Letters to the Editor

Volume CXI, Number 1 (USPS 349-900) Fall 2021

President

Elizabeth L. Hillman

Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Nikole Hilgeman Adams

Managing Editor

Allison Rost

Design and Art Direction

Nancy Siller Wilson

Editorial Assistant

Lila Goehring ’21

Contributors

Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13 Sarah J. Stevenson, MFA ’04

Editorial Advisory Committee

Angela Bacca, MBA ’12 Sheryl Bizé-Boutté ’73 Melissa Bender Henley ’99 Sarah Lehman ’86 Mira Mason-Reader ’15 Mari Matoba ’03 Livi Perez ’14, MA ’17 Mason Stockstill, MFA ’09

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. Copyright © 2021, Mills College Address correspondence to Mills Quarterly, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Email: quarterly@mills.edu Phone: 510.430.3312 I enjoyed the winter Quarterly and the variety of subjects addressed.

There is a small factual error in “Full Circle,’’ Sarah J. Stevenson’s article on the Mills Longitudinal Study: Beth Cobb O’Neill was Mills’ first dean of admissions, and she actively pursued students of color who had not previously considered Mills. Because of its independent status, Mills was not hamstrung by the requirements of the UC system that could shut the door to some students. It gave us freedom to select resumers, as well as others whose academic potential was not always reflected in numbers.

As Mills faces another crisis, I maintain faith in what she is, has been, and will represent in the future. –Bette Spagel ’63, Monte Rio, California

A statement I made for “COVID and the Urban Classroom” in the spring Quarterly has been a source of concern among alumnae/i and educators. The article aimed to highlight how the recently restructured Educators for Liberation, Justice, and Joy teaching credential program is meeting the needs of a changing landscape of teacher and student needs as well as addressing important social and political developments, bringing the Mills School of Education (SOE) in alignment with the current reckoning with racial injustice in our nation.

The following statement referencing a quote of mine raised concern among our alumnae/i: “Early childhood education used to underpin most SOE programming, he said, but once his older colleagues retired around the mid-2000s, there was a shift in the school’s priorities to focus more on teachers.” While speaking about the specific focus of the teaching credential program, the statement was meant to highlight how the program is embedded within a constellation of academic programming (e.g., Early Childhood, Child Life, Teacher Education, and Educational Leadership) at the SOE and continues a long-held conviction that early childhood seeds the developmental arc of human development with wide impact on students, families, educators, and leaders to nurture a healthy educational ecosystem.

We were grateful for those among our community who trusted us to hear their concerns and provide me another opportunity to recast my thoughts about the redesigned program. We celebrate the program’s innovation through accessibility and relevance while acknowledging the viewpoints of ECE, Teacher Education, and Educational Leadership alumnae/i work across various professional contexts to improve the lives and experiences of countless infants, children, adolescents, and adults. –Professor of Education Tomás Galguera, Oakland

I graduated in 1969 after four good years at Mills. I studied for finals as tanks rolled into Berkeley and teargas and bullets were directed at protesting students. Many of us joined in.

However, I am dismayed at the vehemence, rancor, and lack of civility with which the changes to Mills proposed by President Hillman are being met. If Mills is to succeed at its stated goals of educating the underserved, it must have the financial stability to do so.

From reading the Quarterly, I have sensed a drift away from the school I knew toward very practical training for social action. Just as the protests I experienced were a product of the era, so are these changes. This shift in focus is a sign of our times, and one that has clearly produced effective leaders.

Now Mills must face another, more dramatic change. I was heartened by the letter in the summer Quarterly from Dean of the Lokey School of Business Kate Karniouchina about her meeting with representatives from Northeastern. I encourage all who are so adamantly opposed to a partnership with another institution to carefully read it.

Mills must become solvent. My thanks to President Hillman for her leadership and to the team she has assembled to address this incredibly difficult task. –Susan Bell ’69, Santa Fe

My experiences with instructors, staff, and fellow students at Mills College have shaped my life since 1975. I gratefully support Mills with annual gifts and as a beneficiary.

I have been aware since 1990 that Mills College was struggling financially. I was delighted when I learned that an alliance with Northeastern University might be possible. I look forward to staying engaged with Mills alumnae, but I have been deeply saddened by the AAMC’s response.

Since its inception in 1852, our alma mater has changed to meet the challenges of each new generation. Please stop your legal challenges and work to support our Board of Trustees and Mills community along this path. –Anna Wilkins Henderson ’81, Palo Alto

In this most recent edition of the Quarterly, I was delighted to read about the progress toward an alliance with Northeastern University. When I reflect on the many choices I’ve made in life, attending Mills College is among my top five. Thank you, Mills!

I was also moved by Carol Holtzman Wolf’s tribute to Elizabeth Pope, “The Magic Beans of Mills.” Yes! Encouraging others’ curiosity and passion for learning is the magic of Mills. (Oh, and I agree: The Sherwood Ring is my favorite of the Pope books.) –Caroline Wakeman Evans ’73, Montrose, Colorado

I only support the Northeastern contract if it’s the only path, after alum trustees have studied complete financials and reported there is no other way to survive.

I’m not impressed with NEU. Its website looks assertively white male hierarchical and preferential, and correspondingly condescending to women. Being absorbed is better than closure, and better than a non-degree granting “institute,” but I don’t see much hope for Mills strengths, values, or culture surviving once NEU owns Mills. It does not appear that Mills will be a “College” in the Oxford tradition of independent character or charter.

I will be relieved if I find that I am wrong about that. –Donna Luckhardt Joslyn ’67, Vancouver, Washington I oppose the current legal actions the AAMC has set in motion against the Board of Trustees and leadership team. As an alumna, I do not feel that the small group of detractors behind this legal action represents me or my interests, nor the interests of many of the other 26,000 alumnae.

Yes, I was saddened to read that Mills would step down from being a standalone degree-granting institution. But anyone who has been paying attention to the finances for the past decade-plus has realized that the College has been on an unsustainable course. Unlike those who have taken action against the Mills leadership team, however, I have faith in the substantial wisdom and experience of the trustees and others who took part in making this decision.

When the opportunity to partner with Northeastern University emerged, I viewed it as a true blessing. This is a chance for Mills to move forward in a positive way. If the actions of a passionate but misguided few serve to block pursuit of an alliance with Northeastern, that would be a shame. Those who continue to pursue this lawsuit stand to have the collapse of the College on their consciences. -Sally O’Neal ’83, Richland, Washington

I have been very concerned for some time now about the direction that the AAMC is headed as it pursues legal action against Mills College. This is where I stand as a former president of the AAMC and former trustee:

• I am in total support of the work that the trustees have done and are doing in order to preserve a future for Mills and its students, faculty, staff, and alumnae.

Mills College at Northeastern University presents a bright future. I do not yet know how a Mills Institute might fit into this framework, but I believe in the diligence, focus, skills, and determination of Marilyn Schuster and her team to preserve the Mills ideology.

• The lawsuit filed by alumna trustees is an egregious misuse of AAMC funds that could otherwise be used to help support Mills students in this time of great uncertainty and transition. In the end, attorneys and other consultants

will have been enriched at the risk of the demise of a stable, bright, and longlasting future for Mills. There has been some speculation as to why I decided to resign as a Mills College trustee last year. Please know that it was not because I had disagreement in any way with the decisions the Board of Trustees was making regarding the future of the College.

My fervent hope is that now that the AAMC president has the financial information about the College as requested by the lawsuit, the AAMC will pursue no further legal action against Mills! –N.T. Lucy Do ’75, Lafayette, California

The lawsuit was not launched by an irresponsible, insensitive AAMC that wished to harm Mills; it was not launched by Trustee and AAMC President Viji Nakka-Cammauf. The lawsuit was launched by the “children of the cherished fost’ring mother” who did not feel the college was fully transparent regarding all that contributed to its March 2021 decision to close the College and, for more than 148 years, have vowed—with voices full and mighty—although the earth may tremble, we shall guard thy fires forever!

As an alumna and former alumna trustee, my heart is saddened that the dispute seemingly could only be adjudicated by a court of law. The Viji I know is conciliatory, altruistic, reasonable, and fair; she is not a litigiousminded person who is unreasonably prone to pursue a legal recourse to settle a dispute.

The AAMC entered into and continues in litigation not because it desires to be, but because of an ongoing concern that the preponderance of evidence has not been replete. It is important to note, however, whatever the outcome based on the forensic audit called for in the lawsuit, Trustee Nakka-Cammauf (on behalf of the AAMC) has established her full commitment to work with the College toward reconciliation, such that—once again—the breach between the AAMC and the College can be healed and restored. -Judith R. James ’74, Culpeper, Virginia

correction In the summer issue, we misspelled the name of the author of the essay “The Magic Beans of Mills.” The correct spelling is Carol Holtzman Wolf ’80. We apologize for the error!