Mills Quarterly winter 2004

Mills Quarterly Winter 2004 Alumnae Magazine

El Campanil Gets a New Garden and Celebrates 100 Years Julia Morgan at Mills The Girls Are Coming Home Reunion and Convocation 2003 Recollections of Life at Mills 1929–1933

The clockworks of El Campanil are being repaired and will return to campus on time for the centennial anniversary of the starting of the clock by Susan Mills. President Janet Holmgren will set the clock in motion once again on March 12 at noon. Photo by Bruce Cook.

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12 MICHAEL ROSSNEY

ARIEL EATON THOMAS, ’63

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COURTESY MORGAN–FORNEY COLLECTION

Mills Quarterly

CONTENTS WINTER 2004 10

Reunion and Convocation 2003 Nearly 300 alumnae returned to campus for Reunion 2003. A busy schedule included Convocation, the official opening of the academic year.

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The Girls Are Coming Home Susan Ito, MFA ’94 In September 2004, the Julia Morgan School for Girls will welcome 150 middle-school students to their new home on the Mills campus. They will move into a renovated Alderwood Hall, originally designed by the woman for whom the school is named.

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Julia Morgan at Mills Susan Ito, MFA ’94 When Susan Mills hired Julia Morgan to design a clock tower for the Mills campus in 1904, the young architect was largely unknown. After El Campanil withstood the devastating earthquake of 1906, Morgan’s career took off.

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Recollections of Life at Mills: 1929–1933 Esther Rosenblatt Landa, ’33, MA ’37 Esther Rosenblatt Landa entered Mills in September of 1929. One month later, the stock market crashed. The eminent alumna, who just celebrated her 70th Reunion, remembers her undergraduate years at Mills.

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Elect Your Alumna Trustee

D E PA R T M E N T S 2

Letters

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Calendar

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Inside Mills

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Mills Matters A Tribute to German at Mills, by Mary Akatiff Cudahy, ’93 Maggi Payne Wins Sarlo Faculty Award for Great Teaching, by Adam Blum

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Alumnae Action

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Profiles

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Passages

ABOUT THE COVER: El Campanil was recently graced with a new garden and fountain, the gift of Evelyn White Thomson Affleck, ’37.

The handsome Mills landmark was designed by Julia Morgan, who also designed five other buildings on campus. Cover photo by Bruce Cook.

Mills Quarterly Volume XCII Number 3 (USPS 349-900) Winter 2004 Alumnae Director Anne Gillespie Brown, ’68 Editor David M. Brin, MA ’75 <dbrin@mills.edu> (510) 430-3312 Design and Art Direction Benjamin Piekut, MA ’01 Editorial Assistance Katrina Wardell, ’07 Quarterly Advisory Board Robyn Fisher, ’90, Marian Hirsch, ’75 Jane Cudlip King, ’42, Jane Redmond Mueller, ’68 Cathy Chew Smith, ’84, Ramona Lisa Smith, ’01, MBA, ’02 Sharon K. Tatai, ’80, Heidi Wachter, ’01 Lynette Williams Williamson, ’72, MA ’74 Class Notes Writers Barb Barry, ’94, Laura Compton, ’93 Barbara Bennion Friedlich, ’49, Sally Mayock Hartley, ’48 Heather Hanley, ’00, Marian Hirsch, ’75 Cathy Chew Smith, ’84 Special Thanks to Jane Cudlip King, ’42 David M. Hedden Board of Governors President Karen May, ’86 Vice Presidents Judy Greenwood Jones, ’60 Jane Cudlip King, ’42 Treasurer Bevo Zellick, ’49, MA ’50

On this Issue Julia Morgan’s name runs throughout this issue. The famous Bay Area architect broke many barriers that blocked the ambitions of women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1894 she graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in engineering, and in 1902 she received a diploma in architecture from the prestigious (and tradition-bound) Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. She inspired generations of women and girls, and when the Julia Morgan School for Girls looked for a suitable role model and namesake for their school, Julia Morgan was the logical choice. By a happy set of coincidences, the school is moving to the Mills campus and will be housed in a building designed by Julia Morgan. You can read about the school and their move in Susan Ito’s article beginning on page 12.

On March 12 we will celebrate the centennial of El Campanil, Julia Morgan’s first building on campus. The landmark clock tower was recently given new landscaping; details appear in the Inside Mills section on page 5. In addition to El Campanil and Alderwood, soon to become the Julia Morgan School for Girls, Morgan designed two of the most beautiful interior spaces on campus: the Student Union and the Bender Room in the Margaret Carnegie Library. These buildings stand as quiet monuments to what women can achieve, another reminder to Mills women that barriers are meant to be broken.

Alumnae Trustees Leone La Duke Evans, MA ‘45 Sara Ellen McClure, ’81 Sharon K. Tatai, ’80 Governors Lynne Bantle, ’74, Micheline Beam, ‘72 Anita Bowers, ’63, Harriet Fong Chan, ‘98 Lynn Eve Fortin, ’87, Amy Franklin-Willis, ‘94 Mary Liu, ‘71, Leah Mac Neil, MA ’51 Rachael E. Meny, ‘92, Nangee Warner Morrison, ‘63 Ruth Saxton, MA ‘72, Ramona Lisa Smith, ‘01, MBA ‘02 Diana Odermatt, ’60, Sarah Washington-Robinson, ’72 Lynette Williams Williamson, ’72, MA ’74 Thomasina Woida, ’80 Sheryl Wooldridge, ‘77 Student Representatives: Cynthia Guevara, ‘04 Kathleen Stavis, ‘06 Regional Governors Joyce Menter Wallace, ’50, Eastern Great Lakes Joan Alper, ’62, Middle Atlantic Albertina Padilla, ’78, Middle California Adrienne Bronstein Becker, ’86, Middle California Judith Smrha, ’87, Midwest Linda Cohen Turner, ’68, North Central Brandy Tuzon Boyd, ’91, Northern California Gayle Rothrock, ’68, Northwest Louise Hurlbut, ’75, Rocky Mountains Colleen Almeida Smith, ’92, South Central Julia Almazan, ’92, Southern California Dr. Candace Brand Kaspers, ’70, Southeast Elaine Chew, ’68, Southwest The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly in April, July, October, and January by the Alumnae Association of Mills College, Reinhardt Alumnae House, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94613.

Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, CA and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send address changes to the Mills Quarterly, Alumnae Association of Mills College, P.O. Box 9998, Oakland, CA 94613-0998.

Statement of Purpose The purpose of the Mills Quarterly is to report the activities of the Alumnae Association and its branches; to reflect the quality, dignity, and academic achievement of the College family; to communicate the exuberance and vitality of student life; and to demonstrate the worldwide-ranging interests, occupations, and achievements of alumnae.

Letter to the Editor I was pleased to receive a copy of the Quarterly here in my home in Lahore, Pakistan. I was delighted to see the picture of a new student on the cover who is from Pakistan! Closer reading revealed her to be Fiza Fatima Asar of the class of 2007. What a lucky young woman to have the Mills experience ahead of her!

My words of guidance to her would be to explore and venture into areas of personal growth to the full, for Mills is a unique place to do so.

I would like to congratulate the Quarterly on the Book Shelf section, which is of particular interest as it reviews books published by alums. I enjoyed the diversity of the subjects—I don’t know of

many institutions that would nurture authors on subjects as diverse as dealing with death, pampering yourself, water issues, and women pioneers in California history. I would like to add my own first publication to your reviews, Green Pioneers (published by UNDP Pakistan, March 2002) that tells the stories of extraordinary men and women who have pioneered environmental change in Pakistan.

Finally, as an alum, I enjoy seeing photos of the changing physical landscape at Mills. Images of the new use of the children’s school, and others like it, are relished by those of us who are far from California.

Mehjabeen (Mamie) Abidi Habib, ’85

ONGOING THROUGH MARCH 7 Works by Jennifer Bartlett and Elizabeth Murray, from the Anderson Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Art Museum. (510) 430-2164 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 5:00 PM, DINNER, 7:00 PM PROGRAM Lunar New Year Celebration, presenting Danny Dancers, with Danny Nguyen, MFA ’99 Sponsored by the

National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC). Lucie Stern 101 For more information, send an email to <Skcots@yahoo.com>.

SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 9:00 AM–NOON AND 1:00 PM–5:00 PM Why Women Need to Invest. See February 28 listing.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 5:30 PM Contemporary Writers Series: Dan Bellm.

Faculty Lounge (510) 430-2236

TUESDAY, MARCH 2 5:30 PM Contemporary Writers Series: April Sinclair.

Faculty Lounge (510) 430-2236

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 8:00 PM, SUNDAY, APRIL 4 5:00 PM, THURSDAY, APRIL 8– SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 8:00 PM Mills College Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa.

Lisser Hall Main Stage.

(510) 430-3308

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 11 AM–12:00 NOON Spring Colloquium with dancer Lori Bellilove and dance historian Julia Levien.

Lisser Hall

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 8:00 PM, SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 5:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 4:30 PM High Tea with Lori

C A L E N D A R Dancer and musician

Diversity Committee of the AAMC. Founders Commons (510) 430-2111

Meredith Monk will perform on Saturday, February 14 at 8:00

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 5:30 PM Contemporary Writers Series: Pam Houston.

Faculty Lounge (510) 430-2236 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 8:00 PM Concert Series: Percussion Music by Lou Harrison. Concert Hall.

(510) 430-2296 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 9:00 AM–NOON AND 1:00–4:00 PM Why Women Need to Invest. Sponsored by the Alumnae Student Relations Committee of the AAMC and the

p.m. at the Concert Hall. For information, call (510) 430-2296.

BUNKO

Mills College Theatre: Shakespeare’s Henry V. Lisser Hall Studio Theatre (510) 430-3308 TUESDAY, MARCH 9 8:00 PM Concert Series: Pianist Horacio Gutierrez.

Concert Hall.

(510) 430-2296

THURSDAY, APRIL 8– SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 8:00 PM Mills College Repertory Dance Concert.

Haas Pavilion.

(510) 430-2175

Belilove & Company.

Student Union.

(510) 430-2110 FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 8:00 PM Lori Belilove & Company in performance.

Lisser Hall (510) 430-2175 SATURDAY, MAY 1 8:00 PM Concert Series: Alvin Curran May Day Concert.

Concert Hall.

(510) 430-2296 You can find fine arts events on the Mills College website by going to <www.mills. edu> and choosing “Fine Arts Events Calendar” under “General Information.”

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inside mills MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT The Mills Sesquicentennial Campaign countdown continues. As of October 2003, total receipts had reached $84 million, leaving just $16 million to reach our $100 million goal. Since then, new pledges have been received for the public policy program, the Mills Art Museum, scholarships, and other purposes. By the time you read this, we may already have less than $15 million to go!

I am pleased to report that Mills has again bucked a national trend. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a nationally recognized publication, recently reported that charitable giving in 2002 in the United States had decreased for the first time in more than a decade. In contrast, Mills’ total receipts last year were higher than the previous year. What accounts for this? Bequests received from the estates of two Mills alumnae, Suzanne Adams, ’48, and Ruth Gillard, ’36, more than made up for a modest decrease in current gifts. In addition, Mills enjoys a very strong record of foundation support for academic programs. Thank you to everyone who makes Mills a success.

JENNIFER SAUER

At the October meeting of the Board of Trustees, the chair of the board, Vivian Stephenson, announced her appointment as chief operating officer of WilliamsSonoma Inc. She is the former executive vice president and chief information officer for Target Corporation. I know you will join me in congratulating Vivian. We are proud to have a woman of such accomplishment as chair of the Mills board.

The calendar for spring semester 2004 is packed with exciting events. Here is just a sampling to give you a taste of the intellectual, cultural, and historic offerings available to our community. In January, the social science division will begin moving into their new quarters in the Vera Long Social Science Center. Watch for the announcement of an open house and dedication, to be held around mid-semester.

On February 23, there will be a wonderful performance in the Concert Hall, celebrating the work of the late composer Lou Harrison. Mills is lucky enough to have received a remarkable collection of percussion instruments, some of which were made by Harrison and his partner, Bill Colvig. Some of these instruments will be featured in the concert. On March 12, at noon, we will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the starting of the clock in El Campanil by Susan Mills. In April, alumna Lori Belilove, ’76, and her dance company will perform at Mills in a tribute to dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. Also in April, the Mills College Theater production of Dancing at Lughnasa may be seen in Lisser Hall, and no fewer than eight different musical performances will enliven the Concert Hall. The annual Native American Powwow is scheduled for April 17. The exhibition of work by alumnae Jennifer Bartlett, ’63, and Elizabeth Murray, MFA ’64, continues until early March at the Mills Art Museum, where the schedule for April and May includes the exhibitions of work by graduating seniors and MFA students. Please come to campus for as many events as you can.

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S E S Q U I C E N T E N N I A L C A M PA I G N N E W S

EVELYN AFFLECK, ’37, GIVES MILLS A GARDEN

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Antonio, Texas, to attend the dedication and see the garden for the first time. Mrs. Affleck liked the idea of enhancing a historic structure. “My own mother was a wonderful gardener,” she says. “I grew up around beautiful gardens and have always appreciated them.” She dedicated the garden

to Victoria French Allen because “she and I hit it off beautifully. She took a special interest in me, and I was crazy about her.”

To learn more about how to help enhance the Mills campus, please contact Adam Blum, director of major gifts, at (510) 430-2364 or <adam@mills.edu>.

The new fountain, with El Campanil in the background.

President Janet Holmgren and Evelyn White Thomson Affleck, ’37, in the new garden.

BRUCE COOK

BRUCE COOK

repare to be surprised the next time you visit El Campanil. Instead of a sea of ivy, you will find a beautiful new garden, complete with a marble Victorian fountain surrounded by benches, paths, rose bushes, jacaranda trees, and hundreds of perennial flowers. The garden at El Campanil is the gift of Evelyn White Thomson Affleck, ’37, and is made in memory of her Orchard Meadow hall mother, Victoria French Allen.

The garden draws visitors to the base of El Campanil and accentuates this historic structure, which was designed by architect Julia Morgan.

While restoring the site, the Mills grounds crew discovered old garden paths underneath dense ivy and incorporated the paths into the design.

The garden, dedicated on September 18, 2003, has already become a popular location for socializing and studying. Most mornings, toddlers from the Children’s School can be found playing on the garden lawn or eyeing the fountain.

Mrs. Affleck and her children flew to campus from their home in San

OENOPHILE: MILLS AND THE ART OF WINE

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Right: Lou and Susan Preston, MA ’96, share wines from their vineyard with Oenophile guests.

ANNA HENDERSON

n October 26, 2003, Trustee Barbara Ahmajan Wolfe, ’65, hosted the second annual Oenophile wine tasting event at her Sonoma County wine-country home. More than 100 Mills alumnae and friends gathered to taste wines from five wineries affiliated with Mills: Galante Vineyards, Mayo Family Winery, Preston Vineyards, Trefethen Vineyards, and Tres Sabores. Guests enjoyed wines, hors d’oeuvres, and conversation with President Janet Holmgren, Provost Mary Ann Milford, Museum Director Stephan Jost, and members of the art department faculty, despite the mid-fall heat wave that brought temperatures to 96 degrees.

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inside mills

Scholarship Students Say Thanks

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“I would like to thank you for my scholarship. . . . I am a Trustee Merit Scholar.

I am currently beginning my second year here and am very excited about it. . . . Being able to be a part of the Mills community is very important to me.

Without this scholarship, I would probably be a number at my local state school. This letter cannot adequately describe my gratitude. Thank you very much!”

Trustee Scholar, Class of 2006 “I am writing to thank you and the Class of 1948 for your generous gift of assisting my education at Mills. Last year was my last at Mills, and I was able

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to complete it thanks to you. . . .

My year was an eventful one: after my return from studying in Scotland, I took several difficult classes in my major, computer science. I took the most difficult and rewarding class I have ever taken at Mills last spring from [Professor] Ellen Spertus, entitled Software Engineering. I was able to write code for an entire Tetris game, as well as part of a basic interpreter. . . . I also finished my minor in studio art. I was given a ceramics award at the end of the year. This made me especially proud. . . . After a wonderful few film classes at Mills, I am very interested in this field. Film would allow me to use my computer skills and combine them with my artistic interests. This is my next big goal.”

Class of 1948 Scholarship recipient, Class of 2003 “I entered Mills as a sophomore after retiring from my job as a ballet dancer. The warmth that greeted me that year, and the feeling of continued encouragement from professors and fellow students, have made Mills a wonderful and unique environment in which to study and grow. This fall, I’m excited to be entering my senior year,

SALLY RANDEL

inety-four percent of Mills students receive financial aid, including merit scholarships as well as needbased aid. Eighty-three percent receive some or all of their aid directly from Mills. Total aid awarded to students in 2003–04 is $14.6 million, of which Mills funds $6.3 million. Over the years, many alumnae, friends, and family members have established named scholarships at Mills, and each year, the Alumnae Association of Mills College designates one-half of its annual gift for financial aid.

Whether a scholarship is awarded in recognition of academic achievement (Trustee Scholarships are a good example) or to make a Mills experience affordable, students are eloquent in articulating the positive effect scholarships have upon their lives. Each year, some students write to “their” donors.

We think you will be inspired by their words.

and will graduate with a major in biochemistry. I feel that the challenging courses offered in the biology and chemistry departments, and my invaluable experiences with the undergraduate summer research program, have prepared me well for graduate study in the medical field.

Thank you so much for your generous gift, which has made my dream of a Mills education possible.”

Bernard and Barbro Osher Resumer Scholarship recipient, Class of 2004 “My time at Mills has been unforgettable, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend Mills College. I remember how exciting it was to find out I was going to school in Oakland, California, a long way from my home in Durham, North Carolina. I have enjoyed discovering the Oakland area more and more every year and have grown to love it. . . . My mother

PHILIP CHANNING

PHILIP CHANNING

attended Mills College. She passed away my first year at Mills. I felt lucky to be at the college that she had attended, as well as to live in the area where she was born and raised. . . . This last spring semester, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a study-abroad program in West Africa. I spent four months in the city of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. From the moment I set foot in Senegal, the abundance of music and art amazed me. . . . I will always remember Mills for the inspiring professors I have met, as

well as the intelligent and talented friends I have made.

I am excited to leave Mills carrying all the knowledge and confidence that the College has instilled in me. Thank you for making my attendance at Mills possible. . . . Mills has become a part of who I am as well as the choices I will make in my life, and I am grateful for that.â&#x20AC;?

Harry and Eva Ladnier Scholarship recipient, Class of 2004

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MILLS MATTERS A Tribute to German at Mills

by Mary Akatiff Cudahy, ’93

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the beauty of the program lay in its outstanding faculty, who lavished individual attention on their majors. In the words of Patricia McDonnell, ’78, the German department’s greatest strength was “the nimble minds and golden hearts of the faculty.”

Faculty are at the center of small colleges like Mills.

One cannot bid farewell to the German major at Mills without remembering those who made it happen.

In the early 1920s, the German program at Mills was flourishing with Dr. Theodore Brohm at the helm. A memorandum from the College archives reveals that 35 students were enrolled.

Offerings included advanced literature courses and Middle High German. The German department sponsored a yearly program of chamber music and song, presented by both students of German and members of the music department. Appropriately dubbed “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” it featured the music of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms.

The 1930s and ’40s were exciting times for German on the Mills campus. Exiled German Jewish scholars sought refuge from their native land, finding safety and inspiration at Mills, and enriching generations of students. In 1936, Dr. Bernhard Blume, a published playwright and literary critic from Stuttgart, Germany, arrived on campus with his wife and two sons. In a 1936 Mills College Weekly article, Edith Jane Robbins inter-

viewed the then-brand-new faculty member at Faculty Village, where he showed her pictures of “the elaborate stage settings required to produce [his work] in Berlin,” and told her that he was enjoying teaching at Mills, especially for its being a “nice source for observation material.” Blume would become a strong figure on campus, giving several lectures in the late 1930s on the

TED STRESHINSKY, COURTESY OF THE MILLS COLLEGE ARCHIVES, F.W. OLIN LIBRARY

Last spring, the College made the difficult decision to eliminate the German studies major at Mills. This fall marked the first year in the history of the College that German language was not on the schedule of classes. Although there had not been more than four German studies majors since 1997, German has been an important part of Mills over the years. The program is fondly remembered by many alumnae as a high point in their College careers.

The need to justify the expense of language offerings has arisen time and again in the College’s history. German has now gone the way of Latin and Greek, once an integral part of the Mills experience, now just a memory. In a flurry of memoranda to President Reinhardt in the 1940s, faculty debated the language requirement then in effect for all undergraduates. Professor Margaret Prall argued that “now, more than ever before, all corners of the world seem to be in communication so that there is practical value in knowing more than one language.” In the academic year 1980–81, President Mary Metz held a dinner with industry leaders called “Focus on Foreign Languages and Careers” to inspire students to see the practical applications of language learning.

Over the decades, the German program has produced more Fulbright scholars than any other major on campus. An exhaustive survey of alumnae who graduated in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s reveals that

Hunter Hannum, a popular professor of German in the ’60s.

rise of fascism in Europe, bemoaning a Germany that “lack[ed] the freedom of individuality” that it once had.

Although he said he earned his doctoral degree only as a way to ensure himself a career outside of Germany, Blume became one of the finest Germanists in the United States, later becoming a professor of German art and culture at Harvard.

Bernhard Blume was not the only respected German author on campus those days. Dr. Alfred Neumeyer,

director of the Art Gallery, professor of art history, and author of several wellreceived short stories and novellas in his native Berlin, spent decades on the Mills campus beginning in the mid-1930s. He invited numerous German artists of international reputation to teach and exhibit at Mills, including Max Beckmann and Lyonel Feininger, artists labeled as “degenerate” by the Nazis.

The noted Olympic fencer Helene Mayer began lecturing in German language in the academic year 1934-35 and taught German courses at Mills for over a decade. A 1946 yearbook reports that Pauline Steiner, instructor in German, “enlivened meetings of the German club with her witty good humor.” She and Mayer both taught in the department in the 1940s.

Another little-known side note to this lively exile history is the case of Olga Schnitzler, widow of the eminent Austrian-Jewish novelist Arthur Schnitzler, whose use of the stream-of-consciousness writing technique preceded even James Joyce’s.

Olga Schnitzler taught German at Mills in the years immediately following the war. College records show she lived in Olney Hall.

In the 1950s, the departmental course offerings declined measurably as the exile community dispersed, but beginning in the mid1960s, course offerings in German deepened again, and one begins to see a rich array of classes in advanced litera-

NEWS OF THE COLLEGE

ture. Hunter Hannum arrived on campus in 1964, having received his PhD from Harvard in 1963. He was a dynamic instructor whom Stephanie Mills, ’69, credits as teaching one of the best courses she took at Mills. Hannum ultimately left Mills and college teaching to focus on translation, which he has pursued successfully ever since.

Dr. Monica Clyde began teaching at Mills in 1967, and had a long tenure through the early 1980s. The department continued to offer a comprehensive major under her leadership. Dr.

Elisabeth Siekhaus was hired in 1978; she led a rigorous German program through the 1980s and ’90s. In 1984 she hired Dr. Richard Gray, who inspired students with his lively lectures and committed teaching style. He left Mills in 1990. Since then, Dr. Siekhaus has operated the department on a skeleton budget, with the assistance of Dr. Rosemary Delia, making do without two tenuretrack professorships (after Gray left, there was a hiring freeze) but nevertheless inspiring several generations of students to study in

Germany on Fulbrights, take up careers in Germanrelated fields, and pursue advanced degrees in German literature at Yale, Princeton, and Berkeley, among other institutions.

Professor Siekhaus is known for her talent in the classroom as well as her devoted tutelage of individual students. The German Language House was a thriving institution under her leadership, and German-language students were stimulated by numerous lectures and cultural programs.

The College is changing:

while German-related courses will still be offered, there will be no German language courses. We must make due notice of the implications these changes carry, but at the same time, take this opportunity to honor a piece of College history.

Mary Akatiff Cudahy, ’93, majored in German at Mills, and then continued her studies in German at U.C. Berkeley, where she received her PhD in the spring of 2003. She is currently seeking employment as an assistant professor of German.

Maggi Payne Wins Sarlo Faculty Award for Great Teaching

by Adam Blum, Director of Major Gifts

teachers recognized for good teaching,” says George Sarlo, who with his wife, Kim, established Sarlo Faculty Awards at seven Bay Area colleges and universities. Each award winner receives a $5,000 cash grant that can be used for any purpose. Maggi Payne used some of her award to compensate dancers participating in one of her recent performance compositions.

Kim Sarlo, who received a master’s degree in English at Mills, teaches English to immigrants in San Francisco.

Kim always knew she wanted to be a teacher. It was her passion for teaching that led the Sarlo Foundation to investigate how best to support and acknowledge teaching. One of their answers was

SALLY RANDEL

Designed to recognize excellence in teaching, the Sarlo Faculty Award was established in 1996 by George and Kim Sarlo, MA ’97. This fall, Associate Professor of Music Maggi Payne became the sixth member of the Mills faculty to receive the award.

Provost and Dean of the Faculty Mary-Ann Milford presented the award to her at Convocation in front of students, parents, staff, faculty, and hundreds of reunioning alumnae. “What makes Mills great is our faculty, says Provost Milford. “At Mills, teaching comes first. The Sarlos are helping us to reward and support the work of outstanding teachers.”

“Teachers don’t get paid enough, and I seldom see

The Sarlo Award recognizes excellent teaching at Mills. Left to right: Associate Professor of Music Chris Brown, Associate Professor of Music Maggi Payne, Associate Professor of English Cynthia Scheinberg, Kim Sarlo, MA ’97, George Sarlo, Professor of Education Anna Richert, Professor of Economics Roger Sparks. Not pictured: Professor of Education Linda Kroll.

the Sarlo Faculty Award.

At Mills, Sarlo Award recipients are nominated by the deans of the academic divisions, who make their recommendations to the provost and president based on teaching evaluations from students,

letters of recommendation from faculty members at Mills and other institutions, and live observations of classes.

The hallmark of Mills is great teaching. The Sarlo Faculty Award helps to nurture and support that tradition.

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Nearly 300 alumnae returned to campus in September for Reunion 2003. Reunioning alumnae were kept busy with a

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President Janet Holmgren receives a check for $250,317.50, the gift of the Class of 1953.

full schedule, which included Convocation, the official opening of the academic year; the President’s Colloquium

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Mills College Trustee Patricia Pineda, ’74, delivered the Convocation address. She spoke on “A Meaningful Journey,” and remarked, “When I arrived in 1970 as a freshman, I immediately felt at home, I felt accepted and at once I felt a sense of community. I was challenged and nurtured in a way that would help me discover what I was truly capable of achieving and becoming.”

on women, social responsibility, and today’s business world; the President’s Garden Reception; a concert of music by Milhaud and Mendelssohn; the “State of the College” reports; a picnic lunch on Saturday; the Celebration of the Arts; class gatherings; and just being with old friends and classmates. The Class of 1953 had a special tour of the Berkeley City Club, designed by Julia Morgan, and of the Morgan buildings on the Mills campus.

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Mills alumnae singing “Fires of Wisdom” at the conclusion of Convocation.

Mills and reconnecting with the College and friends.

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ARIEL EATON THOMAS, ’63

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Many alumnae expressed their delight at being back at

ARIEL EATON THOMAS, ’63

REUNION AND CONVOCATION 2003

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Faculty and alumnae leaving the Music Building after Convocation.

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ARIEL EATON THOMAS, ’63

ARIEL EATON THOMAS, ’63

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STEPHAN JOST

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Megan Thomas ’93, left, with Mills College chaplain Maud Steyaert, ’88, center, and Katie Thomas ’88.

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With the help of a megaphone, Lynn Eve Fortin, ’87, rounds up alumnae to have their Class photos taken.

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President of the Alumnae Association Karen May, ’86, left, with past president Sharon Tatai, ’80, at the studio arts exhibit. Painting in the background is by Nangee Warner Morrison, ’63.

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Marilyn Mercer Graham, ’68, displayed her paintings at the studio arts exhibition on Saturday, September 20.

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Sara Wintz, ’07, enjoys the work of Helen Gilbert-Bushnell, ’43, which was on display at the Art Museum. Mrs. Gilbert-Bushnell had a distinguished career as a practicing artist and as professor of art at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She died at the age of 80 on April 8, 2002.

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Girls >

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by Susan Ito, MFA ’94

In September of 2004, 150 middle-school girls from the Julia Morgan School for Girls will walk through the doors of Mills College’s Alderwood Hall to begin the new school year. They will be entering to learn about algebra and ancient civilizations, robotics and Renaissance art. But they will also be realizing a symbolic and spiritual homecoming that has been decades in the making.

Alderwood Hall—designed in 1924 by Julia Morgan as a home for orphaned Chinese girls—will once again ring with the voices and laughter of young girls. The Julia Morgan School for Girls (JMSG) will come to a permanent home in a historic building designed by its namesake. And the East Bay’s only all-girl middle school will put down roots at the East Bay’s only college dedicated to the education of women.

“We are pleased to have an independent school with an educational mission that integrates so well with ours join the campus community,” says Mills president Janet Holmgren. “We also are delighted with JMSG’s plans to preserve and enjoy a wonderful old building on campus that was designed by architect Julia Morgan.”

JMSG’s students, teachers, and families joined Mills faculty, staff, and students on November 1, 2003, to celebrate the start of JMSG’s 25-year lease of Alderwood Hall. But the roots of this inspired partnership go back further—not just to JMSG’s founding in 1997, but to the original vision for Alderwood Hall.

Julia Morgan had no idea when she designed this elegant and gracious building that it would be a place for educating girls in the next millennium, but she had girls’ comfort and education in mind when she drew her plans. Known for decades on the Mills campus as Alderwood Hall, the building was originally known as the Ming Quong Home for Chinese Girls. It served as both home and school for orphaned, homeless, and abandoned Chinese girls. It was not only a place to educate them, but to retain and nurture their Chinese culture. Morgan included many intricate details in the building’s architecture, such as carved openings in the dormitories’ wardrobe doors, in order to reflect Asian aesthetic influences and to give the girls a sense of comfort and familiarity. These historical remnants will be saved and reused as the building is renovated over the next eight months and will be integrated into the building’s future.

At the November 1 celebration, girls’ voices and energy again filled the courtyard and hallways of Alderwood. Eighth graders holding fluttering green banners led tours through what used to be small dormitory rooms for the orphans and which will be redesigned as larger classrooms and gathering spaces. They enthusiastically pointed out the marked drawings

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Are Coming Home on the walls, “Water fountains go here!” (something lacking in their current rented space at Holy Names College).

To celebrate the homecoming, Julia Morgan girls tied a ribbon around the entire building, wrapping it as a bountiful gift for future generations. Current Julia Morgan students and alumnae wrote their wishes for the girls who would inhabit the building in years and decades to come on a long ribbon.

Eighth-grader Shona Curtis found her wish draped over one of the back banisters: “I hope that every girl that enters Julia Morgan will be enriched in every way . . . that every girl will express herself and that she will find a new her inside that she did not know. Also that every girl finds her home right here at JMSG.” Kati Chan wrote, “I hope when I come back to Julia Morgan at Mills College that I will see many capable, confident young women who are excited to learn and are filled with loving energy.”

After listening to the exuberant sounds of taiko drums and the middle school girls’ Jam Band, Mills College president Janet Holmgren spoke with genuine emotion of the auspicious marriage of these two institutions, each dedicated to the visionary education and growth of girls and women.

Then, as the afternoon darkened into evening, and thousands of twinkling white lights illuminated the elegant arches and doorways of the building, founding member and board chair Ilana DeBare took scissors in hand to cut the wish-laden ribbon and declare the creation of a new home. A collective cheer went up from Julia Morgan students and teachers, from parents and supporters, from girls who had graduated in the past two years, and from younger girls who dream of one day being students at the school.

Looking around at the hundreds of enthusiastic faces, and the silhouette of the beautiful former orphanage, it was hard to believe that nine years ago, the Julia Morgan School for Girls was nothing more than a hopeful dream. Ilana DeBare experienced a pivotal moment when she read Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher’s groundbreaking and disturbing book about the perils facing

MICHAEL ROSSNEY

The

MICHAEL ROSSNEY (3)

Facing page: Members of the Mills community and parents, teachers, and students from the Julia Morgan School for Girls gathered in front of Alderwood Hall on November 1.

Right: Eighth-graders Sarah Fong, left, Emily O’Brien (with microphone), Jane Appert, and Celia Fogel took part in the celebration.

Top right: When the renovation of the building is complete, these second-story rooms will become classrooms. Lower right: Students perform on taiko drums.

adolescent girls. DeBare was shaken by Pipher’s observation of many young girls who, at middle-school age, lose spark, interest, and even IQ points as a “girl-poisoning” society forces a choice between being shunned for staying true to oneself and struggling to stay within a narrow definition of female. DeBare and a passionate group of parents became determined to create a more encouraging environment for adolescent girls, and the dream of Julia Morgan School was born. The dream filled a real need, and in 1999, they opened their doors to 35 girls. By the second year, enrollment was up to 91. Today, 146 students are bursting at the seams at their rented rooms at Holy Names College.

“We were willing to rent space above an auto-repair shop,” said Ilana DeBare, “and had no grand dreams of one day actually inhabiting a historical Julia Morgan building. We just wanted to create a challenging and inspiring learning environment for girls.”

DeBare and the other founding parents chose Julia Morgan as the school’s namesake because she embodied all of their hopes and aspirations for their girls. Julia Morgan was a Bay Area resident and a woman who broke countless professional barriers for women. She was one of the first women to graduate from the College of Engineering of the University of California at Berkeley, the first woman admitted to and certified by the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and the first licensed woman architect in the state of California. Many of her public works are buildings specifically designed for use by women. The school’s founders also agreed that Morgan’s work merged the disciplines of science and art in a way that they found inspirational, and which would be the cornerstone of the educational philosophy that drives the school.

When she was first launching her career, in spite of her many achievements, Julia Morgan had to struggle to be visible, just as decades later, as Mary Pipher and many other authors and researchers observe, girls still often struggle to make their voices heard. Middle school is the crucial time when onceconfident girls often begin to falter. Research published by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools shows that in coeducational classrooms girls often contend with fewer opportunities to participate, pressure to conform to stereotypes, lowered teacher expectations, limited encouragement in math and science, and insufficient female role models. In contrast, JMSG girls find not only equal opportunity, but every opportunity, just as the women at Mills College find every opportunity.

There are many links between Mills and the Julia Morgan School that go beyond their core dedication to empowering young women. The middle school’s stated mission is to

“prepare the confident, capable, creative, and compassionate women of tomorrow.” Julia Morgan director Ann Clarke emphasizes that “compassionate” was an addition to the mission statement from the school’s first graduating students. “What good is being capable,” they asked, “if we don’t also learn to care?”

Both Mills and the Julia Morgan School help young women succeed in areas that have traditionally been off-limits to them: areas like math, science, and technology. The middle school has offered a unique after-school program in technology that has been open to girls in the community since its first year.

Students can explore high-tech robotics, digital moviemaking, animation, video-game production and digital music mixing.

The first year that Julia Morgan math teacher Liz Gibbs started an after-school math club for girls who wanted extra challenges in math (not remedial work—extra hard work!), an astounding 30 out of 51 seventh-graders signed up. The math team (calling themselves “mathletes”) has gone on to participate in math competitions statewide.

Mills College, which has a long history of interaction with the larger community around it, will find now within its gates a truly diverse school that reflects the community of Oakland and the East Bay. Julia Morgan students come from 60 different elementary schools, ranging from inner-city West Oakland to suburban Lafayette. Forty-six percent are girls of color. Thirty percent receive financial aid, an extraordinarily high number for an independent school, especially a young school that does not yet have an endowment or alumnae donors to support the aid program.

In 1904, Mills College gave an emerging woman architect an opportunity to prove herself and to demonstrate her outstanding talent. Now, the legacy of Julia Morgan’s life and work continues to be a deep influence. Mills is providing a longterm, nurturing and inspiring educational home to young girls at the crossroads between childhood and womanhood. It is a partnership that will flourish in strong women’s voices for decades and centuries to come.

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Julia Morgan at Mills

by Susan Ito, MFA ’94

T

ON

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Susan Ito received her MFA in English and creative writing from Mills in 1994. She is the parent of an eighth-grader at Julia Morgan School for Girls and co-editor of A Ghost at Heart’s Edge: Stories and Poems of Adoption (North Atlantic Books).

ES Y M O RG A N – FOR N E Y C OL LE C T I

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Chinese girls, which was originally outside the College gates, and was purchased by the College in 1936. The building is now being renovated and will house the Julia Morgan School for Girls (see article on page 12). The Student Union with its two stately fireplaces was built in 1916; Morgan’s other buildings at Mills include Kapiolani Cottage, a private house on campus, and the College’s original gymnasium and pool, which stood on the site where the Tea Shop and Suzanne Adams Plaza are now located.

El Campanil is silent once again. The original clockworks, set in motion in 1904 by President Susan Mills, are some of the very few remaining mechanical clockworks still in use today.

They were removed and are being repaired by master clock craftsman Lloyd Larish of Fairbault, Minnesota. The ten bells are still in place, but the clockworks that are responsible for their chiming are undergoing an intricate repair process.

They will return to Mills in time for a centennial celebration and rededication on Friday, March 12 at 12:00 noon.

President Janet Holmgren will then set the clockworks in motion, and the four bells that mark the hour, named Faith, Hope, Peace, and Joy, will again be heard across the campus. They will once again enact their purpose, as is inscribed on tablets beside the heavy bell-tower door: “In loyal remembrance of those who by tongue or pen, by generous gift or noble deed have aided woman to her upward way, these bells chime on.”

C OU RT

he career of Julia Morgan did not begin with the magnificent design of Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the structure for which she is most famous. In fact, she was given some of her earliest work here at Mills College. When she was hired by President Susan Mills to design El Campanil in 1904, she had recently returned from Paris, where she had completed her education, and she was largely unknown.

Julia Morgan’s first job at Mills began with the quandary of the ten silent and homeless bells on campus. Cast for the 1898 World Exhibition in Chicago for the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World, they were donated to Mills by David Hewes of San Francisco. The bells sat for years in Lisser Hall, decorative but nonfunctioning. “We had no funds to erect a suitable tower for such a chime and he had best bestow them elsewhere,” said President Susan Mills.

“But the bells arrived and found a quiet resting place near Lisser Hall, and there, amidst the stir and merry life of our young people, they alone were silent. Our silent ten, we called them.”

In 1904, two College trustees, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Marion Smith of Oakland, were touring the campus when they became aware of the “silent ten” and expressed their wish to donate a bell tower to Mills.

Suitably housed, the mute bells would at long last find their voices. President Susan Mills had heard of a new architect named Julia Morgan, and she became interested in commissioning the job for two reasons: she wanted to further the career of a woman architect, and, eager for work, Morgan came at a lesser price than her male counterparts.

Julia Morgan designed El Campanil, the Spanishstyle clock tower, to stand at the edge of a grassy oval, framed by oak and eucalyptus trees. She constructed the 72-foot tower with reinforced concrete, a revolutionary building material at the time, and topped it with a red tile roof. El Campanil is believed to be the first bell tower on any college campus in the United States.

Its Mediterranean style set a precedent for most other buildings at Mills, including those designed by Morgan as well as those by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. Reviewers praised Morgan’s “gem of a tower,” but the praise grew exponentially after the 1906 earthquake, when El Campanil was left unscathed. Morgan received great renown for her use of reinforced concrete, which had saved the tall structure from natural disaster.

Julia Morgan’s career was unstoppable from then on. She continued to design buildings on the Mills campus, and five of her six designs are still standing. The Margaret Carnegie Library, named after Andrew Carnegie’s daughter, was dedicated November 17, 1906. Morgan also designed the Ming Quong Home for

Recommended Modifications of the AAMC Bylaws These changes are being proposed by the Bylaws Committee of the Board of Governors of the Alumnae Association of Mills College and will be voted on at our annual meeting on Saturday, May 15, 2004, at Reinhardt Alumnae House, at 2:00 p.m. All alumnae and alumni are invited to participate in this meeting and to vote on these proposals.

(Additions to the Bylaws are indicated by italics and deletions by strikethroughs.)

ARTICLE IV—BOARD OF GOVERNORS Section 3—Election of Governors and Regional Governors; Tenure . . . Each elected Governor and Regional Governor shall hold office for a term of three (3) years commencing on June 1 July 1 of the fiscal year following the

date of her the election and ending upon the commencement of the term of her the duly elected and qualified successor.

Board of Governors at a May its last regular meeting following the annual membership meeting of the fiscal year.

Section 6—Alumnae Trustees . . . The Nominating Committee shall choose up to three members of the Association as candidates for each expired term of an Alumnae Trustee.

ARTICLE VI—NOMINATING COMMITTEE Section 2—Composition and Selection of Nominating Committee . . . The Nominating Committee Chair shall serve a term of one (1) year commencing on June 1 July 1 of the year in which she/he is elected and until the commencement of the term of her/his duly elected and qualified successor. . . .

Nominating Committee members shall serve for a term of one (1) year commencing on June 1 July 1 of the year in which they are elected and until the commencement of the terms of their duly elected and qualified successors.

Section 14.A—Executive Committee The Board of Governors shall have an Executive Committee consisting of the following members: the President, all Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Alumnae Director/Corporate Secretary, and three (3) additional members including at least one (1) Alumnae Trustee.

14.B. The three additional members shall be nominated and elected by the

AAMC Trips 2004 Art and Architecture in Seattle, Tacoma, and Victoria March 29–April 5 Visit the new Tacoma Museum, Chihuly’s Bridge of Glass to the Museum of Glass, the new Seattle Library, the Seattle Museum, and the Royal Museum of Victoria. $2,176, plus air Alumni College in Ronda, Spain April 19–28 Lodging will be at the site of the historic old town hall converted to an opulent parador for modern travelers.

The convenience of unpacking once with excursions to Sevilla, Costa del Sol, Jereza, and Cadiz. All meals included. $2,195 land only; $3,195 includes air Alaska Inland Passage on the Yorktown Clipper May 29–June 5 A naturalist and historian will be on board to speak on each day’s events. $2,250 plus air; Many optional excursions A Tale of Two Cities June 4–13 Cost effectiveness and comfort of group travel. Four days in London and four days in Paris. Included is a panoramic tour of each city and plenty of time for your own adventures. Go to <www.orionworldwidetravel.com/ mills> for details and registration. $1,310 plus air For a listing of additional trips, please see the travel page on the AAMC’s website. Go to <www.mills.edu>, choose “Alumnae” and then “Travel.” For more information about AAMC trips, please call (510) 430-2110 or email <lkrane@mills.edu>.

PAAMCC House Tour 2004 Charming Cottages, the 13th annual Palo Alto Area Mills College Club’s benefit for the Alumnae Fund, will take place Friday, March 26, and Saturday, March 27, at five attractive cottage remodels in Palo Alto.

This house tour features once small homes that have been remodeled within the budget of the average homeowner of the area. No decorators’ showcases these! They are shown “as lived in” by their owners.

Tickets are $25 by mail or $30 after a cut-off date (yet to be determined) or at the door on tour days.

Tickets may be ordered after March 1 by calling (650) 368-5798; the recording provides all necessary information. Call the same number and leave a message if you would like to be a hostess (hostesses are expected to buy a ticket in order to tour the other houses).

It takes approximately 100 women to produce this tour, with a central committee of about eight and the rest acting as hostesses on tour days. If other branches away from the San Francisco Peninsula would like to produce a similar tour, we stand ready to provide guidance. Our tour has enabled us to provide $20,000 each year for several years for the AAMC annual fund.

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RECOLLECTIONS OF LIFE AT MILLS: 1929–1933

by Esther Rosenblatt Landa, ’33, MA ’37

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COURTESY OF THE MILLS COLLEGE ARCHIVES, F.W. OLIN LIBRARY

Two students on the Mills campus, from a scrapbook, circa 1933.

On a warm, sunny September day in 1929, eight girls from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, arrived at Mills to start their college careers. Some may have dreamed of going back east to one of the seven sister colleges, but back east was a long, long way from Salt Lake City. Through the influence of the East High librarian, they learned of Mills College, and Mills became their choice. Not realizing how warm September can be in California, their mothers had outfitted them in new, but too heavy college clothes. They came by car, at least a two-day drive, or via the Southern or Union Pacific train by way of Ogden, Utah, through Nevada to the Oakland Mole.

My cousin, a junior transfer, and I came by car with my parents. I was assigned a front room on the second floor of Mills Hall looking directly at El Campanil, whose bells either lulled one to sleep or kept one awake. Most of the freshmen were assigned to Mills Hall, but some went to College Hall.

All meals were taken in the Mills Hall dining room. Chinese cooks served us a healthy, albeit fattening, diet. We soon began to put on pounds from corn or brown bread, mystery meat, cheese soufflés, and fruit cobblers.

Dean Hettie Belle Ege presided at the head table to the right as you entered the dining room. I don’t remember how our seats were assigned, but I think everyone eventually had an opportunity to sit at Dean Ege’s table, where grace was said.

Hall elections were held soon after our arrival. I think I became head proctor, and my friend Ruth became fire chief. Our classes started, and from that first year I recall especially my English class with Grace Hoover, an excellent teacher. We were assigned

compositions. Mine was about a moth circling the lone light globe that hung from the ceiling in my room. It got a good grade. Of course there were no televisions. I had a little crystal radio set with headphones where you jiggled a needle on the crystal, and if you were successful, you could hear One Man’s Family on KGO. We followed the stories of Father Barber and his family in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighborhood faithfully.

Early one morning, the sophomores jolted us all out of our sleep, herded us down to the Oval, jangled chains, and chanted, “The sophomores are watching the Class of ’33.” The origin of this weird tradition is a mystery to me. Not having any better sense, we perpetuated the tradition the following year and performed the ceremonial rite on the Class of ’34. We learned that we were not allowed to sit on the senior bench. We wore our red Class of ’33 caps and soon learned the songs that were sung in the dining room, including such favorites as “My Name Is MacNamara, I’m the Leader of a Band,” and “Hennessy, Hennessy, Toots the Flute and I the Drums Do Bang.” We soon settled into our class routine and tried out for the athletic teams, the Mills College Weekly, the yearbook, and plays from the drama department. The fall play was always Shakespeare, held in the Woodland Theater, with all parts played by females.

Ruth and I were assigned to handle stage lighting in booths on either side of the theater. This meant we had no acting talent.

The Pres [President Reinhardt] complimented us anyway.

Little did we know what was going to happen to our college careers, but when the stock market crashed on October 24, 1929, that cataclysmic event changed life for so many people.

None of our fathers jumped out of windows or shot themselves in the head, but probably for most of them, their financial status was drastically altered. One classmate recalls her father phoning her to tell her that he had to cut the wages of his employees and he had to cut her allowance.

Our modest allowances still enabled us to have a cigarette at the permanent and continuous bridge game in the Rec Room, to trudge up the Hill for a hot-fudge sundae, and to take an occasional trip to the city.

We continued with our classes and activities through the fall, and in December started singing, “Ten days to vacation, then down to the station, back to civilization, the train will carry us there. . . .” Before leaving, however, we listened to President Reinhardt read A Christmas Carol at a Student Union program.

(Earlier in the fall, we Jewish students had attended our holiday services at Temple Sinai in downtown Oakland.) Mills was on the semester system then, so we had to spend part of our holiday studying for finals, which took place soon after we got back. As far as I remember, every Salt Lake girl was able to return for the second semester; our fees already may have been paid for the whole year. But the following year, only five of us continued. By then, the Depression had begun to take its toll, and several families just could not afford to send their daughters back.

The Smith twins waited on tables; others did telephone duty or other jobs during those years, and thus they were able to complete their educations. My cousin stayed home to be married. My junior year, I stayed in Salt Lake City, as we lived within streetcar distance of the University of Utah, where I continued my studies in English, philosophy, and history. This proved to be a valuable experience in light of my future relationships with the

University of Utah. Somehow, my dad scraped together enough money to send me back to Mills for my senior year, and I had the distinct honor of becoming a Mills graduate, but only after finally passing, at the last minute (post-comprehensives exam), the swimming test—something I had neglected to do previously! We trudged up to Lake Aliso in the Lantern Procession, singing, “Farewell friends, we leave you, all the stars call to us to come away, may you ever be happy in your busy days of work and play.”

My folks drove down for Commencement. They were very proud of me: a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Palladium graduate,

Esther Rosenblatt Landa in 1975. At the time, she was the newly elected president of the National Council of Jewish Women.

and winner of the Ardella Mills literary prize. I was equally proud of them for being able to provide me with a liberalarts education. We packed up and headed home, where I enjoyed a summer of golf and tennis. In spite of all my academic honors, in order to find work in the fall, I had to enroll in business college to study typing and shorthand.

A BA degree, no matter how distinguished and from such a prestigious college, did not entitle one to employment in the Depression-plagued fall of 1933.

Esther Rosenblatt Landa has received many honors for her commitment to community service, including the 2003 Eleanor Roosevelt Award. She was instrumental in the founding of the Women’s Resource Center at the University of Utah. Named to two presidential commissions, she was also a delegate to the United Nations Women’s Conference in Copenhagen. She served as president of the National Council of Jewish Women from 1975 to 1979, traveling many times to Israel, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Esther holds three honorary doctoral degrees, including a doctorate of humane letters conferred by Mills in 1980. This article was dictated to and edited by her daughter, Carol Landa.

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ALUMNAE ACTION Double Your Money!

Matching Gifts Help Mills “Who wouldn’t want to double their gift to Mills?” asks Karen Kang, ’76. Karen doubles her gift to the AAMC through the matching gift program of Adobe Systems, the company her husband works for.

You may not know that many companies, big and small, match donations that their employees give to charitable causes. If you suspect that the company you or your spouse or partner works for or retired from might match gifts, check with the company’s human resources department; getting your gift matched may be as easy as filling out a form or going online. (You can also find out if a company has a matching gift program by calling the AAMC; we keep a list of companies with matching gift programs, although it’s not complete.)

“I know that if I add my $50 contribution to my company’s $50 contribution, it really can make a huge difference to Mills.

And no gift is too small. It really does matter,” says Joyce Fung-Yee, ’90, who has her gift doubled by her employer, Levi Strauss & Co. Joyce is in charge of Levi’s community service program, known at other companies as “Dollars for Doers.”

Many of our alumnae are already having their gifts matched by generous corporations. While it might be expected that large companies such as J.P.

Morgan Chase, Sun Microsystems, or Occidental Petroleum match gifts made to the AAMC, it may be a surprise to find companies such as the East Bay Express, the Global Fund for Women, and Toshi Union Square Salon on the list.

Because of the benefit to the Alumnae Fund, the entire amount of a gift and its match is used when placing an alumna in a gift club. And it’s always helpful to remember that the portion donated by the alumna is tax-deductible.

“The companies like doing this,” Karen Kang says. “They have set aside money for charities anyway, and want to make their employees happy by giving to the charities of their choice.” Since Karen and her husband give to several “favorite causes,” Karen simply filled out one of Adobe’s matching gift forms and made photocopies. “When I make a contribution, I just have Jon sign the form, and I send it in with the check,” she says.

Joyce is now busy with a young family, but she still feels it’s important to give back. “It’s very rewarding, that’s why I continue to do it. . . . I’m here at Levi’s because of an internship I did while at Mills; I want to make the kinds of opportunities that were available to me available to other women.”

2002–2003 Alumnae Association Expenses Gift to the College 49% 39% from the Alumnae Fund; 10% from a bequest from Suzanne Adams, ’48 Fundraising 28% Quarterly 11% Alumnae Relations Programs 6% Reunion 6% In addition to the Alumnae Association’s gift of $875,000, the Class of 1953 raised over $250,000 for their 50th Reunion Gift. The majority of their gift will go toward renovating the historic Music Building. Thank you to all our alumnae and alumni and particularly to the Class of 1953 for your generosity.

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N E W S O F T H E A L U M N A E A S S O C I AT I O N

AAMC Gives Mills College $875,000 The Alumnae Association of Mills College is proud to report a gift of $875,000 to Mills College for the fiscal year 2002–2003. Our gift supports student scholarships and faculty salaries and is made possible by generous donations from Mills alumnae, alumni, parents, and friends.

As usual, a variety of fundraising activities supported our efforts and made our gift possible. Special thanks to all our donors and to our tireless volunteers: the Board of Governors, Class Agents, Class Secretaries, and many committee members who gave their time and talents to aid our efforts. We are also thankful, albeit sad, that we were able to supplement our gift to the College considerably because of a bequest from Suzanne Adams, ’48, who died in November of 2002.

At the beginning of fiscal year 2003–2004 we increased the minimum amount required to join the Cyrus and Susan Mills Society from $1,200 to $1,500. This change was made in large part so that we could extend the support we give Mills students through our gift to the College.

Tuition for the 2003–2004 academic year rose by $2,000 from the previous year, and our gift helps make it possible for qualified students to attend Mills.

Fundraising efforts in the 2003–2004 fiscal year have gotten off to a great start. If you haven’t already done so this year, please continue your support and participation with a gift to the Alumnae Fund. If you have already made your gift, thank you.

Every gift counts.

Taught by faculty who are leaders in their fields, Mills' programs educate

explore

talented students who strive for excellence.

Every year the Alumnae Fund supplies capable students with scholarships and supports distinguished faculty.

create Your annual gift to the Alumnae Fund encourages students to explore, create,

dream

dream, and achieve.

LUNA KIDS DANCE

by Lori O. Lara,’92 “If I were only a dancer, I would not speak. But I am a teacher with a mission.”

— Isadora Duncan Mills has always attracted women of vision and purpose to its campus. For the women of Luna Kids Dance, the pull was more than just the College’s reputation for academic excellence. What they recognized at Mills was a drive to form lifechanging connections with each other and with a broader community. The bonds they formed at Mills helped these women to pursue a common goal—to effect social change through their art; and with their will and each other, they are determined to make a difference in the world.

Luna Kids Dance (LKD) is a nationally recognized arts organization helping to move dance education into the 21st century. Among its founding and current members are a number of dedicated Mills alumnae—Patricia Reedy, ’80, MA ’00, Nancy Ng, ’92, Lori O. Lara, ’92, Freesia Paclebar, ’85, Julie Regalado, ’94, Judith Sims, ’76, and Isabelle Sjahsam, ’02.

LKD began in 1991 when alumna Patricia Reedy opened a dance studio in the midst of a crippling recession. A couple of years later, Reedy joined with Julie Regalado and Megan Nicely, ’94, to fill the void of the then-disabled publication, InDance.

Together these Mills alums launched Terpsichorean Dance Journal, which helped to keep Bay Area dancers informed and connected during a difficult time for the arts community. After a number of years, Terpsichorean Dance Journal merged with InDance, now reborn and run by Dancers’ Group. During times of fear and doubt, these women remained committed to their art and to the mission of bringing about change through dance.

Reedy recognized the limitations of studio ownership, and Luna Kids Dance became a partnership in 1998 with a new mission: to bring all children to dance and dance to all children. In 11 years, the program has grown from a local children’s dance program to a nationally recognized dance education organization that provides services to children and adults. Today, LKD supports the creative development of children, families, artists, educators, and communities through teacher education and children’s services. As leaders in the field of dance, LKD staff is active in the California Dance Educators Association and National Dance Educators Organization.

Members of LKD also serve on many local arts and education committees. In every aspect, the women of Luna Kids Dance seek to emphasize the power of leadership that stems from making work of one’s own, building education for social change that stems from the powerful place where body, mind, and spirit come together. There could be no stronger indication that these are indeed Mills women.

The women of Luna Kids Dance embrace a dual dance and education heritage rooted in foundational philosophy and active pedagogy. They foster creativity, encouraging students to make choices, to investigate possibilities, and to respect their own choices and those of their peers. Luna’s work is process rather than product-based, where individual discovery and collaborative exploration fuel each endeavor. These Mills women are challenging society’s values by fostering leadership and autonomy through self-expression.

Luna Kids Dance is on a mission to use the transformative power of dance and the power of women working together to change the world. In August 2004, Luna will open its Institute for Teaching and Learning in Dance in west Berkeley to provide a viable resource for teachers, dancers, and individuals wanting to tap into the breadth and depth of dance education. Luna Kids Dance is also actively working with the California Dance Educators’ Association to establish competency guidelines and working conditions for dance-arts teachers in California. As the organization continues to grow and evolve, no doubt Mills women will be at its heart.

To learn more about Luna Kids Dance, or to become involved yourself, visit <www.lunakidsdance.com>.

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Left to right: Patricia Reedy, Lori Lara, Julie Regalado, and Nancy Ng.

JUST A GIRL FROM KANSAS J E A N S I R I U S , ’ 9 3

by Stephanie L. Mazow, MFA ’02 She’s “just a girl from Kansas,” says Jean Sirius, ’93, on the homepage of her website. But defining this vibrant Mills alumna takes much more than the name of a state. What brought Jean to Mills in the early 1990s is the same drive that keeps her reaching for ever-evolving forms of self-expression.

Jean was born in Salina, Kansas, in 1949. After a short stint at Colorado State University, she dropped out in 1968 in favor of “sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll.” For the next two years, she lived on a commune in Hawaii, and then found herself moving between coasts for most of the 1970s. In 1982, she settled in Oakland.

Jean had a ten-year career as a typesetter but saw the “juggernaut of desktop publishing coming along to threaten a living wage,” and began to think about going back to school. Overwhelmed by decisions about her future, she thought community college might be an inexpensive way to find out exactly what she wanted to study, so in January 1989, she enrolled at Laney College in Oakland, where she studied math and basic design.

When it came time to look at four-year schools, Jean visited the campuses at Cal State Hayward, U.C. Berkeley, and Mills. “At Hayward, people looked sad and lost,” she says; “At Cal, people looked hunted, driven, and unhappy.” Mills was different. “At Mills,” she remembers, “the women looked like they owned the earth.” And Jean took that confidence as a sign that she had found her place. She transferred in the fall of 1991 and earned her BA in computer science in 1993.

After graduation, Jean took a job working as a quality assurance engineer at Ask Jeeves, but she continued to be driven by her passion for creative expression. Though the medium may change, the commitment is constant. She started out as a writer. That’s how she saw herself from a very early age, always afraid that she would be the inspiration for a great novel rather than writing it herself. She published several books of poetry in the 1980s, writing with deep emotion and feminist pride.

One of Jean’s greatest fears was that she would fall in love, become happy, and lose her will to write. And indeed, not very long after she met her partner, Cara Vaughn, in 1979, Jean says she did run out of things to say. She stopped writing in the early 1980s, which she admits was a tremendous blow to her identity. “But I got over it,” she says.

Jean’s design courses at Laney later helped to inspire a new form of expression. She began doing collages after taking an art class on a whim. Soon thereafter, Cara was diagnosed with cancer. While caring for her dying partner, Jean worked on torn-paper collages on a card table she had set up at the foot of her bed. “It was the kind of work where I could be interrupted at any moment to be available to her,” she says. In 2001, Jean published the collection of collages in Seeing Double/Rose Windows, which she calls a “visual history” of that time that tracks the progress of her grief. Jean’s collages are striking in their precision and vibrancy. They resonate emotion through a range of colors and textures as seasons passing. Each piece of paper is a carefully selected word in her visual poem.

Jean’s newest medium is digital photography. She has assembled mini-books of photos from a trip to Europe she took in the spring of 2003, entitled This Is Me in Europe, Signs of Peace in Europe, and My Feet Go to Europe. More of Jean’s current work can be seen on her website: <www.jeansirius.com>.

Jean Sirius took this self-portrait while she was in Paris in 2003.

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PASSAGES Gifts in Honor of Isabelle Hagopian Arabian, ’45,

by Laura Lundegaard Anderson, ’45 Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35,

by David Brin, MA ’75, Carolyn Reese, Elise “Liz” Feldman Rosenfeld, ’47, Bruce Senders, Margaret Spatafore, Harriet Bradley Tegart, ’42, Mary Ausplund Tooze, ’44, and Julia Zukowski Mary Helen Barrett,

by David Brin, MA ’75 Richard Battle by Edythe “Edy” Chan, ’71, MA ’72 Anne Gillespie Brown, ’68,

by Lynne Bantle, ’74 Patricia Ann Bueno

by P. Doreen Bueno, ’97 Kenneth Burke

by Michelle Balovich, ’03 Terry Hinkle Fairman, ’68,

by Esther “Es” Rosenblatt Landa, ’33, MA ’37 Eleanore Lundegaard Nissen, ’42,

by Laura Lundegaard Anderson, ’45 Richard Olmsted by Edythe “Edy” Chan, ’71, MA ’72 Sally Millett Rau, ’51,

by Jane “Jinx” Rule, ’52 Aaron Rosand

by Lauren Speeth, ’81 Darlene Mahnke SimpsonBrown, ’52,

by Ann McKinstry Micou, ’52 Margaret “Margie” Thompson Stryble, ’35,

by David Brin, MA ’75 Mary Ausplund Tooze, ’44,

by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35 Yoko Kawasaki Umeda, ’53,

by Seiko Kawasaki Tamura, ’62 Katharine “Kathie” Mulky Warne, ’45, by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35, Philip Krozek, and Mary Ausplund Tooze, ’44 Elka Weber, ’02,

by Virgina Weber Erwin White

by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35 Edith “Edy” Mori Young, ’51,

by Jane “Jinx” Rule, ’52 The Class of 1954 by Marilyn “Daz” Dalziel Spencer, ’54, and Elizabeth “Liz” Wills, ’54 The Bay Area Alumnae from the Class of 1948

by Nancy Butts Whittemore, ’48

Gifts in Memory of Suzanne Adams, ’48,

by Elizabeth Burwell Jerome Barnier

by Betsy Taves Whitman, ’46 June Barnum, ’50,

by Virginia Ong Gee, ’51, and Barbara Gilinsky Werlin, ’50 Katherine Caldwell

by Caroline Herrick, ’68 Beverley Nielsen Canterbury, ’50, by Jeanne AurelSchneider, ’51, Kristi Consentino, Christine Gee, Yoshiko Kanazawa, June Deaton Karnok, ’59, Thomas Lackovic, Sherli Micik, Ann Nichols, David Nielsen, Richard Nielsen, Peter Schenck, and Jack Stednitz Virginia “Ginnie” Chisholm Case, ’33,

by Ellen Locke Crumb, ’59 Jane Cassedy, ’37,

by Louisa Pownall Wagner, ’38 Callie Beatty Coker

by Ann McKinstry Micou, ’52 Evelyn “Peg” Deane, ’41,

by Mary Hart Clark, ’42, and Elaine Bowe Johnson, ’62 Rona Murray Dexter, ’45, by Isabelle Hagopian Arabian, ’45, and Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46 Gerald FitzGerald by Francisca “Cisca” de Larios Hansen, ’68

Rona Murray Dexter, ’45 Rona Murray Dexter, ’45, a prominent writer and teacher, died suddenly of a heart attack on July 9, 2003. Known by her maiden name, Rona Murray was a poet, playwright, theater critic, novelist, and editor, and a well known figure in the arts community of Victoria, British Columbia, where she lived. Her 14 books garnered many awards. She was especially known for her best-selling autobiography, Journey Back to Peshawar, which recounted two journeys to India, where she lived until the age of eight. Of British ancestry, her family had lived in India for more than a century; her parents took Rona and her sister to Canada in 1932. Rona’s memories of growing up in India, as told in Journey Back to Peshawar, recount a vanished life of India under the British.

Rona Murray studied English at Mills (according to Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46, her favorite Mills professor was Elias Olan James) and received a PhD in English literature from the University of Kent in England. She spent 25 years teaching English and creative writing at universities and colleges in British Columbia. She and her husband, the potter Walter Dexter, had moved to a new home shortly before her death. Alisa Gordaneer, writing in Monday magazine, a publication for which Ms. Murray served as theater critic for 18 years, stated, “That willingness to go forward in creativity, and to inspire others to do so as well, was one of the most wonderful things about Rona Murray.”

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Lori Chinn Fong

by Marilyn Learn William Giles by Francisca “Cisca” de Larios Hansen, ’68 Ruth Gillard, ’36,

by Elizabeth Burwell and Jean Logan Henderson, ’34 Alice Gordon

by Mary Doerfler Luhring, ’61, Carolyn Jensen Monday, ’61, and Donna Riback, ’61 Kayla Grodsky

by Jerome Oremland Helen Sutton Gulick, ’34,

by Jean Logan Henderson, ’34 Lucille Gunston by Alice Gunston Zakian, ’73 Elaine Johnson Gutleben, ’44,

by Isabelle Hagopian Arabian, ’45, Patricia “Pat” Tiggard Boese, ’50, Caroline Booth, Jacklyn Davidson Burchill, ’44, Marjorie Christensen, ’85, MA ’90, Emily Dow, Gene Edwards, Barbara Frandsen, H. Gregg Hodes, Hubert James, Joseph Lester, Phyllis Levers, Charles Luce, Janette McClelland, ’81, Carol Nicolai Parker, ’44, Martha “Marty” McMaster Quimby, ’51, Marion Ross, ’44, F.E. Strauss, Margaret “Marge” Miskelly Thomas, MA ’67, Anna Waltar, and Catherine “Kay” Taylor Zehnder, ’94

Elizabeth “Betsy” Rulison Harrington, ’40, by Helen Smith Lorraine Hamilton Havens, ’30,

by Betsy Watkins Anna Hawkes by Janice “Jan” Church Mann, ’53 Lynne Honus, ’68,

by Caroline Herrick, ’68 Mary Buck Jelinek, ’53,

by Laura Chiu, Esther Felzer, Anna Hermansen, John Rossi, and Margaret Wallace Irma Cummins Johnson, ’34,

by Jean Logan Henderson, ’34 Gloria Kimber, ’43,

by Eloisa Segovia Richard Koontz

by Ann Sulzberger Wolff, ’42 Lorraine Dewing Laird, ’37,

by Mary Calvin Henry and LaVerne Mahnke

by Darlene Mahnke SimpsonBrown, ’52 Diane Bell Marra, ’56,

by Susan Shaw Gerrity, ’55 Georgiana Melvin

by Katherine Harrison Baum, ’53, and Marion “Joy” Wilson Drinker, ’53 Esther Mirmow

by Gaye Kawano, Mary Metz, Diana Birtwistle Odermatt, ’60, Eda Regan, Marion Ross, ’44, Roussel Sargent, Karen Cardon Swearingen, ’63, Katherine “Katie” Thomas,

’88, Margaret “Marge” Miskelly Thomas MA ’67, Theodore “Ted” Thomas, Allan Wendt, and Laurie Zimet Glenn Mowry

by Sheila Grieve Barton, ’54, and Jane Boardman Mowry, ’54 Nadine Madsen Norton, ’15,

by Theodore Norton Franklin Ott

by Katharine “Kathie” Mulky Warne, ’45 Apollo and Athena Pazdral

by Jennifer Moxley, ’93 Elizabeth Pope

by Elaine Bowe Johnson, ’62, and Jane “Jinx” Rule, ’52 David Porter

by Janet Hopkins Richards, ’36 Jeanne Stanton Porter, ’53,

by Richard Porter Louise Arness Poussaint, ’52,

by Ann Arness Drover, ’53 Margaret “Meg” Quigley, ’63,

by Elaine Bowe Johnson, ’62 Miriam Van Vorhis Reynier, ’37,

by Helen Metz Lore, ’43 Ray Rosen by Lauren Speeth, ’81 Laurence Sears

by Marion “Joy” Wilson Drinker, ’53 Jean Dondero Schmidt, ’45,

by Katharine “Kathie” Mulky Warne, ’45

Jean Thomas Taylor, ’25,

by John Taylor Louise “Weezie” Hayes Vanderliet, ’53, by Barbara Anderson, ’53, Lou Ann Smith Berardi, ’52, and Julia Swift Fekula, MA ’49 E. Helen Waite

by Lynda Taves Ogren, ’54, and Aletha Waite Silcox, ’54 Dorothy Hunter Wiles, ’32,

by Beverly Babb and Diane Pike Katharine “Kay” French Willi, ’47, by Suzanne “Sue” Brund Lamon, ’47 Janet Minnes Williams, ’34,

by Jean Logan Henderson, ’34

Susan Hawkes Koons, ’76 Susan Hawkes Koons graduated from Mills with a major in music and taught piano until a congenital ear problem forced her to pursue a different career. She studied law at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, became a member of the California and Maine Bar Associations, and was sworn before the United States Supreme Court. During the Reagan years she was a special liaison in the Intergovernmental Affairs Office at the White House. Later, she became an assistant in the Attorney General’s Office in Maine, and was then promoted to Assistant District Attorney. In 1985 she opened her own private practice and became a familiar face around Maine’s state capital. Her lobbying efforts served many high-profile clients. She was also the chairwoman of the Maine Arts Commission. She is survived by her husband, Dr. John D. Koons and her mother, Mrs. Francis Hawkes Gordon.

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ELECT YOUR ALUMNA TRUSTEE P L E A S E V O T E F O R O N E O F T H E T W O C A N D I D AT E S .

Sara McClure, ’81

Birgitt Stepanow Adams, ’82

Current Residence: Albuquerque, New Mexico Mills Major: Music

Current Residence: Newport Beach, California Mills Major: Administration & Legal Processes, Emphasis in Economic Processes. (Although not available at the time, I completed the equivalent of a minor in German Studies.)

Student Activities: I was unable to be very involved in campus activities while at Mills as I worked two jobs while carrying a full load.

Employment Experience: Career Fundraiser and NonProfit Executive: 1996 to date—University of New Mexico, Major Gifts Director (01 to date), College of Fine Arts (9601); 1993–96—Manager, Major and Planned Giving, American Heart Association/ New York City; 1991–92— Director of Annual Giving, NY Hospital-Cornell Medical Center; 1990–91—Executive Director, New Orchestra of Westchester; 1989–90—Orchestra Management Fellow, American Symphony Orchestra League; 1986–89—Director of Annual Giving, AAMC; 1984–86—Prospect Researcher, Mills College; 1981–84—fundraiser, Mills College Art Gallery.

Volunteer Experience: My current non-Mills work includes board member and past-president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals—NM; President of Friends of Music, and founding board member of Flicks on 66 Digital Filmmaking Festival in New Mexico.

AAMC Involvement: I currently serve as an Alumna Trustee and on the AAMC Board of Governors. I also serve as the “coordinator” for the NM Alumnae—there is no formal branch here. In New York I served on the alumnae board from 1990–1996, with the last two years as President. I served on the board of the Oakland Mills Branch, eventually as President. I have been a class agent. I helped recruit my stepdaughter to Mills, too.

How My Mills Education Has Affected My Life: It was the genesis of my becoming a truly strong, able leader and independent thinker. I was encouraged by my teachers, peers, and administrators to push myself just a little further than I

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Employment Experience: American Hawaii Cruises, San Francisco, CA 1982–1986 (reservations, customer service); Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Rancho Mirage, CA and Washington, D.C. 1986–1991 (sales manager); Jefferson Hotel, Washington, D.C. 1991–1993 (director of sales); Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, New York, NY 1993–1995 (director of sales); Stanhope Hotel, New York and Los Angeles, 1995–1997 (western regional director of sales); Luxury Link.com, Los Angeles, CA 1997–present (co-founder; board of directors); Stay-at-home-mom since 1999 Volunteer Experience: Whitman Walker Clinic, Washington, D.C. (Buddy) 1991–1993; God’s Love We Deliver, New York, NY (Kitchen) 1993–1995; Orangewood Children’s Home, Orange, CA (Buddy) 1995–1997; Newport Canyon Homeowner’s Association, Newport Beach, CA (President, Board Member, Social Committee, Newsletter) 2000–2003 AAMC Involvement: Tri-State Chapter Board Member, 1993–1995; AAMC—Orange County, CA Chapter, Founded chapter and served as President, 1995–present; AAR—2000–2002 How My Mills Education Has Affected My Life: Two things strike me as the most important ways Mills affected

McClure continued: thought I’d be comfortable going, which then emboldened me to go even further. However, my life as an alumna has also added to my “Mills Education”—the Mills women and men I meet, and the opportunities afforded, add immeasurably to my life. There is not a person in my business or personal life who doesn’t know I am a Mills woman.

On the Future of the AAMC: It’s important to try to find a common thread to tie together 18,000 women and men who, as students, were encouraged to find their own niche in the world. AAMC should be involved in: Raising Funds—The financial health of any college is dependent upon ongoing contributions from its alumnae/i.

Teaching the value of philanthropy and support of one’s alma mater is an important role.

Being Inclusive—My experience as President of two branches has confirmed how important it is to have an inclusive branch structure.

Being Relevant—with more graduate students on the alumnae rolls we need to make the Alumnae Association relevant to undergrads and grads.

On the Significance of our Alumnae Association’s Independence from the College: It’s a good thing!

Having separate governance is an asset to both the College and the Association. An important aspect of the separation is the BOG gives its directors the chance to have true fiduciary responsibility, not just responsibility for programmatic functions.

My Hopes and Expectations for the Future of Mills College: That Mills remains a women’s college at the undergraduate level. That it continues to be internationally known for its alumnae and faculty. That it continues to recruit traditional-aged students, and encourage resumers to come back to school. I want Mills to remain a leader in women’s issues.

With the new emphasis on graduate education and expanding the graduate programs, the College needs to continually commit to undergraduate education for women. We should be able to encourage and support both the undergraduate and graduate programs equally.

On the Role of Women’s Colleges in Higher Education: Women’s college education is as relevant today as at any time. Look at the women holding prominent leadership positions in corporations and elected government – the overwhelming majority are women’s college graduates.

While this is only one way to measure the relevancy of a women’s college education, it’s an impressive way.

Getting the women’s college message out to prospective students is the challenge. Women who are the beneficiaries of this unique education should continue to set an example for others by their achievements — and write regular, generous checks to keep their alma maters going.

Inspired by the institutions and their graduates there should always be women in the pipeline ready to take advantage of this wonderful educational opportunity.

Adams continued: my life. First, I received a high quality liberal arts education. My classes were small, my professors knew me by name and ability, and I had a variety of fascinating classes at my disposal. Second, in the atmosphere that is Mills, I blossomed in the nurturing environment. I would not have had the same experience in a larger or co-educational institution.

On the Future of the AAMC: The Alumnae Association should continually try to involve as many alumnae with Mills and to raise money for the college.

On the Significance of our Alumnae Association’s Independence from the College: In order for the AAMC to meet the needs of the alumnae it needs to operate as an independent entity. This allows alumnae to grow the association into an organization that best meets their needs.

My Hopes and Expectations for the Future of Mills College: My hope for Mills is that it remains a woman’s college, that it be financially strong, that it continues to offer women a spectrum of choices within a liberal arts curriculum and that it becomes truly diverse.

On the Role of Women’s Colleges in Higher Education: Women’s colleges have a role in higher education as they provide a haven for women in which to develop and become better prepared to enter the world. My experience at Mills gave me an education, confidence and a broad perspective. I wish that for all Mills Women.

Corrections The Annual Giving Report, which appeared in the center of the fall Quarterly, erroneously reported the top class for participation for the decade of the 1950s. The Class of 1957 holds that distinction, with 76 percent participation. Furthermore, the Class of 1957 had the highest percentage of any class.

The Quarterly regrets having erroneously reported a gift in memory of Margaret Thompson Stryble, ’35, in the last issue.

The gift was made in honor of Mrs. Stryble’s 90th birthday by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35.

We apologize to both Mrs. Stryble and Mrs. Bader.

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Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College alumnae community.

To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills. edu.

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of the Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills.edu.

Exhibition of Paper Dolls Celebrates Black History Month

T

LECT

he first black paper doll was printed in 1863 as a promotion for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the most popular book of its time.

These precious paper playthings reflect not only the fashion trends of the period in which they were created, but also the values and mores of the times.

For the past 140 years, paper dolls in magazines, newspapers, comic strips, and greeting cards have chronicled the changing roles, images, and stereotypes of African Americans. In the 1940s, Cracker Jack included a “mammy” doll as one of its prizes. However, in 1937, Jackie Ormes, the first syndicated African American female illustrator, created the cartoon character Torchy Brown, a shapely, sophisticated, no-nonsense fashion maven, who appeared in the Black-owned Pittsburgh Courier. With the civil-rights movement, integrated paper doll sets and Black-pride dolls began to be seen.

Paper doll artists have recently created likenesses of Josephine Baker, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, and many others.

To view these and other rare paper dolls from the extensive collection of Arabella Grayson, MA ’96, visit the Olin Library from January 20 through February 29.

You can cut out the Arabella doll and dress her in a Mills T-shirt!

“Arabella Doll.” Arabella Grayson, the owner of the collection on exhibit, as a girl. Created by Laura Wattles. Used by permission. Please see Paper Kids, <www.paperkids.com>.

ELECT YOUR ALUMNA TRUSTEE Ballot for Alumna Trustee for 2004–2007

Please indicate your choice for alumna trustee:

Ballots must be received at Reinhardt Alumnae House by 5:00 p.m., Monday, March 1, 2004, to be counted. You may use the Alumnae Fund envelope in the center of this magazine to mail in your ballot.

The ballot is printed on the reverse side of your Quarterly mailing label. No ballot will be accepted without the label on the reverse side. In order to maintain voter confidentiality, the Association’s mail opener will verify that the mailing labels are authentic and then ink out voters’ names before passing ballots on to the Alumnae Director and Nominating Committee chair for counting.

Upon request, the AAMC will send a winter Quarterly to replace the one from which you have cut this ballot.

Imbolc by Jean Sirius, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;93.

From a series of eight torn-paper collages entitled Rose Windows.

Imbolc is the Celtic celebration of mid-winter.

See page 29 for a profile of Jean Sirius.

Mills Quarterly Alumnae Association of Mills College Reinhardt Alumnae House Mills College PO Box 9998 Oakland, CA 94613-0998 510 430-2110 aamc@mills.edu www.mills.edu

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