Menlo College Magazine Winter 2021

WINTER 2021

M EN LO COL L EGE M AG A ZIN E | W IN T ER 20 21 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Pamela Gullard

Facing Change

SENIOR EDITOR Lisa Ann Villarreal, Ph.D. STAFF WRITER Lauren John CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Erik Bakke Nuala Bishari Zijie (Ethan) Chen Kelly Davis Zaki Hasan Dylan Houle Lauren John Tsz Ying Lau ’22 Grande Lum Margaret McFarland Lisa Mendelman Melissa Michelson Bruce Paton Anna Schobel ’22 Mouwafac Sidaoui Lisa Villarreal Steven Weiner Jiaqi (Kiki) Wu ’23 DESIGN Marsha Sanchez PHOTOGRAPHY Miguel Lim ’23 Esteban Ramirez ’23 Lisa Ann Villarreal EDITORS Lauren John Linda Teutschel MENLO COLLEGE PRESIDENT Steven Weiner CHAIR OF THE BOARD Micah Ka-ne ’91 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Thomas (Tom) Byers Alma Clayton-Pedersen Andrea (Andy) Cunningham Howard (Howie) Dallmar ‘74 James (Jim) Davlin Chris Garrett ‘94 J. Michael (Mike) Gullard Joe Hurd David Irmer, Sr. ’58 Helene Kim Jordan Long ’09 Larry Lopez ’84 Roxane Marenberg Zoanne Nelson Colin O‘Malley Fran Schulz ’85 Shireen Udenka Benjamin (Ben) Wagner

In this issue, we look at all the ways Menlo College students, faculty, and staff faced the Covid-19 pandemic, the divisive forces in the United States, and the renewed drive for social justice with courage and passion.

Introduction 1 Message from President Weiner 3 Letters to the Editor 5 Healing our Nation

Student Perspectives 6 Freedom or Death 7 Staying Centered 9 Finding Our Humanity 10 Hidden Racism 11 Inspired by How to be an Antiracist 33 Steven King’s The Stand in Context 56 Gratitude

Faculty and Classroom 12 Pursuing Social Justice 13 Waiting: A Teaching Moment 15 Help! My Inbox is about to Explode 17 Bibliotherapy 19 Faculty News 23 Motivating People to Vote 25 Think Like a Data Scientist 27 Flying While Muslim

Art 29 36

Student Life 31 OAKtoberFest 2020 32 Startup Weekend 35 Menlo Oak Press 55 Fun While Sheltering

Internships 39 Internships During Covid-19 41 Interning in International Management 42 Real Estate Investment Banking

Alumni 43 Alum Navigates Legal Profession 45 Happy 90th Birthday, John Henry Felix!

46 Ken Flower Stays in Touch 57 In Memoriam

Athletics 51 Best Season . . . Interrupted 53 Staying Fit

Sculpture at Menlo Art, Nature, and Cars

EMERITI TRUSTEES John Henry Felix ’49 Julie Filizetti Charles (Chop) Keenan III ’66 T. Geir Ramleth ’87 Menlo College Magazine, published by the Menlo College Office of the President, brings news of the College and its community to alumni, parents, and friends. 1000 El Camino Real, Atherton, California 94027-4301 Tele: 800-55MENLO, editor@menlo.edu, www.menlo.edu

In This Issue

By Pamela Gullard, Editor in Chief

On New Year’s Day, 1660, Samuel Pepys began a diary chronicling London life. He wrote about the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe, about ordinary life in his neighborhood, his loves and fears, and about the vicious court intrigues that were tearing his country apart.

Generations of students have learned the value of primary sources from Samuel Pepys’ remarkable journal. As researchers—and as ordinary individuals seeking solace—we are hungry for such firsthand, personal narratives that provide us with the kinship of others living through frightening transitions.

For this issue of the magazine, “Facing Change: The Menlo College Community Describes the Journey,” we asked faculty, students, staff and alumni to be our primary sources. They responded with riveting stories of how they have met the cultural moment and coped with the turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the fallout from the increasing political divides, and the need for social justice.

Students have looked into the sadness and confusion without flinching.

Former Menlo College student Zijie Chen (Ethan), who grew up in Wuhan, China and whose uncle recovered from Covid-19, movingly compares Stephen King’s fictional account of a devastating pandemic in The Stand with our current battle against the virus. Anna Schobel ’22 writes, “The pandemic humbles me . . . I am coping by allowing myself to feel the loneliness, the disappointment, the grief, the anger, the frustrations about plans and dreams of this year destroyed.“ Yet all our student authors touch on a note of hope. Kiki Wu ’23 writes that although, “as an international student, it is hard, at times, not to feel afraid of what the future may bring,” at Menlo, “it is very seldom that I feel alone or abandoned in this new, big foreign country.”

Other contributors to this issue bring analysis and research to the present moment. Dean Melissa Michelson describes data-driven insights from her research on voting propensities, and students provide insights on the first-year common book, How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.

In the article “Bibliotherapy,” Menlo College Magazine Staff Writer Lauren John introduces the term for storytelling and reading selected texts “in order to heal.” Anton Chekhov told us eloquently about the power of stories in “Misery,” his fictional account of a sleigh cab driver, Iona, who cannot find anyone to listen to his grief about the death of his son. At the end, Iona begins pouring out his story to his beloved dray horse. “The little mare munched and listened,” Chekhov writes. For this issue of the magazine, please hear the stories of our community.

We hope you will experience bibliotherapy while you munch and listen.

Student Nichole Smith ’23 finds a long walk in the woods is a great way contemplate the past and look to the future.

Front cover: The daily lives of our students (and all humanity) changed drastically in 2020. Lisa Ann Villarreal captures the moment with her lens.

Institutional Change in Response to National Upheaval A Message from the President — Steven Weiner

At the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Army adopted the VUCA framework, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – or as the authors of a Harvard Business Review article described it a few years back, a catchall for “Hey, it’s crazy out there!” (Bennett, Lemoine, 2014).

A view from the front seat in 2020: VUCA is the very definition of navigating a college in the midst of a pandemic. We’re in the midst of one of the worst crises ever to hit Menlo – or college education more broadly. In a matter of weeks, colleges and universities everywhere underwent a seismic shift to distance learning and distance engagement with our community. In many ways, it felt like we walked through Alice in Wonderland’s looking glass last March, and we all became the Red Queen, whom Alice described as someone who has to “run faster and faster in order to keep still where she is.”

To ensure the future prosperity of Menlo College, though, we need to do much more than stay where we are. We need to evolve – perhaps more quickly than ever before – to ensure that we offer students what they need as the higher education landscape is transformed at an unprecedented speed.

The imperative is for much more than the future of our institution. For many Menlo students, the pandemic-enforced transition to remote learning could have marked the end of their college careers. The

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literature tells us the risk: only 13% of students who discontinue their college education enroll again during the subsequent five years.

The consequences are determinative: a college degree foretells lower unemployment rates, greater job satisfaction, lower reliance on public assistance programs, and better physical and mental well-being (Baum, Ma, & Payea, 2013).

This pivotal moment is an opportunity to highlight Menlo’s strength, its individualized learning experience, and thereby differentiate the Menlo experience in a very crowded market. We continue to look forward, to double down on the ways that Menlo offers diverse students an education tailored to their individual goals. For now, and possibly for some time to come, we will offer high-quality education remotely, while at the same time, we will start working our way back toward a residential education, despite the many obstacles.

How are we putting our best foot forward with distance learning this semester?

Overseen by Provost Grande Lum and newly-appointed Deans Melissa Michelson and Mouwafac Sidaoui, and led by Professors Benny Boveda, Shalini Gopalkrishnan, and Bruce Paton; and Academic Advisor and Disability Services Specialist Mike Palmieri, our faculty engaged in distance learning coaching over the summer to ensure they were prepared for a successful online program. It was an all-hands-on-deck moment, and it will continue to be so – pedagogical development will continue throughout the semester.

Intensive preparation extended well beyond the classroom. Vice President Angela Schmiede led our Pandemic Planning Team, and Vice President Keith Spataro led our admissions program. Collectively, these efforts paid dividends. At the start of the fall 2020 semester, year-over-year student recruitment and retention achievements at Menlo contrasted sharply with the nationwide trend of steeply declining college enrollment. Our enrollment was the second highest on record. Even more important, we’ve kept our community safe.

What will Menlo look like in the years ahead?

First and foremost, it will be a school that affirms its commitment to the safety and well-being of every member of the community and, if need be while the pandemic rages, a place where social distancing and mask-wearing are an accepted norm. It will also be a school that continues to be forward-looking, offering new programs to ensure we remain responsive to the ever changing world around us.

We are pursuing the addition of graduate-level education paths, such as master’s level programs in financial technology and clinical psychology. We are planning executive education in new management techniques under the auspices of the recently-founded Rendanheyi Center, led by Director Annika Steiber; and certificates in powering data science with design thinking and other areas under the auspices of Dean Sidaoui. For our traditional undergraduates, we added a data analytics curriculum, and we’ll soon be offering new courses in business coding, quantitative analysis, and blockchain technology. Finally, Menlo students will now be able to pursue minors that will serve to burnish their credentials – whether for purposes of pursuing graduate education or moving directly into the work force, newly-minted diploma in hand.

This moment imposes different responsibilities upon us. I am grateful to our community for shouldering those responsibilities together, and for approaching them with creativity, determination, and resilience.

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Letters to the Editor Many thanks to all our readers who send comments via text, email, postal mail, or carrier pigeon. In every message, we see your bond with Menlo College.

The summer edition of Menlo Magazine is excellent! Well done! Good articles. My retired hobbies include photography and graphic arts. So, I appreciate all the fine work that went into this edition.

I am a 1968 graduate. I went on to University of Colorado and Pepperdine (MBA). Menlo was life changing for me and got me on the right track. Looks like Menlo is going in the right direction, now.

A little about myself: In 1982 I cofounded a real estate development company named McGranahan, Carlson & Company; we developed mainly large industrial projects in the metro Los Angeles area. When we sold our company in 2012, I went back to school and studied photography at UCLA Extension and at Santa Monica College. It was a very interesting experience for a late 60s guy to go to school with 17- to 21-year-old classmates. I felt like a foreign student who knew the language but not the cultural nuances and slang.

I spend a lot of time pursuing photography projects (while practicing social distancing) these days.

Christopher W. McGranahan ’68. Pacific Palisades, CA Note to our readers: Please see a sample of Christopher McGranahan’s photography on page 37 of this issue.

Thank you for the Menlo Magazine. I enjoy receiving the publication. Hope all is going well at Menlo, especially through times like these. It is a wonderful institution and I miss both the college and the area.

Pieter Sluis ’85, Dublin, OH

As always, the magazine looks amazing! It is truly remarkable to see what we, as a Menlo College community, have been able to accomplish and overcome together.

The dedication that your team put into creating this issue and ensuring that it truly captured the times is epic. Thank you so much once again for all of your hard work!!

Rufus Pappy ’22, Menlo College, Atherton, CA

As soon as I received the magazine, I sat right down and read the entire issue. It is, as always, just wonderful. I love the idea of creativity in these times, and I always really enjoy the faculty stories and knowing what professors are researching; they all sound so accomplished.

The student stories, as always, are inspiring and sweet. So nice that I still recognize a few faces and very happy that Lucrezia was valedictorian and that Ashlee Hunt was student government president. I like the addition of the Students’ Corner and enjoyed the story.

Also liked Melissa Michelson’s article about getting students to vote.

And then there are the socks!

Linda Smith, Retired Dean of Library Services, Menlo College, San Francisco, CA 3 WINTER 2021

Congratulations on an exceptional Menlo Magazine for Summer 2020! The content and illustrations are outstanding!

I feel privileged to have our SuperFest Showcase included. Very few college campuses offer a disability studies course. By doing so, Menlo demonstrates an authentic commitment to be totally inclusive in the definition of diversity. Individuals with disabilities are within the human diversity continuum and community.

Arthurlene Towner, Retired Adjunct Professor of Humanities,Alameda, CA

A note from our 2020 commencement speaker to the Chairman of the Board— Dear Micah A. Kãne, I just received the Summer 2020 issue of Menlo College Magazine and was greatly impressed with how interesting and well-produced it is.

I was especially taken with the lovely article on you and your daughter Ka’ili. What a wonderful tradition Menlo College has become for you and your family. Like everyone, I had hoped that the commencement could have been in-person and then I could have met and congratulated Ka’ili—and her parents as well.

I thank you for asking me to give the commencement address—and I want you to know that I fully agree with you that Steven Weiner is doing an extraordinary job as president of the College. We are proud to have Menlo College as one of our Osher Reentry Scholarship grantees.

Mary G.F. Bitterman, President, Bernard Osher Foundation, San Francisco, CA

My Moment of Zen Menlo College student Carey Lee ‘21, who has participated in study abroad programs in Korea, Hong Kong, and elsewhere, loves to exchange letters and postcards with her international friends.

Note to reader: You will see our student and faculty “My Moment of Zen” throughout this edition.

We can all find something to enjoy in these difficult times.

M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZ I N E

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Healing Our Beloved Nation Let us be the nation that we know we can be.

A nation united.

A nation strengthened.

A nation healed.

By Grande Lum, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs When I worked in the Obama-Biden administration, I always looked forward to seeing Vice President Biden speak live. More than almost any politician I encountered, Biden would invariably go off script and wax extemporaneously about various topics – so much more stimulating than many of the canned speeches I heard in Washington DC. When I was in his presence, I was able to appreciate the extent to which Biden stood apart from most politicians. He bonded with audiences, whether by regaling with humorous tales or consoling those going through loss.

When I met Vice President Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden years ago at the Vice President’s House, I was struck by their decency and their commitment to the power of coming together as Americans. Given that, it did not surprise me that, in this election cycle, Biden “sought this office to restore the soul of the nation.”

The restoration will not come easy. The nation’s polarization preceded the current president and will not just vanish. No one individual will magically dispel the enmity of inflamed partisans.

Factions will seek to block the Biden-Harris administration at every turn. And yet, the American voters have spoken, and the majority cast their ballots for the Biden-Harris ticket because our citizens agreed that the two of them would be best suited to move the nation forward. They will focus on outcomes important to most Americans: getting the virus under control, strengthening the economy, and improving health care. He has promised to “work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me — as those who did.”

Consistently during the campaign and post-election, now President-Elect Biden has focused on the need to listen, to marshal decency, and to cooperate. Having suffered unimaginable personal loss, his life has been an exemplar that good can arise from despair. This is Biden’s defining moment.

The last words Biden spoke in his acceptance speech are true to the man and his beliefs. It will take all of us to make that pledge ring true for our beloved nation.

President-Elect Joe Biden Nominated by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate, Grande Lum served as the Director of the Department of Justice Community Relations Service from 2012 to 2016. His latest book is America’s Peacemakers: The Community Relations Service and Civil Rights by Bertram Levine and Grande Lum, University of Missouri Press, 2020.

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A S t u dent ’ s V iew

Freedom or Death?

By Tsz Ying Lau ’22

Would you risk your life for freedom?

During the coronavirus outbreak, some people have refused to maintain social distancing, protested against lockdowns and gathered for leisure, all of which put themselves and others at the risk of being infected. Large numbers of Americans continue to refuse to wear masks. They believe these acts to be brave – risking everything to fight for freedom. Yet, while some criticize new government policies as a violation of one’s freedom, it turns out that they are the most effective ways to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

When the pandemic hit, China and the United States implemented similar lockdown policies while receiving opposite feedback. China quickly imposed a stay-at-home order. Citizens could not go out unless necessary and all daily necessities were centrally distributed. According to research published in Science (5/8/20), China’s lockdown policy effectively lowered the number of coronavirus cases by 96%. By contrast, lockdown policy was neither swiftly nor uniformly imposed in America. Over half of the states protested against the lockdown.

What immediately comes to my mind is the difference in culture. In China, collectivism is emphasized in education.

A clear hierarchy and respect for authority is deeply rooted in Chinese values. Therefore, people are less likely to resist the lockdown even if they do not agree with the policy.

Conversely, America’s education emphasizes individualism and independence. America is famous for its belief in equality: all Americans should be able to enjoy their individual rights because “all men are created equal.” Therefore, when citizens do not support a new government policy, it is likely that they will be resistant.

Research has proven that “wearing a mask has a meaningful impact on the spread of the virus” ( Forbes 5/6/20). The more people are willing to wear masks, maintain social distance, and follow the lockdown policies, the less likely it is that the virus will spread. From another perspective, the more people commit to following these measures, the sooner we can gain our freedoms again. At the end of the day, how can you enjoy your freedom if you have lost your life?

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In 2020, college students the world over carried on their studies while coping with multiple crises.

Dr. Lisa Mendelman, Assistant Professor of English and Digital Humanities at Menlo College, asks how today’s students deal with the “stress, grief, and rage wrought by systemic racism, extended isolation, economic collapse, and other institutional failures.” One of her students, Anna Schobel, responds.

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A Student’s View

Staying Mentally Centered in a Time of Crisis

By Anna Schobel ’22 The past few months I felt helpless, frustrated, and enraged by the misfortunes witnessed in our world. The pandemic opened up old wounds, chief amongst them racial trauma rooted in the lives of people of color, while also creating new psychological wounds from the stress of Covid-19 and its aftermath. Although the pandemic quickly changed our lives, it didn’t leave us with the same speed and intensity. It wrecked our economy and social lives, challenged our education systems, and exacerbated racial injustice.

The pandemic humbles me. It reminds me of my privilege, such as having nobody in my family who lost their job or who died of Covid-19.

And yet I have been experiencing an emotional roller coaster. Besides not being able to return to the United States and having classes at night due to the time difference, not being able to physically connect with certain friends or hug my grandfather, I feel blindsided. If I had known about the turn of events and how much I would come to miss even being in a room with people without wearing masks, I might have been better prepared. I am coping by allowing myself to feel the loneliness, the disappointment, the grief, the anger, the frustrations about plans and dreams of this year destroyed, the heartbreak, the emptiness, and the guilt. Back in May, I started writing lists, making plans of what I want, what I still can do, and what I am grateful for.

In the midst of a crisis, I am reminded of how much I value my family, my close friends, my passion, and my health. I am trying to find a way to make my life enjoyable by filling it with activities that bring me joy. Even though there are many restrictions, I am still able to take dance classes in my local dance studio, which brings a sense of normalcy into my life. Although I am utterly aware of my lack of control over many current circumstances, I refuse to accept my world as immutable nor myself as by and large helpless. I might not be able to travel to the US anytime soon, but I can at least spend time with my family and stay in contact with friends from my hometown as much as possible.

This crisis teaches me that my perspective is not the only one, nor is it the right perspective. The strength I get from relationships helps me fight the deep feeling of disconnection that many around me are experiencing as well. The new wave of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests happening all over the country after the murder of George Floyd made me further reflect on the racial injustices in our world and my implicit and explicit contribution to them by means of my privilege. Coping for me is looking after myself and taking care of myself, even if that means learning about my own mistakes, taking responsibility for my behavior and moods, and finding a way to get up each day with the goal of changing what I have the power to change. There are still times where I feel drained and I wonder how this will end. I am hoping for change.

I envision a path forward where we as a society “contribute to justice in an unjust world,” as emphasized in Dr. Mendelman’s October 2020 discussion with New York Times bestselling author Susannah Cahalan and University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Dominic Sisti about mental health and medical ethics in times of crisis. Reflective conversations like that one will enable us to grapple with systemic racism and other forms of discrimination embedded in culture, politics, and interpersonal practices. Collectively considering the reality of mental illness and the opportunities and limitations of mental health practices will help to find solutions for mental health and social justice issues.

Even though the pandemic blurred a vision for the future, it is creating a clear path for where we should be headed as a society. We need to continue to strive for racial and gender equity, starting with the implementation of social reforms to recognize and bring awareness to marginalized narratives as well as criminal justice reforms to end the racially discriminatory mass incarceration of people of color. By introducing diversity initiatives such as bias literacy programs that target implicit and explicit gender and racial biases, into the media, classroom and workspace, diverse identities can realize their full potential socially, economically and politically.

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Discussion o f t he C ommon Book For the last several years, first year students have been asked to read a common book. The title chosen this fall, How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, reflects the seriousness of where we are in society and all that is happening around us. Virtual sessions were attended by more than 140 students, hosted by Senior Director of Academic Student Support Erik Bakke with the help of a variety of guest hosts including Professor Jodie Austin, Dr. Alma Clayton-Pedersen, Assistant Director of Residential Life and Housing Taylor Henkel, Professor Mutima Imani, Bowman Librarian Kathleen Kosiec, Provost Grande Lum, Dean Melissa Michelson, Professor Lakiba Pittman, Professor Melissa Poulsen, and Coach Denise Sheldon.

By Brianna Valentine ’24

Finding our Humanity

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Kendi shows us that one of the best ways to fight racism is to first realize when we are being racist.

He tells readers, “When we believe that a racial group’s seeming success or failure redounds to each of its individual members, we’ve accepted a racist idea,” and explains to us the importance of recognizing that everyone is their own individual and that no one should be put into categories or stereotypes based on their appearances.

Fighting racism isn’t only a question of changing our minds, but also our actions. As a youth in the 21st century, I can say without a doubt that I agree with Kendi’s idea of judging people as being racist or antiracist based on what ideas and actions they are supporting. This follows the long-used phrase “actions over words;” more often than not people say they are going to do more things than they actually do. People show who they are through their actions rather than what they say. Kendi gives us a way to help stand against racism early on in his book when he says that “This book is ultimately about… the struggle to be fully human and to see that others are fully human,” explaining that we can combat racism “if we focus on power instead of people, if we focus on changing policy instead of groups of people.” This book is not only a depiction of racism that Kendi has seen in his lifetime, but is also a call to action, explaining to us the steps required for us to help others and ourselves become a better part of the fight for an equal society.

Hidden Racism

By Freya Sadler ’24 Early in his book, Kendi argues, “When racist policies resound, denials that those policies are racist also follow.” Being an antiracist requires an individual to disregard all denials and cancel colorblindness culture; neglecting to acknowledge race masks the racism that follows behind if we don’t identify those prejudices. Kendi calls it “racist passivity.”

However, history proves that the United States’ politics are never in favor of resistance for better policy. It shows that our government does not establish any procedures that have long-lasting reform. As time goes on, the Supreme Court continues to express the mindset of colorblindness. To start down the path of progressive change involves rethinking which policies incorporate racist bias and how you can remove those biases by implementing more antiracist ideas. It involves understanding the roots of racist thinking and how your natural way of thought could have been impacted by racism without your knowledge.

Furthermore, it’s impossible to stand against racist bigotries if you’re not placing yourself in a position to protect other classes that are oppressed in systems of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and victims of ableism. Kendi’s chapter on “Sexuality” genuinely resonated with me since that has been a critical struggle for me during my entire childhood and going into my young adult life. Since I was young, I’ve known that I was gay, but I always thought it was something that shouldn’t be associated with my identity, less essential than other things like my eye color or the way I speak. Kendi discusses issues the LGBTQ+ community deals with when it comes to open alienation from people who believe in common stereotypes of queer peoples, specifically of color. He explains, “Children of Black queer couples are more likely to live in poverty because their parents are more likely than Black heterosexual and white queer couples to be poor.” It made me realize the impact of racism in the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately, I never thought of how being a minority same-sex household could be impacted by multiple forms of discrimination at once. Antiracism also means queer-antiracism, trans-antiracism–seeking equity for anyone who has been a victim of prejudice, and particularly those minorities that have been placed into the vulnerable margins of society.

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Embodiment of Racism - Those of Now and Then

By Freya Sadler ’24 -Inspired by How to Be an Antiracist

I chose at an early age to write poems for better understanding, seeking a new perspective, a new form of reflection on how we perceive the issues we aspire to solve. Challenging myself on my own ethical beliefs every day is how I aspire to better develop and grow endlessly, starting with one page of poetry at a time.

On his brow Rests the sweat of earth dripping to his bare feet.

On his brow Rests the sweat of smoke dripping to the city streets as screams and sirens echo through the night.

On his shoulders Occupied the scars of what his skin only knew as the body given to him yet the body he never owned.

On his shoulders Only then knew the scars of his color, the wounds of yesterday.

His mind, clouded with fear, prayed about today but dreamt of tomorrow.

The boy Occupied the change of today As he was greeted with one wish from his color As the desire whispered in the young soul – “Oh, I remember the first day of thirst, the sun of the south hitting the crowded fields of dreadful silence.”

Knowing well of that silence, as the child took to the streets with those who screamed to be known amongst the shadows of pickets and chants.

But as the silence overcame the crowded streets of the night, the boy felt the pain, The pain of his last words as he saw the blood of his color gush from his chest as a flash hits his body As he continued that final legacy of such a wish – “One day, I will be free.”

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Pursuing Social Justice at Menlo College

By Steven Weiner, President

High-stakes conversations around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are taking place on nearly every college campus in the nation as part of the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and with good reason. Together with the promise of a community where all voices are valued, joining the ranks of the college-educated has long been considered the antidote to and a fail-safe against ethnic and systemic disparities. Yet, the lived experiences of students and alumni around our country are telling a different story.

Reading the manifesto authored this past summer

by Black Student Voices (BSV; a collective of Menlo College students and alumni), many of whom I have worked with closely over the years, left me heartbroken. I thought our College was meeting or even exceeding our commitment to students from marginalized backgrounds, but it became clear that we were not living up to our promise. As I listened to BSV recount their experiences with racial bias on campus and in the workplace, I initially wondered how one small college could even begin to surmount 400 years of institutionalized national racism and nearly 100 years of its own history. Yet as the conversation unfolded, it was clear that there was only one path forward – Menlo had to lead the change.

With that said, Menlo College has recommitted itself to addressing hate, inequity, and inequality on campus.

In my first formal response to BSV, I acknowledged that Menlo can and must do better. I also expressed our

vision that Menlo must hold itself to a high standard, not just one that is better than that followed by others, but one that sets the tone for all of higher education.

We must find ways to critically examine our history and set a path forward, renewing the promise Menlo makes to all its students.

Through a partnership with BSV and a group of allies on campus, we have authored a document that serves as a basis for reflection and conversation, and as a living, modifiable action plan toward achieving social justice on our campus. The document makes the case for needed change, with due urgency and thoughtfulness. With open and ongoing reflection, conversation, collaboration, and coordinated action, I have challenged every faculty, coach and other staff members, as well as the students at Menlo College to open their hearts and minds, to help us change. Igniting every student’s potential can only happen if every Oak feels safe with each other, valued as individuals, and is provided with an environment in which to thrive.

The foundation for change at Menlo College is the creation of a bigger table, so to speak, including stakeholders from a larger cross-section of the campus and the community. Shortly after the publication of the Social Justice at Menlo College document, a Social Justice Task Force was formed with students, alumni, faculty, administrative staff and Board members. They have already become instrumental as advisors to the College, helping to guide the work, serving to amplify the needs, and holding us accountable to promises made.

No one should be a target of violence or bias because of perceived differences. As Oaks, each of us has an obligation to undertake the work required to become anti-racist, and to be more inclusive in our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Collectively, we must do better, and the start of a new year is an opportune time to take stock and reflect on the ways we can each contribute to that endeavor.

Alumni who may wish to help shape social justice initiatives at Menlo College should contact Senior Director Laura Koo (laura.koo@menlo.edu).

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Waiting Harlem

By Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore— And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

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By Lauren John, Adjunct Professor, Intensive English Program, and Professional Tutor, Writing and Oral Communication Center A few years ago, a class of Menlo College English students were assigned to write an essay comparing James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me – two works that, although written some sixty years apart, both reflect upon the difficulties faced by generations of Black men in America.

Many students turned to Menlo College’s Writing and Oral Communication Center for help with this assignment; as a tutor in the WOCC, I had the opportunity to work with students from many different backgrounds to process their responses to these two monumental works, and formulate cogent analyses of them. I helped them to reformulate their thesis statements, parse quotes, and rearrange paragraphs. I could see from the quality of their first drafts that most students had read the works very carefully, and I had the urge to ask each of them how reading these words affected them personally.

But was it my place to do so?

Would the students even answer my more personal questions? How comfortable would Black students be discussing white supremacy with a white professor with graying hair. And there was always the possibility that if our discussions turned toward these sensitive topics, somebody might be hurt or offended, and the WOCC is, by its very mission, a safe place.

I couldn’t help feeling, though, that I should have opened the door to these more difficult conversations, particularly when I worked with an eighteen-year-old Black woman who came into the WOCC exhausted after pulling an all-nighter. At first, I did not think that any conversation would be possible, let alone editing. She was leaning on the table, her head resting on clasped hands.

“Do you want to come back another time,” I asked.

“No,” she sighed. “Let’s just do this.”

“So what do you think the theme is?” I ventured.

“The theme is WAITING.” “Waiting for what?” I asked.

She picked her head up and looked me in the eye.

“Waiting......... to explode!”

Her words evoked the ominous sentiment of Langston Hughes’ famous poem, “Harlem,” that asks how the Black Americans respond when the dream of equality, promised in the Declaration of Independence and affirmed by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, is continually denied them, deferred to some unspecified point in the future.

As we talked, my student developed this idea into a thesis that African Americans get frustrated and angry but for a lot of reasons they can’t react right away. Eventually those who feel most vulnerable and powerless will explode in violence. But when they explode, she wrote, white people will kill them.

I wondered whether this exhausted young woman had herself felt that frustration and anger–had felt ready to explode. I wondered, too, whether she had ever witnessed the kind of violence that her thesis spoke so powerfully of.

Then I asked myself, what kinds of injustices would make me explode?

I thought of how I felt watching white supremacists march in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us.”

But I didn’t share that feeling, didn’t want to claim to know her experience. Because I truly don’t. I’m not even sure I know mine.

We discussed the wording of her thesis statement, as well as what details she could include to develop that thesis, and the student left the Writing Center with a plan for a well-constructed essay. As she was packing up her laptop, I could not resist asking just one question: “Do you think that Americans will be reading essays like Coates’ and Baldwin’s sixty years from now?”

“Yes,” she answered, without a bit of doubt. “But maybe next time the writer will be a woman.”

Recently, as racial injustices came to the forefront after the murder of George Floyd, I remembered this experience. Should I have done more to discuss or validate her emotions? Was it better to remain a writing practitioner, objective and focused on the academic task? I personally was changed forever by the encounter, but had I chosen the best way to help my student? And more than ever, I recognized the need for educators to recognize that academic success is tied to student well-being, and to reexamine the ways, if any, that we can be “upstanders” rather than “bystanders” in the classroom and in our college community.

“I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son M E N L O C O L L E G E M a g a z ine

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By Lisa Villarreal, Ph.D., Associate Director of Student Academic Support The transition to remote learning has meant fewer opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to interact face-to-face, making email communication an increasingly important point of contact. For students prevented from attending live Zoom sessions, who lack consistent internet access or who are participating in courses remotely from across the globe, email may provide their primary access to course information; faculty and staff have needed to send out a flurry of messages to keep all students apprised of new developments. However, the resulting inbox surge has left many students feeling overwhelmed.

The ability to communicate effectively via email, and to manage an out-of-control inbox, has become a critical skill in the professional world. Even before the pandemic, remote collaboration and the new pace of communication made these skills a necessity. A survey conducted by Adobe in 2019 found that people were spending nearly six hours each workday reading and responding to emails; “Email continues to be the preferred way to ask co-workers a quick question (39%), provide a status update (57%) or even provide feedback (47%),” stated Bruce Swann, Group Product Marketing Manager for Adobe Campaign ( CNBC Make It, 9.23.19).

For our students, email savvy is both an essential element of professional preparation and a pandemic survival strategy. So, the Bowman Library and the Center for Academic and Professional Success teamed up this summer to create resources that would turn Menlo students into inbox ninjas. Dylan Houle, Director of Internships & Career Services, Kathleen Kosiec, Information & Resource Services Librarian, and I researched relevant articles from news sources and trade publications to share with students, and then created short videos to share the most essential skills.

Keep your inbox organized.

Skim through your messages and delete any that aren’t relevant. You don’t want important messages to get lost in a long list of unread emails. Organize your messages into folders so you can clear out your inbox and keep track of important communications.

Consider setting up separate email accounts for personal and academic/ professional use.

Restrict where you share your professional email so that it doesn’t end up on email marketing lists that will clog your inbox with spam.

Don’t let e-mail steal your time.

Not only can reading and responding to emails be time consuming, but it also disrupts your focus; according to the Harvard Business Review (2019), it can take more than 20 minutes to fully regain focus on a task after an interruption, such as a break to check email. Pick 2-3 set times to check email each day, and turn email notifications off at other times to avoid disruptions.

When writing an email, give clear, complete, and concise information.

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Edit your subject line to give an accurate preview of the purpose of your message. Use paragraph breaks, bullet points, or numbering to make it easy for the recipient to find important information. Include all relevant details in your initial message to avoid protracted back-and-forth exchanges with follow-up questions; try to anticipate any questions the recipient might have; for example, if you’re writing to set up a meeting, explain the purpose of the meeting and provide a list of dates/times when you’re available to meet.

Approach email communication with professionalism.

An email should be approached more like a letter rather than a text message. Use complete sentences.

Use appropriate capitalization and punctuation. Check your spelling and avoid overuse of abbreviations.

And most importantly, make sure you write the name of your recipient correctly. A good email doesn’t just communicate information; it communicates your respect for the other person, as well as your attention to detail and work ethic. It communicates your communication skills. Every interaction, whether in-person or over email, is an opportunity to build stronger relationships with others.

For more advice on effective emailing, check out our video series!

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By Lauren John, Staff Writer During the difficult summer and fall of 2020, as our Menlo College community confronted Covid-19, California fires and racial injustice, many turned to reading for comfort, escape and inspiration. An informal survey of our professors found them reading early to mid 20th century history to see how real and fictional individuals managed difficult and often life-threatening times. Others discovered that science fiction, fantasy and mysteries offered escape from our troubling headlines.

“Bibliotherapy,” the formal term for this activity, is the act of storytelling or reading selected texts in order to heal. As the writer and social activist James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

Here are some of our faculty’s selections for reading in troubled times.

Pamela Gullard, Senior Adjunct of Literature I alternate between what I call “good junk” and classics. This summer, I read Daniel Silva’s latest international thriller, The Order, which shows the horror of how a repeated lie can influence history. Silva’s work, though action-packed, displays a passion for truth and an audacity of vision that I deeply admire as a writer, and that I hope to instill in my students.

I also re-read Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, partly to marvel again at the power of his intellect and also to feel restored by his impatience with partial truths. Again, I was knocked back by his clean, profound sadness.

Erik Bakke, Senior Director of Student Academic Support I have been reading, and discussing weekly with a friend over WhatsApp, Minima Moralia, Reflections on a Damaged Life by Theodor Adorno, a German philosopher known for his contributions to Critical Theory. In exile from Hitler’s Germany, he wrote his reflections, in part, as a refusal to acknowledge interruption of work by “outward circumstances.”

The writing is funny and poignant and provides sophisticated cultural analysis during a time of vicious politics, genocide, and the wars of empires.

Here is one of Adorno’s social observations, written in 1944: “Among today’s adept practitioners, the lie has long since lost its honest function of misrepresenting reality. Nobody believes anybody, everyone is in the know.”

Dr. Dima Leshchinskii, Associate Professor, Finance In Covid-19 times, I read mostly pulp fiction—crime novels, thrillers, and science fiction. From those readings, I should mention Ted Chiang’s latest collection of stories, Exhalation. His science fiction is often very philosophical and raises interesting questions. Most people are familiar with Ted Chiang’s work because of the movie Arrival based on his Story of Your Life.

Currently, I am reading Killing Commendatore by Murakami Haruki, one of my favorite modern authors, and reading his book provides helpful escape these days.

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Dr. Melissa Michelson, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science I finally read The Master and Margarita (1966) by Mikhail Bulgakov, an underground masterpiece of twentieth-century Russian fiction that was written in the 1930s during Stalin’s regime. This book truly lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. It is weird and funny and just delightful. It was a respite of silliness in a difficult time.

The other book that got me through the summer was Molly Ball’s new biography, Pelosi (2020). This book not only gave me a greater appreciation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s political skill and her role in passing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but it also gave me hope knowing that she is still leading the House. She is an inspiration.

Dylan Houle, Director of Career Services and Internships I reread J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a much-needed fantasy escape where good triumphs over evil, but not without great struggle. When I despaired, I was glad to be reminded that Frodo Lives.

Dr. Lisa Mendelman, Assistant Professor of English and Digital Humanities I turned to the modern women writers featured in my book, Modern Sentimentalism —Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Jessie Fauset—and wrote about this experience for the OUPBlog this summer, “What Literature Can Teach Us About Living With Illness,” June 2020.

Even more than reading, writing about reading is my best way of coping.

Steven Weiner, President, Menlo College I usually escape into fiction, but I found another kind of escape this summer with Alexandra Horowitz’s Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, which provides the insights of cognitive science psychology about the workings of a dog’s brain. As an ardent dogophile, I welcomed facts about a dog’s nose (50 times more receptor sites than humans); a dog’s enhanced “flicker fusion,” giving them so many visual “snapshots” that they “see just a bit more world every second”; and their extraordinary talent for bonding with us humans.

Weaving through the science were behavioral observations that made this long-time dog companion smile and nod in response.

A cat lover would be lucky to find a companion piece to this book.

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F ac u lt y N ews Visiting Professor Shalini Gopalkrishnan was the keynote speaker at the Global Innovation Summit in Pakistan. She also presented at the European Global Gender Congress on the effect of Covid-19 on women, and mentored participants in the MIT Hackathon for Covid. Back on campus, she is pioneering the use of immersive virtual reality to maintain student connections during remote learning.

Fiction by Adjunct Professor Pamela Gullard, “One Small Death Before the Plague,” appeared in the fall 2020 issue of the Free State Review.

This past summer, Professor Kathi Lovelace, was elected by the Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (MOBTS) Board of Directors to serve on the Executive Committee of the Board. She already serves in various roles for the Society, including Chair of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Best Pedagogical Contribution Award Committee for the Management Teaching Review.

Prior to joining Menlo College, Provost Grande Lum served as the director of the Community Relations Service (CRS), a U.S. Department of Justice program that helps resolve racial conflicts in our country. Provost Lum spoke to that experience in “To Prevent More George Floyd Tragedies, We Need Federal Peacemakers to Bring Communities and Law Enforcement Together,” published in Medium, and again in a recounting of the history of the organization that was published by ProPublica. Provost Lum has also been enlisted to join other experts in community relations to perform a comprehensive review of the Louisville, Kentucky police department following the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in her Louisville home on March 13.

Oxford University Press published “What Literature Can Teach Us About Living with Illness,” by Professor Lisa Mendelman.

In her essay, Professor Mendelman spoke to the Covid-19 era emotions of powerlessness and human frailty, and reached back to early 20th century literature for insights on coping. Public Books also recently published Professor Mendelman’s interview with best-selling author Susannah Cahalan on madness, diagnosis, and Covid-19, a conversation they continued this fall in a different public forum: the CoVid-19 series, co-sponsored by Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Menlo College.

At the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Dean Melissa R. Michelson presented her research on ways to increase participation in the census among hard-to-count communities of color in California. She also recently worked with Black Girls Vote and the National Conference on Citizenship to increase black voter turnout in multiple cities; and with the San Joaquin County Registrar to evaluate and improve their election processes using new vote technologies.

She is currently working on her 7th book, LGBTQ Life in America, as well as a revised edition of her textbook, Governing California, both forthcoming in 2021.

Dean of Library Sciences Valeria Molteni published the chapter “Rediscovering Myself on the California Roads” in Feminist Pilgrimage: Journeys of Discovery. The book is a collection of personal essays by contemporary feminist educators, scholars, artists, and writers. The chapter authored by Dean Molteni is a personal and reflective essay with a feminist vision that reflects her pilgrimage as a librarian and as a woman – a journey that, in 2018, led Dean Molteni to Menlo College.

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Emeritus Professor Bruce Paton was elected to serve as Board President for Leadership Sunnyvale, an organization that provides training on community leadership for emerging leaders in industry, local and county government, and community organizations. The current class includes participants from Google, Facebook, the Chamber of Commerce, and several other community organizations. Professor Paton also recently completed his sixth term as Chair of Sunnyvale’s Sustainability Commission, which produced the city’s Climate Action Playbook.

Among his other pursuits, the Director of Menlo’s Center for Sports Management, Professor Sean Pradhan, conducts research in collaboration with the NASA Ames Research Center’s Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory. Results of one of their studies appeared in Frontiers in Neuroscience, under the title “Performance on the Robotics On-Board Trainer (ROBoT-r) – Spaceflight Simulation During Acute Sleep Deprivation.” A second study led to the publication in Chronobiology International of “An Evaluation of Fatigue Factors in Maritime Pilot Work Scheduling.” A separate collaboration with a researcher at the University of Michigan led to the publication of “If You Ain’t First, You’re Last! Understanding Identity Threat, Team Identification, and Advertisement Messages When Your Favorite Team Loses.” The article appeared in Journal of Sport Management . Finally, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine reported preliminary results of research that Professor Pradhan undertook with Devin Alton ’22 which suggest that the NBA ‘bubble’ in Orlando may be a competitive equalizer (their conclusion is based on their earlier findings that team travel across time zones can serve as a predictor of game performance and thus win probability). Professor Pradhan also recently accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.

The digital media platform SiliconANGLE published “Applying Economic Concepts to Big Data to Determine the Financial Value of the Organization’s Data and Analytics, and Understanding the Ramifications on the Organization’s Financial Statements and IT Operations and Business Strategies,” which was co-authored by Dean of the School of Business Mouwafac Sidaoui and Bill Schmarzo, Hitachi Vantara Chief Innovation Officer. Their paper speaks to the extent to which data should be viewed and treated as a corporate asset.

Professor Lawrence Souza was appointed vice president for business development and commercial associate broker, for Searchlight Lending, and vice president and director of research and analytics for Greensparc, a Series-A startup company that deploys micro-data centers on-site at power plants and commercial real estate facilities. Professor Souza has also been partnering with CapitalBrain.co as its chief science officer, working to develop alternative public securities portfolios using artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies.

A Temporary Pause in Study Abroad The number of Menlo students who have pursued study abroad opportunities has grown rapidly in recent years, thanks to the leadership of Assistant Director of Career Services & Study Abroad Kelly Davis. While the pandemic has forced a pause, we are preparing for a resurgence of opportunities for cultural immersion that can often prove to be a transformational experience for college students. To ensure our readiness, Kelly participated in the NAFSA Academy this year, a professional association for international educators. The program served to bolster her knowledge, network, and experience in international education. Moving forward, Kelly will continue the projects she started during this professional development opportunity to further enhance the Menlo student experience in study abroad and other intercultural activities. Her projects include research on international career competencies, the development of pre-, post-, and interim study abroad self-assessments, and the podcast Generation Travel Radio.

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Working in a New Way In September 2020, Menlo College and the Haier Model Research Institute announced the creation of the Rendanheyi Silicon Valley Center @ Menlo College.

With this partnership, Menlo becomes one of five centers around the world focused on research relating to the management style developed within the China-based Haier Group, which acquired GE Appliances in 2016. This style revitalized GE Appliances.

Rendanheyi, in Chinese, refers to the relationship between employee and consumer, and emphasizes oneness between the two. The new Center @ Menlo College will focus on exploring and developing curricula in partnership with sister centers in China, India, Russia, Singapore, and England. The goal is to teach this progressive management practice to Menlo College students and, eventually, the general public.

Dr. Annika Steiber serves as the director of the Center. As she observed, “Silicon Valley has been a cradle of technological innovation and entrepreneurial management for almost 70 years, so it is fitting that the Rendanheyi model will have a hub here.

Through the Center, the newest generation of management students will learn how to transform firms to take full advantage of an interconnected IoT (Internet of Things) world. Embracing the IoT era and its unique management challenges is vital for business leaders everywhere.”

The Center plans to offer its curricula to be taught as webinars, master classes, and other professional training programs. As a part of the center’s initial offerings shortly after its founding, students and business leaders participated in a conference about how to structure a business to be competitive in a disruptive IoT age.

My Moment of Zen “Sitting outside in the sun, relaxing in my Adirondack chair, reading. I love entering another world and walking in someone else’s shoes.“ Pamela Gullard, Senior Adjunct of Literature 21 WINTER 2021

This fall, Menlo College expanded its depth of entrepreneurial leadership with the election of Joe Hurd and Colin O’Malley to the Board of Trustees. Between them, they bring a wealth of experience as successful entrepreneurs.

About Joe Hurd “In an increasingly competitive global economy, greater diversity leads to greater innovation,” said Joe Hurd. “With some of the world’s largest companies located steps from campus, Menlo’s diverse and dynamic student body is a source of talent uniquely positioned to partner together to further inspire innovation in Silicon Valley. I look forward to collaborating on campus with this special community.”

Joe Hurd works at SOSV, one of the world’s most active early-stage venture funds, where he leads corporate development for many of the fund’s life sciences, hardware and consumer internet portfolio companies. He is also a Venture Partner with Good Growth Capital, a female- and minorityled venture fund. Earlier in his career, Hurd led strategic business development and sales teams at Facebook, Gannett, AOL/TimeWarner, Friendster and VideoEgg; he also served as a senior political appointee in the U.S. Commerce Department during President Obama’s first term.

Hurd is also a director of Goco Group, a London-listed financial services, utilities and home services comparison company, and the American Swiss Foundation. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, where he was a member of the varsity swimming team, his master’s in international affairs from Columbia University, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

About Colin O’Malley “Menlo has created a thriving, international student body that is ready to take on the world, based right here in Silicon Valley’s backyard,” said Colin O’Malley. “I am excited to roll up my sleeves with this forward-thinking community, including the incredibly talented students and faculty.”

In 2013, Colin O’Malley founded Lucid Privacy Group, which guides startups and marketing technology companies. He continues to serve as the principal of the company today. He also founded or co-founded two other companies in the past decade: Briefly.co, an enterprise focused on building tools and community to bring attention to content most likely to draw attention; and Evidon, a privacy compliance and data control company. He raised $20M in funding, built a multimillion-dollar revenue line, created several new markets, and customer relationships with companies like Bank of America, Adobe, P&G, and Ford. His prior positions include VP of Strategic Partnerships and Programs at TRUSTe. He has also served in advisory roles for many technology companies, including Tapad, Datacoup, and First Growth Venture Network.

He was also a trustee of Live Oak School in San Francisco. He is a 1999 graduate of Vanderbilt University.

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elección

Vota a h or a

Motivating People to Vote in the 2020 Election:

Data-Driven Micro-Targeting and the Move to Digital

By Melissa R. Michelson, Ph.D., Dean of Arts & Sciences For the last two decades I have been working with community organizations in California and around the country to increase voter turnout among historically marginalized low-propensity communities – Latinos, Black Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, and youth. Members of these different identity groups can have very different reasons for voting, even within each group. For example, older Black Americans tend to be more motivated by a desire to honor their ancestors who fought and died to win voting rights, while younger Black Americans are more receptive to messages that ask them to vote in order to express support for a public policy. Latinos who are more acculturated are more motivated by a desire to fulfil their civic duty as Americans, while Latinos who are less acculturated are more likely to respond to calls to give the Latino community more political power. Latinos who are Cuban American have a very different political perspective compared to those who are Mexican American. There’s no one-size-fits-all message that works for everyone.

What’s more exciting, really, is that the power of big data allows for micro-targeting of individuals so that it’s easier to match the most effective message to the target voter. That can mean a piece of mail that’s targeted to you as an individual, or a digital ad that is shown on Facebook to folks in your ZIP code. Community organizations and candidates for political office these days work with statistical software and large data files. This year in particular, much of the organizing has moved online, reflecting the desire to keep communities safe during the pandemic. I’m working with more and more groups that want to find ways to use social media and social networks to turn out voters, even while they use tried-and-true methods like letters and text messages.

I’m currently conducting several research projects in cooperation with community organizations. One seeks to better understand which Latinos are better motivated to vote by English-only vs. bilingual mailers. Another project seeks to increase Black voter turnout in Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. And a third civic engagement project in New Jersey explores how best to increase participation among individuals who have histories with the criminal justice system and have recently had their voting rights restored.

Community organizations are one vital component of a functioning democracy; it’s been gratifying to work with dedicated and talented people at the grassroots level.

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Meet Our Newly Appointed Dean Melissa Michelson Dr. Michelson teaches political science at Menlo College, including her course on U.S. Politics, and another on Campaigns and Elections. Here’s an update on her professional and personal projects outside the classroom.

In addition to my research projects on voter participation, I’m in the middle of writing updates for the new (8th) edition of my Governing California textbook and finishing up a new book called LGBTQ Life in America ; both of these books will be published in 2021.

As a faculty member and dean, I’m following up on a review of the General Education curriculum and hoping to update it to better mesh with our institutional learning goals and the needs of our students, while also giving students more flexibility. I want to help faculty expand our Arts & Sciences curriculum to include more content about race and racism, in part in response to student and alumni feedback and also reflecting my own belief that understanding racism is crucial in the modern world. Menlo was recently named a HispanicServing Institution (HSI) as well as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), reflecting the diversity of our student body. I want to support that diverse student body with a curriculum and campus culture that is equitable and inclusive, both within classrooms and more generally.

Personal projects? My best friend and I meet most Friday nights for what we call our Friday Night Knitting Club. I make shawls and sweaters for myself, baby booties for friends who are expecting, and lots of hats for friends – they make a good present because they always fit. I tried to learn to crochet this year so that I could make a baby Yoda that I found a pattern for, but it’s still what we handcrafters call a UFO (unfinished object).

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New Dean Brings Cutting Edge Insights on Using Data

By School of Business Dean Mouwafac Sidaoui

Business leaders, political analysts, scientists, and others are increasingly interested in using big data, business analytics, machine learning, and data science to make good predictions.

We, at Menlo College, are aware of the roles of these new concepts in business and they are becoming part of our business curriculum.

As education becomes increasingly digitized, a trend accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, higher education is also playing a key role in developing data analytics and amplifying its credibility.

At the School of Business at Menlo College our curriculum focusses on the business problems that require solution; we empower our students to think of ways to apply analytical strategies to big data to produce useful insights. We provide our students with a platform to understand the managerial implications and how big data can be used to go from business analysis to strategic insight.

I am constantly reminding myself and my colleagues that companies, and colleges/universities, must collectively bridge the gap between old and new ways of doing business. I encourage team teaching, matching a professor’s research with an executive’s expertise to offer the required knowledge to our students. With this two-pronged approach, students will be better prepared for leading our business and digital world.

Many companies are making a fundamental shift from experience-based judgment to data-driven decision-making utilizing outcomesbased insights. Data insight, based on data science, allows companies to identify unique advantages through analytics and artificial intelligence (AI); these two combined allow organizations to move faster with greater precision, to pinpoint truths that improve decisionmaking, and to create beneficial connections with customers.

When it comes to data insight, data science should be viewed as a business discipline, not just another information technology (IT) activity. Every business stakeholder needs to learn how to “Think Like a Data Scientist,” and then we can transform every business stakeholder into a “Citizen of Data Science.” Data science requires teams of business analysts, data scientists, and design thinking experts, a team concept well suited to business schools.

At Menlo College, we remind our students in the Business Analytics program that this discipline is changing the way companies conduct business and manage their strategies, which puts the business analyst along with the data scientist at the center of company transformation. We also teach our students how they will be change-agents within a company, offering insights that can illuminate the company’s trajectory toward its ultimate business goals. Our Business Analytics students will become essential to creating better products and paradigms in their organizations.

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Latest research-in-progress: “Gaining Market Share in Emerging Markets Portfolios by Moderating Extreme Returns: The Case of Peru” “Thinking Through Design: A Case Study of How Data Science Teams Use Design Thinking at Hitachi Vantara” “Artificial Intelligence Innovation Through Design: The Case of Hitachi Vantara” “Homelessness and Recidivism: A Quantitative Analysis of Multi-shelter Evaluation of the Success of Interventions by Oakland County”

Current projects for Menlo College:

Meet Dr. Mouwafac Sidaoui: Dean Sidaoui is recognized as a global thought leader in Big Data Strategy, Business Analytics, and Data Science. He has received widespread recognition for his teaching, scholarly work, professional achievement, and public service, including the University Distinguished Teacher Award from the University of San Francisco. Dean Sidaoui spent 20 years in higher education, including the last decade serving at the University of San Francisco as Director of Academic Programs and chairing the Department of Business Analytics and Information Systems. He also served for six years as a steering committee member for the Education Without Borders in the United Arab Emirates.

Prior to pursuing a career in higher education, Dean Sidaoui was an executive in Silicon Valley, working with companies such as Cirrus Logic, Hewlett Packard, IDT, and S1. He led teams focused on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, developing curriculums and online solutions for global clients to extract insight from data.

Dr. Sidaoui is evaluating the possibility of offering a Master of Science in Information Systems, which would be the first graduate program at Menlo College. He has started the discussion with the Finance faculty and the Finance Advisory Board about the feasibility of offering a Master of Science in FinTech. He is also creating executive education programs, the first of which is planned to be a certificate in Design Thinking and Data Science.

His focus for the undergraduate business degrees will be to redesign the curricula to take advantage of new pedagogical techniques and business strategies, while capitalizing on the expertise of the business faculty at Menlo College.

Personal projects/interest Dean Sidaoui enjoys good wine, tasting international cuisine, and travelling to learn about new cultures. He is currently writing a biography of his father, who was an entrepreneur, government executive, and global leader.

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Flying While Muslim

By Zaki Hasan, Adjunct Professor of Mass Communication Over five years ago, Zaki Hasan appeared on PBS describing a pivotal moment as an American.

We asked him to look back on that moment and put it in the context of our renewed search for social justice. Here is an edited transcript of the 2015 PBS clip, followed by Hasan’s current thoughts.

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Hasan, 2015: I identify as an American Muslim. Shortly after September 11, I went to the Bay Area to visit my family. This was a packed flight, not fun, and so on the way back, I told the friend I was traveling with that if the return flight was not full, maybe we could move our seats.

And so I am at SFO [to catch the return flight] and I am checking in, and the lady is checking my ID and I say, “Oh by the way, is it going to be a full flight?” and she doesn’t want me to leave then, and she is looking down at my ID, then looks at me, looks at my ID and asks (slowly), “Wh-y-y?”

And at that moment, I suddenly became aware of, oh yeah, I’m one of the people that she’s maybe afraid of. That was literally the first time that it happened in my life, where I literally felt at that moment . . . I felt my identity being boiled down to this one thing.

Hasan, 2020: “Our distrust is very expensive,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, and it’s a truism that has a remarkable reach the more we apply it in our day-to-day interactions. The notion of reducing people to broad, ill-fitting stereotypes is sadly all too common in the human experience, exacerbated by reductive media portrayals that deprive entire groups of people the nuance they are due.

But the key to pushing past that distrust and emerging with a greater understanding is to seek out stories. They are an essential element of the human experience, and everyone has a story about their identity. Once we make that effort to hear and understand who someone is, the experiences they have accrued, the uncountable moments that have made them who they are, it’s impossible to confine them to some kind of predetermined box.

Speaking to my own experiences, before 9/11, I hadn’t given much thought to the Muslim part of my identity, and I’d certainly never felt the need to categorize myself by it. I was just Zaki-who-happens-to-be-Muslim-but-whatever. Then the attacks happened, and the entire tone and tenor of our national discourse changed. The next thing I knew, before I could enter an opinion on the political situation in the world, I had to, in essence, “out” myself, beginning every conversation with, “I’m a Muslim, and here’s what I think about…”

I then had to make sure I condemned, on behalf of all Muslims everywhere, acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam. I’m not sure if this dialogic shift originated from myself or from others, but it pretty much stuck, and without even realizing it, I’d found myself a victim of the very same metonymy I accuse media corporations of engaging in when discussing Middle Eastern affairs.

Suddenly it was my status as a Muslim-American that defined me, first and foremost, with everything else that was uniquely “me” left by the wayside. It was an experience that I’ve treated as a humorous anecdote in retellings, but it’s also something that has forever stayed with me, and fundamentally changed not only how I view myself, but also how I choose to engage with the question of identity and media.

Let’s hope that the next five years bring more possibilities for listening to each other’s stories, for understanding who we are as Americans and citizens of the world.

Zaki. Hasan. 2015. Hasan on “Flying While Muslim” I Identify: Zaki Hasan | Little White Lie | Independent Lens | PBS, March 21, 2015.

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Artistic Arrivals

29 WINTER 2021

Enriching the Quality of Campus Life:

Donated Sculpture Comes to Menlo College

By Jessica Berger, Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Experience

Thanks to a generous donation by Juliet Sham and Stephen Ho, along with the artist Foon Sham, Menlo College has a new avenue to help students and visitors expand their mindsets while on its campus. The trio has donated Sham’s sculpture The Princess for permanent exhibition at Menlo College.

Foon Sham is a Professor of Art at the University of Maryland and has been awarded many fellowships, grants and artist’s residencies throughout the world––including programs in France, Norway, Bolivia, Chile, Scotland, Hungary, and Australia. He has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and is featured in dozens of public and private collections worldwide.

“As a professor of higher education, and having studied in Oakland, it is a personal thrill for one of my sculptures to find its home on the Menlo College campus. Art is a powerful tool that unlocks one’s creativity and I hope that Menlo’s students and campus visitors will find inspiration in The Princess,” said Sham.

“When we saw The Princess installed on the beautiful Menlo College campus, we realized the setting and the sculpture were destined for each other. My husband and I hope that The Princess elevates art in the Bay Area and particularly inspires young people to appreciate and pursue the arts. We are honored to create the opportunity for this magnificent piece to be enjoyed by everyone who studies and works at, or visits, Menlo College - now and forever,” related Ms. Sham.

The sculpture is located outside Brawner Hall, and it beautifully compliments recent landscaping renovations, The Princess is an important addition to the college’s physical environment.

“Everything we do at Menlo College is designed to support our students and their success. In welcoming The Princess to its home on our campus, our business and psychology scholars will surely find balance to the rigors of their academics and the demands of a plugged in world. In its massive grace and beauty our students and community will reflect and think in new ways,” said Menlo College President Steven Weiner.

From September 25-27, 2020, Menlo College displayed the sculpture among more than 40 others as a part of Silicon Valley Sculpture 2020 created by curator Katharina Powers. Organized by Powers in conjunction with Menlo Park Public Art, the event drew more than 500 visitors from around the Bay Area to the Menlo College campus.

Artist Foon Sham (left) discusses his sculpture The Princess with fellow artist David Middlebrook during the Silicon Sculpture 2020 event that included American Gothic by Ryan Carrington (top right) and Nymphaeum by Yoko Kubrick (lower right).

Photos by Miguel Lim ‘23 M E N L O C O L L E G E M A G AZ I N E

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S t u dent L ife

OAKtoberFest 2020 Menlo College’s OAKtoberFest celebration launched in 2015, and it has been an annual tradition since then. Because it brings together our community across the decades, in a way unlike any other, it is predictably one of the most celebratory days of the year for Oaks everywhere.

Despite the pandemic, we were determined to continue the tradition. The virtual OAKtoberFest 2020 was born.

An upside to virtual engagement? We were able to bring together alumni from far and wide. Representing many decades, alumni participated from their homes across California, but also in such far-flung places as Hawai’i, New York, Texas, and Washington.

The event was once again co-hosted by Chris Garrett ’94, who provided a tour and tasting at his renowned Devil’s Canyon Brewery.

Among other distinctions, Chris was the recipient of the Menlo College Outstanding Oak Award two years ago. The tradition of recognizing an alumnus for their unwavering service to the College, their strength of character, professional excellence, and selfless guidance of Menlo students continued as well in 2020.

The invitation to 2020’s virtual OAKtoberFest looks back fondly at images of last year’s event – and reminds us of the spirit we look forward to when we return to campus for OAKtoberFest 2021!

The 2020 Menlo College Outstanding Oak Award recipient was Frances Mann-Craik ’76, someone who blends major corporate experience with passion, energy, and understanding of the life of an entrepreneur. Over a Menlo career that spanned six decades, former Menlo College Director John “Judge” Russell had the opportunity to work with many Oaks. He singled out Frances with praise when he described her as “a dynamic doer who doesn’t fail when she undertakes a project. I think that’s why she...distinguishes herself to the extent that firms bid for [her] services and [she] keeps moving up.”

Frances has stayed actively involved with Menlo since her time as a student. She has served on the Board of Trustees, she was the Chair of Menlo Alumni Council, and she has been an active participant of many student clubs and initiatives on campus. In recent years, she hosted the Women’s Business Society’s meetings at her home in the hills, co-hosted a stellar car show, and hired Menlo students as interns.

OAKtoberFest 2020 once again proved that the community of the Oaks lives strong.

31 WINTER 2021

Women Lead the Way

By Angela Schmiede, Vice President for Student Success Menlo College held its third annual Startup Weekend Silicon Valley in November 2020.

Originally scheduled for April on campus, our incredible SWSV - Womxn edition student and alumni organizers flawlessly transformed the three-day event into a virtual one that engaged entrepreneurs from around the world.

Over 100 student participants worked in teams all weekend to develop ideas into viable business pitches that were subsequently judged by business professionals, including several College alumni.

Congratulations to senior Courtney Cooper ’21, who was on the winning team and successfully pitched UpwardnOnward, a STEM mentorship platform for high school girls.

A big round of applause also goes to lead organizer, Bianca Barros ’21, and her organizing team for their feat of creating and managing a worldwide event. The team includes Basil Merk ’23, Sam Baker ’20, Christopher Overkämping ’21, Esteban Ramirez ’23, Chara Higaki ’22, Jose Angelo Baltero’23, Bryan Zaremba ’22, Freya Sadler ’24, Shane Fernando ’24, Brenda Flores-Reyes ’20, Jessica Carlson ’20, and Ethan Moengchaisong ’20.

In keeping with Menlo’s entrepreneurial spirit, Professor Bruce Paton; Director of Institutional Effectiveness Kristina Powers; and Menlo Trustees Shireen Udenka, Chris Garrett ’94, and Andy Cunningham served as mentors to the competing teams. Trustee and alumnus Larry Lopez ’84 helped judge the final pitches.

Pulling off Startup Weekend in a virtual environment is a true feat and a testament to the organizing team’s creativity, flexibility and work ethic. In other words, they all proved they have the makings of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.

Honoring the 2020 FEI Silicon Valley Scholarship Winner This fall, Bianca Neme Barros ’21 was named this year’s recipient of the Financial Executives International Silicon Valley (FEISV) scholarship. We can all share in the pride of Bianca’s selection this year, among an exceptional field of Menlo candidates.

In making the award, the Selection Committee noted that Bianca “demonstrated a great deal of the leadership qualities that a future financial leader should possess,” adding that her dedication to her studies, as well as “significant achievements and high accomplishments during her career cannot help but have a positive impact” on her school, her friends, and her community.

An international student from Brazil, Bianca is a double major in finance and entrepreneurship.

She has made her mark in her time as a Menlo student, excelling at her studies as well as Bianca Barros ’21, lead organizer of the Startup Weekend Silicon Valley, proving to be a force on campus for addressing topical issues. She founded Menlo’s first winner of the FEISV scholarship, and avowed feminist club on campus: Womxn’s Impact and Leadership Development (WILD), and former intern to France Mann-Craik, quickly established it as the second largest club on campus (she recruited 120 women in 90 (opposite page.) minutes the day the club was announced!). She is also an officer of our Oaks Innovation Club, Graphics by Chara Higaki ‘22. and she was one of the student leaders who launched Startup Weekend @ Menlo two years ago, and our first-ever TEDxMenloCollege last year. Bianca is also a University Innovation Fellow. Bianca’s ambitions extend beyond our campus; she has already participated in more than 15 Model United Nations programs.

By virtue of her selection as this year’s scholarship winner, Bianca will join the FEI Rising Stars Advisory Board, which functions as a subset of the FEI Board of Directors. Other Menlo standouts who were also invited to serve on the Board were Sam Baker ’20, Katrina Newman ’20, and Rufus Pappy ’22.

The FEI scholarship program is supported by former Menlo Trustee and alumnus Harry Kellogg ’63. With his generosity and other donor support, Menlo scholars are elevated to achieve great things.

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Student’s READING PERSPECTIVE

The Stand “Those in authority must retain the public’s trust.

The way to do that is to distort nothing, to put the best face on nothing, to try to manipulate no one. Lincoln said that first, and best. Leadership must make whatever horror exists concrete.

Only then will people be able to break it apart.”

John M. Barry, The Great Influenza

By Zijie ‘Ethan’ Chen, former Menlo College student Last March, I received an email from Professor Linda Bakke asking me what I thought about The Stand, a novel that depicts the spread of a constantly-shifting antigen virus that exterminates 99.4% of the human population written by the master of horror, Stephen King. Knowing my interest in horror fiction, she had given me the book at the end of Fall 2019. But a few months later, in the midst of the outbreak of Covid-19, King was looking disturbingly prophetic.

In the story, “Captain Trips” (the virus’ nickname) is a biological weapon developed under a top-secret government experiment called Project Blue. Realizing the virus containment had failed, a security guard at the compound fled with his wife and child. They escaped the underground compound in California and headed to Texas, spreading the virus along the way. This selfish behavior led to the outbreak.

When the government discovered the result of the “death trip” to Texas, it was too late. Their attempts to cover up the release of the virus fail, as do their attempts to stop it.

In 2020, it reads like a forecast. King predicted what would happen today as Covid-19 wreaks havoc around the world.

As early as December 2019, Covid-19 had been detected in China. I’m from Wuhan, where the outbreak started. My uncle, unfortunately, got Covid-19 at the beginning of the outbreak.

Thankfully, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

A strict lockdown got the spread of the virus under control, and the city gradually returned to normal.

For other countries, who witnessed the spread of the pandemic in China, there was plenty of time to prepare...yet…they wasted time and, instead, ridiculed China for its poor medical facilities and so-called “inhumane” decisions. Governments hid the truth about the Covid-19 outbreak. They didn’t realize the seriousness of the matter until a massive infection emerged.

Britain, the empire on which the Sun never sets, believed herd immunity could help them get through the outbreak; a few weeks later their prime minister was in an ICU with Covid-19.

Some parts of the world even adopted the self-deception: “If we don’t test, then we don’t have any infection in our land.”

This behavior directly contributed to the spread of the virus and resulted in the number of infections increasing dramatically. A small leak will sink a great ship. Hiding the truth and ignoring the epidemic are canon blasts to the hull.

33 WINTER 2021

What Will the New Year Bring?

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We at Menlo College Magazine try to capture the context of the times in each issue, a job that was made almost impossible by the fastmoving events of 2020. As usual, we have relied on the Menlo College community to help us separate truth from lies, such as the way Zijie “Ethan” Chen does on the facing page, to lift our spirits with creativity (Sambhab’s avocado pizza!), and to offer new ideas for our features.

In our next issue — Summer 2021 — we will try to capture the lessons we are learning as times keep changing.

Meanwhile, we send a special shoutout to our magazine designer Marsha Sanchez for meeting every challenge, including the imaginative signs across campus reminding everyone to stay safe. Wishing you days filled with hope in 2021.

My Moment of Zen Sambhab Thapaliya ‘21 learned how to make his favorite creation, avocado pizza!

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Menlo’s Student Newspaper Returns Menlo College’s online student newspaper, the Menlo Oak Press, was revived this year after an extended hiatus. Advised

by Erik Bakke, Senior Director of Student Academic Support and Director of the Writing and Oral Communication Center, the Oak Press is primarily student produced and managed, under the leadership of Editor Samael McCormick ’21. McCormick had this to say about the new Menlo Oak Press:

taking the journalism class [Digital News] that Eric Bakke and Dr. Jodie Austin are teaching; it will cover many topics in journalistic writing, such as rhetoric and citation. That would definitely be a good place to start. Of course, you don’t have to take that class; everyone is welcome to write, and to write about the things that you’re interested in. It’s really rewarding to see that people are reading what you’re writing about and enjoying it, and to know that you’re having an impact. People have talked to me after the fact and told me that they learned things or realized things from reading the articles in the Menlo Oak Press. As an author, to know that people care about what you’ve written and they decide to learn more because of your writing–it means a lot.”

“I really enjoy writing, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. It’s always good to write to educate other people on issues they don’t know about. I’m also hoping we can help students with study tips and advice on self-care, things that can strengthen the community. Our writers focus on different things, topics from sports to gender. We have a piece coming out soon about Amy Coney Barrett and what [her appointment to the Supreme Court] means for the LGBT community, and another on pronouns and why they’re important. Our overall goal is to bring awareness.

And I’m proud to say that the site is gaining some traction and our pieces are reaching more readers. Some of our earlier editions weren’t viewed by many people; now our interactions are way up and we have tons of people visiting the site.

Brianna Valentine ’23, a new Menlo freshman who contributed to the Oak Press this fall, added: “It’s true, I actually received many comments on my ‘Dear White People’ poem. A lot of people said that it was interesting to have another perspective and I think that helps push towards Sam’s movement of awareness. It was something that was beneficial for me to write, as well. I enjoy writing; it’s something that I’ve always done. So being able to know that something I write actually gets published and read by other people is really exciting.”

If students are interested in contributing, I really recommend

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Art, Nature & Cars As a safe, refreshing break from sheltering, many of us have been taking long walks, driving to vistas, and in other ways learning or re-learning the joys of nature. Here we present you with a visual minibreak, courtesy of a professor, an alumnus, and one of our student photographers.

We realize that Esteban Ramirez’s photos of cars may not be classified as “nature” by some, but for this interlude, we are stretching our definition to include anything beautiful that you may encounter outside your door. Step into these pages and enjoy!

Professor Bruce Paton captures a heron dancing on the waters of the San Francisco Bay.

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Clockwise from upper left: “Chevy” by Esteban Ramirez ’23, “Brother-in-Law” and “Wrangler Gear” by Christopher McGranahan ’68, “Carnaval 2019” and “Interior” by Ramirez, and “Trona Pinnacles” by McGranahan. Center: “Smoke from Summer 2020 Fires” by Pamela Gullard.

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I nternships at M enlo Preparing Students for a Changed Job Market: Internships in the Time of Covid-19

By Dylan Houle, Director of Internships & Career Services

As shelter-in-place restrictions were put into place last March, most companies began transitioning their internships from inperson to virtual experiences.

Some organizations, like athletics training facility Optimum Athletes where Sean Miller ’21 and Dylan Cole ’21 interned, kept their doors open while following the CDC guidelines. Others, like Zoom, where Alix Pommier ’21 interned, seemed to be ready-made for this moment.

Interning at a company unexpectedly thrust onto the global stage due to coronavirus presented Pommier with a front-row seat to how companies adapt and innovate in real time.

“Zoom is a great company to work for; I learned a lot from them in the past couple of months. My projects have been really interesting,” she reflected at the end of the summer.

Unfortunately, not all companies could so easily make the switch to virtual; some students’ internships were cancelled, which is what originally happened to Sam Baker ’21.

He went back to the drawing board and put an intense last-minute effort into his search; soon, he secured a private equity analyst internship at Bellator Trust. Despite the scramble, Baker was pleased to report: “After my original summer internship was

Alix Pommier ’21

Sean Miller ’21

39 WINTER 2021

Sam Baker ’21

cancelled due to Covid, I was happy to get any opportunity at all, but my experience at Bellator Trust has exceeded all possible expectations.”

For many of our international students, the pandemic forced them to return to their home country. For the first time, these students could complete the internship requirement from nearly anywhere. Bianca Barros ’21, home in Brazil, completed an internship with a VC firm based out of Australia. In China, Zishen (Alvin) Yu ’20 secured a coveted finance internship with Alibaba, one of the world’s largest companies.

Undoubtedly, the coronavirus presented serious challenges for students hoping to land an internship and the Career Services team is being proactive about preparing students for the new realities of this job market. The team has already conducted a record-breaking 260+ student appointments this semester.

More than 140 students practiced doing virtual interviews with local employers and alumni on Mock Interview Day in November.

We’re distributing the Summer 2021 Internship Resume Book to employers free of cost. And in the spring, we’re hosting an allvirtual Career Connect Day and Career Fair.

If you’re interested in supporting students to secure internships and entry-level jobs, please contact Dylan Houle, Director of Internships and Career Services, at dylan.houle@menlo.edu

1 2 0 2 r e m m u ok S o B e m u s e R

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I nternships at M enlo Perseverance and Hard Work are Key

By Dylan Houle, Director of Internships & Career Services As an international student from Japan majoring in business management with a concentration in international management, Stephanie Farouze ’21 plans to learn how to “communicate with business executives globally to create and facilitate high-impact opportunities.”

Her summer 2020 internship at ServiceNow, a fast-growing, publicly-traded company, gave her just the right experience.

“At ServiceNow – a new world of SaaS, cloud, and AI platform – I am interning as a Solution Consultant pitching to Fortune 500 companies;” in her internship, Farouze says she is leveraging her knowledge of “business, economics, foreign language, and other areas to interact with multiple countries and peoples and solve their problems.”

Professor Bruce Paton, who teaches courses in international management, recently reflected on the value of a degree in the subject: “There’s a growing number of business pressures that are across all kinds of international boundaries. … International management is really about trying to understand the changing requirements of the world.”

Farouze, a trilingual student with a global mindset, is aiming to do just that. “Perseverance and hard work are key,” she says about her goal to one day “lead the department for a major tech company’s international operation.”

One of Farouze’s instructors, Helene Kim, Adjunct Professor of Management and Menlo College trustee, noted, “During a challenging time for college students seeking internships, her story is inspirational to many of her Menlo peers.”

My Moment of Zen

“Yoga on the beach at Half Moon Bay.“ Zoe Bell ‘21

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Antwain Parker’s Pandemic Internship

By Margaret McFarland, Visiting Professor of Management To fulfill his internship requirement this past summer, Antwain Parker ’21 followed the advice of Director of Career Services Dylan Houle when he contacted Tommy Kim at Eastdil Secured. The company is one of the most sophisticated real estate investment banking companies in the country, which made it a plum target for an internship by a finance major with an interest in real estate.

Once again, an internship was facilitated by Menlo’s connections. Trustee Emeritus Chop Keenan ’66 brought Tommy Kim to Menlo. When he was a college student himself, Mr. Kim was mentored by Mr. Keenan, and Mr. Keenan saw the opportunity for Menlo and Eastdil to connect through Mr. Kim. After first serving as a guest lecturer, Mr. Kim continued his support of Menlo students by participating in Career Connect events and mentoring students about real estate career opportunities.

Reflecting their importance in the business world generally, personal connections and networking help build Menlo’s internship contacts and opportunities for students.

As the founding Director of The Real Estate Center @ Menlo College in 2018, I have been working with Dylan Houle over the years to expand real estate internship opportunities for students who wish to pursue a career in the industry. This one paid off. With Mr. Kim’s coaching, Antwain presented his candidacy in the most attractive light possible, and ultimately he landed an internship in Eastdil’s Los Angeles office. With the pandemic, of course, the location became irrelevant; all Eastdil’s interns around the country interacted virtually this past summer.

Antwain was frank when he said that interning on-line was “tough.” And that was just the beginning of virtual engagement: during his internship all of his connections with other interns, as well as direct supervisors and project managers was via Zoom.

Nonetheless, the work Antwain did with advanced Excel techniques to analyze real estate transactions was, according to Antwain, “amazing” and way beyond anything he had undertaken in his finance classes at Menlo. His recommendation to future real estate finance students? “Take Menlo’s real estate classes in their junior year!!!”

Despite the pandemic and extended time on Zoom, Antwain said he wouldn’t trade the intense workload and the steep learning curve for anything. “All worth it” said Antwain, even in the pandemic-burdened summer of 2020.

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Alumni Change Amidst Calamity:

How COVID-19 Changes the Legal Landscape for Diverse Attorneys

By Nuala Bishari

By the time Donovan Bonner graduated from Menlo College in 2014, he had already held intern and staff positions with the Golden State Warriors, the Oakland Athletics, and the San Francisco 49ers. Pure luck to get these plum jobs? Not exactly. The summer before his junior year, Bonner says, he “called every sports organization, every sports agency, college, and sport affiliation in the Bay Area” to inquire about internships.

A dedicated student, student ambassador, and President of the Black Student Union at the College, Bonner pours creative energy into everything he does. Currently an attorney at a large law firm in San Francisco, he shows his characteristic thoughtfulness in an interview with journalist Nuala Bishari as they discuss the unique challenges facing the legal profession during the pandemic. Our thanks to the Bar Association of San Francisco for permission to reprint this excerpt. . . . Bar exam delays and online classes are creating challenges for law students, but new lawyers also face challenges.

Employment lawyer Donovan Bonner recently switched law firms and states, moving from Barran Liebman in Oregon to Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass in California. It was a difficult move; Bonner enjoyed Barran Liebman, which hired him straight after he graduated from the University of Oregon’s School of Law in 2017. But his family is based in California, and he missed the state’s diversity.

“In my firm, I was the only African American,” he explains. “Any room that I walked in—if it was an attorneys’ get-together, or a happy hour, or a dinner —I could count on my two hands how many African-American attorneys were in the room. Usually, I’d be the only one.”

In normal times, the transition from one firm to another would be tricky enough, but the pandemic made it worse. Bonner gave notice and had to clean out his desk alone, in an empty office. There was no goodbye party. And then the country slid into an economic collapse.

“I was a little panicked,” Bonner says. “I was leaving a job during a pandemic when people were starting to get laid off. I was worried I was going to be the first person on the chopping block at my new job. I was like ‘should I retract my resignation?’ It brought me a lot of anxiety. I was like ‘am I going to have to put my loans on hold, am I going to have to put my life on hold if I move and then get laid off?’”

Luckily, Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass anticipated his concerns and confirmed that his job was secure. Now, Bonner is faced with the challenge of making an impression as the new guy in a company where he hasn’t met the vast majority of the staff.

“I went from a twenty-two-attorney firm to one with over a hundred employees,” he says. “It’s hard to make a name for yourself. My work speaks for itself, but they don’t get to see my personality, how I conduct myself around the office. There are a lot of factors I can check off the list, but I can’t do it over Zoom calls.”

[Many new lawyers believe that the pandemic will change the practice of law.] Bonner, too, thinks that the current climate of 2020 could have a positive impact on the future of law — but not necessarily in relation to the pandemic. As hundreds of thousands of people around the country march for civil rights in the wake of George Floyd’s death, he hopes that there will be a rise in people of color pursuing careers in law.

“Black families have been laid off during this pandemic,” he says, noting that it’s not an easy time to take on debt. But “on the flip side, with everything that’s happening in the world, there may be a rush of people of color applying to law school. That would be an exciting outcome.”

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Alumni

We Walk in the Footsteps of Two Remarkable Alumni (while admiring their socks!)

John Henry Felix graduated from Menlo College in 1949, with Ken Flower receiving his diploma a year later. Though these alumni have followed very different paths through their 70-year careers, they have both demonstrated a dynamic ability to tackle difficult situations with creativity, good humor, and an interest in the welfare of others.

John Henry Felix ’49 In 1994, two faculty members from Menlo College travelled to Harris Manchester College at Oxford University to teach and pursue their research. Scholars from the College have been invited to Oxford every year since then, thanks to a multi-college exchange program that John Henry Felix ’49 helped initiate and has supported for over twenty-five years. Thank you, John Henry Felix!

Felix is a Renaissance man. A hotel developer and Executive Vice President of the Outrigger Hotel chain, he was also the chief of staff for Hawaii’s first elected governor, William F. Quinn. He has chaired every major City and County of Honolulu board or commission but two, while also providing his organizational acumen to countless charities, receiving the Red Cross Medal of Honor in 1982 for his work with refugees.

In his long career, he has owned, and been the CEO and chairman of Hawaii-based, national, and international businesses—from mortuaries and memorial parks to travel agencies, tax and financial services and wedding businesses. He was the owner of twelve restaurants, including La Ronde atop the Ala Moana Building in Honolulu, and is currently the chairman and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, which has over 45,000 members.

As he approached his 90th birthday, John Henry Felix co-founded a medical institute at Harris Manchester College to encourage collaboration 45 WINTER 2021

between the University of Oxford and centers of medical excellence. With this institute, Felix proved not only his ongoing commitment to research collaboration, but also his commitment to his friends, including Lawrence Tseu. Felix met Tseu in 1939 when Felix, age 10, began contributing to the family finances as a shoeshine boy in downtown Honolulu. He recounts being the new kid on the block when “Larry (Tseu) was kind enough to take me in and show me the tools of the trade.”

Decades later, that long friendship blossomed into the Tseu-Felix Medical Institute.

John Henry Felix has also been a friend to Menlo College for many decades. As he said on the occasion of his birthday, “I hope to inspire others to embrace a life of service above self.”

See also: Berger, John. “John Henry Felix,” Honolulu Star Advertiser, 14 June 2020.

Ken Flower ’50 Ken Flower, an outstanding guard on the College basketball team, recalls reaching the conference championship tournament despite the fact that the team had trouble fielding ten players for practice. “Working on ‘real game situations’ was always a problem,” he recalled wryly for the book Through the Gates: EightyFive Years of Menlo College and its Times (Gullard 2014). “We weren’t expected to do much through the tournament, but we somehow managed to defeat our opponents. We were budgeted for a day or so and as we continued to win and advance, Coach Hughes had to have funds delivered to pay our motel and have cash for our team meals.”

Flower, who was inducted into the Menlo College Hall of Fame, attributes a good part of the team’s success to the deep friendships among the players. And he has continued to make friends throughout his long career.

Heading to the University of Southern California to complete his studies, he led the Trojans in scoring in 1953 and was a fourthround pick by the Minneapolis Lakers in the National Basketball Association draft of that year. After his playing days, he was a broadcast marketing and sales executive, including with the San Francisco 49ers, NFL Films, ABC and CBS. For many years, he served as president of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Currently a resident of Atherton, Flower stays in touch with Menlo College alumni and all the other people in his life. After all these years—and all his honors—he proudly found and wore his Menlo Hall of Fame jacket for a recent photo.

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In Memoriam Sidney Lowell Shirley ’54: 1933 – 2020

Veteran, fisherman, and lover of Dixieland Jazz, Sidney Shirley spent much of his adult life in Newcastle, CA to be close to family. He was very sociable and valued the friendships and strong bonds he developed with his coworkers. Sidney’s many survivors include his brother, three nieces and nephews, and seven greatnieces and great-nephews.

Myron ‘Mike’ Rothberg ‘56: 1938 – 2018

Known as Mike to his friends, Myron passed away peacefully in his home in Tarzana with Carolyn, his wife of 56 years, at his side. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, as well as loved by his extended family.

After graduating from Menlo College, he obtained his bachelor’s from UCLA and his J.D. from UCLA Law School. He had a large circle of friends that extended from his Pi Lam fraternity days to people throughout Los Angeles and the Valley.

Lance Bosschart ‘59: 1939 – 2020

Lance belonged to St. Matthew’s Church in San Mateo since his childhood. He married Jeanne at the church in 1963, and served on the Vestry. Lance was mechanically inclined, and Menlo and Stanford-trained, and when the church buildings suffered major earthquake damage in 1989, Lance was central to their restoration. He is deeply missed by his wife, the rest of his family, and his friends.

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Jerome (Jerry) Garris ’60: 1939 - 2020

College dean, professor, sports car enthusiast, traveler, husband, father, and grandfather Jerome “Jerry” Garris was a San Francisco native. While a Menlo College student, he met his future wife Penny Tonkin when she was still a student at nearby Palo Alto High School. After obtaining his AA degree from Menlo, he finished his undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University. While still an undergraduate, he worked at British Motors, where he pursued his love of sports cars and was involved in the development of the Huffaker Genie racing car. He came by his enthusiasm for sports car racing and exotic cars naturally: his father imported a Bugatti and an Aston-Martin from England, and Jerry accompanied him to races when he was still a child.

Jerry and Penny married in 1962, and they moved to Stockholm, Sweden the following year so Jerry could pursue a master’s degree from Stockholms Universitet. He then completed his PhD in political science at UCLA. Jerry’s subsequent academic career included faculty roles at Pomona College, Occidental College, and Claremont Men’s College (later Claremont McKenna College), before he was appointed as the dean of students and later vice president for student affairs at Claremont.

In 1984 he left Claremont to become dean of the faculty and later provost at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. After 14 years at RandolphMacon, Jerry returned to Claremont to become director of foundations and corporate relations, and later vice president for academic affairs. Most recently, Jerry served as the Board Chair of the Claremont Senior Living Facility known as Pilgrim Place, and as a member of the American Research Center in Egypt.

Jerry and his wife traveled extensively, visiting every continent over the course of their marriage except Antarctica, and trekking to the tops of Mount Whitney at the age of 64, and Mount Baldy at the age of 78. His interest in Sweden endured throughout his life as well; he was researching a book on the Scandinavian nation at the time of his death.

Mark Ropers ‘60: 1938 – 2020

Mark, an attorney, a sailor, and a watercolorist known for his dry humor and gentle demeanor, died at home in Inverness on April 19.

Mark grew up in Menlo Park and never lived far from the ocean. He frequented Tomales Bay on his wooden sailboat after settling in the area 30 years ago. When he retired from his private law practice, he dedicated his life to developing his talent with watercolors.

At age 18, Mark joined the Marine Corps, and after three years, attended Menlo and then Stanford, where he graduated with a political science degree.

Duvall Hecht, Mark’s rowing coach at Menlo, said that after nearly three decades of coaching, one race stands out in his memory. A team of freshmen with Mark in the eighth seat, which sets the pace, ended up competing in a varsity race at a regatta in Philadelphia by a twist of logistic error and bravado—and they nearly won.

“In the last 200 meters, there’s a mutual pact, and the challenging crew—the one that hasn’t been able to get by— becomes content with what it has and no longer challenges,” Duvall said. “But Mark never, never gave up: my heart went out for him. He was an inspiration.

His character shone through in that event and I’ve never forgotten it.”

Mark’s final years were difficult. He had previously survived throat cancer but was re-diagnosed shortly before his wife Claudia passed away. Unable to speak, he took up reading with a passion, even though Claudia had always been the reader in their earlier years.

The perfect day for Mark, his friend Mark Darley said, was to get up early and pack a lunch, sail down the bay in the morning breeze, find a beach with no one on it, take a nap and maybe a swim, and sail home.

Joseph (Joe) Legallet ’63: 1940 – 2020

Joe Legallet died of complications from COVID-19. He is survived by his wife Annette, his children and stepchildren, 19 grandchildren, and extended family.

Joe lived his whole life on the Peninsula.

While a Menlo student, he worked parttime for the Legallet Tanning & Wool Company. He continued working for the family company after he obtained his Menlo degree, eventually becoming one of four managing partners along with his brother and cousins. After the company closed in 1979, Joe turned to commercial real estate management.

His adventurous spirit and desire to fly led him to obtain his pilot’s license in 1974. He also climbed and explored mountains in Alaska, California, Colorado, Europe, Nepal, and Ellesmere Island near the North Pole. Joe was a marathon runner and skier for over 50 years, as well as a long-time golfer.

Troy Weidenheimer ‘65: 1941 – 2019

The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild remembers Troy as a “kind, intelligent, and talented man” who was also a “modern Renaissance man who

studied science, was a speech writer, and played and taught music professionally, even becoming friends with the famed Jerry Garcia.”

In memory of his friend, Julian Love ‘61 wrote, “Troy was my best friend in college at Menlo. I have such great memories of playing together in the band we both started, The Zodiacs. We kept in touch now and then over the years. He will be missed by many.”

Howard Lyle Hartvickson ’72: 1945 – 2020

Howard lived most of his life in Turlock and left to join the Navy, where he completed two tours of duty aboard the USS Kearsarge during the Vietnam War. He then attended Menlo where he was voted student body president and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in 1972 – the same year in which he met his wife Vangie. On their first date, they went on a rafting trip on the Stanislaus River.

Howard and Vangie married in 1974, and were together for 36 years before she passed away in 2011. Howard was a long-time, successful business owner in Turlock, but he protected time to pursue his life’s passions: his family and friends, fishing, hunting, and cooking amazing food.

Gary Ivan Aknin ’80: 1958 – 2020

A New York native, Gary began his journey westward when he decided to attend the Fenster Boarding School in Arizona for high school, and Menlo for his college education. Gary also met his wife Laurie Ann Merta ’81 while they were both Menlo students.

His subsequent career included roles in the insurance industry, aeronautics, and through roles at Oracle and Hyperion, the world high tech here in Silicon Valley. He

retired from his self-described favorite role as the Director of Customer Support for Edge Dynamics, a start-up company.

Outside of work, Gary volunteered for the Mt. Pleasant School District; learned to paint; volunteered in the classroom where his son Ben taught 5th grade, and became a passionate cook heralded for his guacamole, filet mignon, and paella, as well as the Thanksgiving dinner he prepared for Ben’s 5th grade students every year. Gary loved to travel, frequently going to New York City and Paris where he had relatives. In 2003, Gary was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for which he underwent multiple treatments before it led to his death this past July.

Eveleen Katherine Lopez: 1935 – 2020

Señor Carlos Lopez was a longstanding member of the Menlo College community from 1962 to 2009. Among his many leadership roles, Señor Lopez served as president of the College from 2004 to 2006.

Throughout his tenure, his wife Eveleen was a second mother to many of Menlo’s international students. She was also a caring teacher at St. Raymond Catholic Elementary School. A San Francisco native, she spent what she described as an idyllic childhood in Menlo Park.

Eveleen was a student at the College of Notre Dame when she first met Señor Lopez.

Eveleen enjoyed playing bridge, getting a good bargain, her students at St. Raymond, traveling with her family and friends, and a good bourbon on the rocks (“light on the rocks please”). She was the mother of Menlo College trustee and alumnus Larry Lopez ’84.

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Bragging Rights Three New “Best College�

Rankings to Start the Academic Year

By Jessica Berger, Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Experience Coinciding with the opening of the 2020-21 academic year, the Menlo College community continues to receive recognition for its outstanding environment focused on student success. For ten straight years, Menlo College has been named as one of the best colleges in the West by The Princeton Review ; over the same ten year period, Menlo College has ranked as an athletic NAIA Five-Star Champions of Character Institution, this year at the Gold level; and, for the first time, Money Magazine ranked Menlo College as the 11th-best place in the United States to obtain a business degree.

The entire Menlo College community, past and present, can be proud of these rankings. That we have received over a decade of recognition by The Princeton Review and the NAIA, and the newest ranking by Money Magazine, is a testament to the outstanding effort by our students and those who support them. The rankings recognize academic excellence, athletic achievement, and alumni success.

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Menlo Recognized for Innovative Program in Human Resource Management

By Kathi Lovelace, Ph.D., Professor of Human Resource Management and Jaagriti Sharma, Marketing Manager Great News for Menlo College!

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has formally recognized Menlo’s Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management (HRM) as academically aligned with SHRM curriculum guidelines. This is a prestigious accomplishment for our College and affirms that the HRM program adheres to the highest level of educational standards in bridging theory with practice. This is a status shared by only 375 educational institutions worldwide.

SHRM is considered the foremost expert, convener, and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces, and serves over 300,000 members across 165 countries. The Society is supported by AACSB International for bringing a level of commonality to AACSB accredited HRM degree programs.

Academic alignment with SHRM greatly benefits students and increases Menlo’s visibility in the HR community.

For example, current students and recent alumni of the HRM degree program qualify for special eligibility provisions for the SHRM-CP certification exam and receive exam fee discounts. In addition, the HR Club is now an official SHRM Student Chapter, which further expands networking opportunities with the world’s largest association of HR professionals.

With employers reimagining work environments and remote work models, while searching for new ways to keep workers motivated and connected, the pandemic has elevated the importance of HRM, and Menlo students are at the forefront of this profession. Experiential learning is the cornerstone of the HRM program and students can expect hands-on projects that are relevant to the workplace. Courses include HRM; Employment Law; HR Strategy; Staffing, Testing, and Training, and Compensation and Benefits. New course ideas include People Analytics and Workplace Wellness. This curriculum prepares Menlo students for HR-related internships and fulltime employment upon graduation.

If you are interested in more information and/or becoming involved with the HRM program, please contact Kathi Lovelace, Ph.D., Professor of Human Resource Management at kathi.lovelace@menlo.edu. We would love to hear from alumni! Students interested in the HR Club can contact Ian Martins at Ian.Martins@menlo.edu or Professor Lovelace (HR Club Advisor).

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ATHLETICS

Best Ever Season ­ The Covid-19 pandemic enforced a timeout for Menlo Athletics mid-way through the 2019-20 season. That pause, painfully, stretched on for ten months. At any time, the absence of organized sports on our campus would be a bitter disappointment. It is doubly so, though, when the absence follows the best-ever season for Menlo Athletics. In 2018-19 (the most recently completed season), we secured two national championship titles, nine individual national championships, and 21 All-Conference winners (among a slew of other accolades). We were also on a path to best the 2018-19 season this past year: By the time we had to call a halt to play, we had already secured four conference championships and 24 of our student-athletes had been named All-Americans.

The interruption of competition didn’t stop recognition of the Mighty Oaks. In the final months of the 2019-20 season, Menlo was once again awarded a gold medal Champions of Character award from the NAIA. On the heels of that news, 15 of Menlo’s teams ranked among the NAIA’s highest academic achievers in the 2019-20 academic year. Over a ten-year period, Menlo College has ranked as an athletic NAIA Five-Star Champions of Character Institution.

Yet other achievements were recognized in the last few months, as follows.

Men’s Basketball Honors

Five of our men’s players were named by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to this year’s Honors Court, and the entire team was recognized as an Academic Team of Excellence. The five individual honorees were John Paine ’20, Jeremiah Testa ’20, Jared Wall ’20, Brian Wilkerson ’21, and Colton Wirth ’20.

Golf Program Honors

The Golf Coaches Association of American named Christian Ingul ’21 an Early Wave Srixon/Cleveland Golf Scholar All-American.

The honor recognizes the combination of extreme academic and athletic ability, and was extended to only 18 student-athletes across all NAIA schools. Our women’s team was also in the spotlight. Catherine Batang ’23, Heli Cha ’22, and Dasa Urbankova ’22 were named Academic All-Americans by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.

Recognition for Menlo Rowers

Alex Armira ’22, Danika Griggs ’21, and Aaron Ventura ’21 became the first Oaks to be named to the American Collegiate Rowing Association’s All-Academic Team.

Softball Academic All-American Honors

Athlete-of-the-Year recipient Lauren Harrison ’20 brought yet more honor to Menlo with her qualification for CoSIDA’s Academic All-American Team, which honors the top combined academic and athletic performers in the country.

Women’s Volleyball Team Recognition

The American Volleyball Coaches Association awarded our women’s team the 2020 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award.

Women’s Wrestling All Americans

The National Wrestling Coaches Association named eleven Menlo Women’s Wrestlers as All-Americans. The honorees were Sara Aguilar ’21, Precious Bell ’20, Tianna Fernandez ’23, Gracie Figueroa ’22, Marilyn Garcia ’20, Tiana Jackson ’21, Alleida Martinez ’22, Angela Peralta ’21, Solin Piearcy ’20, Alana Vivas ’23, and Lizette Young ’21.

News of an alumnus: In June 2019, Chris Mazza made Menlo history when he became the first player drafted from the Oaks to play in the majors as a pitcher for the New York Mets. More recently, Chris made his debut at Yankee Stadium as a member of the Boston Red Sox pitching team, and he finished play that day with an impressive line: 2.2 innings pitched, no runs, one hit, two walks, and three strikeouts!

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S ta y ing F it W hile S heltering Gyms may be closed, we may be social distancing (and in some cases self-quarantining), but Menlo Oaks are nonetheless finding ways to stay active and healthy during the pandemic. We set new performance records in each of the last two years, and look forward to picking up where we left off. Our athletes will be ready—they are training in their garages, on the beaches near their homes, in their living rooms, on patios, and in parking lots. Self-discipline is the unsung award. With these photos, we applaud you.

Clockwise from upper left: Franchesca Garcia ’23, Logan Pine ’21 with Noble Boutin ’20, Kori-Ann Koverman ’22, Amrit Singh ’22, Cassandra Orozco ’24, Shane Fernando ’24, Jaden Scott ’21, Marilyn Munoz ’22, Miguel Lim ’23, and Skyy Botelho ‘24.

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H aving F u n W hile S heltering We asked students to send us photos of the inventive ways they enjoyed themselves in the last few months and received an overwhelming response. Some of these pictures have been included in this issue as “A Moment of Zen,” and here are a few more, with our heartfelt thanks to all who showed us that Menlo College students can find ways to restore their wellbeing no matter where they are.

Clockwise from upper left: Priscila Neves ’21, Angela Peralta ’21 with Taryn Ichimura ’21 and Alana Vivas ’23, Dezarae Reyna ’23, Bernardo Cisneros ’21, Susana Garcia ’23, and Ian Martins ’21.

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Gratitude to Menlo

By Jiaqi ‘Kiki’ Wu ’23

Even though it has only been a few months since my arrival at Menlo College from Guangzhou, China, I have grown in many ways and new doors have opened for me. I feel so lucky to have been introduced to five great ESL professors through the Intensive English Program! Not only do they help me improve my academic skills, but they also help me solve the problems of my daily life, such as how to overcome homesickness. Another opportunity that I have taken advantage of is Menlo’s Writing and Oral Communication Center (WOCC), where you can work with either peer tutors or professors. Sometimes, I go there just to chat with my professors (in addition to getting new ideas for my papers). They have advice on adapting to American lifestyles and study habits.

In addition to the academic opportunities, I appreciate the Menlo community. Because of the diversity here, I am able to meet different people who are really kind and interesting. I have made new friends who treat me like family, comforting me when I feel stressed or upset.

Last but not least, I am grateful for my job opportunity at Menlo. I work in Admissions as an Oak Ambassador. This experience has given me the chance to enhance my skills and broaden my horizons. Not only do I earn money at my job, but I am also gaining more experience in photography and videography–two hobbies I am really passionate about.

In short, I am thankful for the education, the community, and the professional opportunities Menlo College has given me. As an international student, it is hard, at times, not to feel afraid of what the future may bring: the prospect that a sudden change in international goodwill could mean the loss of family and friends. But at Menlo, it is very seldom that I feel alone or abandoned in this new, big foreign country; I have found my Menlo “home away from home.” I have gained so much in such a short time here. I am quite sure that I won’t ever regret going to Menlo College for my bachelors’ degree. I love my Menlo life!

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Non Profit Org US Postage PAID Denver, CO Permit No 5377 1000 El Camino Real Atherton, CA, 94027-4301 www.menlo.edu

A dancer from San Jose’s New Ballet Company was part of this summer’s Silicon Valley Sculpture 2020 event that was hosted on the Menlo College campus; she is shown here with “Yellow Barrel Ring” by Gordon Huether.

Photo Miguel Lim ‘23