Mills Matters

A Semester Unlike Any Other: The 2020–21 School Year Meets the Pandemic

At this point, it’s old hat to describe anything that’s happened in 2020 as “unprecedented.” And yet, the semester that kicked off at Mills College on August 26 is one that has no precedent in our 168 years, even through two World Wars and another pandemic: classes conducted with very few students physically present on campus.

After a summer of investigating ways to hold socially distanced classes on campus, President Elizabeth L. Hillman made the announcement on July 27 that Mills would stick to a mostly virtual schedule due to a surge in COVID19 cases in the region. Only about 15 courses—in lab science, studio art, and dance—are meeting in person this fall, all with appropriate social distancing, disinfection practices, and face masks per coronavirus guidelines issued by the State of California mid-August. (The dance classes will take place on the tennis courts!)

With most courses online and residence halls reopening with predetermined lower capacities to assure social distancing, a handful of new and returning students began to arrive on campus August 22. After President Hillman’s email, the number of housing contracts dropped as more residents opted to conduct their studies remotely; about 200 opted for on-campus housing versus the usual 500. “For some students, this is the only home they have,” said Dean of Student Life Chicora Martin in an August 20 virtual town hall for faculty and staff. As a result, five residence spaces—White, Ross, Larsen, Ege, and Mary Morse—have been shuttered for the time being.

Bon Appetit, which provides meal service at Mills, is similarly scaling back, with food available only at the Tea Shop and Suzie’s Cafe this semester, complete with markers on the floor and touchless card readers. Vera Whole

“The College is more than the sum ofits classes.”–Chinyere Oparah

MERILEE MCCORMICK

Health, the College’s student health service, will provide health services for students on campus and can still offer remote healthcare to those in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties, while another medical group will virtually serve students out of the area. The Division of Student Life is still planning a broad selection of activities, albeit over Zoom.

National news stories over the summer questioned whether many college students, especially first-years, would opt to take a year off rather than learn online or return to campuses with imposed restrictions and limited activities. Even with scaled-down expectations at Mills, the numbers look promising—especially for the pre-existing online MA program, with 126% higher enrollment than last year. In June, the Board of Trustees approved a move to keep tuition and fees at the same level they were in 2019-2020, and the College is also making iPads available for distance learning at a 50% discount, which has proven quite popular. In the meantime, most faculty and staff members continue to work remotely to limit the number of people on campus. Those who do come to Mills must fill out a health check on the MillsGo mobile app and show their results to personnel at the front gate. While the campus did not have any incidents of COVID-19 for the first several months of sheltering in place, over the summer, two employees received positive diagnoses. Both situations were handled with the proper isolation and contact-tracing protocols, and no further cases have been reported.

Visit mills.edu/covid-19 for updates throughout the semester.

Black Lives Matter at Mills

On June 10, President Elizabeth L. Hillman sent an email to the Mills community about the Black Lives Matter movement. In it, she said, “Mills stands in solidarity with the members of our Black students, staff, and faculty and their allies against anti-Black racism, police violence, and racial injustice. In response to the rising Movement for Black Lives Matter (BLM), it is incumbent upon Mills to lead at this critical moment and fulfill our commitment to pursue gender and racial justice. It is essential that our actions have lasting impact and are integral to the fabric of Mills College.”

She also acknowledged that it was a mistake to wait so long to speak out. For some, it was an insufficient response to the resurgent outpouring of grief and anger over racism and police brutality around the world in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans. As a result, and after meetings with Black faculty, students, and alumnae—including the Alumnae of Color Committee of the Alumnae Association of Mills College—the college officers at Mills are working on a plan to make the College an anti-racist institution.

There have already been a number of immediate changes, including the official recognition of Juneteenth as a Mills holiday, and the appointment of Associate Vice President for Human Resources Kamala Green to the new position of special assistant to the president for equity and inclusion. But much of the work will be ongoing, including: • Improving the classroom experience and school support for Black students • Recruiting more Black faculty and staff members, and providing antiracist training for current employees • Creating new systems for complaints about racial discrimination on campus

At Mills, 10 percent of undergraduate students and 17 percent of graduate students are Black (compared to four percent on both counts at similar institutions), while 13 percent of faculty and 15 percent of staff are Black (versus four and eight percent, respectively). There are a number of student-led groups, including the Black Student Collective and Black MBA Students Group, who have been offering extensive input on the process to make the Mills experience more just and accessible for that population.

The Black student experience played a part in a day of action on Friday, August 28—the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Non-essential staff were given the day off and classes were cancelled after 12:00 noon to give the Mills community a chance to reflect and learn about anti-racism and how it can manifest in the classroom. One virtual workshop, “The Necessity of Abolitionist Teaching in These Times,” brought together professors from the School of Education and the Ethnic Studies Department with Bettina L. Love, the author of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom.

In the second session, “Generation Z and Racism in Higher Education,” Associate Provost for Recruitment and Student Success Maggie Hunter offered ways to reframe some common classroom interactions that have prompted student complaints to her office. They included adding context to insensitive racial terms that were once commonly used and acknowledging the racist roots of many fields of study, such as art history and world languages.

Indeed, student activism at Mills has driven much of the College’s recent work, just like it has in other areas in the past. Immediately following Floyd’s death, students who were sheltering on campus erected a scrim at Richards Gate (pictured) that featured the names of Floyd, Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Columns at the gate now boast artwork from alumnae artists of color that tie the College’s continuing efforts in anti-racism to its surrounding East Oakland neighborhoods. The artwork, created by Yétundé Olagbaju, MFA ’20, and Cristine Blanco, MFA ’20, uses the visuals of invasive and non-invasive plants to symbolize white supremacy in higher education.

If fundraising goals for the project are met, the installation will rotate different creative takes on Black Lives Matter throughout the 2020–21 school year. To support the art project, use the enclosed envelope or visit alumnae.mills.edu/give to make a gift, and add “Front Gate Art Project” to the alternate designation field.

Stay up to date on anti-racist actions at Mills by visiting mills.edu/ blacklivesmatter.

New arrivals and roles for the 2020-21 school year

As with the start of every academic year, this virtual fall semester brings with it a host of new faces to the Mills community. Here’s a rundown of recent additions and changes:

CTA Director

Carrie Maultsby-Lute is the new director for the Center for Transformative Action (CTA), which was known as the Center for Socially Responsible Business prior to 2018. An assistant professor of business practice in the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy, Maultsby-Lute has been at Mills since 2017. She specializes in teaching marketing practices, having worked at Salesforce and collaborated on a digital marketing program with the Peralta Community College District. In her new role, she looks to continue building CTA’s partnerships with local businesses and communities of color, as well as bolstering CTA’s profile and fundraising.

Maultsby-Lute is taking over for Darcelle Lahr, who completed two one-year terms in the position. Lahr is returning to a full-time position on the faculty of the Lokey School, and this fall, she will be examining how COVID19 has affected Black-owned businesses in East Oakland.

Provost’s Office

Associate Professor of Chemistry Beth Kochly has been named the interim associate provost for curriculum and academic resources, taking the place of Elisabeth Wade, who is the new dean of science and technology at Sonoma State University. Kochly has been on the Mills faculty for 12 years, and she also serves as the director of the Russell Women in Science Program. Previously, she was head of the chemistry department and chair of the Faculty Executive Committee’s Educational Policy Subcommittee.

Board of Trustees

In addition to Adrienne McMichael Foster ’74, who was profiled in the spring 2020 issue of the Quarterly, the other new alumna trustee is Tara Singh ’05, MBA ’07. Singh, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, is the founding chair of NEXUS India & South Asia and NEXUS New Zealand & Pasifika, which are offshoots of a global organization that brings together social entrepreneurs with funders to solve a broad range of societal problems. She is also involved with the United Nations, most recently as the deputy chair for UN Women’s Empowerment Principles New Zealand.

Faculty Members

Sahar Abi-Hassan is an assistant professor of political science. She earned her PhD in political science at Boston University, and in her work, she studies the behavior of the justices of the

Clockwise from top left: Sahar Abi-Hassan, Amy Chu, Susan Stryker, Lorena Muñoz

Supreme Court and the interest groups that lobby them.

Amy Chu is an assistant professor of chemistry. Her PhD came from the University of Illinois, where she researched methods by which chemical processes can be made more sustainable.

Lorena Muñoz is an associate professor of ethnic studies. She received a PhD in geography from the University of Southern California, and she focuses on how place and space intersect with gender, sexuality, health, and race.

Susan Stryker is a visiting professor in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and history, as well as the Barbara Lee distinguished chair in women’s leadership. She holds a PhD in US history from UC Berkeley, and she is a leading scholar on transgender studies.

John Ruys is an assistant adjunct professor of psychology. He obtained his PhD in biological sciences from UC Davis, and he studies neurobiology and sexuality.

Boe Benaz Mendewela is an assistant adjunct professor in chemistry, and he

just earned his PhD from UC Merced. His work thus far has concentrated on nanoparticles and solar energy films.

Dana Chalupa Young is an assistant adjunct professor in sociology. Her PhD in sociology came from Michigan State University, and her research centers on deconstructing homogenous Latinx immigrant experiences in the US.

We also welcome the following incoming adjunct faculty: Aamina Ahmad (literatures and languages), Jennifer Baldassari (School of Education), Rebeca

Bollinger (art and visual culture), Brigid Brown (School of Education), Juliet Ellis (public policy and political science), Pamela Hopkins (business), Aviva Kana (literatures and languages), Leona Kwon (School of Education), Raina Leon (School of Education), Kija Lucas (art and visual culture), Suhaila Salimpour (dance and theater studies), Sue Slagle (music), Ariel Hansen Strong (book art), Sara Tiras (School of Education), Nhi Truong (School of Education), and Deirdre Visser (art and visual culture).

Institutional Advancement

Senior Director of Alumnae Relations & Annual Fund Nikole Hilgeman Adams has been named the new associate vice president for institutional advancement. The former vice president, Jeff Jackanicz, has taken a similar position at San Francisco State University. Adams has been a member of the Office of Institutional Advancement for 10 years, and she is a graduate of Chico State.

The pandemic closures on campus this summer gave the facilities crew the opportunity freshen up F.W. Olin Library while students weren’t working in the carrels. The stacks and seating in the reference room (at left) were removed—with the furniture heading for the Lisser Hall workshop (for use in sets) and the Reuse Depot— and replaced with a greater variety ofworkspaces (below). Whenever students can congregate inside again, they’ll find a brighter space for studying.

Gifts bolster College programs and initiatives

Mills College extends the utmost gratitude to the following donors for their gifts, grants, and pledges of $50,000 or more, received between January 1 and June 30, 2020.

Richard and Elaine Barrett and Barbara A. Wolfe ’65 made generous donations to the College’s ongoing campus optimization project, which seeks out new partners for the Mills campus to diversify programs and boost revenues.

Richard and Elaine Barrett also provided support to the Jill Barrett Biology Research Program.

Catherine Coates ’65 and Glenn and Ellen Voyles donated significant sums to Mills’ Greatest Need, a discretionary fund that helped underwrite many of the unexpected pandemic-related costs that popped up this spring.

Mary Lynn Bianco, MA ’15, has given her support to the Music Department in honor of Professor David Bernstein. The gift will help the department continue to develop the next generation of musicians that push creative boundaries.

Donald A. Cotton, husband of the late Fin Cotton ’58, has established the Cotton-Prieto Ceramics Endowment, which will conserve the ceramics collection at the Mills College Art Museum—particularly pieces by Antonio Prieto.

Charlene and Derry Kabcenell and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation gave boosts to the Mills Teacher Scholars Program, which enables students in the School of Education to continue their growth into empowered teachers who can improve learning outcomes and address social-emotional learning.

Mei Kwong ’70 and Laurence Franklin underwrote the F.W. Olin Library Renovation, the results of which are on the previous page. Their gift was given in honor of Vice President for External Partnerships Renee Jadushlever.

LUAN STRAUSS

Those students who remained on campus for the duration ofthe shelterin-place order still had a source of entertainment in May: goats! Used to control wild grasses, the goats were moved around campus over the course ofabout 10 days, gobbling up extra foliage to lessen fire risk. Word of the goats’ location spread over social media, with photos popping up on Twitter and Instagram from those students lucky enough to find the temporary caprine workers, and Facilities Manager Luan Strauss compiled regular “goat cams” of video footage she shot and then shared for meditation purposes.

Calendar

Trans Studies Speaker Series

A new series spearheaded by Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women’s Leadership Susan Stryker. All events will be held online; visit performingarts.mills.edu at least five days prior to each event for registration links.

October 9 ■ TRANS // HISTORY A conversation with Morgan Page, host of the trans history podcast One From the Vaults. Time TBD.

October 21 ■ Joel Sanders and Seb Choe Sanders is the founder and Choe is the associate director of MixDesign, an inclusive design firm in New York that examines design issues through a social justice lens. The two will discuss Stalled!, a series of public bathroom prototypes that are adaptable to many different users. 5:00 pm. October 23 ■ TRANS // FEMINISM A conversation with Emma Heaney, author of The New Woman: Literary Modernism, Queer Theory, and the Trans Feminine Remainder, and other guests TBA. Time TBD.

November 5 ■ Jordy Rosenberg Rosenberg, who authored Confessions of the Fox, a faux memoir of the 18th-century folk hero Jack Sheppard, speaks with Susan Stryker in conjunction with the “We Are the Voices” speaker series. Time TBD.

November 6 ■ TRANS // SEX A conversation between Eva Hayward, author of SymbioSeas, and Cael Keegan, author of Lana and Lilly Wachowski: Sensing Transgender. Time TBD. November 20 ■ TRANS // AETHESTICS A conversation between Maxe Crandall, author of Emoji for Cher Heart, and Jeanne Vaccaro, author of Handmade: Feelings and Textures of Transgender. Time TBD.

December 4 ■ TRANS // GENRE A conversation between Daniel Lavery, author of Slate’s “Dear Prudence” column, and Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox. Time TBD.

Mills Performing Arts

Check performingarts.mills.edu throughout the semester for links to virtual events.

Campus kudos

A selection of recent achievements by faculty, staff, and students

Assistant Professor of Practice of Public Policy Sharon Cornu and Tucker Brofft, MBA/MPP ’19, were featured in an April article in The New York Times that showcased their work at St. Mary’s Center in downtown Oakland. Cornu is the executive director there and works with a team, including Brofft, which ensures that the unsheltered populations that use St. Mary’s stay safe from COVID-19.

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Ethnic Studies Susan Ito was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle Datebook article in June titled “The Writers Grotto carves out new paths to survive,” which discussed the adaptation of the San Francisco Writers Grotto in the midst of the pandemic as well as its inclusion of people of color. Ito has written and taught for the organization since 2012.

Associate Adjunct Professor of Education Nolan Jones was featured in an August article in University Business titled “Harnessing ‘Hamilton’: 6 ways to use hip-hop pedagogy” in which he discussed engaging with young learners by way of hip-hop and the smash Broadway musical Hamilton.

Professor of Ethnic Studies and English and Dean of Digital Learning

Cyclones join the CAC

The pandemic may have postponed the fall athletic season at Mills, but the Cyclones still have something to and Innovation Ajuan Mance’s cartoon, “Ghosts of the Apollo Theatre,” was featured in the Daily Shouts section of The New Yorker in May.

Professor of English and Dean of Graduate Studies Juliana Spahr has been awarded a Ajuan Mance year-long fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center, where she will use a range of approaches such as data collection, computational analysis, archival research, and close reading to write a book about contemporary US literature.

Professor of Biology Lisa Urry was featured in the fifth episode of Pearson’s Unwritten webinar series, titled “The Biology of the Virus,” in which she spoke with Gen Z student host Saleem Abu-Tayeh about how the coronavirus has evolved.

Coach Neil Virtue was featured in an August article in Outsports, which discussed his leadership of OneTeam, a program in the NCAA that educates people in Division III athletic departments about LGBTQA+ inclusion. celebrate: a new athletic league. On May 26, the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) announced that Mills is one of six schools to join the NCAA Division III league starting in the 2020–2021 school year.

The CAC is a nation-wide league, with member schools from California (Mills and UC Santa Cruz) to Massachusetts (Pine Manor College). The other members are Christopher Newport University and University of Mary Washington in Virginia, Finlandia University in Michigan, Pratt Institute

Hung Liu

Professor of Studio Art Catherine Wagner is featured as one of 50 artists in a free new digital publication, 50X50: Stories of Visionary Artistsfrom the Collection, compiled by the San Jose Museum of Art in celebration of the museum’s 50th anniversary. Professor Emerita of Studio Art Hung Liu is a contributing author to the exhibit’s artist chapters.

Adjunct Professor of English and Director of Graduate Programs in Literatures and Languages Stephanie Young won a 2020 Lambda Literary Award in the category of bisexual poetry for her book, Pet Sounds, which was announced in a virtual ceremony

on June 1. in New York, Mount Mary University in Wisconsin, and Salisbury University in Maryland.

In a press release, Director of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation Allie Littlefox said, “We look forward to both the expanded opportunities for our student-athletes and the new connections and camaraderie with schools across the country. This exciting step provides Mills, and our fellow ACAA schools, with continued conference stability and helps to secure the Cyclones’ place in Division III.”