Mills Quarterly, Spring 2024

Mills Quarterly

The Mills Institute

Mills Institute champions the Mills ethos

Under Dr. Christie Chung, longtime Mills faculty member and leader, the of advancing gender and racial justice through programs benefitting women and other historically marginalized groups.

You can with your gift. champion this mission

Leading educational programs for the underserved:

undergraduates and underrepresented high school

Solving problems using a global network:

Heading up a think tank collaboration, the institute regularly convenes scholars and researchers across the university who create solutions to address gender and racial justice

Partnering with equityfocused entities:

Amplifying the Mills legacy, the institute sponsors conferences and helps elevate changemaking speakers from community organizations, industry, government, and educational institutions

Academic initiatives governed by the institute support women

students as they pursue opportunities in STEM and higher education.

10 “We’re a Distressed Industry”: Sorting Headlines on Higher Education with Alums in the Know by Sarah Stevenson, MFA ’04

There’s a lot of noise reverberating throughout the higher ed space. What do Mills alums in the field think?

16 “Millsie” and the contested terrain of identity-based terms by Rebecca Bodenheimer

Depending on the alum you’re talking to, “Millsie” can inspire delight or provoke anger. It’s not an unusual phenomenon.

32 Between Dreams by Amanda Renee Green Wheeler ’72

The recollections of a lawyer-turned-author and how Mills made her.

DEPARTMENTS

12 Letters to the Editor

13 Opening Message

14 Mills Matters

22 AAMC News & Notes

24 Class Notes

29 In Memoriam

On the cover : The problems currently plaguing higher education spare no institution. Clockwise from top left: A 1930s-era postcard of College Hall at the University of Pennsylvania, where the resignation of former president Elizabeth Magill became emblematic of recent arguments surrounding free speech and anti-Semitism on college campuses. Storrs Hall at the University of Connecticut, where a plan to assign a 15% budget cut to programs across all academic areas was announced in January (photo by Carol M. Highsmith, from the George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in the Library of Congress). An etching of Mills Hall from the Mills College archives. South Building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where an embattled board of governors replaced the recently departed chancellor with a finance director who has prompted concerns of political interference (photo by Chad Robertson). Photo collage by Allison Rost.

Volume CXIII, Number 3 (USPS 349-900)

Spring 2024

Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Nikole Hilgeman Adams

Managing Editor

Allison Rost

Design and Art Direction

Nancy Siller Wilson

Editorial Assistant

Danielle Collins ’24

Contributors

Rebecca Bodenheimer

Amanda Renee Green Wheeler ’72

Sarah Stevenson, MFA ’04

Kieran Turan ’90

Ruby Wallau

The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly by Mills College at Northeastern University, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California, and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send address changes to Oakland University Advancement, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Copyright © 2024

Mills College at Northeastern University

Address correspondence to:

Mills Quarterly 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613

Email: quarterly@mills.edu

mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu

Phone: 510.430.3312

Letters to the Editor

MY MOTHER, Judith Campbell McIlvenna, graduated from Mills in 1952 with a degree in English, as did her good friend, Joaquina Ballard Howles.

Ten years later, in the 1960s, a British publishing house bought and published Joaquina’s book No More Giants; however, it had limited distribution and was not widely available.

In roughly 2019, my daughter came across a blog about older, underappreciated books that were worthy of a read. Among those mentioned was No More Giants.

At the end of the piece was a plea from the blog’s author who asked if anyone knew of Joaquina’s whereabouts. His interest was different than simply being a fan: He worked with a publisher who sought out wonderful books that deserved a better distribution experience than they got at the time of their first publication. He thought No More Giants had a good chance of republication.

I collected the information from my daughter and contacted the author of the blog. I told him that I could get in touch with “Aunt Waki,” as we know her, and asked if he would like to be put in contact

with her son, who helps her with such business now.

My republished copy just arrived in the mail with a forward and an afterword that lauded the book as a modern classic and compared its author to Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion.

I think this book was before its time, when most of what was published was written by and about men. This book features a female central character in the ranching world of the 1940s. It’s about the prejudices, limitations, and expectations that women faced in that environment and in society in general.

Anyway, it’s an interesting story. My mother has passed, but in the twilight of a remarkable life, Joaquina’s book has been republished because it’s worth reading.

–Margot McIlvenna, Bend, Ore.

Correction

The winter 2024 issue of the Quarterly misspelled the family name of Marina Kershaw Simenstad ’68, MA ’11. And we misstated the course load for the late Associate Professor of Fine Arts Jay DeFeo, who taught painting, drawing, and composition at Mills. We apologize for the errors!

Joaquina Ballard Howles

Judith Campbell McIlvenna

A Message from the Interim Dean of Mills College

Greetings! It’s a pleasure to check in with you, our Mills alums, about what we’re up to in the Dean’s Office of Mills College at Northeastern University. With the time it’s taking to properly build up a full slate of academic offerings, I know there’s a lot of curiosity out there about our progress. We are keeping busy with a variety of initiatives, many of which are continuations from an independent Mills.

For starters, we have begun offering courses that are specifically under the Mills at Northeastern banner, with this semester’s California and the Global Economy Course in the Lokey School as the first. We have also received approval for six new Mills courses to start in fall 2024:

• Technologies of Writing

• LGBTQ+ in the San Francisco Bay Area

• Race, Policy, and Storytelling

• Women, Gender, & Cultural Production in the Global South

• Quantitative Conservation Biology

• Plant Ecology (with accompanying lab)

They join four educational MA/teaching credential programs that will bring in new cohorts starting this summer and fall, as well as a robust schedule of pop-up classes that continue this semester in subject areas such as architecture, book art, dance, and even an examination of the role that spices have played in cultures around the world. We are working alongside our colleagues in Northeastern’s College of Media and Design to ensure a broad variety of these one-credit options for all of our students.

We are also seeing strides in partnerships between professors and students conducting research together. One such instance is the Social Justice Peer Mentorship Program, which has paired current students with faculty and Mills alumnae on projects that include a look into the public health implications of smoking in East Palo Alto.

A big project that we are stewarding forward through the merger with Northeastern is our diversity, equity, and inclusion plan. Ife Tayo Walker, director of student and alum services for the Lokey School, now holds the concurrent position of director of community and belonging

for Mills at Northeastern after first chairing our Campus Culture Committee starting in 2022. And alongside the several committees that comprise the Oakland DEI team, she is doing a fabulous job—so far, she has developed the ADEIB (Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Grant Program, which held its first deadline on February 15. Our DEI plan has gone live, and it uses the acronym CALL to outline its aims:

• College Structure & Operations that reflect DEI values

• Academic Vision that embodies DEI and cultural sensitivity

• Leading Thought Partner in DEIAB across the global network

• Leverage Social Justice Legacy in creation of external partnerships

This work goes hand-in-hand with continuous programming that celebrates the proliferation of various cultures on this campus, including Heritage 365 programming, taking our efforts beyond traditional confines of designated Heritage Months. As I write this, we are in the midst of a packed schedule of Black History Month activities, including drum circles and film screenings. We were also thrilled that our office’s academic affairs director and group co-chair, Bryan Aja, helped host the firstever Northeastern Latinx Staff & Faculty Affinity Group get-together at Mills Hall

on December 8, 2023, with hybrid options available for members of the community across the Northeastern network.

And that’s just one of the many events on our calendar: In March, we are co-hosting the inaugural bell hooks Symposium on the Oakland campus alongside Northeastern’s Africana Studies Department, and we’re continuing a series of salons for our faculty members centered on the use of artificial intelligence in higher education.

So, from the outside, it may seem like Mills College is standing still, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is so much work happening behind the scenes, with many program ideas under development and collaborations with Northeastern’s Global Experience office and other colleges in the network steadily growing. Stay tuned for new Mills socialmedia accounts that will detail our collegespecific activities; my thanks to Academic Events and Cultural Programming Specialist Zamora for taking on administrative responsibilities there.

In closing, I’d like to introduce a new member of the Mills team: Sarayu Prakash, who joined us in January as our new associate dean of administration and finance. I look forward to working closely with her to ensure that our current and future Mills programs run smoothly, long into the future, and with the ethos befitting our heritage.

Beth Kochly

RUBY WALLAU

Mills Matters

Campus planning outlined in December meetings

On December 5, 2023, Northeastern’s Vice President and Chief of Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities Kathy Spiegelman traveled out to Oakland from Boston to lead a conversation with local faculty and staff about the planning underway that will shape the future of this historic campus.

She revealed a set of principles that are guiding long-term planning in addition to a robust list of campus improvement projects currently underway or planned for the summer.

“What we want to focus on is working with all of you who are in this place to work, and with the students who go to school on this particular campus, to establish what makes sense and is special for this place,” Spiegelman said. “How do we accommodate our desire to grow the undergraduate population on the campus in a way that doesn’t eliminate or detract from the very special quality of the physical environment here?”

Along those lines, planners invited attendees to visit an online form where they could offer their thoughts about their favorite spots on campus and what they would improve.

In the early years of Northeastern in Oakland, Spiegelman added, that

SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE Q&A SESSION THAT WRAPPED UP THE MEETING:

Have any zoning changes been made to the Oakland campus? No, as no plans or decisions have been made that would necessitate zoning changes.

What height is being considered for new structures? Spiegelman indicated that plans would take into account what currently exists on campus and in the Maxwell Park/Millsmont areas: “This campus doesn’t have high-rise buildings, and the neighbors around us are not high-rise buildings. I think we take that as our cue as we start thinking about, for instance, student housing.”

Is Northeastern involved in any discussions about the use of the Holy Names campus in Oakland? Not at this time, because Northeastern’s efforts are centered around “creating community” on the historic Mills/Oakland campus, according to Spiegelman.

has meant a concentration on completing deferred maintenance projects and refreshing and renovating existing spaces to better meet technology needs inside the classroom and out. Spiegelman also introduced Vini Bhargava, the new campus associate vice president of planning, real estate, and facilities, to speak about the framework that’s been developed to guide future planning.

It includes four principles:

Learning landscape. Bhargava stated that the planning process will include the context of the existing campus, not treat it like a blank slate. “We all recognize who

AS REPORTED ON DECEMBER 22, there were nearly 50 responses to the campus questionnaire made available to faculty and staff members at the meeting 17 days prior. Here are the results.

What is your favorite spot on campus?

The #1 response was Pine Top Trail, with other popular answers including Holmgren Meadow, Mills Hall, and Richards Road.

If you could wave your magic wand and change one thing about the physical campus, what would it be?

Multiple respondents mentioned that they’d like more indoor and programmed outdoor spaces for gathering, working, and conversing. Others registered their wish to improve existing athletic facilities.

live here, who know the campus, who work here, and we need to respect that,” she said. “We need to prioritize what exists and respect and celebrate the existing biodiversity through future landscape projects or architecture.” She mentioned that the land’s topography will guide future growth. Public realm first. This tenet refers to the campus community and how spaces need to be connected through strategic use of pathways, plazas, and parks. Any new or existing buildings will need to be “active,” or connected between the indoor and outdoor. “That’s how neighborhoods become vibrant—the ground floor is for everyone: faculty, staff, and students alike,” Bhargava said.

Radical mixed-use. A buzzword in urban planning, Bhargava said what this specifically means on the Oakland campus is ensuring that spaces serve, for example, uses such as both housing and teaching, or housing and dining: “Anyone who’s been to another residential university campus will see that there are pockets of activity at certain times of day. This activates the whole campus in different locations for different purposes, but the energy is all around campus and all throughout the day.”

Hackathon project catalogs campus history

Engaged edges. For this item, Bhargava pointed out the heavily forested borders of campus on a map: “We want to make sure we preserve those.” But there are also locations close to the edges that are secluded, such as the Community Farm near MacArthur Boulevard. “What if there were programs on that edge that activated the area including the farm? Maybe there’s student activity? Maybe there’s housing there?” she asked.

The first project will likely be student housing, Bhargava said, and introduced Director of City and Community Outreach and Programming Nikki Lowy to speak about next steps: a public engagement process. “We really want to start early because even in this room, not all of us agree on the most important priorities for this campus,” Lowy said. “If there are issues, we want to surface those and address them long before there’s a final project plan that’s going before the planning commission or city council.”

That process will include faculty and staff, students “future/past/present,” community leaders, direct neighbors, and elected officials. Lowy also said that a website will be developed to include updates and FAQs.

When 800 first-year students converged on campus last fall, many were curious about the history of the buildings in which they were living and attending class. A group of them came together on November 17 at the Experiential Entrepreneurship Start Summit: Hackathon for the Benefit of the Oakland Community to pursue a technological (and Gen-Z-friendly) solution—an online interactive map they named MillsPedia.

Their efforts won them first prize and a unique opportunity: the possibility of expanding their project to other campus locations in the Northeastern network.

Like other hackathons, this one was an overnight affair, and it started on a rainy night in the Student Union. The members of Team Sage began their project by sending out a survey to both legacy Mills students and first-year Northeastern students to gauge which spots on campus people were hungry to know more about. The data came in, the analysis was completed, and the coding began.

“Before the merger, Mills College was known to be a sanctuary that prided itself in having a diverse population. More than 58% of the student body was LGBTQ, 45% were first gen, and 65% were people of color,” said student Gianna Ou, the project’s business strategist, at a presentation to campus leaders on December 12. “It’s important for us to make sure that other students and future generations understand the social justice advocacy that this campus had to offer.”

Team Sage went around campus with a camera and conducted research online. Its members used Google Drive, Canva, and Wix— among other tools—to compile an interactive site where users can click on a location and learn the name of the building and a fun fact, such as the pool’s original location outside the Tea Shop. Though the site is still under construction, it can be viewed at millspedia.info.

At that December 12 presentation, administrators—including Northeastern’s Senior Vice President of Global Network & Strategic Initiatives Mary Ludden—congratulated the students and commented that the project is “translatable” to other campuses in the Northeastern network. Other officials expressed interest in helping supply the students with facts and photos.

Team Sage was one of several groups participating in the hackathon; an all-woman cohort (many of whom are also members of Girls Who Code) also shared their project with campus leadership. It involved developing a quiz and tutorial to help users determine how vulnerable they are to online identity theft.

Creating

co-ops in

Oakland, with Mills alums in charge

The co-op concept is a distinctive one in higher education, putting Northeastern in the company of just several dozen other schools. On the Oakland campus, the administrators in charge of setting up the program locally are both Mills alums.

And they are striving to ensure that what they know from their own alma mater is infused into co-ops run out of the Oakland campus.

Carrie Maultsby-Lute, MBA ’11, and Karimah Omer ’19, MBA ’21, are the new head of partnerships and associate director of partnerships, respectively, and they’ve already been building the foundations of eventual co-ops for students on the Oakland campus—whether they’re enrolled at Mills College at Northeastern or other Northeastern colleges—through a series of what are called Experiential Treks. These daylong field trips, in which all firstyear students must participate, include visits to a variety of organizations to learn about what they do, and activities to turn that new knowledge into insight for their futures.

“People weren’t aware of Northeastern being in Oakland. So, instead of asking

them to hire a student, we said, ‘Can we bring students to you?’” Maultsby-Lute says. “The evaluation that went out after the fall trek days showed that 95% of students felt motivated in their area of [interest], and 97% felt that they had a better understanding of what it means to be in that industry.”

The most recent set of treks, on March 19, saw students heading to highpowered companies such as Tesla and Salesforce. But also included were local institutions such as Oakland Museum of California and the Oakland Roots soccer team, and community businesses like the regeneratively farmed Heirloom Coffee Roasters, which is headquartered in the Melrose neighborhood near the Oakland Arena. The initial trek days, held in October 2023, featured visits to places like the Berkeley Repertory Theater.

“Students got to learn about arts and arts management, culture, and DEI within that space and talk to a diverse set of leaders,” Maultsby-Lute says. “I got so excited about the treks initially because we were getting to take students into the local community.”

These are the partnerships she and Omer say they hope to make more permanent as the Oakland student body eventually grows to include sophomores, which is the first year that Northeastern students are eligible for co-op—work experience with a partner company or organization that generally runs between four to eight months in lieu of classes.

“We’re connecting cultural enrichment with the technical aspects of co-op. We’re still going to talk to the employers and learn about jobs and their culture and values, but it’s going to be more holistic,” Maultsby-Lute says. “We want to find companies that are also value-aligned.”

Organizations typically have to pay into Northeastern’s co-op program to host a student worker, and that can restrict potential hosts. But Maultsby-Lute says she hopes a program currently in place in Boston, in which nonprofits and city organizations that have long-standing relationships with Northeastern participate for free, can be extended to Oakland to ensure a broad variety of options for students.

But so far, Maultsby-Lute and Omer’s efforts have brought in organizations, such as the card-issuing platform Marqueta, that were not already part of Northeastern’s co-op ecosystem, and they’re intending to bring in more. Anyone with interest in joining this group can reach out by email at oaklandpartnerships@northeastern.edu.

Changes in alum communications

As was mentioned in recent emails to the alum community, Northeastern’s Alumni Relations may soon send Mills graduates communications that are targeted to specific interests and geographic areas, such as event invitations. If you do not wish to receive these communications, please contact Mills Alumnae Relations at mills.alumnaerelations@northeastern.edu, or unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of those emails.

A fall 2023 Experiential Trek took students to the Oakland Zoo , where Megan Sweet Mellone, TCRED ’06, EDD ’08, serves as vice president of learning and engagement.

RUBY WALLAU

Major gifts benefit programs across campus

The Office of Institutional Advancement on Northeastern’s Oakland campus thanks the following donors for their gifts at the $50,000 level and above:

• The estate of Wendy Hull Brody ’68, for gifts to the Johnson/ Tupper/Hull Scholarship, which benefits undergraduate students with financial need, in honor of her grandmother and her mother, and to the Wendyce H. Brody Building Fund, which will support the construction, renovation, and/or restoration of facilities on the Oakland campus.

• The estate of Joan Lewis Danforth ’53, for the establishment of a new professorship, and for an unrestricted gift that will underwrite new programs currently under development on the Oakland campus.

• The estate of Margaret Deane, sister of Evelyn Deane ’41 and sister-in-law of former Professor of English Roussel Sargent, for establishing the Margaret Deane Endowed Scholarship for students attending Mills College at Northeastern University.

• The estate of Harriet “Nona” Hungate ’68, for an unrestricted gift that will support the Center for Contemporary Music’s digitization project in honor of her love for the arts.

• Charlene and Derry Kabcenell and the Rogers Family Foundation, for bolstering the Lead by Learning Program with the School of Education, which provides continuing education to local teachers.

• Mei Kwong ’70 and Laurence Franklin, for underwriting costs for Oakland students to attend summer sessions through Northeastern’s Dialogue of Civilizations program.

• Cris Russell ’71 and Ben Heineman Jr., for continued support of the Russell Women in Science Leadership Program.

• Nancy Kenealy Soper ’51, for a gift to the Nancy and Robert Soper Endowed Scholarship, which will support first-year students attending Mills College at Northeastern.

• The San Francisco Foundation, for contributing to the Department of Art and Art History Gift Fund and Mabel Lee Ferral Scholarship Fund.

• The PG&E Corporation Foundation, for its ongoing gifts to the Upward Bound Gift Fund and Educational Talent Search Program, which provide opportunities in higher education to underrepresented populations.

Mills Institute update

Christie Chung has been named the permanent executive director of the Mills Institute, shedding her previous interim status. The promotion came through just in time for the Institute’s second Innovation Lab, which was held on January 18, and for Chung’s keynote address at the TEDxNortheasternU conference in Boston on February 24.

Holland Professor of Education Priya Driscoll has taken Chung’s place in the Dean’s Office as the interim associate dean for research and scholarship for Mills College at Northeastern, with an official search for a permanent replacement launching this spring. Driscoll is also a faculty mentor in the Russell Women in Science Leadership Program at the Mills Institute through her research into the roles that cultural and environmental factors play into the social and linguistic development of young children.

RUBY WALLAU

Spanish-language stalwart retires

Carlota Caulfield, now professor emerita of Spanish, officially retired in December 2023 after 31 years (and one semester) as a member of the Mills College Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Northeastern University’s Department of Literatures and Languages. As a parting gift to the campus where she spent more than three decades of her professional life, Caulfield has donated a portion of her extensive library to F.W. Olin Library’s Special Collections. She came to Mills in fall 1992 right after receiving her PhD in philosophy and letters from Tulane University, and since then, she’s created many courses in the Spanish and letters curricula, including Intersections of Art and Poetry; Latin American Women Writers in Translation; and Spanish for Spanish Speakers: Language, Culture, and Identity. Caulfield embarked on teaching fellowships at the Institute of German and Romance Studies in Delhi, India; the University of London and University College London; University of Gröningen in the Netherlands; and the University of Barcelona. She was also granted a CINTAS Foundation Fellowship in Creative Writing at the Institute of International Education in San Francisco.

At Mills, Caulfield received the Trefethen Award for outstanding teaching, curricular innovation, and scholarship, and the W.M. Keck Award in Creative Writing. Her poem “Ultimo Novecento” was awarded the International Poetry Prize, and “Dulce María Loynaz” garnered her the first International Iberian Poetry Prize. And, of course, she taught thousands of Mills students who have taken her influence with them out into the world.

The books and documents she gifted to the archives include two issues of Vox: arte+literature y otros simulacros, Jamie Luis Martin’s Poesia Visual, and Olga Diego: Transgressive Architecture among other journals, catalogs, and books of visual poetry. A separate donation she made of more than 170 books of women’s poetry from Colección Torremozas in Madrid is now in general circulation.

Oakland hits on Northeastern Global News

Over the last few months, reporters with Northeastern Global News have shone a spotlight on a number of stories taking place on the Oakland campus. They include:

• “Original synthesizer built by music pioneer Don Buchla a big hit with students on Northeastern’s Oakland campus.” Professor of Music and Director of the Center of Contemporary Music James Fei (pictured below) worked with first-year student Cullen Thurston during the fall 2023 semester to demonstrate the 60-year-old modular synthesizer originally commissioned by Ramon Sender and Morton Subotnick in 1963.

• “Northeastern professor pens book on kindness, inclusion, and gratitude with 8-year-old daughter.” Mills Institute Executive Director Christie Chung and her daughter, Olivia Ono, collaborated on the authorship of the children’s book Inspire to Include Olivia saw her mother working on academic articles and wanted to work with her on something incorporating Chung’s work in cognitive psychology.

• “Northeastern will award up to 10 full tuition, room and board scholarships annually to high school students in Oakland, California.” Building upon Mills College’s history with Oakland Promise, Northeastern will provide 10 full scholarships each year to seniors graduating in Oakland Unified School District schools and Pell-eligible college students in Oakland, starting in fall 2024.

• “First cohort of game design students on Northeastern’s Oakland campus teams up with children to make video games.” Fourthand fifth-graders attending Mills College Children’s School partnered with graduate students taking Professor of Education Cliff Lee’s game design and analysis course to develop and design player-centered video games.

Full articles are available at news.northeastern.edu/?s=oakland.

RUBY WALLAU

Campus kudos

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

Associate Adjunct Professor of Public Policy Ashley Adams co-authored the article “Historic Designation Planning for the Nicodemus National Historic Site and Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park: A Cross-Case Analysis of Representation in Public Memory, Equity-Based Preservation Planning, and Maintenance Backlogs,” which appeared in the spring 2023 issue of the Great Plains Quarterly.

Professor Emerita of Spanish Carlota Caufield’s poems “Drum Roll” and “While I Translate Irish Poems” have been translated into Korean and were included in Bridging the Waters IV: An International Bilingual Anthology, which was published in 2023.

Mills Institute Executive Director and Professor of Psychology Christie Chung published the commentary “Intersectionality of Age, Race, and Gender in Facial Recognition” in the 2023 issue of the Journal of Integrated Social Sciences. Her piece examined the impact of Covid-era mask wearing on facial and emotional recognition in daily social interactions.

A new set of short works by Professor Emerita of Dance Molissa Fenley, “From the Light, Between the Lamps,” debuted at Roulette in Brooklyn on January 31. The performance received a NYT Critic’s Pick distinction in the review by writer Siobhan Burke.

Professor of English Susan Ito’s 2023 memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, was named a finalist in the Autobiography category for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards. The awards ceremony was scheduled to take place on March 21 at the New School in New York.

Staffers with Lead by Learning have logged many accomplishments in

recent months. Director of Program Innovation and Development Nina Portugal published “Develop a Practice of Learning Partnership Conversations to Center Student Voice in Professional Learning” on the CompetencyWorks Blog with the Aurora Institute. Director of Programs Malia Tayabas-Kim copresented at the November 2023 SEL Exchange Conference for Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning on research on the impact of transforming adult learning spaces by engaging in public learning. And Lead Program Facilitator Mahru Elahi participated in the panel discussion “Be a Leader Who Learns: Use Data to Uncover Truths About Adult Learning to Inform Your Leadership Decision” at the ACSA Leadership Summit in November 2023.

Artwork by Dean of Digital Learning and Professor of English Ajuan Mance was on display at the Golden Gate Library in Oakland as part of Black Culture Fest for Black History Month in February. A design

of hers, “The Transformation of Silence into Language,” is also one of nine options now available on library cards in the Oakland Public Library system.

Professor of French and Francophone Studies Brinda Mehta received the 2023-2024 Hind Rattan Diasporic Award from the NonResident Indian Welfare Society of India. The name of the award translates as “jewel of India” and goes to nonresident members of the Indian diaspora who demonstrate superlative achievements in their fields.

Professor of English Kirsten Saxton’s essay, “Troubling White Femininity: Revisiting Delarivier Manley’s The Wife’s Resentment (1720),” was published in the journal Eighteenth-Century Fiction in October 2023.

Professor of English Juliana Spahr’s poem “Ode to Goby” was selected as the Poem-a-Day on poets.org, on December 11, 2023.

Professor of Practice and Director of Theater Studies Victor Talmadge played multiple roles in the Aurora Theater Company production of the Mary Kathryn Nagle play Manahatta, which was on stage at the company’s space in Berkeley from February 15 to March 10.

Associate Professor of Education Jaci Urbani published the article “Learning About America’s Racial Issues: Beginning Difficult Conversations through ReadAlouds,” which she co-authored with two of her former graduate students, in the journal The Reading Teacher in February.

Professor Emerita of Book Art Kathleen Walkup wrote a piece, “The Good Noise of Students in the Print Studio,” that was published in the summer 2023 issue of Printing History.

Clockwise from top: Juliana Spahr, Kirsten Saxton, Christie Chung, Jaci Urbani

“We’re a

Distressed Industry”

By Sarah J. Stevenson, MFA ’04

WSorting Headlines on Higher Education with Alums in the Know

E’VE ALL HEARD the prophecies of doom shouted out by recent headlines: College is harder to afford than ever. Student debt is ballooning. Chatbots are writing student papers. Freedom of speech has gone too far, or not far enough. The powers that be are telling academic institutions what they can and can’t teach.

Mills alumnae from the world of higher education contend with these issues on a day-to-day basis—and they have plenty of opinions on whether the situation is truly as dire as it appears.

IN THE WAKE OF THE PANDEMIC, the role of technological change and the online environment in particular have fundamentally altered the experience of higher education. During the shutdown, options for distance learning proliferated, and the world of education was forced to adapt by providing classes and services in online modalities—whether through learning management systems like Blackboard or videoconferencing apps like Zoom or Google Meet.

“The pandemic, frankly, was fortuitous for many of us,” says Celia Esposito-Noy, EDD ’99, the outgoing president of Solano Community College, which has campuses in Fairfield, Vallejo, Vacaville, and Travis Air Force Base. “It pushed us to do what many students were asking of us: more online services and online classes.”

Online classes can be a real godsend for students juggling practical and financial considerations like work and family, as many returning students do. Nonetheless, something valuable may be lost when students don’t have—or can’t access—that in-person experience. Judy Smrha ’87, chair of the Department of Business & Economics at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, worries about what will happen if students begin to see the online educational environment as normal or the default.

She describes her time at Mills College as “transformative,” in part because of the social experience of living on campus. The physicality of the college environment can change your trajectory in unexpected ways, she says, and encourage you to take on challenges that you otherwise might never have

considered, like studying abroad or engaging in student activism. Indeed, Smrha has found that, for most students, “they want it to be in person and, if they had the resources, that’s what they’d choose.”

But resources are an ongoing, worsening issue. Asking people to pay for a traditional—and expensive—college education “is a really tall order,” says Ebony Cain ’05, chair of Education Doctoral Programs at Pepperdine University, which has four campuses throughout the Los Angeles area. While technology can help address some of these equity gaps, relying on it too heavily can create other problems for students “especially if they don’t understand that you can’t just go online and Google your way into a new insight,” she adds.

It’s somewhat of a marketing problem to convince today’s prospective students that simply having instant access to information isn’t enough—being able to parse that data and think critically about it is a vital skill. As the past several years have shown, social media also presents challenges to how we understand the world, Cain says. Apps like TikTok condense very complicated information into brief sound bites, and that’s a problem: “People have these overly simplistic narratives that have become dominant, and there’s no space for any complexity of conversation.”

That’s an even bigger problem when politics enters the fray, calling into question the fundamental purpose of higher education, what is taught and how, and who is allowed to make those decisions.

Many educators fear that the direct encroachment of states on curriculum and on academic freedom, as has occurred in Florida, Texas, and elsewhere, sets a dangerous precedent. Academics in politically charged fields such as women’s and gender studies, arts, the humanities, and even history, fear for their jobs, and with good reason.

“I have personal friends who have had their entire programs eliminated,” Smrha says.

Those faculty members who remain can be pressured to adhere to standards chosen by legislators and political activists, who might not have the appropriate expertise to decide what should be taught or which programs deserve to exist. Those decisions might be made based not on academic factors but on perceived profitability, political concerns, or anti-intellectual sentiment.

In addition to the professionals interviewed here, Mills-educated leaders in the higher ed space include ▶

Sabrina Kwist, MA ’11, EDD ’17, associate vice provost of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of San Francisco

Linda Page ’63, founder of Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto

Daisy Gonzales ’13, deputy chancellor of California Community Colleges

Wendy Ng ’79, dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences at Cal State East Bay

Amy Morrison Goings ’95, president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington

Kaye Bell McDonald ’83, former associate dean of multicultural affairs at Johns Hopkins University

Gwyneth Mellinger ’79, former director of the School of Media Arts and Design at James Madison University

Lilian Gonzalez ’09, assistant vice chancellor of student life, and Allie Littlefox, MA ’20, EDD ’22 , assistant vice chancellor of planning and innovation at Northeastern University in Oakland

“I would love to see educational leaders being able to step up and push back,” Esposito-Noy says. “But I also understand it’s about preserving their jobs. These positions are very political.”

When three prominent college presidents—from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania— were questioned on Capitol Hill in late 2023, one of the major takeaways for viewers was just how politicized the educational sphere has become, and how little it truly helps when very real issues are turned into a media spectacle.

“I think that everybody lost on that day because the goal was a sound bite,” Cain says. “It didn’t serve anybody because there was no conversation about the values. What are our shared values, and how are we going to move through that?”

The fear of job loss also has implications for academic freedom, inhibiting educators’ ability to teach freely within their disciplines.

“Academic freedom is a highly misunderstood concept,” says Renny Christopher ’82, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Washington State University Vancouver. “The principal statement on academic freedom says that faculty have a level of professional expertise and that they should be free to teach from that and do research out of that professional expertise without restraint.”

In some states, that particular freedom is being challenged at the government level.

“People see that we have a richer understanding

of history than we had 10, 20 years ago, and it shifts who the center of the narrative is,” says Marilyn Schuster ’65, provost and dean of the faculty emerita of Smith College and former member of the Mills Board of Trustees. Demographic changes have also meant that higher education is increasingly dominated by women and people of color—and some who feel threatened have lashed out publicly in response.

Aside from the political backlash, shortsighted decisions about what should be taught—or who can access an education—can cause trouble down the road, such as shortages in certain professions. This is already happening in some fields, such as health care, but it affects the economy as a whole and could be particularly detrimental in states where higher education is shrinking already.

“Florida will be an interesting experiment,” says Heather Herrera ’94, vice president of strategy and innovation at San Francisco Bay University. “What will that mean for their economy if they don’t have enough college graduates?” Reducing the number of college graduates is a situation that doesn’t serve us as a society, she adds: “We’re eroding our own democracy.”

THESE ARE THE KINDS OF SITUATIONS

that have been making headlines.

But the headlines don’t tell the whole story, and the most pervasive difficulties plaguing higher education, according to many in the field, are financial—not only the rising cost of student tuition, but how colleges

themselves can afford to operate given lower revenues and inequitable funding formulas. Some schools, such as Holy Names University, have even had to close, while others—like Mills—have taken drastic steps to avoid that fate.

“We’re a distressed industry,” Herrera says. “Higher education in general is in a very fragile place, and it needs to justify its relevance.” Declining enrollments seem to reflect that: The number of undergraduate students has been sliding for more than a decade, with a 4% decline since 2020 alone, according to a 2023 report from Deloitte.

This is a huge problem for small private colleges.

“You really are relying on enrollment as your primary source of revenue in many cases,” Esposito-Noy says. “It makes it difficult for small liberal arts colleges to survive because they don’t have the same endowments that public or private research universities do.”

Unsurprisingly, this affects the cost of tuition, adding yet another financial obstacle for potential students.

When Christopher went through school, tuition was considerably less expensive. State and federal aid were also more attainable, making a private college like Mills affordable for Christopher, a firstgeneration college graduate. But tuition has continued to rise over the decades since, and colleges are seeing fewer and fewer students who feel they can afford a degree.

“State governments are not financing public institutions nearly the way they should,” Schuster says. Declining state support drives up the cost to students and families. Moreover, many younger and first-generation students don’t know how to find the resources that might help them afford an education—or, if they do, they’re reluctant to accumulate a burden of student debt that they might have difficulty shouldering in the future.

Compounding the problem is the fact that schools don’t always effectively communicate the benefits of education in terms of return on investment. While this conundrum might seem antithetical to the original purpose of higher education—to expand one’s mind—it’s still a realistic barrier for many with limited resources.

When you need an advanced degree to move to the next level in your career, the benefit is clear, Cain says.

“But for somebody who doesn’t have a position yet, is still trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, it’s hard to understand that return on investment in financial terms,” she says—even though, on average, bachelor’s degree holders can earn nearly a million more in lifetime earnings than someone with only a high school diploma according to Georgetown University’s Center of Education and the Workforce.

The New College of Florida, a public liberal arts institution in Sarasota, has seen six new members join its board of trustees, including “anti-woke” provocateur Christopher Rufo. The resulting changes, including the proposal of a “cancel culture” institute and alleged denials of tenure for political reasons, have resulted in sanctions from the American Association of University Professors.

These thorny financial challenges lead some educators to worry that a college education will once again—as it has been in the past—be limited only to those who have the means to pay for it, and that there will be fewer options remaining even for those who can afford it.

“One of my worst nightmares about the future of higher education is that there will only be a few very wealthy, very powerful institutions,” Christopher says. “That’s not the future that I want to see, but one of my fears is that higher education will become ‘re-elitized.’” And with other, lower-cost options proliferating, such as online degrees and career-focused certificate programs, fewer students are attracted to the idea of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a traditional college experience. Plenty of reasonably well-paid jobs don’t require a college degree at all, and per recent research by job sites such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter, some employers are eliminating degree requirements entirely for certain positions, focusing more on skills than degrees.

Nevertheless, many educators remain hopeful that higher education can evolve and address its difficulties while still remaining true to its mission.

“Right now, we’re in a state of turmoil,” Christopher

points out, “but turmoil can bring positive change just as well as it can bring negative change.” Technological advances, for example, have definitely introduced new wrinkles into the educational process, but they can also contribute to equitable access and student retention with increased online services.

Cain, for one, is optimistic: “Artificial technology can’t do critical thinking, and critical thinking— at least in education—is the heart of what we do. There’s no bot in the world that’s going to be able to do that in the way that a human mind and a compassionate heart can.”

Higher education also confers value beyond the knowledge gained in a classroom. Despite the very real concerns about student debt, educational attainment still leads to higher incomes and greater social mobility. Communicating that value will help students understand that there is a return on investment, particularly if schools direct more resources toward ensuring a smooth transition into the workforce.

In pursuit of affordability and accessibility, schools may also need to become less dependent on tuition.

“We need to reinstitute public support for higher education,” Christopher says, ideally with more investment on a state and federal level. Another

Left, Stewart Hall at West Virginia University, whose board voted in September 2023 to eliminate 28 of its majors, including the entire world language department, and cut 5% of faculty positions. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice told the Associated Press he was declining to dip into the state’s $1.8-billion surplus to make up for the school’s shortfall. Photo by Steve Heap.

Below, gates on the campus of Harvard University, which is a perennial punching bag for politicians and in headlines. And yet, according to statistics from Harvard and the National Center for Education Statistics, its 25,266 attendees represent just .13% of all students in higher education nationwide. Photo by Marcio.

possible solution is educational consortia, such as the Claremont Colleges, or partnerships. Schuster identified what’s happened between Mills and Northeastern, a decision that inspired a range of emotions from surprise to relief to consternation, as a third path: “a merger with a financially secure, large private university.” A member of the Board of Trustees at the time the decision was made, she says she feels encouraged so far by the potential financial benefits to Mills.

To those who worry about keeping the proud legacy of Mills alive, and retaining what makes it special for future generations of students, Schuster says, “I understand the feeling of loss. It isn’t the same, and there are things that I miss, but what I don’t miss is that feeling of constant crisis and nothing ever support[ing] students and staff the way they should be.”

In Mills’ case, for many, evolution was preferable to extinction: Five of the six alumnae quoted herein were cautiously relieved that Mills has been able to endure through the Northeastern merger, even as they worry for the future of the College’s legacy and women’s schools in general.

The Mills experience, after all, has always been about more than small class sizes and a picturesque campus. It’s also about learning to value women’s

education, discovering one’s own voice and leadership potential, and appreciating the diversity of individual viewpoints—benefits that last a lifetime.

“It was a really great time to develop my identity as a scholar and as a person,” Cain says.

Fortunately, there are still plenty who understand the benefits of that kind of education and actively seek them out. Christopher and others pointed to the high level of motivation and commitment they’re personally witnessing from students who want both the education and the social experience college provides, and who are willing to fight to ensure they have access. But everyone shares the responsibility for creating positive change—leaders and board members are accountable, too.

Encouragingly, newer generations of leaders are more diverse than ever, a shift that inspires hope for the future of higher education as increasingly equitable and accessible—while remaining a formative experience unlike any other.

“I loved my time at Mills and I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Cain says. “I think it made me. It opened up a world to me that I didn’t know existed.”a

Mills Hall, photographed last year behind a Mills College at Northeastern University banner.

Photo by Ruby Wallau.

“Millsie”

and the contested terrain of identity-based terms

By Rebecca Bodenheimer

THE CULTURE WARS have been heating up in recent years, along with deep political polarization in the United States, and language has been one of the primary arenas of battle. The increased visibility and demands for equity and inclusion by marginalized groups—including BIPOC and the LGBTQIA+ community—have been met with a backlash that often centers on the terms these groups use to identify themselves.

One example is the disdain many Americans have expressed toward the proliferation of people specifying the pronouns they use as a way of highlighting the unfixed, non-biological nature of gender identity. A notinsignificant number of accounts on X (the site formerly known as Twitter) mock the trend of listing one’s preferred pronouns in their bios—not the least of whom is the current owner of the platform

While moral panics around “gender ideology,” critical race theory, and immigration pose serious threats to the bodily safety of marginalized people, even within activist and social justice communities there are often clashes around the use of terms, particularly when those terms are used to represent a group’s identity. Movements evolve over the generations and adopt new terms and concepts—and sometimes this can rub various subgroups the wrong way. For example, the term “queer” is now a widely used catchall term for the LGBTQIA+ community, but gay men over the age of 50 or 60 may be triggered by the reclamation of a term formerly used to disparage and harass them.

How does that that dynamic work within a similar disagreement among Mills alums, all of whom ostensibly agree on the importance of education among women and marginalized groups?

“It’s identifying and endearing at the same time.”

–Debby Campbell Dittman ’68

The controversy surrounding “Millsie”

In this community, the term “Millsie” has been a source of dispute (see “Mixed Feelings About Millsie” at right). Some alums, especially more recent ones, tend to prefer it because it’s a gender-neutral term, which fits the Mills they know: one that, before the merger with Northeastern, educated students of all marginalized genders. For example, Class Agent Barbie Penn ’10 wrote a letter to her classmates in February 2023 with the headline of “Message from a Millsie.” Octavia Sun ’16, who used “Millsie” in stories she wrote as a reporter for The Campanil, said, “I’ve always known [it] as a very affectionate nickname for people that are part of the Mills community,” adding that it extended beyond students and alums to faculty. “I’ve affectionately said, ‘I’m going to be hanging with the Millsies this weekend,’” she added.

However, for some alums—especially those who may have participated in the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s—the term strikes them as overly feminine. It makes sense that women who fought so hard to be seen as men’s intellectual peers would react negatively to a term that seems cutesy and affectionate. “I can understand older Mills alums not liking the nickname,” Sun said, “perhaps because they think it might possibly lead to people not taking Mills community members seriously.” While she sees it as a gender-neutral term, she said she could see how some might perceive it as more feminine-coded.

It is common to see “communities wrestle with language in and amongst themselves,” said Lisa Arellano, a visiting scholar of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Mills College at Northeastern University. “[At] any given moment, there are lots of different ideas on what is correct.” Although clashes can often be intergenerational, she has also seen members of the same age cohort have very different ideas about what constitutes a “good” or “bad” term.

Linguistic debates in the queer and trans communities

The term “queer” is a clear example of the ways the connotations around language can change over time. In the mid-20th century, “queer” was a term used to deride, exclude, and exact violence on gay men, but it was reclaimed in the 1990s by a younger generation of activists and academics who, in Arellano’s words, “want[ed] to invoke something more gender neutral, more provocative, non-normative, more inclusive, that [was] going to be a catchall term.” For some older gay men, this reclamation felt disrespectful and uninformed. In addition,

Mixed Feelings About “Millsie”

The first documented use of the term “Millsie” in the Mills archives dates from the issue of Mills Stream that came out on December 15, 1966—on a story with the not-very gender-neutral headline of “How Do Millsies Meet Men?” (See below.) But the actual genesis of the phrase is unclear; in a survey conducted among members of the AAMC Board of Governors and the Alum Engagement Committee, graduates from the 1960s and ’70s do not recall hearing “Millsie” in use during their time on campus.

In more recent years, especially since the College’s 2014 adoption of its transgender admissions policy, “Millsie” has been more frequently used to refer to any Mills student, alum, professor, or staff member—especially in less formal settings. But as our survey bears out, the terminology raises hackles among some members of the alum community: 36% of our respondents indicated positive reactions to the use of “Millsie,” while 46% said it had negative connotations for them—and 18% self-reported mixed feelings.

The reasoning? We heard “Millsie” described as diminutive and cringeworthy.

Jillian Mosely ’18, MA ’22, who until recently worked as an orientation director both for Mills and for Northeastern in Oakland, describes her experience with the term as such: “I don’t personally mind it, but I’ve seen more than a few folks have such a visceral reaction to the term that I generally avoid using it.”

Look throughout these pages for additional thoughts.

“It sounds like something cute, harmless, and small, and I never saw Mills women like that!”

–Kieran Turan ’90

said Arellano, “whatever its ambitions, ‘queer’ ended up being overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly young, overwhelmingly male.” So instead of being a unifying term, she continued, “it just gets added to the end of what is this everexpanding—we sometimes call it alphabet soup of letters—that are supposed to name everybody and include everybody, but there is no one letter that comes to circumvent that litany of letters.”

In essence, although “queer” is still a popular and widely used term by gay, lesbian, and other sexual minority groups, and is particularly useful in academic contexts, said Arellano, some in the community would simply never use it “because it’s either too exclusive or too flip or too ahistorical.”

Archie Crowley, a sociolinguist and assistant professor in the English department at Elon University in North Carolina, has found in their research that intergenerational tensions around language also happen within trans communities. On the one hand, older trans folks “struggl[e] with either singular ‘they’ as a pronoun or different neo-pronouns, as well as just learning the terminology that many young people [a]re developing to self-identify with.” Crowley recounted that an older research participant they worked with had trouble using “they/ them” because people had used that term to misgender her, a trans woman: “When people want to misgender me or other me, they often use ‘they’ to do that,” the participant recounted. Nonetheless, it is an affirming pronoun for Crowley, who is non-binary.

Crowley highlighted some regional norms that make addressing non-binary people particularly fraught in the South, where they live. Southerners often refer to people as “sir” or “ma’am,” and, Crowley noted, these gendered terms can be affirming for some trans people (as long as they are not being misgendered). However, they also exclude non-binary people, and it can be difficult to find a substitute for these gendered terms, particularly in a region where they are ingrained in the culture.

Crowley has also seen some surprising debates around the term “transsexual,” which is considered by most to be an outdated term associated with “a medical model of trans identity,” they said, that isn’t inclusive of trans folks who aren’t interested in pursuing surgery. However, more recently, they have seen some

“I love that it’s gender neutral! I also love that, at least in my circle of alums, it’s part of our unique Mills College culture and cultural experience.”

–Maria Domίnguez ’08

young people reclaim “transsexual” because they believe it feels more “in your face” and radical than “transgender.” All of these examples demonstrate how, as Crowley put it, “Language will never be settled.” Even when people are putting together guides on inclusive language, they should remember that these guides are more “snapshots in time” than definitive guides, Crowley said, “because they can tell us what we think is the best now.”

Language has never not evolved. However, Arellano said that what is perhaps different in our day and age is that there is more pressure on everyone to “get these things right.” There is a mistaken assumption, she continued, that “rightness is always something that emerges and evolves over time, that we get more right over time.” But the reality is far more complicated and nuanced, she said—particularly because previously offensive terms (like “transsexual”) can be revived and take on positive meanings.

In this vein, Arellano mentioned the reclaiming of the word “slut,” which younger feminists are using “to invoke a critique of sexual normativity or sexual shaming or sexual disciplining in favor of a more liberatory sexual politic.” At the same time, others have challenged the positive use of the term, pointing out that it really is only “available to a certain kind of privileged, young, white female subject,” continued Arellano. These clashes often “reveal intra-community differences of access or power or privilege.”

According to Crowley, there is also a current debate in the trans community around the reclaiming of the “t-slur.” Because it was originally used to denigrate trans women specifically, they said, there is disagreement around whether trans men also have the right to reclaim the term for themselves. The re-emergence of those terms arises from the desire to reclaim something once seen as insulting—and thus empower a marginalized community—but this phenomenon can also lead to very real schisms among people fighting for the same cause.

Contested terms involving racial and ethnic identity

And it is not only terms relating to gender identity or sexuality that are fraught and contested. “Latinx,” devised as a gender-neutral alternative for the gendered Spanish-language terms “Latino” or “Latina,” has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. As with the term “queer,” “Latinx” has been widely adopted particularly in academia, among the LGBTQIA+ community, and within politically progressive institutions—and yet, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center study, it is also deeply unpopular among the larger population with Latin American roots, with more than 75% of respondents not even being familiar with the term.

Arellano discussed the parallels between the terms “queer” and “Latinx,” noting that whether they are considered representative depends not only on one’s age, but also the specific context of their use: “I would say I’m teaching a course in queer studies in the way that I might be much more specific if I were… trying to name something specific within the queer community.” Similarly, she noted that Latinx is a term that’s widely legible in an academic environment, even though people may use more ethnically differentiated terms in other spaces. Indeed, what has been found in many surveys among Latinx people is that many simply prefer to identify themselves using more ethnically specific terms—i.e., Mexican, Cuban, or Salvadoran. Other organizations use “Latine,” such as the California Young Democrats Latine Caucus.

While not totally analogous, there have been many debates and shifts around how to refer to Black American speech. Nandi Sims, assistant professor of linguistics at Stanford, recalled that the term “Ebonics” was once used widely, both in the Black community and academia, to refer to a specific dialect of American English. But when it was picked up and disseminated by non-Black people, it came to be associated with “bad” or “incorrect” speech. Once the meaning pivoted to have a negative connotation, she said, the community was forced to come up with another term, i.e., African American Vernacular English (AAVE). A similar dynamic is currently playing out with the co-optation of the word “woke”—a Black American term denoting awareness of racial discrimination that dates back almost a century, and became synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement in the 2010s. It became so widely disseminated that many pundits and culture warriors have appropriated it to refer to any policy aiming to increase equity and inclusivity; being “anti-woke” has become a key aspect of contemporary conservative identity. The climax of this linguistic co-optation and distortion is evidenced in the informal name of a Florida law passed in 2022 and championed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Stop WOKE Act—which restricts teaching about the history of racism to topics that don’t make students feel guilty about the past actions of members of their race.

“Millsie”

“What is the purpose of this term? It sounds childish to me. It does not reflect how a graduate of Mills College has grown into a strong woman by the time she graduates.”

–Pierre Loving ’77

The significance of “Millsie”

The “Millsie” controversy may seem quite banal when compared with some of the more consequential debates over language—and yet, the term has perhaps become more meaningful in recent years. For Mills alum and current Assistant Adjunct Professor of English Susan Ito, MFA ’92, “Millsie” has taken on a special significance now that Mills is a part of Northeastern University, and—so far—most students are spending only one or two semesters on the Oakland campus. “I don’t have students that I see for four years anymore,” she said. “I don’t have students that are like, ‘I took every course that you ever offered.’” She recounted being on a book tour recently where some Mills alums came to her readings, and she signed their books “Millsies Forever.”

The Millsie population is dwindling, Ito said, and sooner or later there will be no more students who applied to an independent Mills College; there will only be new students who applied to Northeastern. In this context, “Millsie” is a term of “connectedness and shared history” for Ito: “You’re a Millsie if you started here and you’re going to graduate from here.” This also goes for faculty: “Are you a Millsie faculty or are you new faculty who’s come in since the merger?” Ito said she feels a sense of solidarity with fellow faculty who have been at Mills for 10 or 20 years, because it feels like Millsies are “going extinct,” she said. “Our numbers are small, so I feel it’s like a very precious community.”

It is not only language that shifts over time to represent fixed things, said Arellano, but rather that things themselves shift and so language must evolve along with them: “You’re trying to adapt language in an evolving way to a community or group of individuals or a constellation of subjectivity that is shifting over time.” Thus, maybe “Millsie” will eventually be considered part of a bygone era as the campus population continues to change. However, at the very least, the nickname will be remembered by many students and faculty affectionately as a term denoting a proud shared identity and experience. a

A Message from the AAMC President and Board of Governors AAMC NEWS & NOTES

Hello, Mills College alums!

Welcome to the spring edition of Mills Quarterly. Since the first of the year, the AAMC Governors are working on multiple efforts to continue to strengthen the AAMC, honor, and promote our Mills history, and to support Mills alums and their interests. Look at the items highlighted below for details. Your participation is needed in several of them!

Election & Applications

Applications are now open for the Board of Governors and Nominating Committee. If you’re interested in serving the AAMC, visit our website at aamc-mills.org for more information and application details.

Voting & Annual Meeting

This year, voting for governors and Nominating Committee members will be done electronically (managed by ElectionBuddy). The exciting change is that voting will now take place before the Annual Meeting and over an extended period. Alums no longer will need to vote at the Annual Meeting; they can do so over the course of a few days via electronic ballot (or paper ballot if requested).

We’re thrilled to make this convenient change for our alums, ensuring a more relaxed and thoughtful voting process.

If you haven’t signed up to receive emails from us, please visit our website at aamc-mills.org to enter your contact information and give us consent to send you electronic communications and ballot information via email. This is a requirement under California law. If you absolutely cannot vote online due to lack of email or internet access and need a paper ballot, please contact the AAMC at info@aamc-mills.org as soon as possible.

Mark your calendars for this year’s AAMC Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 22, starting at 10:00 a.m. PDT.

AAMC’s New Treasurer

Meet new AAMC Treasurer and board officer: Atsuko Yube ’88. Atsuko was selected by the nominating committee and heartily welcomed by the Board of Governors at our BOG meeting in December 2023. Atsuko majored in art at Mills, and after graduation, she found her direction working with numbers and subsequently entered the real estate industry. She owns her own bilingual real estate business serving clients both in the United States and in Japan. Her professional resume is quite impressive, and she has previously served as treasurer for several nonprofit organizations.

As the treasurer for AAMC, Atsuko has clear objectives:

►Communication: She aims to communicate the AAMC’s financial status clearly to both leaders and members, using language that everyone can understand.

►Strategic Insights: Atsuko plans to provide strategic insights to optimize fund allocation, ensuring a strong financial position and a healthy balance.

►Unity and Celebration: Because the AAMC plays a vital role as a lifelong connector for alumnae, she wants to foster unity and celebrate the exceptional achievements of Mills’ legacy by collaborating on fundraising initiatives.

The Board of Governors is very grateful for her expertise and service for the 2023–26 term.

CCM Fundraising Project

The Center for Contemporary Music Archive Project, also known as the CCM Digitalization Project, is now up and running—thanks to your generous donations! The project has been fueled by a matching fund campaign that runs until April 30. Excitingly, your contributions are doubled by a matching donation from the AAMC Board of Governors.

Our alums have enthusiastically engaged with this vital initiative, which safeguards the Mills College legacy. As of March 1,

the total contributions amount to $24,306, accounting for 37% of our ambitious goal of $65,000.

These funds have been allocated to the CCM digitization project, and preparatory archival work has already commenced. If you happened to miss Professor Bernstein’s enlightening Zoom presentation on March 16, highlighting the CCM and the historic work we’ll preserve through this project, don’t worry! You can catch the replay on the AAMC website.

But the fundraising effort doesn’t stop there! We’re continuing to rally until we reach our $65,000 goal. New and repeat donors are warmly welcomed. For updates, visit the AAMC website at aamc-mills.org.

Together, we’ll preserve the rich musical heritage of Mills College!

Alumnae Award Nominations

While Reunion may seem distant, preparations are already underway! We are excited to announce that nominations are now open for the AAMC Alumnae Awards. Since 2007, the AAMC has recognized outstanding alumnae at an awards ceremony during Reunion; this year, scheduled for Saturday, September 28.

Here are the three prestigious awards presented, and we encourage you to consider remarkable individuals for these honors.

►AAMC Distinguished Achievement Award: This award recognizes an alumna who has made significant contributions in her professional life—whether on a national, international, or local scale. Their community impact and recognition set them apart.

Atsuko Yube

THE AAMC needs your CONSENT for electronic voting, ballots

Debby Dittman

► AAMC Outstanding Volunteer Award: We celebrate an alumna who has gone above and beyond in volunteerism, fundraising, and AAMC projects. Their deep connection with Mills shines through their efforts.

► AAMC Recent Graduate Award: Reserved for alums who graduated within the last 15 years, this award seeks to highlight their innovative contributions during their time at Mills and in their post-graduate years. These emerging leaders deserve recognition.

Application Form : You can find the application form on our website at aamcmills.org. Submissions are due to the AAMC by August 1, 2024.

This tradition is not only special for the awardees but also for all alums who appreciate the remarkable achievements of our Mills graduates. They truly represent us all.

Other AAMC Happenings

The AAMC is abuzz with activity! Here’s more that’s happening:

►Travel Program Fall Trips: Embark on exciting journeys to Switzerland, Greece, Portugal , and the  Basque Country of Spain with the AAMC Travel Program.

► Lifelong Learning Events : Each month, we offer engaging events, including cooking classes at Reinhardt Alumnae House.

►Lynda Campfield Book Club: In April, members are planning to cook and enjoy black-eyed peas with honey butter cornbread, using recipes from High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, with Micheline Beam ’72 as the guest chef.

Sign up for these enriching events by visiting our website.

And finally, a heartfelt message from the Board of Governors: Thank you for your continued involvement and support!

Sincerely,

Debby Dittman Board of Governors

In January, a letter from several former AAMC Board of Governors (BOG) was received. In the name of transparency, it is published here with the response from the current AAMC Board of Governors immediately following.

We are writing to express our shock and disappointment with the BOG’s recent decision to unilaterally pursue a formal relationship with Northeastern University. Several of us were members of the board that crafted the three possible options for the AAMC’s future, namely: Option One—remaining an independent organization and no formal relationship with Northeastern; Option Two—remaining an independent organization and having a formal relationship with Northeastern; and Option Three—folding the AAMC into Northeastern’s alumni organization. These options were presented to the AAMC body as an opinion poll to elicit feedback. The intention was always that there would eventually be a formal vote  via the Quarterly.

Much labor went into this effort, including two Zoom “town halls,” a month-long comment period, and in-person roundtable discussions during Reunion 2022, which resulted in responses from around 400 alums (out of some 26,000). By winter 2023, the BOG decided to have AAMC President Dittman engage in conversations with Northeastern to gather additional information about what Option 2 would look like and flesh out the other two proposals. As a result, we agreed to delay a formal ballot vote in the winter 2023 issue of the Quarterly, and President Dittman promised a vote in the spring. That vote never occurred.

This brings us to the winter 2024 issue of the Quarterly, in which President Dittman stated that the current BOG had chosen to pursue a formal relationship with Northeastern. This decision was made instead of fleshing out the options and holding a full body vote on this important issue concerning the organization’s future.

We believe this is a tremendous mistake and strongly urge the BOG to course-correct and hold the vote as promised via the Quarterly before summer. The BOG cannot rely on the results of a preliminary poll to accurately predict how alums would respond to a formal vote.

We also wish to remind the BOG that involvement with the AAMC, including donations, is at an all-time low. As a donor-based organization, the AAMC relies on its membership for financial support. Taking away the body’s right to vote will no doubt cause participation to plummet even further, which would be particularly detrimental to the Board’s plan for a fundraising campaign set to occur in the near future. It is not too late to reconsider this decision made without our consent.

Let the body vote—that is the right thing to do. The continued existence of the AAMC relies on the consent of the governed.

We acknowledge and appreciate your thoughtful letter expressing concerns about the BOG’s recent decision regarding the Options vote. We understand your frustration and assure you that the BOG is acutely aware of its responsibility to act in the best interests of the association and its members, particularly in regard to your rights in AAMC’s partnership with Northeastern University.

Upon extensive reflection and discussion, the BOG identified critical points that were not fully considered during the intense period following the merger when the Options vote was proposed. In hindsight, it became clear that we did not have a complete understanding of the full scope of our rights, or the potential consequences associated with the proposed options.

As stewards of Mills College’s legacy and history within the current relationship with Northeastern, the BOG has a fiduciary obligation to refrain from a vote that could compromise the association’s rights or its future. This decision wasn’t taken lightly. After careful consideration, we’ve instead chosen to prioritize what truly matters to all of us who cherish our association with Mills: preserving and honoring its rich heritage.

While our approaches may differ, our shared experience at Mills and our commitment to its profound impact on us all is our common ground. It’s this shared ground that we believe will allow us, together, to navigate this challenging situation and ensure that the essence of what truly mattered about Mills continues to thrive.

Let’s champion what matters most. We encourage you to continue engaging in these important discussions and to collaborate with the BOG as we move forward together.

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.

In Memoriam

Notices of deaths received before January 5

To submit listings, please contact mills.alumnaerelations@ northeastern.edu or 510.430.2123

Jane Sample Creager ’42 , October 19, 2022, in Clovis, California. She is survived by a daughter, two grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and a brother.

Mary Innes D’Anna ’44 , June 8, 2023, in San Mateo.

Ruth “Dickie” Lineaweaver Swisher ’47, November 13, 2023, in La Jolla, California. After graduation, she wrote a weekly social column for the San Francisco Chronicle before relocating to San Diego and covering women’s issues and features for the former San Diego Union Tribune. Dickie also forged a long career in painting portraits and landscapes, with works of hers on display at various institutions around San Diego. With her late husband, Bob, she built a house for the family, explored Southern California, and enjoyed all manner of outdoor sports. Her family says she was unconventional “in the best sense of the word.” She is survived by three children and four grandchildren.

Barbara Black Yeomans ’49, October 25, 2023, in Cleveland. She was a homemaker, volunteer, and champion hostess while raising her four children, and after they left for college, Barbara pursued interests such as swimming and training to increase her mobility and endurance. Needlepoint became one of her favorite hobbies, becoming one of the “stitchin’ bitches” at Wool and Willow Needlepoint in Cleveland Heights and creating Christmas stockings, pillows, and ornaments for her extended family. She is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren.

Sally Taylor ’49, May 10, 2022, in Antioch, California. She majored in European studies at Mills, and she retired in 2002 from her position as office manager for the Nashua Corporation.

Maryanne Neil Aman ’49, November 3, 2023, in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from Mills with a degree in occupational therapy, later working as a pediatric occupational therapist in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and serving as the executive director of The Children’s Therapy Center in nearby Fair Lawn. Maryanne loved playing bridge, indulging her passion for American history and geography, and serving on the board of The Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. Her family reports that her longtime nickname was “Whiz.” She is survived by three children, 10 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Elizabeth “Bette” Craig Muller ’51, October 23, 2022, in Orinda, California.

Evelyn Zwierlein Fox ’51, October 3, 2023, in Greenbrae, California. She left Mills to marry her late husband, Murray, and she was a homemaker while raising three daughters. Murray’s career in trade made for an extensive travel schedule for him and Evelyn, especially after his retirement. She is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.

Marietta Chapin Covell ’52, October 20, 2023, in Palm Springs. She lived all over the United States, from a childhood spent in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Winnetka, Illinois, to raising her family in Michigan, Chicago, and Indianapolis. After retirement and marrying her second (and late) husband Phil, Marietta moved to Palm Springs to enjoy golf, animals, and volunteer work. She is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

Jeanette “Jean” Cosentino ’52 , August 31, 2023, in Modesto. She was a longtime teacher and counselor in Riverside, California, and she loved to play many sports, but especially golf. Jean had many pets she loved, and she was a devout Catholic. She is survived by two sisters and many nieces and nephews.

Betsey Innes Doyle ’52, November 27, 2022, in New Canaan, Connecticut. After Mills, she graduated from Cal, which was where she met her late husband, Bernard. Their family moved around the country for his career at General Electric, eventually settling in New Canaan. There, Betsey loved to arrange flowers, including for the altar at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, where she was a longtime member. She was also a fervent volunteer and talented artist who celebrated her 93rd birthday not long before her death. She is survived by three children and four grandchildren.

Carol Modlin Swillinger ’52 , November 12, 2023, in Sonoma. After studying music at Mills, she graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science. Carol spent most of her career as a travel agent, which gave her the chance to enjoy visual and performing arts around the world. She was also an avid gardener and a longtime volunteer at the Strybing Arboretum Society, now known as the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society. She is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Mary Alice Turner Carswell ’53, December 12, 2023, in Davis. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mills and went on to the University of Wisconsin for her master’s in journalism and Stanford to study geology. There she met her husband, Bruce, and became an Army wife. They moved around the United States and to Germany for his career, eventually settling in Davis, where Mary Alice volunteered, studied Spanish, and enjoyed the performing arts. The love of the outdoors she first fostered as a youngster spending summers at Lake Tahoe continued throughout her life. She is survived by Bruce, three children, and four grandchildren.

Gifts in Memory of

Received September 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023

Darla Evans Bastoni ’60 by her husband, Richard Bastoni

Barbara Goldblatt Becker ’63 by Patricia Yoshida Orr ’63

Wendyce Hull Brody ’68 by Linda Cohen Turner ’68

Flora Burkhard Gladwin ’40 by her granddaughter, Juniper Bacon ’93

Mary Schratter Hale ’82 by Liisa Karne Hale ’77

Anita Aragon Kreplin ’63 by Patricia Yoshida Orr ’63, Connie Young Yu ’63

Margaret Lyon ’35 by Mary Sammel Bulwinkle, MFA ’80

Katherine McGinity, MA ’13 by William Richard

Melinda Micco by Estrellita Hudson Redus ’65, MFA ’75

Mary Glide Miller ’50 by Caroline Gwerder

Marina Kershaw Simenstad ’68, MA ’11 by Michelle Balovich ’03, MBA ’18

Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt ’60, MA ’62 by her sister, Estrellita Hudson Redus ’65, MFA ’75

Mary Upton ’65 by Estrellita Hudson Redus ’65, MFA ’75

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

Betty Irene Moore

The namesake of and main philanthropist behind the Natural Science Building, Betty Irene Moore died on December 12, 2023, in Woodside, California. She is survived by two sons.

She grew up on her family’s Los Gatos ranch and nurtured an interest in journalism in high school, including coverage of the United Nations Conference on International Relations in San Francisco, where the UN’s charter was developed. Her exposure to diplomacy there resulted in a scholarship to the Institute of International Relations at Mills in summer 1945. That was the first of two summer programs Moore attended at Mills; for the first, she lived in Warren Olney, and for the second, she was in Ethel Moore.

As much as she wanted to attend Mills full-time, gas rationing post-World War II made it prohibitively expensive. “I thought the greatest thing would be to go to a women’s college like Mills, but I didn’t know how to tap into more scholarship resources,” she told the Quarterly in 2008. Instead, she enrolled at San Jose State University, where she met her future husband, Gordon Moore— who eventually co-founded Intel Corporation.

Her own hopes to become a journalist sputtered when she discovered few newspapers eager to hire women, so she worked in advertising and public relations for the Consolidated Engineering Corporation before joining the Ford Foundation. Moore’s experiences there came into play as her family’s wealth grew over the years, and she and Gordon set up their own family foundation in 2000. They donated in excess of $5 billion to their favored causes, especially scientific research and environmental conservation.

Their first gift to the College was a five-year grant in 2005 to support the nursing leadership program, and just a few years later, they donated $4 million in the home stretch of fundraising for the new Natural Sciences Building. As the Quarterly reported at the time, construction projects were not the Moores’ usual philanthropic targets, but Betty said that the building’s purpose and ecological features put the structure on their radar.

And it still bears her name, more than 75 years after she first studied at Mills.

Susan “Suzie” Wendel Black ’53, October 9, 2023, in Lake Oswego, Oregon. She majored in English at Mills, which was just one part of a lifelong love of reading and literature. Suzie and her family moved to New York and then back to Oregon, where they purchased a farm in Lake Oswego and turned it into a beloved home. She and late husband Larry were active tennis players, skiers, and horseback riders, and Suzie was also an ardent volunteer who co-founded a children’s charity ball in the area. She is survived by five daughters, nine grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Helen McAuslan Logan-Schneider ’55, March 22, 2023, in Walla Walla, Washington. She eventually graduated from Whitman College, and while working at a local jeweler, she met her first husband, Jack. Their family enjoyed the mixture of city and rural life in Walla Walla, and Helen also loved volunteering with PEO and the Junior League. After Jack’s death, she continued their frequent travels, and on a cruise, she met her second husband, Ed. Together, they were the founding directors of Harkness Institute High School of Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, and provided scholarships to Whitman. She is survived by two daughters, a grandson, and a great-grandson.

Olivann Rumph Hobbie ’56, December 4, 2023, in Falmouth, Massachusetts. She later graduated from Cal, and after she married her husband, John, the two moved to Alaska for his PhD research, for which she took the meteorological readings. After Olivann earned her master’s in English literature, she began teaching; first, at the former St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, North Carolina, then at Falmouth Academy, for which she was a founding teacher who eventually transitioned from English to history. She was also a renowned pianist and lover of music. She is survived by John, three sons, five grandchildren, and a brother.

Sarah Slaughter Frederick ’57, May 7, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. After Mills, she earned a master of arts in ceramics from the University of Louisville and opened an eponymous pottery studio where she both taught and created. In 2007, Sarah received the Rude Osolnik Award from the Kentucky Arts Council for her work. She also studied art further at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, and Murray State University. She is survived by two children. Gloria Wilson Swisher, MA ’58, July 23, 2023, in Mill Creek, Washington. Studying piano with Egon Petri and composition with Darius Milhaud led Gloria to the University of Rochester, where she earned her PhD. Gloria first took a teaching position at Washington State, then she and her husband embarked on a nomadic life that led them to Venezuela, Mexico, and Japan. In 1968, they returned to Seattle and she resumed teaching. She eventually published more than 15 renowned compositions, which were also the subject of a doctoral dissertation. She is survived by her husband, Don; two grandchildren; and her brother.

Margaret “Marnie” Fritz Cheesman ’59, August 17, 2023, in Mesa, Arizona. At Mills, she studied to become a medical record librarian, becoming a pioneer for women in the field after graduation. She was working as a historian at the former Ballard Hospital in Seattle when she met her late husband, Hugh, and she was later the inaugural director of medical records at what’s now the Swedish Edmonds Campus. Marnie loved sports; she was a vocal fan of the Washington Huskies and Seattle Seahawks football teams, and her enthusiasm made her an honorary soccer coach for her son’s team. She is survived by two children, three grandchildren, and a sister.

Carol Conger ’60, May 2023, in Beaverton, Oregon. She worked as a registered nurse at hospitals and rehab centers in the Portland area. She was a Bent Twig; her aunt was Margaret Conger Cavala ’36.

Jenifer Jacobs Jones ’60, October 17, 2023, in Tucson. She grew up on a cattle ranch and studied art at Mills and the University of Arizona. In addition to her own art practice, she supported many local community organizations, once serving as a hostess of the Silver & Turquoise Ball to benefit the San Xavier del Bac Mission. Jenifer also enjoyed nature and animals, frequently visiting and riding her horse Mouse in Tubac, Arizona. She is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and a brother.

Judith Jones O’Brien ’61, May 23, 2017, in Morro Bay, California. She also studied at the University of Hawaii, and it was on Waikiki Beach where she met her Marine husband, Richard. They and their family moved often for his career, and she was a homemaker who raised their six children. Judith later dabbled in the retail sector, and after retirement, she and Richard moved first to Northampton, Massachusetts, then back to her hometown of Paso Robles to be close to her family. She is survived by her husband, six children, and eight grandchildren.

Consuelo Larrabee ’61, June 21, 2023, in Spokane, Washington. After Mills, she graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and then earned a master’s degree in special education from the Teacher’s College at Columbia University. Consuelo taught Chinese immigrant children in San Francisco, then students with hearing and other disabilities. After she and her former husband moved to Washington state, she volunteered for local theaters, animal shelters, the Seattle

Opera, and KSPS PBS in Spokane. The Ice Age Floods Playground in Spokane was a passion project of hers, and she loved indulging in nature. She is survived by many cousins.

Judith Nurse Scheaffer ’63, December 2, 2023, in Sonoma. She studied child psychology at Mills, and she later used that knowledge to teach and support her family while her former husband, Alan, attended law school at Ohio State. After divorce, Judith moved to Sonoma to be close to her father and brother, and she loved to travel and keep up with friends in California and Ohio. One son, Scott, predeceased her. She is survived by a son, four grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.

Pauline “Polly” Royal Langsley ’49

Dedicated Mills and AAMC volunteer Pauline “Polly” Royal Langsley ’49 died on October 21, 2023, in Littleton, Colorado. She is survived by three daughters, including Karen Langsley ’78 and Susan Langsley ’83, and three grandchildren.

After Mills, she went on to medical school at the University of Nebraska and specialized in psychiatry. Polly maintained a private practice for years, but also taught at renowned medical schools including Northwestern University. Her late husband, Donald, was also a psychiatrist who once served as president of the American Psychiatric Association.

For Mills, her list of activities stretches long. She was a member of the Mills College Board of Trustees and the AAMC’s Board of Governors, helped plan her 50th Reunion, and served on many various committees. And of course, she was a longtime class secretary. As recent Class Notes show, Polly stayed active well into her 90s, visiting the Continental Divide with Karen in summer 2021 and celebrating her 95th birthday with friends and family from all over the country at a party over the July 4th weekend in 2022.

Her daughter Dorrie wrote in to say that Mills meant so much to Polly. “Her student days there were the happiest time of her life,” Dorrie said.

Sr. Mary Asha ’66, March 18, 2017, in Carmel. She was born Frances Marie-Therese Chew in 1945, a granddaughter of General Wu Lu-chen, who was a founding father of the Republic of China. After Mills and earning a PhD in French studies from Yale, she joined the Missionaries of Charity and did her novitiate in Rome, joining the order as Sr. Mary Asha. She served in Haiti before returning to Carmel to take care of her mother and use her expertise in Chinese art to run the China Art Center. Sr. Mary spoke six languages.

Valencia “Val” Harris Mitchell ’71, September 3, 2023, in Long Beach, California. At Mills, she studied violin with Nathan Rubin, and she established a performing career in symphonic and commercial music in Southern California after graduation. Valencia also maintained a teaching studio that emphasized the need to bring music instruction to underserved communities. She studied library science at USC and worked for the Los Angeles County Library, Cal State Long Beach, and Cerritos Community College. She also enjoyed sewing, genealogy research, and international travel. She is survived by her husband, Joseph, and a daughter.

Stephanie Lincoln ’71, May 8, 2023, in San Francisco. She lived in Mills Hall and proudly burnished blue, her class color, in a photo she submitted in lieu of attending her 50th Reunion. She is survived by her partner, Roger; her mother; two brothers; and three stepsiblings.

Elizabeth Peterson Svoboda ’77, February 14, 2023, in Puyallup, Washington. After Mills, she earned a bachelor of arts from Mt. Holyoke College, a bachelor of science from the University of South Carolina, and a divinity degree from Western Seminary. She was ordained by Bethany Baptist Church in 2017 and worked as a healthcare chaplain and pastor at various local facilities. Elizabeth also taught Bible study classes around the world as the wife of an Army officer, and she was an enthusiastic reader, hiker, gemologist, and crafter. She is survived by her husband, Wayne, and three children.

Barbara Harden Redmond ’78, December 27, 2018, in Glendale, California.

Elizabeth “Lizz” McKeon ’85, December 13, 2023, in Los Gatos. She graduated from Mills with a degree in communication and worked as a paralegal, and she was also a published author. Lizz was a lover of true crime, old movies, and cooking shows. She is survived by her siblings, including sister Kathleen McKeon Zenker ’81; and her extended family and friends.

Erma Gilmore Montgomery ’88, August 16, 2020, in Oakland. She worked as an instructional assistant for the Oakland Unified School District. She is survived by two children.

Kirsten Lounsbury ’93, November 3, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. Mental health issues were a challenge for her starting in early adulthood. After Mills, she returned home to Knoxville, later living with her father and stepmother and taking language courses at the University of Tennessee. Kirsten and her father moved to Portland in 2016, where she fostered her love of animals and honed a great sense of humor. She is survived by her brother, three cousins, and three aunts and uncles.

Rian McMurtry, TCRED ’19, September 4, 2022, in Davis.

Spouses and Family

Judith Eva Brady, mother of Lauren Obermueller Keene ’93, March 25, 2022, in Sacramento, California.

Michael Carnes , spouse of DiAnne Davison Carnes ’64, July 2, 2022, in Cary, North Carolina.

June Cheit , spouse of the late Budd Cheit, honorary doctor of laws in 2003, in Kensington, California.

Bernard Healey, stepparent of Alex Brown ’05, December 31, 2021, in Mill Valley, California.

James Pickering , spouse of Patricia Dunnagan Pickering ’53, March 11, 2019, in Stockton.

Ronald Silveira , spouse of Katharine Schwartz Silveira ’62, September 26, 2022, in Solana Beach, California.

William Swan, spouse of Mike Shaw Swan ’56, December 27, 2022, in Oakland.

Friends

Ellen Anderson, August 30, 2023, in Napa.

Kristine “Kris” Chase , October 24, 2023, in Sierra Madre, California.

Sally Gibbons , September 25, 2023, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

John Lounsbury, June 4, 2020, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Julianne Rumsey, former Associate Council member, March 21, 2021, in Berkeley.

Faculty and Staff

Karen Ito Edgerton, former professor of psychology, November 23, 2023, in Los Angeles.

Between Dreams

By Amanda Renee Green Wheeler ’72

Somewhere between dreams five decades blew past like a roof in a Midwestern tornado. Mills College was the gateway to a long, lyrical life.

The sounds of the ’70s—protest, outrage, defiance—echoed in my ears. Still, I found a quiet place to be somebody, become a woman, steer my own ship. I remember perching on the windowsill of my dorm room in Mills Hall, looking down at the fancy Porsches, parade of Popsicle-colored Volkswagen Beetles, and a gold gull wing Mercedes ringing the Campanil. They paled in comparison to my Daddy’s beat-up, hand-me-down copper Chrysler 300 that lumbered like a bus when a gaggle of Mills girls piled in.

Several episodes on the Mills campus defined me. None were more significant than the sensory perception of beauty—eucalyptus trees lining the entrance to the campus, Persian carpets in historic dorms, and Japanese gardens tended with love. I had never experienced these things firsthand. As the daughter of a maid to rich women in San Rafael, California, I was never expected to attend Mills, which had the reputation as a school for wealthy girls.

Some of us were straight out of cities like Oakland and Vallejo. Super talented, high-achieving students, we were cast into a world of privilege. How would we make them see us and hear us? We locked ourselves inside

the bookstore, looking like scared bunnies with fierce Afros, except for that sistah from the East Coast. She was the real deal.

A full semester into my Mills experience, my mother—looking extremely nervous—decided to lecture me on the birds and the bees. I stopped Mama mid-sentence, told her that I had taken care of it. Wearing oversized dark sunglasses, a sophomore Mills girl and I boarded a city bus headed to Planned Parenthood on East 14th Street. During a late night featuring a jug of Annie Green Springs wine, we decided to be responsible, get ready just in case the “real thing” came along. Months later the real thing did appear. I thanked God profusely for Planned Parenthood when the “real thing” turned out to be a dud.

Mills was not all fun and protests. I loved learning and still do. I remember long, interesting discussions with History Professor Reynold Wik. He was as white as I was Black, as old as I was young, yet we had great discussions about history. That was back in the day when people of different stripes could talk. Professor of Sociology Ted Thomas introduced me to books and authors that I would have missed completely without his influence.

I applauded Mills for taking steps, sometimes under pressure, to recognize the need for Black Studies. Professor and poet Jon Eckels and visiting Professor Herman Blake (and his dashikis) were a drink of spring water for young women thirsty to learn how we fit into the Mills diversity experiment.

Of all the influences experienced at Mills, none were more significant than basking in the presence of phenomenal women on their individual paths to greatness. Judges, doctors, politicians, educators of our children. My only regret is that I was not alert enough to recognize all the talent surrounding me at that time.

Celebrating 50 years since graduation from Mills, I looked back at my evolution from Mills girl to independent woman, unleashed to step into my dream (envisioned while perched on that windowsill) of writing until I cross the bridge of time.

Amanda Renee Green Wheeler ’72 is a retired attorney who is now fully pursuing her passion for writing. Read more about her latest book in Class Notes on page 26.

2024 AAMC Travel

Swiss Alps & The Italian Lakes

May 8 – May 17, 2024

Soak up the natural beauty and distinct cultures of two of Europe’s most beloved retreats on this eight-night adventure in Switzerland and Italy! Revel in the invigorating alpine landscape of St. Moritz, Switzerland, and journey by train to the charming village of Zuoz, winding through ever-changing scenery on the Bernina Express. Then, moving on to the stunning Italian Lakes region, cruise by private boat to the enchanting Borromean Islands, and travel to Milan to stand in awe of magnificent scenery, architecture, and masterpieces, including da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Plus, learn to prepare regional dishes at a family restaurant in the Piedmontese region.

Greece: Athens and Kalamata

August 30–September 8, 2024

Join our eight-night adventure in Athens and the Peloponnese, a land shaped by Greece’s famous myths and city-states. Imagine ancient urban life as you amble through ruins of great cities. Visit the Bronze Age kingdom of Mycenae and less-explored Messene. Soak up the ambience of Mystras, a stunning Byzantine city, and tour ancient Olympia, birthplace of the modern Olympics. Learn how olives and their rich, green oil seep into every aspect of Greek life. Experience the timeless traditions of winemaking (and tasting!) and folk dancing. In the evenings, stroll along sidewalks adorned with magenta bougainvillea blossoms, savor an alfresco meal, and capture memories of a lifetime.

Portugal: Romance of the Douro River

September 20–October 1, 2024

The treasures of Portugal await you on this specially curated 10-night tour, featuring three nights in Lisbon and a seven-night cruise along the beautiful Douro River. Spend time exploring the enigmatic river port town of Porto, known for its storied Ribeira District, Bohemian culture, and—of course—port wine. Along the way, excite your taste buds with extraordinary regional dishes, local pastries, and its renowned rich port wine. Visit romantic Óbidos and the famous university town of Coimbra, with its beautiful university gardens and medieval architecture, as well as visit the elegant Salamanca, Spain.

For more information, including a full itinerary for these and other planned trips for 2024, please visit the AAMC travel program web page at aamc-mills.org/travel.

Varenna on Lake Como Lecco in Italy

Parthenon Temple at the Acropolis of Athens

Mills

510.430.3312

mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu quarterly.mills.edu

RUBY

WALLAU