AAMC News

AAMC NEWS & NOTES

A Message from the AAMC President

Fall at Mills was a bit different in 2020, with fewer returning students coming back to campus, but it was still abuzz with the excitement of first-year students who arrived with a host of expectations. I took part in a number of virtual orientation events for students, including the candle-lighting ceremony where students shared their dreams and aspirations for their time at Mills. Students were able to learn more about the AAMC, its history, and our engagement with students, and to see and hear welcomes and well-wishes from the Board of Governors (BOG).

In addition to the virtual versions of our usual fall events, Sayaka Omori ’06, an instructor at the University of Washington’s College of Education, and I visited a course for international students—the first of its kind at Mills. We spoke about our own cultural transitions and navigating US culture.

Through lectures and hands-on learning, the course hopes to set up incoming students for successful academic, professional, and personal development at Mills. Topics include cross-cultural awareness, local history, community and cultural engagement in the Bay Area, and strategies for academic success in a liberal arts setting. This course is compulsory for incoming F-1/J-1 students. I hope it will be offered every semester!

The pandemic robbed us of our in-person Reunion, my all-time favorite event at Mills, where we get to see so many alumnae from various classes populating campus with their excitement and enthusiasm. Instead, we hosted a few virtual events that brought us together and helped us celebrate accomplishments and events. At our AAMC update session on October 3, alumnae saw and heard from our newly elected governors and alumnae trustees. Committee chairs shared highlights, and Dawn Cunningham ’85 guided us through MillsConnect, our alumnae-student mentoring and networking platform at connect.mills .edu. I sent a recording of the AAMC update session via email to alumnae on October 29. If you didn’t receive it, please contact Alumnae Relations at alumnae-relations@mills .edu to update your email information.

The AAMC also hosted a town hall with President Beth Hillman on September 17. The BOG had collected questions of importance to alumnae via email, Facebook, and a phone tree. AAMC vice presidents Dawn Cunningham and Alexa Pagonas ’91 presented these questions to me and President Hillman, who addressed them with substance and transparency. If you missed the live session, I recommend reviewing the recording that I sent to all alumnae, also on October 29. You can read Dawn’s summary of the event on the facing page. I am grateful for our president’s leadership, commitment, and tireless work on behalf of Mills.

I would also like to express my congratulations to the 2020 Alumnae Award recipients: Kirsten Saxton ’90, Distinguished Achievement Award; Marge Thomas, MA ’67, Outstanding Volunteer Award; and Dorothy Lawrence-Akaeze ’11, Recent Graduate Award. See our profile of the awardees on the following spread.

On a sadder note, this fall we lost yet another one of our beloved alumnae, Peggy Woodruff ’58. Peggy was one of the first African American students to

Viji Nakka-Cammauf

come to Mills, paving the way for others to follow in her footsteps. She was also one of the most intelligent and engaged alumnae I had the good fortune to meet and know at Mills. She will be greatly missed. You can find Peggy’s obituary in this issue’s In Memoriam section.

I would like to close with this anonymous quote:

Those we love, don’t go away, they walk beside us every day,

Unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed, and very dear.

I wish you all continued good health, safety, and well-being, and I look forward to meeting again when it is safe for us to gather.

Warmly,

Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82

President, Alumnae Association of

Mills College

AAMC co-hosts town hall on Berkeley partnership conversation

On September 17, the AAMC convened a virtual town hall at which President Beth Hillman addressed questions from alumnae regarding Mills College’s continuing conversation with UC Berkeley to explore the possibility of a significantly expanded partnership between the two institutions. The event was cohosted by the College’s Office of the President and Office of Alumnae Relations.

President Hillman emphasized that this conversation is in the early stages and that no proposal had, as of that date, been presented to the UC Board of Regents or the Mills Board of Trustees. She placed the conversation in the context of the College’s persistent budget deficits and enrollment declines, which have been exacerbated this year by the COVID-19 pandemic. An expanded partnership, she said, would define a sustainable path forward that provides a high-quality educational experience for women, students of color, first-generation students, and gender nonbinary students, while offering students and faculty greater opportunities for learning and research. To view a complete recording of the town hall, go to bit.ly/Sept17townhall.

This winter, the AAMC aims to offer alumnae an additional online opportunity to discuss this news. Please watch your email for an invitation from the AAMC. If you do not regularly receive email news from Mills or the AAMC, make sure we have your current address by sending an email to aamc@mills.edu or calling 510.430.2110 with your name and class year.

MILLS COLLEGE Oakland, California Est. 1852

SHOW YOUR MILLS PRIDE ALL AROUND TOWN with a new Mills College bumper sticker! With a simple collegiate design featuring our signature eucalyptus leaf, these stickers are available for purchase on the AAMC online store.

Also newly available online are limited-edition Mills seal mugs that feature the elegant seal of our alma mater in shiny gold foil. A portion of the proceeds from these mugs goes toward supporting the College.

Visit aamcmerch.square.site for these and many other lovely items created especially for alums. All merchandise sales benefit the AAMC unless otherwise noted.

AAMC NEWS & NOTES

Three change leaders receive 2020 AAMC Alumnae Awards

EVERY YEAR SINCE 2007, the AAMC has selected exemplary alumnae to receive its highest honors: The Distinguished Achievement Award for distinction in a professional field; the Recent Graduate Award; and the Outstanding Volunteer Award. This year, because of COVID-19 restrictions, we were unable to gather at Reunion to celebrate award recipients as we usually do. Instead, the AAMC is delighted to spotlight our awardees here. AAMC Communications Coordinator Kate Marge Thomas Beckwith, MFA ’13, and Alumnae students partnered with Oakland artists Awards Committee co-chair Kristen to collect and curate materials for a pubOliver ’17, MPP ’18, convened the lic digital archive of The Town’s past and awardees via Zoom to reflect on present as an artistic hub.their time at Mills, their life paths In addition to her scholarly work, since graduating, and their hopes Kirsten has offered her expertise to the for the College. alumnae community by leading AAMC

Kirsten Saxton ’90, our travel program tours and giving talks at Distinguished Achievement Award regional Mills clubs. “I can think of few recipient, earned her PhD from UC alums who are more deserving of this Davis in 1997. An Oakland native, honor,” said Janet.she returned to Mills as an assistant visiting professor of English in 1997 and climbed the ranks, reaching Kirsten Saxton (left), with her mother, Professor Emerita Ruth Saxton This year’s Outstanding Volunteer Award goes to Marge Thomas, MA ’67, who has been dedicated to furthering the full professor status in 2012. mission of the AAMC and the College for

According to her nominator, Janet decades. After graduating from Mills with her MA in English Boone MacEachern ’90, Kirsten embodies the best of Mills and literature, Marge served as registrar for the College, as execuhas empowered generations of students. Her command of her tive director of the AAMC, and as editor of the Mills Quarterlyfield and commitment to student development have made her an (then published by the AAMC). outstanding professor as well as an empathetic mentor. Her AAMC positions were far more than simply jobs for her,

A cultural studies and feminist scholar, Kirsten specializes and she went above and beyond her duties on a regular basis. in 18th-century literature with a focus on gender in popular For example, she often volunteered to host events at her home British narratives. Her scholarly research attends to authors during Reunion, and throughout the year she took extra time and genres whose contributions to the literary landscape have to get to know not only alumnae, but also students—as they been obscured or repressed. She has published three books— would one day join the ranks of Mills graduates. During the The Passionate Fictions of Eliza Haywood: Essays on Her Life Strike of 1990, she leveraged her relationships to help both and Work (2000), Narratives of Women and Murder in England, groups support each other.1680-1760: Deadly Plots (2009), and Adapting the Eighteenth For decades, Marge was known as the Mills historian, another Century (2019)—and numerous articles and book chapters. role she played as a volunteer. She could tell you exactly what

She is a lead faculty researcher on a five-year, multi-pronged Susan and Cyrus Mills did in the “Sandwich Islands” and why it humanities project at Mills funded by the Andrew W. Mellon mattered to current students. During Orientation, Marge would Foundation. For this project, she co-taught a course in which dress up as Susan and tell stories of the College’s early days.

Marge’s volunteer work extends far beyond the Mills cam- in helping. This “purposeful accident” resulted in Dorothy menpus. As noted by her Bent Twig daughter nominators, Megan toring more and more Mills students who had a similar desire Thomas Barr ’93, MA ’98, and Katherine Thomas ’88, Marge to hers: to create transformative opportunities in their comis a fearless advocate for immigrants and homeless people munities. Giving back to and connecting to these students has and a supportive presence for anyone in need of comfort or given Dorothy an increased sense of purpose as a Mills alumna. care in her Sonoma community. We are Similarly, Kirsten never expected to find herself back at Mills honored to bestow the Outstanding in the position of professor, but she Volunteer Award upon her. has embraced the role wholeheart-

Dorothy Lawrence-Akaeze ’11, this edly. “Mills College’s values mean year’s Recent Graduate Award recipi- that you always have to be thinking ent, is an enthusiastic change leader about new ways to support the folks and proud Oakland native. She earned in the room,” she said. “Institutions her BA in psychology from Mills and of higher education weren’t necesobtained an MA in education, special- sarily built to support the marginalizing in adult education and training, ized communities that are central from the University of Phoenix in 2013. to the current student body, so their Since graduating from Mills, Dorothy mere existence on campus is a radical has worked as an organizational devel- act pushing the institution to learn, opment strategist. grow, and do better.”

In 2015, she joined the AAMC’s It doesn’t always live up to the chalAlumnae of Color Committee (AOCC). lenge. Dorothy noted the difficulty She served as a governor of the AAMC she had on campus as a Black stufrom 2015 to 2018 and participated dent, especially when there weren’t in the development of a new compact many others around. This experience between the AAMC and the College, informs her work mentoring current which laid the groundwork for the Dorothy Lawrence-Akaeze Mills students, and she hopes that organizations’ current Memorandum of any future changes at Mills ensure Collaboration and Agreement. that the needs of each student are pri-

Dorothy is a champion of student advocacy and enjoys men- oritized, valued, and respected. toring and supporting Mills students. Her volunteer efforts Marge recalled that, during her time at Mills in the ’60s, the include co-leading the AOCC’s annual Phenomenal Women of student body was mainly white, and most of the women of color Color ceremony and supporting Summer Academic Workshop she got to know were international students. But the immense brunches, Taco Tuesdays, career advisory panels, student sense of support Mills fostered between women was undeniable events, and more. and contrasted with her time later at UC Berkeley, which she

Nominator Myila Granberry ’05 said Dorothy exemplifies called a “cold bath” lacking in support and opportunities for the Mills woman, and we couldn’t agree more. We are proud to women to explore their full potential. honor her with the Recent Graduate Award and look forward to “Even during the Strike,” Marge said, “I’m not sure people watching her career develop. understood exactly what Mills ought to be, what it needed to do to grow and change with the times.” Kirsten observed that    some of her faculty colleagues believe Mills would be better off now if it had gone coed 30 years ago, but she disagrees. “The DURING OUR CONVERSATION, the three awardees each out- past three decades have allowed Mills to become an institulined their very different paths before, during, and after their tion that has an awareness of trans students and studies, for times at Mills. The common thread between them, though, was example, and one that increasingly empowers BIPOC students,” that they were all drawn back into the Mills orbit after graduation. she said. For Kirsten, this evolution made rejecting the coed

Dorothy described her theory of the “purposeful accident”: a option worth it, allowing Mills to face the future with integrity. move guided by intuition rather than a clear vision. In an effort Mills is an institution that welcomes people who come to make to build a bridge between Mills and students at an Oakland an impact. Students push, alumnae push, and the world pushes middle school, she somewhat accidentally joined the AOCC in to shape Mills College into the very best version of itself it can be. seeking out campus programs and alumnae groups interested —Kate Robinson Beckwith, MFA ’13