I want to thank you for the leadership you continue to demonstrate every day. Our campus learning environment and experience may have shifted, but the energy and resolve of the Sargent community are alive and well and will guide us through these unprecedented times.
That does not mean the journey has been easy. Initially, students lost their on-campus community and the opportunity to come together to learn and to process the events that have dramatically changed life as we know it. They lost their “home away from home,” and in many cases job and internship opportunities. As we bring them back with BU’s remarkable Learn from Anywhere format, we will, as always, be there to support them, helping them succeed regardless of what challenges may come our way. To do that, we have created a new fund called the Sargent Cares Emergency Fund. This fund will provide emergency support to students above and beyond traditional financial aid. These grants are already helping them keep training to be the healthcare leaders of tomorrow. To make a contribution, go to bu.edu/give2sargent, then choose the Emergency Fund on the form's dropdown menu. I am deeply grateful for the support of our entire Sargent family. Your commitment to our students conveys your confidence and belief not only in our mission but also in our spirit and resilience, particularly when times get tough. This is profoundly meaningful to all of us. With sincere wishes for your health, safety, and well-being,
Chris Moore Dean and Professor College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College
'You have to take charge yourself' (continued from page 1)
agent in the country for a major insurance company, Connecticut Mutual Life. In her initial interview with the human resources rep, she took charge. “He asked me what I was looking for, and I said, ‘I’m not looking for anything in particular. What are you looking for?’ ” The next thing she knew, she was taking an elevator to the company’s top floor to meet with the members of the C-suite—all men. “They set me up with my own agency, Martin Agency Insurance & Investments,” she says. “I ran the whole shindig. I thrived on that.” Now 95, Midge still belongs to the Longmeadow Country Club, though she hasn’t played recently because of a fall. The former Class Athlete at Classical High School, in Springfield, Mass.,
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(“If there was a game, I played it,” she says) received Sargent's 1997 Special Recognition Award, given to alumni "for outstanding contributions to humanity beyond their professional responsibilities." She has also been featured in two books: The Unplayable Lie: The Untold Story of Women and Discrimination in American Golf (Pocket Books, 1995) and Power of Women (Heritage Republican Book Series, 2019). “You have to do what’s good for you, what’s good for everybody,” she says. “Sargent embraced that idea. You can’t sit back just because you’re a woman. If you’re a woman and you sit back, you’re going to be back all your life. No one’s going to throw roses at you. You have to take charge yourself.”
2019 Alumni Weekend
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From the Alumni Association President Dear Fellow Sargent College Alumni, I am thrilled to write to you as the Sargent College Alumni Association’s new president. My name is Kelly Pesanelli, and I received my bachelor’s degree from Sargent in health sciences in 1996 and my master’s in physical therapy in 1998. I work as a physical therapist and am a lecturer in the Sargent College Department of Health Sciences. As a faculty member, I learn so much from both my peers and my students. I watch the historic Sargent Spirit thrive with each passing year in our thoughtfulness, kindness, and commitment. I know you, as alumni, share those values—values we cherish as graduates of a small, close-knit college at the forefront of progress and change in our fields. I am proud to call Sargent my alma mater, and stand witness each semester to all the incredible advances the college and its alumni are making in the health and rehabilitation sciences. Taking on a new leadership role in the midst of what our country and campus have been experiencing since March is truly overwhelming. Today’s events stand in sharp contrast to our celebrating one of the most successful Alumni Weekends in recent memory and BU’s closing a $1.85 billion fundraising campaign. The COVID-19 pandemic closed our campus and shifted us to remote learning. The most significant conversation about race in a generation is making us grapple with what we wish our legacy as a country to be. All of this change must be reckoned with. I am inspired by how our Sargent faculty, staff, students, and alumni have handled it so far. I know all of us on the Sargent College Alumni Association Board look to you, our alumni, to guide us as we thoughtfully move through these conversations and global changes. As leaders in the healthcare field, each of us has a responsibility to stand up for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ensure that we continue to invest in one another, particularly in these turbulent times. I look forward to hearing from all of you as I step into my new role. Thank you for your ongoing love and support of our wonderful college! Warm regards,
I watch the historic Sargent spirit thrive with each passing year in our thoughtfulness, kindness, and
Kelly Pesanelli (CGS’94, Sargent’96,’98) President, Sargent College Alumni Association Lecturer, Sargent College Department of Health Sciences
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commitment."
Resilience in the face of a missed Commencement It was a time of antiwar protests on campuses nationwide, including Boston University. Still, Sharon was shocked. “No one explained why school was suddenly over and Commencement was canceled,” says Sharon, who majored in occupational therapy. “It all happened so fast.”
In May 1970, Sharon Ryan was at her desk in her Brighton apartment, finishing a take-home exam, when the phone rang. The Sargent administrator on the other end gave explicit instructions: “ ‘When you finish your exam, bring it back to the office,' " she recalls his saying. “ ‘And return your cap and gown to the bookstore.’ ”
This year’s crisis was quite different: a frightening pandemic everyone knew about, a campus deserted almost overnight. But one result was the same: no Commencement. Sharon, along with her classmates, can empathize. What might she say to the Sargent Class of 2020? “First, congratulations to all the graduates,” says Sharon, who is a member of the BU Board of Trustees. “This should be an exciting time for you and your families, but not in this way. As a graduate of the Class of 1970, I remember all too well how it feels to be disappointed and in
limbo. But I also know how resilient you are: Sargent has given that to you, the wherewithal to pivot and adapt. As healthcare practitioners, we know how to pivot—to conduct evaluations and change treatment plans—day to day as our patients change. Continue to be forward-looking, to always search for new ways of doing things. You have that in you. You left Sargent with all the tools you need to succeed.” Sharon notes that one of the hardest parts about missing Commencement was not being able to celebrate with her classmates. She hopes that the Class of 2020 has opportunities to do that in the near future. “I look forward to your being able to return to campus when this is over, and for all of us to celebrate your accomplishments,” she says. “Until then, stay connected with one another as much as you can. You will be grateful for that as you get older.”
Sargent College Virtual Alumni Weekend 2020 Sargent Symposium on COVID-19, Sargent College Alumni Awards, and more Join us for a virtual Alumni Weekend 2020 on Saturday, October 3! At noon EDT, on Zoom, we will host our third annual Sargent Symposium, a lecture and panel discussion titled COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Looking to the Future. At 3 pm EDT, we will reconvene on Zoom for this year’s Sargent College Alumni Awards and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of classmates, friends, and colleagues. bu.edu/sargent/AW20
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