Meeting of Minds Chaffee Book Club Turns 20 By Christine Coyle
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haffee School alumnae from near and far gathered virtually on February 24 for the first Chaffee Book Club meeting of 2021, marking the 20th anniversary year of intellectual engagement, spirited discourse, and connection with each other and the rest of the Loomis Chaffee community. Since its inception in the 2001–02 school year, the Chaffee Book Club has met physically on the Loomis Chaffee campus more than 50 times, and the 137 individual alumnae who have taken part during the club’s 20-year span have collectively read and engaged in discussion of about 55 books across a variety of genres and topics. At the February 2021 meeting, 20 alumnae met via Zoom videoconference — some from the local area and several from further afield, including Chaffers from California, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wash-
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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Spring 2021
ington, D.C. Loomis Chaffee Trustee Katherine Ballard led a discussion of the book The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton. Katherine is a former Loomis Chaffee faculty member who taught French, served as dean of faculty, and worked in the Alumni/Development Office. In 2001, Katherine and then-Trustee Carole Crane Finck ’66 helped organize the first book club meeting. Katherine says she chose the Wharton classic this year to “take us out of the 21st century — that’s what books do, they take us away and allow us to travel.” The inspiration for the Chaffee Book Club, according to Katherine, was to welcome the Chaffee alumnae to campus so that they could see how their history of academic excellence and commitment to lifelong learning, discovery, and self-development are reflected in the mission and values of the Loomis Chaffee community. “[W]e were looking for ways for Chaffee women to
