Bringing the 2019-2020 school theme to life— everything we do today affects the lives we’ll lead tomorrow, pg. 12
U B ILDING FUTURE T H E
Annual Report on Philanthropy Inside
19600 North Park Boulevard Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122 216.932.4214
WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Share your thoughts with HB. Letters to the editor may be sent to kosborne@hb.edu or to the school’s mailing address. We welcome feedback through our social channels as well. Find us on Facebook under Hathaway Brown School or send us a tweet at @HathawayBrown.
Parents: If your daughter is not receiving this magazine at her permanent address, please notify publications@hb.edu so that it may be mailed directly to her. If you’d like to cancel delivery of HB magazine, please email publications@hb.edu.
On the Cover: Graphic representation of the 2019-2020 Hathaway Brown School theme, as imagined by Visuals and Publications Manager D.J. Reichel
EDITORIAL TEAM: Kathleen Osborne Editor D.J. Reichel Art Director/Designer Kendra Davis Associate Editor
ALUMNAE RELATIONS TEAM: Dana Lovelace Capers ’86 Director of Alumnae Relations Tina Reifsnyder Alumnae Relations Coordinator
ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM: Fran Bisselle Head of School Sheri Homany Associate Head of School Mary Rainsberger Director of Advancement Elizabeth Pinkerton Director of Enrollment Management Hallie Ritzman Director of Upper School Sharon Baker Director of Middle School Kelly Stepnowsky Director of Primary School Kristin Kuhn Director of Early Childhood
Photo Contributors: Black Valve Media, Kendra Davis, Ken Furlich, Kent State University Wick Poetry Center, Torrey McMillan ’90, Ripcho Studio, Yasmine Zein ’19
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Leveraging the
Power of GirlForce
Girls are making their voices heard around the world and right here at home Sixteen-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has certainly created a stir, and no matter what you may think of her cause, the fact is that she is changing the world. She has rolled up her sleeves for a cause greater than herself, building a community of ardent environmentalists. She was in the news at the same time the world celebrated International Day of the Girl, established by the United Nations in 2012 and marked each October 11 since. The theme for the 2019 commemoration was GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable. Coincidence? Not in my eyes. Girls and women around the globe are rising boldly to meet the challenges of our times. They are building the future. They are achieving their utmost potential as trailblazers. And they are demonstrating vision and courage. According to the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the impetus for creating an International Day of the Girl came nearly 25 years ago, when 30,000 women and men from nearly 200 countries arrived in Beijing, China, for the Fourth World Conference on Women, determined to recognize the rights of women and girls as human rights. “Today, girls are moving from dreaming to achieving,” UNICEF proclaims. “As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are leading and fostering a world that is relevant for them and future generations.” At home here in Northeast Ohio, Hathaway Brown is committed to living out the words of our mission—helping to shape a future of unbounded possibility for women, standing among the country’s leading schools in educational innovation, and acting as a force for the common good. HB students have always embraced broad aspirations beyond our campus, and that is why many of our girls are making their voices heard through a community-wide initiative called Cleveland Rising, which aims to “capture everyone’s stories, knowledge, needs and dreams to create a shared vision of our economic future” and develop a framework for moving everyone in the region forward together. This effort is consistent with our motto of learning not just for school, but for life. HB girls, as they have done many times in the past, will contribute to the dialogue and help to mobilize political will and resources both to address Cleveland’s challenges and to create ways to celebrate and reinforce our region’s achievements. Cleveland needs GirlForce, and HB students are ready to roll up their sleeves and engage.
Dr. Mary Frances Bisselle Head of School
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Contents Letter from the Head of School 5
Leveraging the Power of GirlForce Girls are making their voices heard around the world and right here at home
News from North Park 9
Events, Activities, Accolades, and Inspiration There’s always something exciting happening on campus and beyond
Cover Story 12
Building the Future Bringing the 2019-2020 school theme to life—everything we do today affects the lives we’ll lead tomorrow
Features 16
Small Country, Big Happiness Torrey McMillan ’90 set out this summer to discover what makes the people of Denmark so happy
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Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit Alison Corning Jones ’53, Dorothea Regal ’64, and Ruth Swetland Eppig ’69 honored as Distinguished Alumnae; Katharine Phelan ’89 Alumnae Achievement Award recipient
Locker Room 30 #GoBlazers Blazers blaze trails (and light up the court) in cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball
Report on Giving
Thanks to You - special section Since 1876, HB has prided itself on its Historically Modern approach to educating and empowering girls, and it’s all possible because of generous supporters like you
Class Notes 33 34 81
Alumnae Association Update Alumnae News Brides, Babies, Memorials
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Index
Alumnae featured in this issue Harriet Mullin Barry ’32 – Small Country, Big Happiness
pg. 16
Regan Brady ’17 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Alyssa Bryan ’13 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Caroline Campbell ’98 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Ruth Swetland Eppig ’69 – Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit pg. 24 Lina Ghosh ’17 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Amy Hollinger ’05 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Alison Corning Jones ’53 – Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit pg. 23 Genevieve Mathieson Kilmer ’96 – Executive Endorsement pg. 11 Catherine Herrick Levy ’93 – Alumnae Association Update pg. 33 Mackenzie Makepeace ’05 – Alumnae Association Update pg. 33 Torrey McMillan ’90 – Small Country, Big Happiness
pg. 16
Lisa Kroeger Murtha ’88 – Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit pg. 22 Isabella Nilsson ’16 – Executive Endorsement Katharine Phelan ’89 – Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit
HB
pg. 25
Megan Qiang ’19 – Launched for Life
pg. 9
Kavya Ravichandran ’16 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Dorothea Regal ’64 – Embodying HB’s Trailblazing Spirit
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pg. 11
pg. 23
Edith Hines Williams ’00 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Laney Kuenzel Zamore ’08 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
Yasmine Zein ’19 – Executive Endorsement
pg. 11
NEWS FROM Launched for Life Symphonic Support Middle and Upper School musicians, singers, and dancers have added a number of selections from legendary composer Leonard Bernstein to their repertoire this year. Hathaway Brown is a featured sponsor of Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music, a special exhibition of his life and work, on display at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage through February. Several orchestra students were tapped to play two songs from West Side Story at the exhibition’s opening reception in September. Franz Welser-Möst, music director for The Cleveland Orchestra, was in the audience and congratulated the students on their performance. HB’s performing artists also will take the stage at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University on December 9 at 7:30 p.m. Hathaway Brown’s MasterWorks: Leonard Bernstein is a main stage event in the Maltz Museum’s Concert Series, which it calls the centerpiece of its public programming honoring the maestro. Visit maltzmuseum.org to learn more.
On May 31, Hathaway Brown faculty and staff formed a gauntlet along the stone pathway in the school’s historic courtyard and clapped the Class of 2019 out into the world at the close of the school’s 143rd Commencement ceremony. Cleveland Browns owner Dee Haslam delivered the keynote address, urging the graduates never to give up hope, no matter the obstacles they encounter in life. Megan Qiang ’19 was selected by her classmates to offer student remarks, an excerpt from which is included below. At HB, I’ve had classes that turned into life lessons, lectures that became tearful heart-to-hearts. The concern and care expressed by friends, peers, and teachers was something that I cherished, and it provided a source of confidence that I couldn’t always give myself. Before high school, I barely had the courage to raise my hand to speak in class. But now, I can stand in front of the Sarah Kay, and dare to perform spoken-word poetry. I was emboldened by the support from classmates and teachers to explore ideas and opportunities in a way that I would never have been able to anywhere else.
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NEWS FROM Outstanding Ohioans We’re pleased to share the following news from the Ohio Academy of Science: “Each year, The Ohio Academy of Science selects the 19 top pre-college students who presented at our Annual Meeting. These students are recognized as Melvin Scholars, and they have the opportunity to represent Ohio at the national American Junior Academy of Science (AJAS) meeting. This meeting is held in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, and AJAS provides Ohio students an opportunity to interact with the best students from across the country as well as scientific professionals from around the world.
Scholarly Success Eighteen Hathaway Brown seniors, who account for 21 percent of the Class of 2020, were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program for their academic talent—as indicated by the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Less than one percent of students, or 16,000 high school seniors across the country are named National Merit Semifinalists. Of the Semifinalists, 7,600 students will advance as Finalists and compete for more than $31 million in National Merit Scholarships. Roughly 90 percent of Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar title. Twelve members of the HB Class of 2020 were selected as National Merit Semifinalists for their high scores: Ryan Brady, Nicole Gillinov, Ella Kazazic, Sinead Li, Gurnoor Majhail, Tejal Pendekanti, Anya Razmi, Sejal Sangani, Julia Schilz, Helen Sun, Linda Yu, and Lina Zein. National Merit Commended Students placed among the top scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the PSAT/NMSQT. Six HB seniors are Commended Students: Michelle Dong, Vedha Muvva, Rebecca Oet, Audrey Sazima, Selby Vaughn, and Isabella Wynocker.
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“In addition to interacting with student scientists and professionals, there are activities for the students to participate in throughout the week. These activities include interactive laboratory experiences, field trips, plenary lectures, and small group meetings with worldrenowned scientists and engineers.” Congratulations to HB’s 2019 Melvin Scholars, who comprise nine of the 19 students in the state selected for the honor: Jessica Chang ’21, Michelle Dong ’20, Ella Kazazic ’20, Sophia Laye ’21, Tejal Pendekanti ’20, Shruthi Ravichandran ’21, Anya Razmi ’20, Sejal Sangani ’20, and Lina Zein ’20.
Poetry & Possibilities More than 300 Hathaway Brown students from grades 3 through 12 participated in a school-wide community poem titled “My Voice.” These contributions celebrate the individual and collective voices of HB students and will be featured on campus in the form of a digital slide deck of individual student stanzas and the installation of a scripted poem that weaves together multiple contributions to celebrate our community.
Executive Endorsement In May, recent HB graduate Yasmine Zein ’19 was named a 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholar. She received the prestigious honor for her outstanding academic achievement. Only 161 of the country’s graduating seniors were selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars this year. Yasmine selected Upper School mathematics teacher Bill Adler as her most influential educator, and she and he were honored through the National Recognition Program as guests of the U.S. Department of Education, and Yasmine received a special Presidential Scholar Medallion at a ceremony in June. The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President to recognize and honor some of our nation’s most distinguished students graduating from high school. The program is one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students. Hathaway Brown is the alma mater of 10 alumnae who also were named U.S. Presidential Scholars during their senior year of high school: Regan Brady ’17, Lina Ghosh ’17, Isabella Nilsson ’16, Kavya Ravichandran ’16, Alyssa Bryan ’13, Laney Kuenzel Zamore ’08, Amy Hollinger ’05, Edith Hines Williams ’00, Caroline Campbell ’98, and Genevieve Mathieson Kilmer ’96.
This community writing project is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University that also includes the installation of creativity stations where students can create found poetry from foundational texts studied in class. Through Wick, HB students will also be participating in programs connected to public institutions such as the National Parks and Cuyahoga River Conservancy. HB is home to the only primary school in the country to have these opportunities, which are funded through the support of individual donors, the HBPA, and a grant from the EE Ford Foundation.
7 Questions With… is a new video series from Hathaway Brown School. Members of the HB community answer seven questions about their personal interests, what they love about HB, and more! Visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch! YouTube.com/HathawayBrownSchool
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IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT THE FUTURE IS IN GOOD HANDS.
U B ILDING FUTURE T H E
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very year, Hathaway Brown administrators establish a school theme to animate and guide our work. This school year we’re focused on Building the Future. In every division, in every classroom, in every corner of campus, we’re investing in our students and giving them the tools they need to confidently embrace all the possibilities that exist for them beyond our walls. Close to home, we’re also making plans to update and enhance our buildings and grounds to support the innovative educational offerings for which HB is known. In addition to the superior academic preparation they receive, at every turn, HB students are inspired to become the best people they can be. We encourage girls of all ages and boys in our Early Childhood program to take chances, stretch their minds, work together, and pick themselves up and start over when they need to. The results of this philosophical approach speak for themselves. Through the years, we’ve amassed more than our fair share of awards and accolades in every discipline imaginable. Students continually perform with notable distinction on high-level tests and in the rate at which they’re accepted to their first-choice, top-tier colleges and universities. HB consistently is ranked as the #1 girls’ high school in the state by Niche, we’ve been a Plain Dealer Top Workplace in Northeast Ohio for six years running, we’re among the top girls’ schools in the country in number of National Merit Finalists, and we’re the alma mater of 11 U.S. Presidential Scholars— the highest honor bestowed on American high school seniors, and an achievement that is unmatched anywhere in the region. But no matter how well they fare by these measures, all of our students are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to their lives. They know how to test theories, advocate for themselves and others, find beauty in overlooked places, implement creative solutions, and lend a hand where it’s needed. And wherever they go from here, HB graduates bring strong character, unparalleled intelligence, unbridled enthusiasm, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge along with them.
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Educators across campus explain how they’re Building the Future in their respective divisions.
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he Infant & Toddler Center (formerly known as Nammy’s Place) grew this summer! We now have two full classrooms, with dedicated spaces for infants and young toddlers, allowing us to meet each group’s needs better. A beautiful new Infant Room with natural light, separate crib room, and a play area just their size is situated next to our Toddler Room, which now gives our older students more space to build and explore. We were able to accept 13 new children into the ITC, many of them the children of HB alumnae. Our infants and toddlers have loved being together, but since they are on two different schedules, it was time to split them. We are still one caregiving team but in two separate rooms and we help each other out. You will often see the infants visiting the Toddler Room and the toddler teachers helping with the infants. We love our space and love that we were able to accommodate so many new families. – Dawn Keske, director
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n the Early Childhood, we are constantly building. That might be building up our stamina, or building up our skills to learn how to communicate with one another. It could even just be building a tower in our classroom! The work we do on a daily basis is all about building a solid foundation for future experiences, socially, emotionally, and academically. For this school year, we can’t work on these skills or build a solid foundation without connections and a community. We begun new monthly EC Community meetings, which are filled with songs (including the new HB EC song). We also established cross grade-level connections and we’re learning about different cultural celebrations. The EC Weekly newsletter that was launched this year is designed to connect parents to activities not only taking place around HB but also around Northeast Ohio. The connections made with our Upper School students allow us to understand the greater HB community as well. There’s a sense of joy in all the work we do. Although building can be challenging and sometimes our towers get knocked down, we learn to rebuild and grow stronger together. – Kristin Kuhn, director
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his year in the Primary School, all grades are building stories through our Storyline method of teaching. With the guidance of their teachers, the girls take the lead in formulating characters, setting, and solutions to problems. Kindergartners are building a story around animal shelters that also incorporates a community service project directly helping a local shelter. First Graders are constructing Rainbow City, taking on important neighborhood jobs, and solving problems that arise in the community they are creating. In the Second Grade, girls are building a town called Thistle Mountain, transforming themselves into villagers and helping to acclimate a new member of their collaborative society. Third Graders are forming a story centered on U.S. national parks, where they will become park rangers in various states across the country. And the Fourth Grade recently produced the book-based story of Because of Winn Dixie, which culminates in a community talent show and sharing of friendship. Creativity, motivation, and experiential learning soar when the girls are given the tools to take the lead and build these stories. – Kelly Stepnowsky, director
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ach member of the Middle School is foundational to building a community of thinkers, friends, athletes, and alumnae. We all bring special gifts to this building and to celebrate and visualize that, we are building a structure block by block. On the first day of school, students wrote a gift, talent, skill, or characteristic they bring to the school on an oversized LEGO brick. Each advisor group created a structure with their groups bricks. Next, each grade level built a structure out of the individual advisor group block to represent their class. Soon, we will bring all four grade level structures together
to showcase a Middle School structure built of all the foundational characteristics our students, faculty, and staff bring to make the magic happen each day. – Sharon Baker, director
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he Upper School is home to 375 students— no two of whom have the same schedule! This individualized approach helps students see themselves in many ways—as scientists, global scholars, artists and activists—and thats all before lunch. These 375 students are committed to our community, participating in new initiatives including Dare 2 Lead and Senior Sisters as they find ways to give back to the Upper School and strengthen our bonds of sisterhood. The world is a complex place and our faculty and staff are dedicated mentors and teachers to adolescents in an ever-changing landscape. This steady presence produces relationships that are the bedrock of our experience, enabling HB girls to take appropriate risks, pick themselves up after a fall, and come back stronger than ever. This year we are building the future by letting our curiosity be our guide. – Hallie Ritzman, director
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Big Happiness Small Country,
The Danes can lay claim to being some of the most content people on the planet.
I met them on their home turf to find out why. by Torrey McMillan ’90
Denmark is known for its gifts to the world in the form of LEGO bricks and modern Scandinavian design. However, it was not Legoland, nor stylish lighting fixtures that drew me to Denmark last summer as a Barry Faculty Fellow with a grant underwritten by the Harriet Mullin Barry 1932 Fund for International Learning. Rather, it was a connection from 30 years ago, crossed with Denmark’s other claim to fame: Being one of the happiest countries in the world according to the World Happiness Report (Denmark was #2 in 2019, topped only by Finland. The United States was #19.) Let me explain.
Reconnecting Thirty-two years ago during my sophomore year at Hathaway Brown, my family hosted a Danish exchange student, Iben Blaabjerg, for the year. It was a good and challenging year for both Iben and me. She came to HB during her 10th grade year, but unlike the sophomore year in the States, 10th grade in Denmark is an optional school year that serves as a transition between compulsory school that everyone is required to complete and the next phase of a student’s education—be it gymnasium (like American high school but with a more subject-specific focus), vocational school, or something else. Students who embark on a 10th grade year do so either because they need a bit more time to figure
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out what direction they want to take or because they want a year that gives them the space to explore and grow in areas of personal interest. Iben fell in the latter category. She applied to be an exchange student with the expectation that she would attend a co-ed public high school in the US. You can imagine her surprise when she found herself attending HB—academically challenging and definitely not co-ed—and living with our family in Kirtland, a 30-minute drive to school, and a place where you could not get anywhere without a car. Fast-forward 30 years to spring of 2018. Iben and I had not kept in touch at all after she left HB. She and my parents had only sporadic contact in recent years as well. So imagine our delight when we received an email from Iben saying she wanted to come back to visit and to introduce her husband and daughter to our family and the place she had called home for a year of her life. The visit made me wonder why I had failed to keep in touch all these years, and left me wanting a stronger connection with my Danish sister and her family.
Two Roles at HB: Wellness and Sustainability Denmark’s consistent top-two ranking in world happiness assessments has resulted in much being written about what makes the Danes so happy. They also happen to be a country that is on the leading edge of tackling key sustainability challenges, currently producing 50% of their energy supply from renewable power and having recently committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 70% by 2030. As a faculty member at HB, I serve as a Wellness teacher, as well as director of the Center for Sustainability and the Strnad Fellowships in Creativity program. The more I looked at Denmark, the more it seemed to me that there might be something worth learning—personally and professionally—from the Danes about the way they have constructed their society. So I applied to be a Barry Faculty Fellow and set out on my journey to figure a few things out. Are the happiness rankings actually reflective of the lives of individuals living in Denmark? If you asked a Dane on the street, are you really as happy as the data suggests, and if so, why, what would she or he say? Photos, clockwise from top left: Waterway near Ribe, Denmark; Iben Blaabjerg and Torrey McMillan in 1987; Iben and Torrey in 2019; Cycling through a neighborhood in Copenhagen; Bicycles in Copenhagen
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With help from Iben, her husband Per, and their kids Christian (21), Anders (18), and Katrine (13), I spent a week in Denmark this summer talking to Danes about the Danish happiness phenomenon. While not a random sample of the population, I did get to talk to people younger and older, students, artists, teachers, engineers, doctors and carpenters living in cities and towns across the country, and working in both the public and private sectors. Over the course of these conversations (I interviewed 20 people over six days), themes emerged that helped answer the questions, “Are Danes really so happy, and if so, why?” and “What might we learn from the Danish way of living?” The short answer to the first question is “Yes.” The Danes really are happy—though a better word might be content. This is not to say they don’t have their share of problems. Like so many other countries across the world, they are seeing accelerating rates of anxiety and depression, and suicide rates in the country are high. But almost universally in the conversations I had with folks, when asked if they themselves were happy and if they believed Danes in general were happy, they said, “Yes, because we have nothing to worry about.” Emil, a doctor currently in his residency, explained it to me this way: “I would be extremely ungrateful not to be happy with what I have. … If one of us gets really sick, we know we’ll be taken care of without having to sell the house. This gives us lots of security. There is a constant feeling of having the support I need.” Photos, clockwise from left: Canal at the heart of old Copenhagen; Looking out on the city of Ribe through a church window; Redeveloped port in Aarhus; Traveling a mountain biking trail in Silkeborg
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Copenhagen Botanical Garden
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What I Learned Trust is at the center of it all. The Danes have a society that functions on trust. People called it out specifically in our conversations as one of the reasons people are happy, and many examples came up that offer a startling contrast to the US.
Business is still conducted on a handshake deal.
“You don’t have to pay expensive lawyers when you make deals. You believe in people,” said Kim, a union organizer. “This makes the price of doing business cheaper.”
When Annie and Michael’s family from Germany
comes to visit, the German parents are afraid to let their children go three blocks down the street by themselves. In contrast, when Annie and Michael’s children were 6 years old and starting school, after walking them there the first couple of times, the teachers said it was time to let the children walk by themselves, and they did.
People do not mind paying their taxes (ranging from 30-60% of their income), because they trust that the government will use the money well, that people will take from the system as they need, and will give back as they are able.
Value all people and all kinds of work. Remain
humble. The Danes subscribe to a set of nearly unspoken social norms around humility they call Jante Law. You are not to think yourself better or smarter than anyone else. You are not to think you are special. This is seen at all levels of society. Even the Queen can be found out fishing on the local pier with everyone else.
According to the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), Denmark ranks as having the smallest gap between the highest and lowest income earners among OECD countries, and you find that people feel valued for what they contribute, not based on material success. And this equality breeds trust. “If everyone has about the same, has enough, you don’t need to steal to get more,” one interviewee told me. (For perspective: The US ranks as having the third biggest discrepancy between the highest and lowest wage earners.)
Removing chronic worry goes a long way. “What if I
lose my job or my health insurance?” “How will I pay for childcare?” “What if I can’t afford college for my children?” “What if I or my kids can’t earn enough to live a decent, comfortable life?” These are real worries that people in the US and across the world grapple with, and the chronic stress and decisions this drives many to make takes a toll. People in Denmark described being free of these worries because of the country’s strong social safety net, which liberates them to pursue the things they care about and creates a culture where stumbling blocks in life are just that. One interviewee said, “There’s only so far you can fall here, and then you know you are going to be caught.”
Invest in the future. Childcare in Denmark is highly subsidized. Students are paid to attend university, and tuition is free. New parents are given a year of paid leave to split between mother and father. Employees regularly leave work at 4 p.m. to pick up children, with no stigma, and employers do not expect their workers to check or respond to email and phone messages during time off, evenings and weekends, allowing families to spend meaningful time together. All of these represent investments in the country’s future.
People do not mind paying for things that will have long-term benefits, even when they are expensive.
Did I come home from Denmark rejuvenated, hopeful, with new insights and ideas? Yes. But I also came home knowing that the US and Denmark are different countries with different histories and cultures. I think there is a lot we can learn from the Danish approach to life. How we might draw these lessons into our own communities and culture provides ripe food for thought. I think I know just the place to pose these questions to a group of creative, curious thinkers, because I work there! Torrey McMillan ’90 co-founded The Lorax and the recycling program when she was an HB student. As a member of the faculty, she leads HB’s sustainability initiatives, helping to weave the principles and practices of sustainability— including issues of economics, the environment, social equity and human wellness—into the curriculum, culture and operations of the school. And like the Danes, she rides her bike to work every day.
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Embodying Trailblazing s ’ B H Spirit Alison Corning Jones ’53, Dorothea Regal ’64, and Ruth Swetland Eppig ’69 honored as Distinguished Alumnae; Katharine Phelan ’89 Alumnae Achievement Award recipient profiles by Lisa Kroeger Murtha ’88
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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD
Alison Corning Jones ’53 “I have always been an outdoor girl and loved living in the country,” says Alison “Sunny” Jones. Growing up in Kirtland, she says, “we had the Holden Arboretum in our back yard, so to speak, and I could wander the woods with family and friends.” Sunny’s love of nature lasted from her childhood through her academic studies at Smith College, where she studied botany, and through a lifetime of tending to plants, from vegetable gardens to raspberry bushes to fruit trees and her annual dahlias. From an early age, she also developed a “love of ponies and horses,” she says—something that has shaped her life. Sunny attended Hathaway Brown from first through ninth grade, but living in Kirtland made for a long commute, so she completed high school as a boarder at Madeira School in Virginia, where she also took advantage of the school’s “strong riding program.” Later, at Smith College, “I tried to drop the horse activity and focus on other sports and academics,” says Sunny, “but it didn’t work. I found the stables and signed up for riding.” In 1957, she founded a girls’ equestrian camp called Chincapin near her childhood home in Kirtland. “I bought and borrowed about six suitable ponies and horses, recruited some of my HB friends to help with the program and we were off and running,” says Sunny. “The camp grew every year” and it is still going strong today in partnership with Red Oak and Red Barn camps for boys. For several years, Sunny ran a summer camp for young children at her home; she called it Tannerwood Farms Wee Welsh. For many more years, she taught after-school and weekend riding lessons. Sunny began volunteering in the 1990s at the Chagrin Valley Therapeutic Riding Center (now Fieldstone Farm), where she helped start a carriagedriving program. “It’s a wonderful program for people who have disabilities,” says Sunny. “It gives them a lot of excitement and satisfaction, and sometimes even helps develop speech.” Over the years, Sunny has volunteered at the Holden Arboretum and served on Lake Erie College’s (LEC) Board of
Trustees as well; she was also a member of LEC’s Equestrian Advisory Board, helping develop its Equestrian Studies program. Though she’s no longer actively volunteering, Sunny says she makes time each day to visit the barn at Tannerwood Farms, “and ride or drive a pony or two.” Her biggest takeaways from her time at HB are “lifelong friendships,” says Sunny. She also cites her role as wife, mother to three, and grandmother to six as accomplishments of which she’s proud. Looking back on her equestrian career, she says, “It’s been a good ride, not without hurdles, fences and gates, but we learn from all these experiences and ride on.” Ultimately, she advises young women today not to lose sight of what drives them. “If you have a passion, don’t push it under the rug. Keep it alive and well. Find time for it. You will be happier and more productive.”
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD
Dorothea Regal ’64 An HB lifer, attorney Dorothea “Dorsey” W. Regal is fond of saying, “HB taught me everything I ever needed to know.” She was “successful academically” during her time at Hathaway Brown, she says – an achievement she attributes to a nurturing learning environment and rigorous, dedicated educators. While studying French, Latin, and drama alongside other core requirements, she strove for Ms. Coburn’s smileyface congratulations for making the honor roll. After graduation, Dorsey attended Vassar College, where she majored in drama and minored in French. “When I graduated from college I was faced with the reality of having to support myself,” she says, so she turned her ambitions to something likely “to pay my rent”—first, general office work and then her true calling: law. After Brooklyn Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review, Dorsey joined White & Case, a top global law firm. Concentrating on international and US legal business disputes, she once helped stop unlawful payments to Iranian banks during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
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In 1996, she co-founded her own boutique, women-owned litigation firm in New York City: Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney. “We were one of the first breakaways from a leading New York law firm,” says Dorsey. “It was really groundbreaking to set it up as women-owned.” Today, the firm has 21 lawyers and is “one of the largest and oldest certified women-owned law firms in the state of New York,” she says. Lawyering is “not like being Christine Baranski in The Good Wife, at least for me,” says Dorsey. “I am not in court every day; the cases I handle are pretty complex and take a long time to resolve.” Most of her time is spent reading and writing legal documents and preparing for trial. “I still concentrate on international business disputes,” says Dorsey. “This year I am leading a team of lawyers in an arbitration in Switzerland on a very large insurance claim to force the insurer to honor its policy.” In her off-time, Dorsey is a Broadway producer. She and her husband, who is both the brother and manager of playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein, are co-producers of the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which earned a Tony and an Olivier Award for Best Musical. Looking back on her time at HB, Dorsey says one of her biggest takeaways was “not to be cowed by other people, particularly men.” Growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, she notes, “life was a lot different for girls and women. It was very important to have the foundation of self-confidence that HB gave me.” Her advice to HB students? “Try to make something happen every day.”
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD
Ruth Swetland Eppig ’69 Ruth Swetland Eppig cares deeply about the environment and living systems—the intersection of people and nature. In her youth she was always happiest outdoors, running through meadows, woods, and creeks. Now she is focused on preserving land, both natural and urban, through the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. She is also Advisory Board Chairman of the Mary Ann
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Swetland Center for Environmental Health at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where environmental causes of disease and interventions are researched for the benefit of the community. She has served on several boards over time, including Red Oak Camps, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She currently serves on the boards of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and the Cleveland Institute of Art. After graduating from HB, she majored in biology at Smith College, which will not come as a surprise to her friends who knew her as “Nature Girl.” Throwing herself even deeper into the wild, after college she went to northern Ontario to work at a fishing-hunting camp and small lumber operation. There she built a log cabin accessible only by boat and lived in it for several years. When she returned to Cleveland after four years, she applied and was accepted into the University of Miami for marine biology, but took a detour. She was introduced to her future husband, Michael, an orthopedic spine surgeon. They settled in Cleveland to raise a family “which is the greatest work of my life,” says Ruth. They have four children, all of whom went to HB: the boys to pre-K and the girls through ninth grade. “Cleveland is a city that is worth working in and for,” she says. They now live next to Lake Erie, which “changes every day,” and “where the weather is personal.” Today, Ruth is president of the Sears-Swetland Family Foundation, an organization formed by her grandparents in 1948. She and her brother represent the third generation of leadership, and her children are trustees in the fourth generation. The foundation’s mission reflects the passions and experience of the current trustees: environmental health and urban sustainability. Bringing the family together in the foundation work and values has been a legacy-building effort and “the most gratifying life experience,” she says. Her advice to students is to remember how much influence they have on each other in addition to the influence of parents and teachers. This influence will last. “I was constantly inspired by my classmates she says. “Also, it is not necessary to be the brightest student in class, though that would be fun. The ability to work hard, stay determined and resilient is far more important in the long run.”
ALUMNAE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Katharine Phelan ’93 The most “transformative” part of her HB education, says New York-based director and cinematographer Kate Phelan, was her senior year Strnad Fellowship in Creativity project, creating and performing four short dance pieces based on TS Eliot poems. “I wasn’t super brainy,” she says, “but working on my Strnad really turned on a light. I realized I can translate and interpret this text into an artistic language I feel fluent in, and make something new and unique.”
Check ou Seven Q t our video u Kate Phe estions With lan more ins ’93 for even ight in 2019 Alu mnae Ac to our Award re hievement cipient! You can f HB’s YouT ind it on ube chan nel.
Kate studied dance at the University of Michigan in the hope of becoming a choreographer. Unfortunately, she’d also begun developing anorexia; by her sophomore year, the disease had progressed enough to make dancing a non-viable career option. “As I was recovering,” says Kate, “I watched a lot of movies and started thinking maybe film would be an interesting thing to do.” First, she worked as a production assistant in New York, running errands and helping with talent—the traditional entry-level job for women in production. After graduating from Michigan with a history degree, she worked as a grip, carrying and arranging camera and lighting equipment on set (a traditionally male entry-level role). She soon joined the electrical department and became a chief lighting technician, or gaffer, also a role typically held by males. “By the time I started gaffing bigger movies,” says Kate, “I ran into a more traditional glass ceiling.” Though the grips looked out for her, other coworkers of both genders questioned her credibility and knowledge; still, she forged ahead and became a director of photography, or cinematographer, in 2005 and a director in 2015 (only 4% of cinematographers, 18% of feature film directors, and 37% of TV directors today are female, notes Kate.) In 2016, she wrote and directed her own Kickstarterfunded short film, VISIT 57, about her experience with fertility treatment. It earned her a Best Screenplay Award
at the Women’s Indie Film Fest. Last year, a web project she directed had 5.7 million views and her short film 12:58p played at 10 film festivals nationwide. It’s also playing with a traveling festival this summer. For a weeklong shoot, Kate’s schedule might include two days scouting locations, one day at meetings preparing for the shoot, and two days of shooting, which can run anywhere from 7 a.m. until midnight daily. Managing childcare for two daughters, she notes, is a balancing act she and her husband, a gaffer, split. Even though “there’s still a fair amount of gender bias in technical jobs,” says Kate, her advice to women looking to enter film production as a director or DP is essentially to just do it, mainly because “there’s so much access to equipment now, on computers and even cell phones, for so little money.” Plus, she says, an HB education gives students a huge advantage in traditionally maledominated industries. “HB normalizes ability,” says Kate. “To excel is kind of expected. That’s really liberating.” Lisa Kroeger Murtha ’88 is a freelance writer living in Cincinnati.
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Dear to Us Thou Art Forever! Alumnae Weekend 2019 was one for the record books We welcomed back more than 200 alumnae with family and friends during our two-day celebration of Hathaway Brown alumnae this spring. It was heart warming to see so many people gathered together, reminiscing and reconnecting with our beloved alma mater. We are sincerely grateful to all reunion volunteers who helped organize class reunion activities. From the play dates to the brunches to the dinners, a great time was had by all. We also appreciate those who encouraged and stewarded giving to the Annual Fund. This year’s Reunion classes raised an incredible $288,000. Thank you!
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The following were recognized during the weekend: • The Class of 1974, who celebrated their 45th reunion, was noted for having the most registrants for the weekend festivities—38% of the class. • Alison Corning Jones ’53, Dorothea Regal ’64, and Ruth Swetland Eppig ’69 were all recipients of the 2019 Distinguished Alumna Award. • Katharine Phelan ’89 received the Alumnae Achievement Award. In addition, the following classes were recognized for their exceptional efforts supporting the HB Annual Fund: • The Class of 1949 raised $93,938 and was awarded the Alumnae Association Past Presidents’ Bowl. This award recognizes the reunion class giving the most dollars to the Annual Fund. • The Class of 1954 achieved the highest participation, with 62% of the class giving to the Annual Fund, and was awarded the Jane Geckler Seelbach Driver ’39 Champagne Cup. • The Young Alumnae Participation Award recognizes the Reunion class up to 15 years from graduation that achieves the highest level of class participation in Annual Fund giving. This year’s award went to the Class of 2014.
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Congratulations to all! Mark your calendars for next year’s Alumnae Weekend, May 15-16, 2020, when we will celebrate the reunion of classes ending in 0 and 5. All alumnae are welcome to attend, and we would love to have you join us!
Dana Lovelace Capers ‘82 Director of Alumnae Relations
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# GoBla Locker Room
Congrats to HB Tennis for notching their fifth consecutive state championship! Be sure to follow @HBAthletics on Twitter for in-game updates, sports news, and competition recaps. Have news of your own to share? Tweet it at us and use the hashtag #WeAreHB. The fall season is the busiest of all for HB Athletics. Six teams celebrated 34 senior athletes in their last home game or meet of the season, and all of the Blazer teams logged many notable achievements during the months of August, September, and October. The Student Athlete Leadership Team is hosting two Blazer Sports Days this year, fun opportunities for our Primary School students to get together with their high school “sisters” and have some fun playing the sports offered at the Middle and Upper School levels. We’re looking forward to our winter and spring sports seasons as well.
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zers Fall/Winter 2019
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216.320.8110 216.320.8110orormamjad@hb.edu. mamjad@hb.edu.
We Did It!
The 2018-2019 Hathaway Brown School Annual Fund was a success! Total dollars raised:
$1,901,662
% 4 5
HB alumnae raised
Class of 2019 Participation:
That's $1,021,482
$28,295 from 47 matching gifts
Class of 1934
96%
73%
Students
Parents
Nearly 300 donors supported the inaugural
#HBShareTheLove
Give Day and unlocked three matching $10 2,554 gifts
Donors spanned 91 years
,871 1donors Class of 2025
For the 2nd consecutive year, HB faculty/staff reached participation 100%
248 first-time donors
120 alumnae, parent, and faculty/staff volunteers
Your generous support of the Annual Fund gives HB students the chance to unleash their creativity, stretch their imaginations, and explore new things. THANK YOU!
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
19600 North Park Boulevard Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
Cleveland, Ohio Permit #3439
UPCOMING EVENTS Academies@HB November 16 & January 11, 9-11 a.m., HB Middle School Hands-on activities and educational programming for girls in grades 4-7 Guest Speaker: Michael Horn November 21, 7-9 p.m., The Ahuja Auditorium Choosing College: How to Make Better Learning Decisions The Addams Family Musical November 22 & 23, 7:30 p.m.; November 24, 3 p.m., The Ahuja Auditorium A creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, and all-together ooky extravaganza MasterWorks December 9, 7:30 p.m., Maltz Performing Arts Center MS and US musicians, singers, and dancers perform works by Leonard Bernstein IDEO December 20, 10:30 a.m. A celebration to launch Winter Break
81923/6700
Guest Speaker: Manoush Zomorodi February 6, 6:30-8 p.m., The Ahuja Auditorium Bored and Brilliant