Mills Quarterly, Winter 2018

R EDEFIN IN G THE BO O K  A LUMN A E AWA R D W INNERS  SERV IN G UP PAY EQU IT Y

Mills Quarterly Winter 2018

FELICIA Z A MOR A

“I love Mills as though it’s a person.

It’s part of who I am.”

As an artist and student advisor at Colorado State University, Heather Hamrick Matthews ’00 draws on her creativity and passion for education that were nurtured at Mills. As class agent for the Class of 2000, she puts those same skills to work for the benefit of current Mills students by inspiring her classmates to give to the College.

This season, look for a personal letter or email from your own class agent, who is working hard to ensure that the Mills legacy of academic excellence and outstanding faculty endure for this and future generations of students— as it did for you.

Please make a gift to the Mills College Annual Fund by calling 510.430.2366, visiting alumnae.mills.edu/give, or returning the enclosed envelope.

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Mills Quarterly

CONTENTS

Winter 2018

8 Bookmaking unbound by Sarah Stevenson, MFA ’04 What is a book? And what isn’t? The creations of Mills book art graduates offer surprising answers to these questions.

12 Equal pay for equal play by Linda Schmidt Kristy Pigeon ’73 was a top tennis player in the world—and, in a move of bold defiance, helped pave the way for equal pay for male and female competitors in her sport.

14 Beating the odds by Dawn Cunningham ’85 First-generation students overcome a complex series of academic, economic, and cultural obstacles to find college success. Through integrated academic coaching and peer support, Mills is helping them get there.

21 Alumnae award winners honored Three remarkable Mills graduates earn recognition for their achievements and volunteerism. Plus, Reunion class photos.

Departments 2

Letters to the Editor

3

President’s Message

4

Mills Matters

20 AAMC News 26 Class Notes 30 In Memoriam

On the cover: These students and alumnae are the first members of their families to attend college.

Read more about their challenges and successes on page 14. Photo by Allisun Novak.

Letters to the Editor When I was at Mills in the mid-1980s, I

At Mills College I learned from some

would occasionally see the older style of

of the best faculty in the world. They

Mills College logo-stamped dishware at

were intelligent, enthusiastic, caring,

Founder’s. I admired the old-time pieces

hardworking, inspirational, and very

and wondered if, in years past, all the

supportive of me in my aspiration to be

dishes used by students were of a set,

a doctor (I now work as a physician in

with matching plates, bowls, teacups,

an urgent care center). Professor Dave

etc. I considered ferreting an occasional

Keeports remains one of the very best

item from the dining area, but didn’t

professors I have ever had. He was a

Volume CVI, Number 2 (USPS 349-900) Winter 2018

want to be a troublemaker—and didn’t

clear communicator of concepts of phys-

want to deprive others of enjoying a ran-

ics and physical chemistry; gave superb,

dom sighting of the rare older saucer or

engaging lectures; answered numerous

President Elizabeth L. Hillman

teacup. Just this past spring I bought a

questions during office hours; and was

few lots of Mills College dishes on eBay

amazing to work for as a teacher’s assis-

Chief of Staff and Vice President for Communications and External Relations Renée Jadushlever

so now, at last, have some of my own.

tant in physics and calculus. Because he

My collection so far includes teacups,

is so exceptional, I have recommended

saucers, and some dessert dishes that

Mills College to many undergraduate and

Editor Linda Schmidt

are perfect for applesauce or some other

post-baccalaureate pre-med students.

small portions. The platter and gravy

I am deeply disappointed and sad-

Design and Art Direction Nancy Siller Wilson

boat in the photos in the last issue make

dened to learn that, due to financial

me envious; I will have to keep my eye

issues at the College, Mills has laid off a

Contributing Writers Dawn Cunningham ’85 Sarah Stevenson, MFA ’04

on eBay and see if they show up for bid-

group of professors, including Professor

ding. Anna Henderson’s article “A brief

Keeports and others who have earned

Editorial Assistance Russell Schoch

history of china” was informative and

tenured positions. I understand I am not

entertaining, and I will enjoy utilizing

aware of all the nuances and details of

the knowledge of manufacturer’s marks

the financial crisis that Mills College is

so I can figure out the eras in which my

undergoing, but getting rid of professors,

pieces were created and used at Mills.

who are the heart of the Mills experience,

Mary Louise Fox ’87 Portland, Oregon

appears short-sighted and harmful. I am

The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly by Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California, and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send address changes to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

this is not possible, I highly recommend that these professors receive a generous severance package and a day to honor them at Mills.

Copyright © 2017, Mills College

Perhaps other funding options, such

Address correspondence to Mills Quarterly, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Email: quarterly@mills.edu Phone: 510.430.3312 Printed on recycled paper containing 10 percent post-consumer waste.

as donations from alumnae, could have helped these beloved professors keep their jobs?

Karin Yien ’84 Santa Cruz, California I always look forward to seeing pictures of students on the cover of the Quarterly. I don’t mind a picture of old Mills Hall if you’re doing a story about the College’s history, but I don’t need to see a tea set. Please show people on the

(Please use outline)

cover, because that’s what Mills is all about. The students really make a difference to me.

Bernadette Janet ’79 Portland, Oregon

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

in favor of reversing this decision or, if

Provost and Dean of the Faculty Chinyere Oparah responds: “The College made these difficult decisions with great care and in accordance with the process set out in the faculty handbook. We have resolved matters with each of the individuals whose positions were eliminated, and deeply appreciate the contributions they made to our educational mission.”

A Message from the President of Mills College

The sexual harassment moment

Learning about workplaces, learning at Mills

By Beth Hillman In November 2017, as revelations about

about thinking, has already affected

in individuals and institutions across

sexual harassment rocked major insti-

teaching and learning at Mills and work-

economic sectors. It’s been more than a

tutions across the nation, I gave three

place training about sexual harassment

year since the Washington Post released

lectures at UCSF, a world-renowned

and gender equity. Metacognition views

the Access Hollywood video of then-

biomedical

and

thinking as a process that can be stud-

presidential candidate Donald Trump.

treatment center. I spoke about sexual

ied and influenced. Pedagogy rooted in

While the video did not make President

harassment in academic medicine, about

metacognition encourages students to

Trump unelectable, it did make more

the legal frameworks for addressing the

sharpen their own learning processes

people aware of the demeaning atti-

problem, and on sexual assault in the

through awareness and reflection. I’ve

tudes toward women that so many still

U.S. armed forces. It was a privilege to

relied

techniques

hold. It also opened the door to more

reach such a broad audience of medical

myself in teaching a course this fall on

dialogue about sexual harassment. A

leaders who care about these issues, even

the history of the civil rights movement

few months later, the Harvey Weinstein

as they reckon with the sobering reality

in the United States, and the workplace

scandal unfolded first in the New York

that their institutions have not yet ended

anti-sexual harassment training that

Times, then in hundreds of thousands of

this barrier to gender and racial equity.

Mills requires includes elements of

#MeToo testimonials. These incidents,

Because of their engagement, and that

metacognition as well.

and the many others that followed,

research,

training,

on

metacognitive

of many others in government and the

Metacognition helps to explain why

translated the harm and stigma of sex-

private sector, I am reasonably optimis-

this wave of recent disclosures about

ual harassment for those who failed to

tic that the most recent demonstration

sexual harassment and assault, a wave

understand it before, or who thought

of individual courage and public outrage

that shows no sign of abating, may actu-

they were alone in their struggle against

will result in meaningful change.

ally result in reforms that years of effort

it. They also prepared many more peo-

My optimism is rooted not in hope,

have been unable to achieve. The sheer

ple and organizations to recognize and

but in science. Higher education has

number and severity of complaints

implement the cultural changes that

become both a source of research into

is forcing employers, employees, and

can prevent sexual harassment.

innovative practices and a laboratory

authorities to take part in metacogni-

Finding ways to frame and respond

for new approaches to sexual harass-

tive strategies that we know improve

to the toughest problems facing our

ment and other workplace problems.

learning. People are engaging in dia-

world is a part of what’s exciting about

Studies of creativity, cognitive science,

logue about sexual harassment, asking

being at Mills. We intend to be as bold

and behavioral economics have ana-

questions, and reflecting on their own

as our students, and as enterprising as

lyzed the traits and conditions that lead

experiences, each of which is a key fea-

those who study cognitive science or

to both ingenuity and good decision-

ture of metacognitive strategies that

fight sexual harassment, as we look to

making. In the field of sexual harass-

enhance understanding.

the future. That’s why we reduced our

ment, research has refined and validated

Self-reflection is a powerful learning

undergraduate tuition by more than

theories about prevention and response

tool in part because it prompts us to

a third for new and continuing under-

through surveys, qualitative studies,

examine our assumptions and consider

graduates in 2017–18. The high costs of

and experiments. Today, we know far

new ways of thinking. In past years,

higher education can be as much of a

more than we used to about what makes

public attention to sexual harassment

barrier to the success of prospective stu-

sexual harassment likely, how we might

and assault was episodic, vaulting into

dents as workplace inequities. Breaking

prevent it, and what its impact is.

view with the latest scandal only to sub-

barriers to opportunity has long been a

We also know more about how to

side. The sustained, unrelenting stream

part of the Mills experience, and we will

share information about best practices

of revelations happening now has a

keep looking for ways to help our stu-

with

individuals

better chance of leading to significant

dents overcome the obstacles they face

because of the growing field of meta-

change because of the self-reflection

en route to transformative educations

cognition. Metacognition, or thinking

and acknowledgement it has inspired

and successful lives and careers.

organizations

PHOTO BY ROY M ANZ ANARES

and

WINTER 2018

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Mills Matters Rolling back prices Beginning in fall 2018, Mills College

According to a study conducted

The tuition reset takes effect at the

will reduce its undergraduate tuition

by student loan company Sallie Mae,

start of the 2018 fall semester. All new

by 36 percent. The new base under-

American families unanimously agree

and returning undergraduate students

graduate tuition will drop from

that a college education is an important

will see their tuition cost lowered

$44,765 to $28,765—equivalent to 2005

investment in the future, yet seven out

before any federal, state, or Mills finan-

rates—in a move intended to present

of 10 families eliminate colleges from

cial aid is applied. Students receiving

the cost of attending Mills more clearly

consideration during their search and

financial aid will see adjustments to

and to improve access to education for

selection process due to cost concerns.

compensate for the tuition reduc-

a wider group of prospective students.

Costs weigh especially heavily on

tion, but all will see their bottom-line

women and students of color: A study

tuition costs reduced.

“College costs have become so complex and confusing for the average

published by the American Association

family,” said Provost and Dean of the

of University Women in 2017 revealed

the caliber of our academic offerings,”

Faculty Chinyere Oparah. “This tuition

that women, especially women of color,

said Mills College Board of Trustees

reset will signal to families what the

take on more student loan debt and pay

Chair Katie Sanborn ’83. “We are

actual cost of an education at Mills is,

it back more slowly than men, in part

simply able to make a Mills education

that it’s affordable, and that we want

because they earn less than men after

and degree accessible to more students

your student here.”

they graduate.

than ever before.”

“This tuition reset has no impact on

Friends with benefits Mills and UC Berkeley increase academic ties Mills College President Elizabeth Hillman and UC Berkeley

into the classrooms here,” Alex Engel, Mills assistant professor

Chancellor Carol Christ signed a memorandum of under-

of biology told Berkeley’s Daily Cal newspaper.

standing in October, making a long-standing informal

“The two schools have had a friendly and loose collabora-

partnership between the two campuses official. The two insti-

tion historically,” said Margaret Hunter, associate provost for

tutions seek to leverage the unique benefits of public universi-

recruitment and student success at Mills, who pointed out

ties and small independent colleges for the benefit of both.

that cross-registration and faculty collaboration between

“We have complimentary challenges and the ability to help

the two institutions has existed for decades. Hunter and

each other move forward,” said Hillman. Added Christ: “The

Catherine Koshland, Berkeley’s vice chancellor for under-

public schools face issues of enrollment capacity, and that’s

graduate education, co-chair a task force of a dozen admin-

where I think private institutions can really help.”

istrators from both campuses that developed the new

The partnership grants Mills students access to UC classes as well as to Cal’s summer abroad and global internship

agreement.

The task force is still exploring other mutually beneficial

programs. UC students, who face a Berkeley housing shortage,

possibilities, including a double-degree program that would

have the opportunity to live on the Mills campus; they also

allow students to graduate with degrees from both Mills

are eligible to take introductory biology courses at Mills and

and UC Berkeley. Such an arrangement would relieve UC

access Mills’ accelerated pathways to master’s degrees. UC

Berkeley’s overenrolled majors while offering Mills students

Berkeley undergraduates must meet Mills admission criteria

access to majors not offered at Mills. The task force anticipates

in order to participate in undergraduate programs.

that participation in these programs will increase as some UC

Two UC Berkeley students are taking introductory biology

students are attracted to the smaller, more personal environ-

courses at Mills for the first time this semester. “In a very

ment at Mills, and Mills students seek to take advantage of

practical sense, it means bringing more great, active minds

the larger university’s more extensive resources.

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Mills College at a glance Student Body 2017–18

Budget and fundraising highlights 2016–2017

Total Enrollment:

Annual budget Total revenue Total expense Endowment value (6/30/17)

1,311 students representing 42 states and 9 countries.

Undergraduates

762

First year

$81.3 million $84.0 million $89.8 million $183.3 million

174

Transfer 86 Living on campus

64%

Students of color

57%

First-generation 32% Resumers 15% Graduate students

549

Sources of revenue Tuition & fees Housing, food, & conferences Endowment payout Gifts & grants Other

59% 14% 10% 13%

4%

Women 77% Men 23% Students of color

Faculty

46%

full time

part time

82

92

Female faculty

73%

70%

Faculty of color

40%

33%

Total number

College Rankings • U.S. News & World Report ranks Mills

Sources of gifts Alumnae 33% Estates 29% Foundations & Corporations 22% Trustees 8% Parents, friends, others 7%

as the #2 in Best Value Schools in the West and #9 among Regional Universities in the West.

• The Princeton Review includes Mills on their list of Best 382 Colleges and one of the Best Green Colleges in the country.

Financial Aid Full-time undergraduate tuition for the 2017–18 academic year is $44,765.

Approximately 98 percent of undergraduate students receive financial aid; 96 percent receive some portion of their aid directly from Mills. This year, $31.9 million in total aid will be awarded to undergraduates, of which $20.4 million is funded by Mills. The average award is $42,594.

Graduate tuition starts at $33,480.

Eighty-seven percent of graduate students received financial aid totaling $11.7 million. Mills funded $3.0 million

At the close of the alumnae luncheon on September 16, members of the Class of 1967 50th Reunion Committee Adrien “Dusty” Waller Helm ’67, Sonja Norman Friedman ’67, and Anne Harrington Porter ’67 present President Beth Hillman (second from left) with a big check for $512,957.81, representing giving from all 2017 Reunion classes. (Final totals will be higher; Reunion campaigns end December 31.)

of this amount.

WINTER 2018

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Calendar Film screening: Dolores February 2, 6:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall Rebel. Activist. Feminist. Mother. An equal partner with Cesar Chavez in co-founding the first farm workers unions, Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least-known, activists in American history. This documentary is an intimate portrait of a defiant feminist who has committed her life to racial, labor, and gender justice.

Dolores Huerta, her daughter Camila Chavez ’98, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee ’73 join us for this special showing, presented in cooperation with PBS and the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Contemporary Writers Series February 13  Charlotte Biltekoff Biltekoff’s Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health explores the social and cultural dimensions of American dietary habits. She is associate professor of American studies and food science and technology at UC Davis. This event produced in collaboration with the Mills Community Farm.

March 6  Layli Long Soldier Whereas, Long Soldier’s celebrated collection of poems, was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Awards. She holds a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA from Bard College, and has served as a contributing editor of Drunken Boat.

April 10  MFA Alumni reading featuring Andrea Abi-Karam and Michelle Cruz Gonzales Abi-Karam is an “Arab American genderqueer punk poet cyborg,” co-host of a monthly radical queer open poetry night, and author of the forthcoming book Extratransmission. Cruz Gonzales is an English instructor at Las Positas College and author of The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band. Reception for newly admitted graduate students at 5:15 pm.

All events are at 5:30 pm, Mills Hall Living Room, free. For program details and speaker bios, see http://www.mills.edu/english; for more information, contact 510.430.2204 or grad_eng@mills.edu.

Mills College Art Museum United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta organizing marchers in Coachella, 1969. Photo by George Ballis.

Mills Music Now Concerts February 10  Ashley Fure, Vaux Composer in Residence Fure’s work straddles composition and installation to explore the kinetic source of sound. She is a faculty member in music at Dartmouth College and was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

March 8–11  Signal Flow Festival The annual festival of work by Mills graduate students. March 8–10 at 8:00 pm, March 11 at 2:00 pm.

April 14  X Sound Festival New works by Mills undergraduate students.

All events start at 8:00 pm in the Littlefield Concert Hall (unless otherwise noted). $15 general, $10 to alumnae, seniors, and non-Mills students. See musicnow.mills.edu or contact Steed Cowart at 510.430.2334 or steed@mills.edu.

Songlines February 12  Joel Davel Davel, a composer and percussionist, worked under the direction of inventor Don Buchla for 22 years; in this event he gives a glimpse into Buchla’s world and performing repertoire using a variety of instruments and controllers. Music Building Ensemble Room, 7:30 pm, free.

For updated listings, see musicnow.mills.edu.

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Anxious States: Expressionism from Gauguin to Oliveira December 6, 2017–May 27, 2018 Featuring works from the Museum’s collection, this exhibition follows the evolution of Expressionism as an artistic response to the anxieties of contemporary life, disruptive technologies, and global war across a range of time periods and cultures.

Right: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, 1922 Jennifer Brandon & Jay DeFeo: Photographic Works January 17–March 11 This exhibition presents new work by Jennifer Brandon, MFA ’07, shown in conjunction with rarely seen photocopies and photographs by the ground-breaking visual artist Jay DeFeo to explore each artist’s interest in the intersection of physical materials and photographic process.

Opening reception: January 17, 6:00 pm.

March 27–April 1  Senior Thesis Exhibition April 29–May 27  MFA Thesis Exhibition The museum is open 11:00 am–4:00 pm Tuesday and Friday through Sunday, 11:00 am–7:30 pm Wednesday, and is closed Monday and Thursday. Admission is free. See mcam.mills.edu or contact 510.430.2164 or museum@mills.edu.

Campus kudos A selection of recent achievements by faculty, staff, and students Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Visionary of the Year Award for

Chinyere Oparah co-authored

her work to change the existing

Battling Over Birth: Black Women

models of childbirth and repro-

and the Maternal Health Care Crisis

ductive health.

in California, a report that features

Professor of Mathematics

birth stories gathered from 100 black

and Computer Science Steven

women who gave birth at home, in the

Givant authored two volumes on

hospital, and in birthing centers in

advanced algebra. Introduction to

California. The report reveals that black

Relation Algebras and Advanced

pregnant women experience significant

Topics in Relation Algebras, pub-

conflict with their health-care provid-

lished by Springer International

ers: they encounter stereotyping due

Publishing, take readers new to the

the profound,” reads the AllMusic

to race, class, age, sexual orientation,

topic from a comprehensive grounding

review. Mitchell, who has recorded

and marital status; feel pressured into

to the frontiers of research. Relational

more than 100 albums, has been the

unwanted medical procedures without

algebras provide the theoretical founda-

Darius Milhaud Professor of Music

full informed consent; and are denied

tion for relational databases; Givant has

since 2007; his Mills music colleagues

basic needs such as needing to move,

was closely involved in developing the

William Winant and James Fei also

squat, or push during labor. The report

field since its inception in the 1970s.

appear on the recording.

goes on to call for corrective action

(Professor Givant passed away shortly

by practitioners, health insurers, and

before this issue went to press; look for

student life and dean of students, con-

policy-makers.

a full obituary in the spring Quarterly.)

tributed “Perceptions Do Not Always

Composer and saxophonist Roscoe

Match Realities: Mills College Strives

“Too often, public health policy is

Chinyere Oparah

Nalini Ghuman

Chicora Martin, vice president for

created without listening to the voices

Mitchell released Bells for the South

for Gender Justice” in a special sec-

of those who are most affected,” said

Side, a double album recorded live at

tion on gender-expansive campuses

Oparah. “Black women know what’s

Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary

in the fall 2017 issue of Leadership

wrong with our maternal health-care

Art as part of a 50th-anniversary

Exchange, the magazine of the leading

system, but no-one is listening to what

exhibition devoted to the Association

national association of student affairs

they have to say. This community-

for the Advancement of Creative

professionals. In the article, Martin

driven research aims to change that.”

Musicians, which Mitchell co-founded

describes Mills as “a living example of

In September, the Association for

in 1965. “Bells for the South Side is

the increasingly diverse and rapidly

Wholistic Maternal and Newborn

indeed massive, but its depth, breadth,

changing” landscape of gender equity

Health honored Oparah with the

and inspired performances border on

in higher education.

Audrey Calefas-Strebelle, assistant

TAKE NOTE

professor of French and francophone studies, was instrumental in organizing the 36th annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French

• Eight different teapots from the collection of Susan Tolman Mills adorn this set of folded notecards. $20 including postage.

17th-Century Studies, co-hosted by

• Folded notecards with a eucalyptus branch (5.5 x 4”, blank inside).

Seventy-five participants from France,

• Correspondence cards featuring a small eucalyptus leaf is also available (4 x 6”).

Canada, and the US engaged in presen-

Eucalyptus cards comes in packets of six, with envelopes, for $10, plus $2.50 shipping and handling for up to five packets.

tations and panels, including a special

Proceeds benefit Orange County Mills College Alumnae chapter activities, including an annual scholarship for a Mills student.

rials in an accessible and relevant way.

To order: Mail your check, payable to Orange County Mills College Alumnae, along with a note indicating the quantity of each style, to Jana McDonough, PO Box 2730, Mission Viejo, CA 92690. Please include your phone number or email address in case of any questions.

Need more information? Contact Jana at theocmca@gmail.com or 847.650.8771.

by Professor of History Bert Gordon

Mills and Stanford in November.

session on teaching 17th-century mateThe program included a panel chaired and a concert by Professor of Music Nalini Ghuman.

WINTER 2018

7

BOOKMAKING UNBOUND

By Sarah J. Stevenson, MFA ’04 Photos by Nina Eve Zeininger

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

In a new exhibition, Mills graduates explore the possibilities of what a book can be in an age of virtual text, the physical nature of the printed book might seem quaint or nostalgic—it could almost be considered novel.

But for graduates of the groundbreaking MFA program in Book Art and Creative Writing at Mills, a book is so much more than simply words on a page.

Degrees of Innovation, an exhibition featuring work by 20 of the program’s graduates since its inception in 2009, brings together a stunning variety of interpretations of the book format, from digitally printed wall scrolls and accordion-bound collections of poems to sound-and-video installations and a stack of handmade pillows.

 Structurally, Donkeyskin (Kat Howard, MFA ’13) closely resembles a traditional bound book, but it departs from tradition in nearly every other way. What should be invisible is made visible, and vice versa: threads used in binding spill out from every nook and cranny, while the text is but a ghostly embossment on the page—a fitting rendering for a fairy tale that has been inverted to give voice to a silent character.

 The accordion-like structure of Black Hole hardly looks like a traditional book at all. At first glance it resembles a miniature origami tunnel; on further contemplation, it brings to mind the very simplest of early folded books, the folio. The “reading” process here takes place not on the page, but in the mind of the viewer, who might project nearly anything into the dark secret space inside the paper folds created by Zoe Bulick, MFA ’16 .

WINTER 2018

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Degrees of Innovation is on view 10:00 am—5:30 pm every day through January 14, 2018, at the San Francisco Center for the Book, 375 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco.

An exhibition catalog is also available.

Visit sfcb.org.

The casual viewer might be perplexed at

successor of the printing press—has in

how a stack of pillows qualifies as art, let

many ways been the gravedigger to the

alone a book. Situated next to a more tra-

printed book’s noble history. As a means

ditionally typeset series of poems, Peace

of spreading knowledge, books no longer

of Work Pillow Party by Perla Yasmeen

even have to be real-world objects.

Meléndez, MFA ’15, invites the viewer

Book artists of today, though, see

to reconsider the very idea of the book

the advent of digital media not as an

itself. And yet the hand-sewn, naturally

instrument of the book’s downfall but

dyed pillows do tell a story—of the mate-

as another tool in the creator’s arsenal.

rials used to create them and the pro-

The artists in this show are inventing

cess of manual construction, elements

the future of the book, using struc-

that, in the modern era, are no longer

tures, materials, and content that range

an essential component of the book as

throughout

mass-produced object.

Familiar techniques such as hand bind-

the

artistic

spectrum.

This is one of the fascinating things

ing, cutouts, pop-ups, and letterpress

about books as an art form: their very

printing share space with embroidered

physicality suggests to the viewer the

hand-woven tapestries and 3D-printed

entire history of bookmaking. The com-

sculptural objects—items that make the

puter—the technology that many con-

viewer question the very nature of what

sider the next step in literary access, the

a book is, and what it is not.

Unpacking, by Isabel Duffy, MFA ’15, is a cleverly fashioned box that unfolds, panel by panel, into a loose narrative. Using classic book art techniques such as letterpress and linoleum-cut images with an innovative and interactive structure, this piece challenges the viewer’s idea of a book as flat, linear, and static.

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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

The Curse of the Malevolent Book Spirit (Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder, MFA ’16) is “a haunted book, about a haunted book.” Pop-up monsters that bring us back to the books of our childhood are combined with a Ouija-board planchette incorporating a black light that reveals hidden messages written in UV-reactive ink.

Book art at Mills, like music and dance,

oversaw the growth of book art at Mills

Traditionally, a book is also narrative,

has long been an iconoclastic, avant

from elective courses to the founding of

containing sequential content; but with

garde pursuit. From the early 1930s,

America’s first degree-granting graduate

an artist’s book, content is not limited to

when the world had limited opportuni-

program in book art in 1983—culminat-

the printed matter on its pages. The very

ties for professional women, Rosalind

ing, in 2009, with the first MFA to com-

form of the book itself is often an expres-

Keep’s Eucalyptus Press taught young

bine book art and creative writing.

sion of what it contains—as with Heather

women the elements of typesetting, printing, and publishing.

“What book art faculty look for is work

Peters’ The Bruises, which evokes the

that reflects an understanding of the

idea of a bandaged wound when one “unwraps” it in order to read it.

Though Eucalyptus Press went on

basic tenets of the time-based medium

hiatus when Keep passed away in 1958,

of book art: theme, sequence, narrative,

When a book is elevated to the plane

by the early 1970s, books had emerged

and solid craft practice,” says Walkup.

of art, as in this exhibit, the artists are

as an experimental art form, and sev-

”The works in the thesis exhibition may

not only sustaining a time-honored

eral small presses in the Bay Area pro-

not always include books, but the work

craft, they are writing a brand-new story

vided a forum for women authors. Lynda

always reflects the idea of the book as a

for a new age. Professor of Book Art Julie

Claassen, special collections librarian

conceptual framework and a time-based

Chen, who curated the show, says, “The

at Mills, knew it was the perfect time to

medium.” In other words, unlike the

innovation springing from this interdis-

revive the press and bindery. Professor

single frozen moment of a painting or

ciplinary approach has expanded the

Kathleen Walkup, who now holds the

photograph, a book invites you to linger,

definition of the book far beyond what

Lovelace Family Endowed Chair of Book

turning the pages from one to the next.

anyone could have predicted.” ◆

Art, joined the program in 1978 and

It takes time to read a book.

WINTER 2018

11

Kristy Pigeon in action during the London Grass Court Championships in West Kensington, London, 1968.

Equal pay for equal play

By Linda Schmidt

Growing up as an athletic, horse-crazy

en’s professional tennis and featuring

In the early 1960s, she was training as a

teenager in Danville, California, Kristy

the historic showdown match between

competitive swimmer when she saw an

Pigeon ’73 never imagined she’d find

King and Bobby Riggs.

announcement for an end-of-summer rec-

herself on a Hollywood red carpet. But

“I almost didn’t go because I’m not

reational tennis tournament. “I thought

she was one of nine women, including

the type of person who wants to be in

that might be kind of fun, so when I got

multiple Wimbledon winner Billie Jean

the middle of all that, but I enjoyed it,”

out of the pool, I signed up,” she says. She

King and her doubles and Tennis Hall

Pigeon says. “All but one of us were there;

won that tournament, and decided: “I

of Fame partner Rosie Casals, who broke

we have a strong bond, and it was good

really liked tennis.” She exchanged free

away from the US Tennis Association

to see each other.” Those “Original Nine”

lessons for working in the pro shop at the

in 1970 to form their own tournament

changed the course of sports history,

local country club and soon was tearing

circuit in pursuit of equitable pay for

paving the way for tennis to become the

her way through increasingly competi-

female players. And she couldn’t resist

only sport that compensates men and

tive tournaments. In 1968, the year she

the invitation to attend the September

women equally.

graduated from high school, she won the

2017 premiere of the movie Battle of

Yet it was almost by chance that

US Tennis Association National Junior

Sexes, based on their early days of wom-

Pigeon had picked up a tennis racquet.

Championships and the girls’ singles

12

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

PHOTO BY FRED MOT T/E V ENING S TANDARD/HULTON ARCHIV E /GE T T Y IM AGES

championship at Wimbledon. She was the

free tennis clinics to the local country

years after graduating from Mills, and

number one under-21 player in the world.

club women. We’d do radio talk shows at

then moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, to pur-

6 in the morning.”

sue other outdoor activities she loves—

But she was also determined to attend college, choosing Mills for its small lib-

The time was right for women to take

horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and

eral arts environment and for the oppor-

a stand. “I was very aware of the larger

mountain biking. She ran a tennis resort

tunity to study art with Ralph DuCasse.

women’s movement, especially because

and was a ski instructor for 11 years.

Since very few athletic scholarships were

of my time at Mills,” says Pigeon. While

Then she had what she calls an “epiph-

available for women students, Pigeon

she was a student, she was impressed by

any” about enabling people with disabili-

had turned pro, in part, to pay for col-

campus speakers like Betty Friedan and

ties to experience otherwise inaccessible

lege. At Mills, she split the academic year

Stephanie Mills ’69, who made headlines

wilderness on horseback. After volun-

between her studies and playing the cir-

teering with a therapeutic rid-

cuit, traveling as far as South Africa to

ing facility in the Bay Area and

compete. “It was very difficult both to

seeing directly how riding can

play tennis and go to college,” she says.

“Most other players didn’t do that: they just played.”

During this period, the popularity of professional tennis was on the rise. So too were the prize purses for tournament winners—at least if those winners were male. By 1970, men were earning as much as 12 times what women players were, and tournament organizers

“We overcame the outdated attitude that ‘women belong in the kitchen’ by proving that we were good and that we were as interesting to watch as men.”

improve

physical,

cognitive,

and emotional well-being, she expanded her vision and built the Sagebrush Equine Training Center for the Handicapped (SETCH) in Idaho.

“In certain forms of equine assisted therapy, the movement of the horse serves to balance and strengthen you; the horse’s

had no interest in hearing any appeals

gait

about equity.

walking action of a person, so

So Pigeon and eight other top play-

actually

simulates

the

many kids with different condi-

ers teamed up with Gladys Heldman,

with her outspoken feminist views on

tions can learn to walk later,” she says.

the well-connected publisher of World

population control. “But I don’t think

For 20 years, she served as executive

Tennis magazine, to boycott the exist-

the women who were burning bras dur-

director for the program, which contin-

ing tournament series and create one

ing my day had the best approach,” she

ues to provide free sessions for people

of their own. “I knew I was taking a risk

adds. “Our tennis group overcame the

with conditions from Parkinson’s dis-

and could be banned from playing but,

outdated attitude that ‘women belong

ease to cerebral palsy, as well as for at-

if we got suspended, I figured I always

in the kitchen’ by proving that we were

risk kids.

had school to fall back on, and we could

good and that we were as interesting to

just work it out later,” she says. The nine

watch as men.”

“I just dove into that head first and never came up for air,” she says. “That’s

players signed symbolic one-dollar con-

Audiences grew as the new women’s

tracts and enlisted corporate backing

tournaments offered top-notch play on

from the Philip Morris Company, which

the courts, plenty of bold characters,

Pigeon retired from SETCH in 2010,

was marketing Virginia Slims cigarettes

and exciting rivalries. Billie Jean King,

and now spends most of her time restor-

to newly “liberated” women. “A cigarette

the top woman player of the time, was

ing wetlands at her ranch in southern

and beer company!” she says, laughing.

an opinionated spokesperson for the

Idaho. She has plans to take up art again,

“As ironic as it was, they provided press

group and for women’s equality. Gladys

as another way of celebrating the beauty

packets and publicity that really helped

Heldman was a very capable promoter

she sees in the natural world.

us along the way. And—they didn’t show

and built more lucrative prizes. Within

Attending the Battle of the Sexes pre-

this in the movie—after our matches

a year, the “original nine” had expanded

miere prompted her to reflect on the

there would be cigarettes and a big bowl

to include 40 women athletes signed

many milestones of her life, she says, and

of Miller High Life beer on ice in the

up to play the circuit, which eventually

on the ongoing battle for equal oppor-

locker room for us.”

formed the basis for today’s worldwide

tunity and respect. “Now, not only are

professional women’s tennis tour.

women out there working and bringing

Although

women’s

opportunities

were changing, the players still faced an

kind of how I do everything—until the next thing comes along.”

home a paycheck—although it’s smaller

uphill battle. “Our audiences weren’t big

For most people, revolutionizing a sport

at first, I can tell you that,” Pigeon says.

would be a lifetime’s crowning achieve-

the laundry and cooking. Culture still

“We worked like dogs to promote our-

ment, but for Pigeon it was only the first

needs to change. We still need to push

selves. We’d pass out free tickets or give

of many. She played pro tennis for a few

harder.” ◆

than it should be—but they’re also doing

WINTER 2018

13

Beating the odds First-generation students face cultural, academic, and financial obstacles to earning a college degree. Mills has made it a priority to diminish such barriers.

By Dawn Cunningham ’85 / Photos by Allisun Novak

“

ou all are what makes Mills great. Entering spaces, lifting voices, and creating a path for generations to come… I invite you all to ask yourself, who are you showing up for, and why?”

Emmely Tot Mairena directed these words to the whole community that gathered on the meadow behind Mills Hall during the convocation speech she and Katie Funes gave in September as co-presidents of the Associated Students of Mills College. But her remarks have particular relevance for those, like Funes and herself, who are first-generation students.

One-third of the College’s undergraduates are first-generation— that is, neither parent has a four-year degree. Many are economically disadvantaged—three quarters qualify for need-based federal financial aid. And although half are Latina and one in five are white, students of all ethnicities fit into this group.

Each first-generation student who completes her degree is a pioneer for her family. She charts a path unknown to her predecessors, radically altering life opportunities not only for herself, but for any children she might have.

Such opportunities don’t come without hardship. College can be challenging for anyone, but first-generation students across the country face

14

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Chelsea Ekholm ‘13, Emmely Tot Mairena, Lilian Gonzalez ’09, Katie Funes, and Doraly embody the many paths to success for first-generation students at Mills.

WINTER 2018

15

additional barriers: They are less likely to have taken rigor-

Inspiring admissions staff represent only the first step.

ous college-prep courses in high school and so tend to struggle

Mills has also been seeking to pull down administrative and

more with academic work and earn lower grades than their

financial barriers to entry. Last year, the College dropped the

peers. Their median family income is less than half that of

requirement that students submit SAT or ACT test scores with

other students, and they often work long hours to support

their admission applications. A national study found that first-

themselves. And those who are students of color can encounter

generation students often don’t fulfill this requirement—and

racial bias throughout the system.

that these scores are not good indicators of a student’s aca-

Nationwide, the odds against first-generation students com-

demic potential. And in fall 2018 Mills will reduce its tuition

pleting college are formidable. A long-term study of people

by 36 percent—a move designed, in part, to lessen the sticker-

who were high-school sophomores in 2002 found that only

shock of private college tuition for first-generation students

20 percent of first-generation students completed a bachelor’s

and their families.

degree within 10 years, while that completion rate was twice as

In addition, Mills participates in several initiatives to help

high among those with at least one parent who was a college

first-generation, low-income high-school students enter any

graduate (sometimes called “continuing-generation students”).

college. Among them are the College’s 45-year-old Upward

At Mills, programs and personnel committed to educational

Bound program, which provides academic tutoring, and the

equity have helped diminish these barriers.

new Oakland Promise College Pathway Partnership, through

Tot Mairena’s mother, an immigrant to Los Angeles from Honduras, always insisted that her daughter attend college.

which Mills offers financial aid and mentoring to high school students in Oakland.

In fact, first-generation students are more likely than their

The college environment itself can present an unfamiliar world

continuing-generation peers to report that they attend college

of differing social motivations and goals that can be daunting

because their parents want them to do so. Yet their parents

for first-generation students. “For most students, college is an

lack the experience to help them navigate the process of select-

opportunity to pursue their own passions,” notes Pedro Nava, assistant professor of education at Mills. “Among first-generation stu-

“Campus cultures tend to assume students are relatively free of family obligations and financial responsibilities.... Educators may fail to recognize the challenges that first-generation students face — and fail to give them the academic, administrative, and emotional support they need to thrive in college.

dents, however, there’s more of an expectation that education is a pathway to social mobility.”

Nicole

Stephens,

psychologist

and

a

social

professor

at

Northwestern University, has analyzed another aspect of the “cultural mismatch,” as she calls it, between first-generation students and higher education institutions.

First-generation students, Stephens says,

are

spurred

by

“interde-

pendent” values—they often are attending college in order to help their families and give back to

ing, applying to, and paying for college. “My mom was under

their communities. These motives contrast with the “inde-

the impression that college would only cost about $1,000,” Tot

pendent” norms and values dominant in higher education

Mairena says. “When I told her what I’d really need to pay, she

in America, where college is typically seen as a way for an

was shocked.” Tot Mairena considered attending a commu-

individual to gain independence from family and to expand

nity college or state university but, at a college fair, she met

one’s own knowledge.

an enthusiastic admissions officer, Maria Mejia ’13, who convinced her to apply to Mills.

Chelsea Ekholm ’13 felt this mismatch acutely. “I struggled a lot emotionally in my first year,” she says. After losing her

Many first-generation students at Mills credit teachers, coun-

father to illness when she was young, Ekholm had developed a

selors, and admission officers for guiding them to college. Lilian

deep sense of responsibility for and connection to her mother.

Gonzalez ’09 found mentors in her Long Beach high school’s

Living on campus, she was homesick much of the time. “I had

AVID college readiness program. “They pushed me to take up

an image of college life in which students weren’t supposed

extracurricular activities,” she recalls, and one directed her to

to want to go home; my mom thought the same thing,” says

see a presentation about Mills by Marisa Quiroz ’01. “When I

Ekholm. “I wish I had known that there was no right way to ‘do

heard Marisa speak with such eloquence and warmth and con-

college,’ and that it was OK to go back.”

fidence, I thought, ‘This is it. That’s who I want to be.’”

16

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

That interdependence is further evidenced in the multiple

“I tried to hide the fact that my parents had little education and that my family had a history of mental illness. I was worried that people would judge me on my background, rather than seeing me as another student with great aspirations.” —Avalon Baldwin ’14

roles first-generation students frequently fill in their families—a

would judge me on my background, rather than seeing me as

sense of duty that doesn’t end when they enroll in college. “I

another student with great aspirations.”

had a hard time leaving home in Los Angeles because I was the

During her junior year, Baldwin’s mother ended up in a home-

one who held the house down while my mom and grandma

less shelter in Berkeley. Because of this tragic turn in her family’s

worked,” says Tot Mairena. “I took care of my younger brother,

circumstances, Baldwin knew she didn’t have the bandwidth

cooked and cleaned, served as a translator for my grandma.”

to give all her classes the attention they required, but she was

Such obligations can pressure many first-generation students

hesitant to ask for help. “I felt I was outing myself as a person

to leave school before finishing their degrees.

who has all these problems,” she says. Finally, she pushed herself

In some cases, first-generation students must also continue

to explain the situation to her advisor, Associate Professor of

to contribute to the family financially. Gonzalez worked 35

Biology Jared Young, who responded with empathy and enabled

hours a week, in jobs on and off campus, to pay for tuition

her to drop a physics class. With her academic pressures relieved,

and books and to send money back to her parents, who had

she says, “I finished the rest of my classes with straight A’s.”

immigrated from Mexico and Ecuador. Occasionally a profes-

The risk of exposing one’s family background has become

sor would suggest that academic work should take precedence.

particularly serious this year for one type of first-generation

“People would tell me to be more selfish, because college was

student: undocumented immigrants, including those tempo-

‘my time,’” she says. “But I already felt selfish and privileged to

rarily protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for

be attending college. Seeing the women in my extended family

Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The future of DACA has

work so hard, I wanted to use the privileges I enjoyed—speak-

been uncertain since the Trump administration announced

ing English, having an education, and being a citizen—to give

that the program would be rescinded. Although Mills has

back to them.” Because of supportive faculty and staff on cam-

pledged to provide a safe space for undocumented students

pus who understood the pressures she faced, she says, “Mills is

and an endowed scholarship fund has been established for

a place where I felt very accepted.”

them by the Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC),

That sense of acceptance is far from the rule. Northwestern’s Stephens found that the cultural mismatch she identified often

their college experience is often overshadowed by legal and administrative obstacles.

results in first-generation students feeling they don’t even

Doraly (her nickname is used alone here to protect her iden-

belong in college—a feeling that can undermine their academic

tity) is one such DACA student in her first year at Mills. Her

performance. Campus cultures tend to assume students are rel-

family moved from Mexico to Kansas when she was three. “My

atively free of family obligations and financial responsibilities.

parents always told me we were in this country to get an edu-

Because of such assumptions, Nava points out, educators may

cation, so there was never any doubt that I would go to col-

fail to recognize the challenges that first-generation students

lege.” She chose Mills in part for the financial support it could

face—and fail to give them the academic, administrative, and

provide DACA students and for its welcoming reputation. Still,

emotional support they need to thrive in college.

since she is ineligible for federal financial aid or work-study

In this environment, low-income, first-generation students

funds, Doraly has to figure out how to piece together private

often feel pressure to “pass” as middle-class and may be hesi-

scholarships to cover tuition, how to work on campus, and how

tant to ask for help when they need it. “I never talked about

to get health insurance. “People don’t understand how difficult

my family with classmates,” says Avalon Baldwin ’14. “I tried to

it is for DACA students to navigate campus systems right now.

hide the fact that my parents had little education and that my

There isn’t much clarity about how to provide us with support

family had a history of mental illness. I was worried that people

as DACA comes to an end,” she says.

WINTER 2018

17

“Many of the first-generation students I work with are used to being engaged with their communities at home. I take them to events around immigration rights and social justice. Students have told me that this engagement with the community is one reason they stay at Mills.” —Arely Zimmerman, assistant professor of ethnic studies The stakes involved in completing college are high. On average,

ognize the strengths in students’ relationships to family and

college graduates earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than

community and the resilience that has enabled them to make

high school graduates. If colleges don’t help first-generation

it to college. Research by Northwestern’s Nicole Stephens sug-

students surmount the barriers they face, the opportunity to

gests that such an approach is one of the most effective ways

earn a degree risks becoming even more of an inherited privi-

to help first-generation students beat the odds against them. In

lege, further deepening the chasms between socio-economic

a comparative study, she found that entering first-generation

classes.

students benefitted most from an orientation panel that explic-

Mills has been remarkably successful in providing students

itly examined the ways social class affects the college experi-

with a high degree of social mobility. Here, first-generation

ence. During the semester, students who attended these panels

students graduate at rates close to those of their continuing-

sought help from professors and other campus resources more

generation peers. Mills also has been recognized for excellence

often than those who didn’t. They achieved grade-point aver-

in enrolling and graduating low-income students by the US

ages similar to peers with college-educated parents.

Department of Education, and the College has achieved a high

Last summer, Professor Pedro Nava taught a SAW course

“mobility rate”—enabling students from low-income families to

called Race, Power, and Gender. “I had students talk about their

achieve high earnings after graduation—according to research-

own biographies and use the course readings to analyze their

ers with the Equality of Opportunity Project.

experience of education and US society,” says Nava, who had

One key to Mills’ success is a program that has supported first-generation students on campus since 1989: the Summer

also been a first-generation student. “It was an opportunity to center the lived experiences of these students.”

Academic Workshop (SAW), which provides both academic

Emmely Tot Mairena recalls learning in SAW about the con-

coaching and an enduring peer network. Each summer, SAW

cept of social stratification. “That helped explain the challenges

brings about 20 first-year, first-generation students to live on

I’ve faced. Having a language that reflected and acknowledged

campus for four weeks of intensive college-prep courses, study

my experience was so powerful.”

skills workshops, leadership development activities, and a cam-

The College’s Hellman Science Summer and Math Fellows

pus life orientation. During the school year, SAW provides stu-

Program gives entering first-year students a similar boost.

dents with faculty and staff advisors who help them navigate

Though not designed specifically for first-generation students,

administrative systems and college cultures, as well as ongoing

it provides a beneficial bridge to college. Former Hellman fel-

study sessions that give them an opportunity to discuss their

low Liz Newman ’14, who is now pursuing a doctoral degree in

experiences and connect with each other. (In SAW’s earlier

immunology and microbiology at New York Medical College,

years, the program also included students of color who were

recalls, “I had no idea what to expect from college; no one I

not necessarily first-generation.)

knew had ever lived in a dorm. I had no one to ask, ‘How is

“SAW really works,” says Lea Robinson, who was a first-gen-

studying for college different from studying for high school?’

eration student and now oversees SAW as the assistant dean

That was answered during the Hellman program. I credit that

of students. “By the time fall semester classes start, SAW has

program with my success.”

pushed students so hard academically that they are calm and confident. They know they belong here.”

Mills’ summer bridge programs, however, don’t have the capacity for every student who would benefit from intensive

Kirstyne “Kirie” Lange ’12 agrees. Although her parents

college preparation. A recent campus initiative, Being the First,

never made it to college, after SAW, she says, “I felt at least as

supports all first-generation students through workshops on

well prepared as my friends whose parents did attend college.

study skills and career preparedness, regional conferences on

I knew who to go to for help, how to organize my time, how to

topics such as money management, and social events. Alfredo

pick the right classes. I figured out how to learn.”

Del Cid, assistant director for social justice resources and first-

SAW also works because the program’s instructors directly

generation programs, says, “In all these activities, our mes-

address the socio-cultural aspects of higher education that can

sage to our students is, ‘Because you are first-generation, you

alienate first-generation students. At the same time, they rec-

have strengths—like your ability to connect with people and

18

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

resources—that will make you a successful college student.’”

in San Francisco’s North Bay region get into and through col-

Meanwhile, the College continues to cultivate a culture that

lege, Baldwin mentored high school students in the nonprofit’s

recognizes the needs of first-generation students. Close atten-

year-round Institute and Summer Intensive—a program she

tion from faculty advisors who understand them can make a

herself had participated in five years earlier. “I felt I could help

big difference—as in Avalon Baldwin’s case—so Mills professors

these students by sharing my own story and pushing them to

and the provost’s office have been developing more holistic

do all the great things they dream of doing,” she says. At the

and cooperative advising models that help students identify

end of her two-year fellowship, Baldwin was hired into a per-

their strengths, articulate their dreams, and create plans to

manent staff position at the organization.

achieve them. The Associated Students of Mills College and the AAMC recently launched an initiative to encourage networking

between

first-generation

students and alumnae, as well.

Many first-generation students have found role models for academic success among faculty in ethnic studies and other departments. Lilian Gonzalez says, “I found myself reflected in these professors. They already knew the issues that came with being first generation—I didn’t have to explain my story.” Katie Funes says she’s inspired

by Arely Zimmerman, assistant professor of ethnic studies, who is mentoring Funes as she conducts a research project on Central American refugees. “Many of the first-generation students I work with are used to being engaged with their communities at home,” Zimmerman says. “So I try to act as a facilitator to connect them to the broader community beyond campus. I take them to events around immigration rights and social justice. Students have told me that this engagement with the community is one reason they stay at Mills.”

“My time at Mills was a turning point for me to see the strengths in being first generation,” says Gonzalez. “From Sabrina Kwist, the former assistant dean and

“I learned that being first generation was not something that I had to overcome, but something that I could highlight. Mills reinforced my commitment to use the privilege I gained through education to help others.” —Lilian Gonzalez ’09

director of SAW, I learned that being first generation was not something that I had to overcome, but something that I could highlight. Mills reinforced my commitment to use the privi-

And, in addition to earning a master of public administra-

lege I gained through education to help others.” Gonzalez

tion and launching a career in private school admissions, Kirie

earned a master’s as a marriage and family therapist, opened

Lange continues to work with first-generation students in high

a private practice, and recently returned to Mills to work as a

school—including those at her alma mater in San Diego—to show

student support coordinator and therapist.

them a path toward college. “My high school volleyball coach

Community engagement often continues to be a priority for

still asks me to come back to talk to the team. The students in

first-generation students after they graduate. These alumnae

my high school have so few opportunities to see first hand what

are showing up, as students and professionals, to make the

college success looks like.” Of all she has accomplished, and all

path a little easier for those who come after them. As a fellow

she has given, Lange says, “This is for me, this is for my family,

at 10,000 Degrees, a nonprofit that helps low-income students

this is for my ancestors, this is for my community.”

◆

WINTER 2018

19

Mills College President Beth Hillman, Vineetha Mummadi, Bonnie Guiton Hill, Gerry Wong Ching, and AAMC President Viji Nakka-Cammauf.

Photo by Teresa Tam

A Message from the AAMC President The past few months have been filled with celebrations, recogni-

new ways for students to network with alumnae. The AAMC

tions, and opportunities to connect with the Mills community.

Board of Governors is revising its committee structure to

Reunion, the signing of the new Memorandum of Collaboration

enable it to accomplish the goals and objectives of the MOC.

between the College and the Alumnae Association of Mills

New or restructured committees include: Communications/

College, and the Alumnae of Color Committee Jazz Concert all

Fundraising/Marketing, Lifelong Learning, Reinhardt Alumnae

provide examples of ways alumnae are making a difference for

House, and Volunteer Development.

the College, its students, faculty and staff, and each other.

Committees allow alumnae to focus their skills and interests

The AAMC’s fall activities kicked off in September with

in relation to the College. Our longstanding Alumnae of Color

Reunion, attended by more than 275 alumnae and guests.

Committee (AoCC) has modeled many different ways for alum-

During the Class Luncheon and AAMC Awards Ceremony, we

nae to support Mills students. In October, the AoCC held its

honored three inspiring graduates (see story opposite). Each

annual Jazz Concert—featuring flute and vocal performances

was nominated for her award by a fellow alumna and selected

by Kymberly Jackson ’99, MFA ’04, EdD ’11—and raised $15,245

by the AAMC Awards Committee. We also celebrated the 50th

to be added to the Alumnae of Color Committee Endowed

Reunion gift from the Class of 1967 and the generous giving

Scholarship in honor of former president Alecia DeCoudreaux.

to Mills over the past year by reunioning classes (those who

Another

continuing

committee,

the

Alumnae-Student

graduated in years ending in 2 or 7). All together, these gifts

Relations Committee, partnered with the Associated Students

totaled over $500,000!

of Mills College in November to host the first-ever mixer for

Other highlights included a well-attended discussion of the

first-generation students and alumnae. We heard students

nonfiction book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the

express a strong desire for greater access to alumnae who can

Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space

mentor them during their undergraduate studies and as they

Race. Led by Professor of Education Priya Shimpi Driscoll and

transition to graduate schools or careers, and we will be think-

AAMC Governor Linda Stingily ’78, the discussion prompted

ing of how we can best provide this support.

alumnae to share their own untold stories of unrecognized accomplishments.

In upcoming communications, I will share information about how you can participate in the work of our committees. The

Also at Reunion, the AAMC held two sessions where we

AAMC will need help from each one of you to fully realize the

presented and discussed the proposed Memorandum of

potential of our revitalized College-AAMC partnership. One way

Collaboration and Agreement (MOC) between the AAMC and

you can let your voice be heard in this partnership is by nomi-

the College. Through various channels, we received helpful

nating candidates for alumna trustee and AAMC governors.

suggestions from alumnae that resulted in edits to the MOC.

Please see the inside back cover of this Quarterly for duties,

In October, the revised MOC was approved by unanimous vote

deadlines, and instructions.

of both the AAMC Board of Governors and the Mills College Board of Trustees.

Please also consider returning to the Mills classroom as an auditor in spring 2018 and applying for an auditing stipend (see

The 2017 MOC is now in effect, bringing the AAMC and the

back cover). Or check the events calendar in the online alum-

College into a deeper, more tangible partnership than we have

nae community at www.alumnae.mills.edu to get involved in

experienced in over a decade. You can read the final, approved

upcoming activities. You will be enriched and encouraged!

MOC at www.alumnae.mills.edu/compact. Among the changes it initiates are opportunities for the AAMC to fundraise for our

Warmly,

new AAMC Fund; a significant role for the AAMC in manag-

Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82

ing the use of Reinhardt Alumnae House; and development of

President, Alumnae Association of Mills College

20

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

AAMC NEWS & NOTES

Alumnae awards honor inspiring women DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD It seems there is no challenge Bonnie Guiton Hill ’74 can’t

of the United States Postal Rate Commission under President

meet—she has found success in business, nonprofit organiza-

Ronald Reagan. As chair of the Consumer Affairs Council and

tions, academia, and government, all while working to improve

special advisor to President George H.W. Bush, she was among

the lives of minorities and the poor, support education for all,

the first to address consumer concerns about the privacy and

and protect the rights of consumers.

accuracy of computerized information. And when Pete Wilson

“For us young black women attending Mills in the early

selected her as secretary of the State Consumer Services

1970’s, Bonnie was the consummate role model,” says her

Agency in 1991, Hill became the first African American woman

award nominator, Lynette Williams Williamson ’72, MA ’74,

to serve in a California governor’s cabinet.

who recalls that interacting with this “perfectly coiffed, impec-

Returning to the private sector in 1996, Hill became vice

cably dressed, poised black female was an unexpected surge of

president of The Times Mirror Company, publisher of the Los

pride and excitement.”

Angeles Times; in 1998 she was named the paper’s senior vice

Hill made swift advances after completing her Mills degree:

president of community relations. She also led The Times Mirror

within five years, she served as assistant dean of student ser-

Foundation, spearheading the company’s philanthropic efforts.

vices and interim director of the ethnic studies department at

Hill currently is president of B. Hill Enterprises, a consult-

Mills; earned a master’s degree at California State University,

ing firm focusing on corporate governance and public policy

Hayward; headed the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute,

issues, and chief operating officer of Icon Blue, a branded

an organization that supports staff and students in the Oakland

merchandise company. She has been a trustee of RAND

public schools; and joined the Kaiser Center, a subsidiary of

Corporation; a director of numerous corporations, including

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation, as a vice presi-

Hershey and Home Depot; and a board member of United Way

dent. Soon thereafter, she added a doctorate in education from

of Greater Los Angeles, the Hollywood Entertainment Museum,

UC Berkeley to her academic credentials.

the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the Jenessee

Her expertise, experience, and education made her a valuable

Center, which combats domestic violence. Hill also serves as

resource to two presidents and a governor. She served as assis-

honorary chair of the Alumnae of Color Committee Endowed

tant secretary of the Department of Education and vice chair

Scholarship in honor of President Alecia DeCoudreaux.

OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER AWARD

RECENT GRADUATE AWARD

Gerry Wong Ching ’57 has quietly contributed a lifetime of

As a Mills graduate student, Vineetha Mummadi, MBA ’16,

service to her community and to her College. She was the first

served as a tutor for some of the most challenging busi-

non-white ASMC president in Mills history and, as an alumna,

ness courses and worked as a pro-bono consultant at

has been a stalwart member of the Hawaii Mills Club and stu-

OaklandWORKS Alliance, a non-profit that provides economic

dent admissions contact.

and social and environmental justice advocacy. Now working

Her extensive work on behalf of the people of Hawaii

as a risk management analyst with Bank of the West, her plan

includes service on numerous civic boards, commissions, and

for empowering women in her home country of India on the

grant-making organizations. In 1968, she became the first

road to financial independence won her a prestigious Financial

Chinese woman invited to membership in the Junior League

Women of San Francisco (FWSF) Award. Vineetha continues

of Hawaii; nearly 50 years later, she was recognized with the

to enrich the Mills community as official liaison for the FWSF

Laura N. Dowsett Award, the League’s highest annual honor.

program, as a resource for jobs, and as a mentor for current

The Catholic Charities of Hawaii honored her as a Volunteer

students.

Fundraiser of the Year, and she is one of only two non-Catholics to have been recognized with the Charities’ Ulu Award, which symbolizes the core values of dignity, social justice, commitment to excellence, and compassion.

“Gerry is a true Mills woman, as exemplified by her decadeslong efforts to help truly vulnerable people, improve community connections and speak to issues that matter in philanthropy,”

To get involved, contact the Alumnae Association of Mills College at aamc@mills.edu, 510.430.2110, or AAMC, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., MB #86, Oakland, CA 94613

says her friend and nominator Lyn Flanigan ’65.

WINTER 2018

21

Reunion 2017 P H O T O S B Y D AN A DAV IS AN D A LLISU N NO VA K

22 

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Class of 1967 50th Reunion



1947 Betty Peck Hutchins, Kathryn Kelly Smith

1952 Top row: Edie Forsyth Nelson, Geri Green Blauer, Jane Bell Croul, Anne Mero Adelmann Front row: Mary Greene Jobson, Jane Farrell Gaw, Jacquelyn Jagger Parsons, Marie Muirhead Escher

1957 Top row: Sharon Song Paik, Mary Parker Lawrence, Judy Pierce Westerman, Myrna Bostwick Cowman, Pat Reid Harmon, Rosita Montalvo Schloss, Gerry Wong Ching Front row: Patricia Taylor Lee, Deborah Beck Rosenberg, Barbara Hunter, Ann Winsor Doskow, Betsy Krause Sherman, Ellen Woody Nichols, Lynn Dean Newhall

1962 Susan Wheeler McLaren, Ann Brockhoff Lister

1967 Top row: Linda Holesapple Johnson, Carolyn Shaver, Kathy Hogue Sommese, Missy Coffin Willis, Sandra Hooper Roberts, Susan Ford Blomberg, Jayne DuMont Mack, Karen Massotty Steenhard, Carol Grundfor Pollock, Leslie Block Kaye Fourth row: Susan Schneider Yansouni, Carolyn Wade-Ouse, Ann Taylor Cover, Laura Bekeart Dietz, Alta Ronchetto Mowbray, Elaine Hesse Steel Third row: Anne Harrington Porter, Christine Robb, Gwen Jackson Foster, Julieanne Thompson, Carol Bourgeis Schwartz, Diane Massmann Jurach, Adrien “Dusty” Waller Helm, Jo Fox Burr, Sheila Sullivan Dowell, Donna Luckhardt Joslyn, Chalda Maloff, Mary Lysne Roszak, Lin Herod-Vernon Second row: Tola Olufumlayo Pearce, Sonja Norman Friedman, Terry Taylor Elwood, Dianne Sanders Howlett, Melinda Barbera, Christine Laning, Nancy Masur, JoAnne Doerksen Stultz, Sandra Aoki Ohara, Terry Stambler-Wolfe Front row: Ann Murphy, Pat Price-Tinto, Barbara Black Petersen, Diane Bleeker Weisz, Judy Anker Wrigley, Barbara Zuniga, Nancy Sirmay Banker, Susana Friedmann, Sue Cope Makovkin, Virginia Smedberg

WINTER 2018

23

1972

1987

1997

Top row: Connie Swan Davidson, MA ’02, EdD ’06, Cheryl Smith Blankenship, Martha Irvine, Carmena “Kim” Henry, Carolyn Devol, Deborah Kimbrell Front row: Lynette Williams Williamson, MA ’74, Margaret Lake, Betty Colvin Santistevan, Susan Arnhart, MA ’74, Micheline Beam

Top row: Cathy Gildea, Cheryl Reid-Simons, Tanya Peacock, Debbie Kwok , Marla Mundis, Charlene Boddie Spencer Second row: Sue-Del McCulloch, Carrie Jones, Cynthia d’Armand Wilken, Karen Dowdy Oslund, Tricia Kerr, Rita Morin Front row: Lynn Eve Komaromi, Sandra McLaren Wright, MA ’94, Kathleen Davis, Therese Poncy, Cynthia Alvarado Johnson, Wendy Henderson Woodside

Kerry Elenitoba-Johnson, Kenya Davis

1977 Top row: Karen Madison, Jane Denham, Ruth-Ann Solomon Goldman Front row: Carla Rayacich, Pierre Loving, Susan Call Yedor

1982 Top row: Lindsey Shank Knutzen, Tara Snellstrom Tucker, Yvonne Giles Evans, Debra Smith Eagle, Tracy Westerlund Phillips, Linda Heckendorn Hann Front row: Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82 , Penny Peak, Cynthia Swain Castle, Jennifer Scott Hannah, Jenny Harmo

24

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

1992 Top row: Julia Almanzan, Catherine Smith Morrow, Kymberly Miller, Cherlene Sprague Wright, Elizabeth Carter, Rachael Meny, Shari Mundel Weiner, Sarah Davis Wace Second row: Linda Jaquez-Fissori, Courtney “Ceci” Mangus Ferer, Cynthia Price, Sonja Piper Dosti, Thembisa Mshaka-Morris, Roni Blas Dahir, Anita Yang, Lori Bass Front row: Rennie Joynt Walker, Jean Jones Gurga, Kiyomi Cohn-Ameriks, Maricar Ramos, Karlin Sorenson, Colleen Almeida Smith, Mary Lane Gallagher, Deanna Brock, Sarah Nash

2002 Susie Whitlock, Marcia Randall, Sara Knight, Connie Swan Davidson, MA ’02, EdD ’06

2007 Top row: Britt Card, Annie Abernethy, Jessica Dewey-Hoffman Lundin, Kim Swanberg Weis Front row: Katie Stanford, Joy Okochi, Deidre McRae, Michelle Ma, Hai Thom Tran Sota

2012 Top row: Allison Marin, Janice Ma, MBA ’14, Jamie Aurand Front row: Jessica Walker, Katrina Corbosiero, Desirae Tongco

2017 Camille Harvey, MBA/MA ’17, Rhonda Pittman Hart, MBA/MA ’17, C. Njoube Dugas ’16, MBA ’17, Laurie McWhorter, MPP ’17

To purchase prints, visit www.luzography.com/clients/mills2017 WINTER 2018

 

25

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.

Your gift today can help shape a student’s life tomorrow Virginia Weisel, MA ’56, learned the art and craft of ceramics at Mills in the 1950s, when Bay Area artists were redefining the possibilities of clay and fire. Faculty members such as Antonio Prieto cultivated her creative imagination and intellectual acumen, skills she used to build a long and noteworthy career as a ceramic artist and sculptor in the Pacific Northwest. Her graceful forms and superb craftsmanship earned her work places art galleries and museums, collections, and public spaces.

Forinmore information, contact private Mark Jones,

director of legacy to giving, 510.430.2343, Virginia’s success is a testament how aat Mills education enables women to build toll-free 1.877.PG.MILLS (1.877.746.4557), a life of creativity, achievement, and satisfaction.

Her bequest ensures that her creative or on planagift@mills.edu legacy will pass to the next generation by providing financial aid for a student pursuing the fine arts.

For information on how you, too, can remember Mills in your will, contact Mark Jones, director of legacy giving, at 510.430.2343, toll-free 1.877.PG.MILLS (1.877.746.4557), or planagift@mills.edu

In Memoriam Notices of death received before October 1 To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123

Alumnae Virginia Peters Walstra ’38, March 4, 2016, in Boise, Idaho. She enjoyed travel, playing bridge, and volunteering with her church and 4-H. She is survived by three daughters and three grandchildren.

Noyon Blanchard Berg ’39, June 12, 2016, in New York City. A longtime resident of Atherton and Menlo Park, she was a founder of the Mid-Peninsula League of the San Francisco Symphony, volunteered with the Peninsula Family Service and the Committee for Art at Stanford, and helped establish Atherton’s Holbrook-Palmer Park.

Survivors include a son and three grandchildren.

Claudia Williamson Steel ’39, MFA ’67, September 6, in Chico, California. She taught printmaking and painting at Chico State University and was an original member of the Chico Art Center.

The Janet Turner Print Museum recognized her lifetime achievement in the arts in 2010, and a collection of her work is on permanent display at the Museum of Northern California Art. She is survived by two sons and five grandchildren.

Dorothy Sharp Carter ’42, January 19, 2016, in Reston, Virginia. She lived in South America, Europe, and Washington, DC, before settling in Austin, Texas, in 1969. She was a lifelong tennis player and published several children’s books. She is survived by four children and six grandchildren.

Helen Haigh Mills, MA ’46, February 4, 2016, in Portland, Oregon.

She worked in mental health and adoption services, attended the symphony and theater, and served her community through several organizations. She is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.

Jeanne MacQueen Burgner ’47, September 7, in Corona Del Mar, California. She worked with the USO, was acting postmaster in the Lake Arrowhead area for many years, and participated in several square-dance organizations. She is survived by two sons and four grandchildren.

Marian Sandborg Doty ’47, July 21, in Seattle. She was a top-notch golfer and taught high school French before launching an antiques shop. She is survived by two sons and three grandchildren.

Elise Feldman Rosenfeld ’47, July 15, 2017 Portland, Oregon. She earned her degree in occupational therapy and served as a volunteer for Girl Scouts, Meals on Wheels, Portland Youth Philharmonic, the Portland Garden Club, and organizations improving physical and mental health. She is survived by two daughters, four grandchildren, and cousins Theresa Loewy Breyer ’37, Hazel-Clair Loewy Dwoskin ’43, and Elinor Coleman ’71.

Dawn Sharp Lucien ’47, June 10, in Tacoma, Washington. She led successful efforts to establish the University of Washington Tacoma, modernize the city’s theater center, resolve a land dispute between the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and private developers, and save the Murray Morgan Bridge. She is survived by two sons and two grandchildren.

Mary Jones Skeen ’48, July 15, 2016, in Picacho, New Mexico. A sheep and cattle rancher, she served on the Hondo Valley School Board and the Council for Agriculture Research Extension and Teaching. She is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

Patricia McKerlie Rapkoch ’49, August 9, in Great Falls, Montana. She studied music with Darius Milhaud and played and taught piano into her 80s. She also led choir and was adept at Scrabble and crosswords. She is survived by 10 children and 26 grandchildren.

Polly Ong Ingram ’50, September 14, in Raleigh, North Carolina. She had a 35-year career as a kindergarten teacher and was an avid tennis player and traveler, visiting more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Survivors include three children, seven grandchildren, and her sister, Sandra Ong ’59.

Gifts in Memory of

Angela Duncan by Melinda Green McGee, MA ’81

Received June 1–August 31, 2017

Melody Fujimori ’69 by Jorie Bolton Townsley ’69

Margery Churchill Adams ’41 by her children, Blythe Simmons Buetzow, Duncan Simons, Graham Simmons, Kendrik Simmons and their families, Robert Davies, Suzanne Finley, David Hatton, Ben & Carole Heinrich, Inc.

Gregory Kimura by his daughter, Bryn Kimura ’13

Norris “Deacon” Adams and Cabe Wortley by Peggy Weber ’65, P ’02 Thea Faust Anderson ’14 by Rhoda Faust KerryLynn Blau-Williams ’65 by Barbara Ahmajan Wolfe ’65 Chana Bloch by Laura Dolp ’90, Ruth Olsen Saxton, MA ’72, P ’90 Jane Bolander by Michelle Peterson, MBA ’14 Linda Nelson Branson ’77 by her husband, James Branson Erica “Rita” Weber Brevet ’51, P ’76, by Yvonne Steele Byron ’50, Vicki Du Vall Luibrand ’75, Leah Hardcastle MacNeil, MA ’51, P ’75 George Brown by Cynthia Facer Clark ’64, P ’91 Sally Matthews Buchanan ’64 by Peggy Weber ’65, P ’02

Lucille Nissen Flynn ’61 by Ann Brockhoff Lister ’62

Lynne Ehrenborg Lytle ’61 by Ann Anzis Zimmerman ’61 Sue McClelland ’56 by The David E. and Mary C. Gallo Foundation Missy Van Fossen McConnell ’51 by Peggy Weber ’65, P ’02 Teryl Price McGriff ’92 by Karen Turner ’92 Ann McNabb ’62 by Ann Brockhoff Lister ’62 Elaine Moss ’61 by Dorotha Myers Bradley ’61 Marge Nicholson, MA ’96, by Vicki Du Vall Luibrand ’75 Arlene and Tony Palumbo by their niece, Adrianne Calonico Rose ’74 Leanne Haney Rhodes ’62 by her daughter, Alisha Rhodes ’93 Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt ’60, MA ’62, by Ann Markewitz ’60 Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye ’07 by her father, Court Tanouye Tomoye Tatai, P ’80, by Sharon Coleman ’68

Anne Petersen Burk ’61 by Judy Lamont Parent-Smith ’61

Harold Thorne, husband of Evelyn “Muffy” McKinstry Thorne ’48, by Yvonne Steele Byron ’50

Nancy Speer Cody ’44 by her son, Alan Cody

Viki Schooley Tyrrell ’67 by Wynne West Dobyns ’66

Grace Dote ’63 by Dorothy Cathcart Seagle ’63

Betty Chu Wo ’46 by Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75

P=parent. For information about making a tribute gift, contact 510.430.2097 or donors@mills.edu.

30

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Joann “Joey” Dixon Morrow ’53, August 14, in San Miguel, California.

She was a lifelong volunteer and an insatiable learner, adventurous, patriotic, and independent. She is survived by two children, four step-children, four grandchildren, and five step-grandchildren.

Colette Bowler

Jane Hasfurther Harvey ’55, July 4, in San Rafael, California. She ran her own bookkeeping business, led nature tours at Audubon Canyon Ranch, sang with choral groups in Marin, and supported Catholic charities. She is survived by four sons and 10 grandchildren.

Colette Bowler joined Mills in 1994 to establish the intercollegiate soccer program and, over 19 years as head coach, was beloved as much for her genuine care for the College community as for her skill in athletics and recreation. Bowler, who graduated from the University of Massachusetts and earned her master’s degree at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, also initiated numerous first-time Mills offerings, such as golf, bowling, and recess games, and established the first faculty-staff fitness club. She took great pride in cultivating a sense of belonging in her Cyclone family. Bowler welcomed newcomers and experienced student-athletes equally and made it a priority to support each individual player not just as an athlete but as a whole person; many of them came to know her as their mom away from home.

Diane Mc Lean Stowell ’56, June 8, in Honolulu. She was a teacher and school psychologist.

She passed away August 4 in Oakland, California, and leaves behind two young daughters, Jace and Jordan.

Alice Kendall Lind ’54, MA ’57, June 5, in Homer, Alaska. A resident of Alaska since 1965, she was an effective and gifted special education teacher who loved cats, travel, lively conversation, and good humor.

She is survived by multitudes of friends and an extended family.

Nancy Lu Davis Nashu ’54, August 4, in Kirkland, Washington. She was a buyer at the Emporium in San Francisco and later worked at Pacific Mutual Insurance Company. She also was active in community, church, club, and civic associations. She is survived by two sons and a stepdaughter.

Virginia Weisel, MA ’56, June 28, in Sonoma, California. She was a ceramic artist and sculptor in the Pacific Northwest for many decades, running her own ceramic studio and exhibiting widely. Her sculptures are held in many museums as well as private and corporate collections.

Survivors include her cousin and five nieces.

Nina King Lavin ’57, April 8, in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was an artist and landscape designer and was active with a number of community organizations, professional associations, and horticultural and environmental groups. She also saved every cat that came to the doorstep. She is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

visited almost 100 countries. She leaves behind her husband of 40 years, Mike; two children; and three grandchildren.

Deanne Basta Bugan Warren ’59, April 13, in Summerfield, Florida. She was an accountant in the healthcare industry. She leaves her husband, Robert; five children; and 12 grandchildren.

Stefani Schatz-Duggan ’84, July 12, in Santa Barbara, California, her childhood home. A resident of Alameda, she became an Episcopal priest in 2001 and was a tremendous advocate for women in the Church. She was the first woman to be canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of California, revised the diocesan curriculum for clergy in transition, and encouraged church leaders to participate in the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Survivors include her husband, the Rev. Joseph Duggan, and her parents.

Lucille Nissen Flynn ’61, February 16, in San Carlos, California. She worked as an elementary school teacher and law firm receptionist, volunteered with Kiwanis and at Filoli gardens, and enjoyed local theater. She is survived by a daughter and two grandsons.

Krista von Blohn ’96, August 1, in Oakland, California. She headed her own web and graphics design company, exhibited her works as an artist, and loved spending summers in Italy. Survivors include her husband, David Smith, and two children.

Caroline Keith Swank ’61, May 8, in Modesto, California. She earned two master’s degrees and taught special education and Spanish to high school students in Turlock and Ceres. Survivors include her brother; 14 nieces and nephews; and her cousin, Frances Swanson Van Vorhiss ’56.

Julie Grieco ’00, March 13, in Berkeley, California. An advocate for tolerance, social equality, and the environment, she was compassionate to those in need and sought to make the world a better place. She is survived by her parents and two sisters.

Grace Linn Olsen ’62, February 21, in Kimball, Nebraska. She worked as an archeologist, charter pilot, and farmer. She is survived by a daughter and many grandchildren.

Anne Cook Courts ’63, August 9, in Portland, Oregon. She helped manage a fine arts gallery and enjoyed frequent art openings, symphony, opera, and theater. She is survived by her husband of 42 years, Byron.

Christopher Taylor Bussell ’67, July 25, in Bertram, Texas. She is survived by her husband, William, and sister, Susan Taylor Chehak ’74.

Dina Peterson Friedman ’67, May 17, in Manson, Washington. She was a volunteer and book club member, played hammered dulcimer and Irish harp, and made handcrafted jewelry. She is survived by her husband, Dick; two sons; and five grandchildren.

Beverly Vincent Armstrong ’69, July 8, in Fair Oaks, California. She was a medical research assistant and PTA president before serving as public information officer for the Cupertino Union School District. She is survived by her husband, Grant; two children; and three grandchildren.

Cheryl “Rusty” Yuile Rolland ’71, May 25, in Amherst, New Hampshire.

She was passionate about music and served as president of the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. She also was a world traveler and

Melissa Anast, MFA ’04, July 27, in Price, Utah. She was a dance advisor at the College of Eastern Utah.

Spouses and family Frank Ginelli, husband of Alyceann Chappell Ginelli ’56, May 7, in Walnut Creek, California.

John Hege, husband of Tamra Cummings Hege, MA ’97, January 19, in Piedmont, California.

Walter Sablinksy, husband of Corky Mott-Smith Sablinsky ’56, October 7, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Stanley Wilkerson, husband of Trustee Margaret Wilkerson, September 11, in Kensington, California. Spouses and family Frank Ginelli, husband of Alyceann Chappell Ginelli ’56, May 7, in Walnut Creek, California.

John Hege, husband of Tamra Cummings Hege, MA ’97, January 19, in Piedmont, California.

Walter Sablinksy, husband of Corky Mott-Smith Sablinsky ’56, October 7, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Stanley Wilkerson, husband of Trustee Margaret Wilkerson, September 11, in Kensington, California.

WINTER 2018

31

Reunion 2017

32 

M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Photos by Dana Davis, Allisun Novak, Teresa Tam

Seeking candidates: AAMC governors and alumna trustee HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD as a member of the

BOG and also participate in meetings and commit-

Alumnae Association of Mills College Board of

tees of the Mills College Board of Trustees, which

Governors (AAMC BOG) or as an alumna trustee,

makes decisions for the College.

who serves on both the AAMC BOG and the Mills College Board of Trustees.

All alumnae are invited to nominate themselves or others for these positions for the 2018–21 term

AAMC governors work together to make deci-

(you must obtain the nominee’s consent.) Further

sions that best represent the alumnae of Mills

information is available under the “Leadership” sec-

College and promote a strong working relation-

tion of the AAMC website, https://aamc.mills.edu.

ship between alumnae and the College. Governors

Please submit nominations, including self-nom-

are required to meet four times a year and are

inations, to AAMC Nominating Committee Chair

expected to participate on committees and in addi-

Linda Stingily ’78 at aamc@mills.edu or mail to

tional meetings as necessary.

AAMC, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., MB #86, Oakland,

Alumnae trustees are full members of the AAMC

t

CA 94613.

Alumna trustee submissions are due January 8, 2018.

AAMC Board of Governor submissions are due April 8, 2018.

ALUMNAE TRAVEL 2018 Cruise the Rhine July 4–12, 2018 Discover the timeless beauty of the Rhine River as you glide along Amsterdam’s picturesque canals, explore medieval river towns, and marvel at forested hills crowned by castles. Throughout your journey, learn about the fascinating history and culture of Holland, Germany, and France from expert guides and lecturers.

(No supplement for solo travelers.)

See the AAMC travel page at aamc.mills.edu for full itineraries of these and other upcoming trips. For reservations or additional information, call the Alumnae Association of Mills College at 510.430.2110 or email aamc@mills.edu.

Mills Quarterly Mills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613-1301 510.430.3312 quarterly@mills.edu www.mills.edu

Y

Miss the intellectually challenging, creatively stimulating classes at Mills?

Come back as an auditor!

YOU CAN AUDIT JUST ABOUT ANY COURSE MILLS OFFERS, provided the instructor approves your application. Auditors attend class regularly, but are not graded and do not receive credit.

Mills alumnae may apply for a limited number of $500 stipends from the Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC) for classes in spring 2018. The stipends reduce the cost of auditing to $250 (the full fee is $750).

Audit application deadline: January 22, 2018, to be eligible for the stipend. Applications must include the instructor’s signature.

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y To learn more and get the application form, go to www.alumnae.mills.edu/auditing or contact the AAMC at aamc@mills.edu or 510.430.2110.