Sweet Briar Alumnae Magazine | Fall 2005 by Sweet Briar College

A L U M N A E

M A G A Z I N E

A Message from the President of the Alumnae Association, Linda DeVogt ’86

greetings!

O We all have our own unique Sweet Briar. But perhaps many of us don’t realize the impact we have on current students through our monetary and volunteer support of their Sweet Briar.

ur beloved Sweet Briar campus is a hub of excitement this fall. We welcomed the remarkable class of 2009 in August and in September, the first ever Homecoming, Sweet Briar Style, was held. During Homecoming, our alumnae were treated to demonstrations by the Science Department, soccer and field hockey matches, and we honored Jo Ann Soderquist Kramer, Class of 1964, with the Distinguished Alumna Award. For those unable to attend Homecoming this year, we hope you will make plans to join us next year as this is an extravaganza not to be missed. We all have our own unique Sweet Briar. But perhaps many of us don’t realize the impact we have on current students through our monetary and volunteer support of their Sweet Briar. I want to share with you a glimpse into the life of a sophomore. Gretchen McDonough wrote to me this past spring and her letter affords a current look at student life and how Sweet Briar continues to be a special, personal experience as well as a top-notch college. Our loyal support of our college does make a difference and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of alumnae who give their time, talent and monetary support to Sweet Briar. The community continues to prosper because of your generosity. I wish you all a prosperous fall and look forward to seeing the classes that end in one or six over the Memorial Day Weekend Reunion Celebration!

Dear Ms. DeVogt, I am a freshman at Sweet Briar College from Portsmouth, RI. I would like to thank you for your contribution to the Alumnae Memorial Scholarship Fund. I chose SBC for its strong liberal arts program and its wonderful, affordable riding program. I have not been disappointed, I love it here. I am planning to double major in History and Religion, and minor in Music. In addition to being active at the stables, working and riding, I am also active in the Music Department. I take voice lessons, and I am in the Concert Choir and Sweet Tones. I am extremely grateful for this scholarship, as it has allowed me to experience the wonderful life, both academic and co-curricular that Sweet Briar offers. I am looking forward to my next three years here. Once again, thank you very much for your generosity. Sincerely, Gretchen McDonough ’08

2005 Briar Patch

contents

Sweet Briar Alumnae Magazine Fall 2005 Vol. 76, No. 4 INSIDE FRONT COVER: A Message from the President of the Alumnae Association

SWEET BRIAR ALUMNAE MAGAZINE POLICY One of the objectives of the magazine is to present interesting, thought-provoking material. Publication of material does not indicate endorsement of the author’s viewpoint by the magazine, the Alumnae Association, or Sweet Briar College. The Sweet Briar Alumnae Magazine reserves the right to edit and, when necessary, revise all material that it accepts for publication. Contact us any time! Boxwood Alumnae House, Box E, Sweet Briar, VA 24595; (434) 381-6131; FAX 434-381-6132; E-Mail: 1) (Office) alumnae@sbc.edu; 2) (Magazine) sbcmagazine@sbc.edu Alumnae Association Web site address: http://www.alumnae.sbc.edu Sweet Briar Web site address: www.sbc.edu THE ALUMNAE OFFICE STAFF Louise Swiecki Zingaro ’80 Director, Alumnae Association Managing Editor, Alumnae Magazine Ann MacDonald Carter ’97 Associate Director, Director Alumnae College/Homecoming Programs Melissa Coffey ’98 Assistant Director, Tour Coordinator Melissa Gentry Witherow ’80 Assistant Director, Reunion Program Kristin Dane Ewing Assistant Director, Assistant Editor & Class Notes Editor, Alumnae Magazine Bonnie Seitz ’01 Assistant Director, Alumnae Computer Services Sandra Maddox, AH ’59 Assistant to the Director Nancy Godwin Baldwin ’57 Editor, Alumnae Magazine Sweet Briar Alumnae Magazine Production Graphic design by The Design Group, Lynchburg, VA. Printed by Seckman Printing, Forest, VA.

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

From The President’s Perspective

A Challenging, Most Rewarding Experience

An Exciting Time For Sweet Briar

New Advising Program

Sweet Briar College’s Leadership Certificate Program

Career Development: A Lifelong Process

The Shape of the Future: Teacher Education at Sweet Briar College

Sweet Briar’s BFA Program

New Business Management Program

Study Abroad and International Initiatives at Sweet Briar College

The Center for Civic Renewal and the Shape of the Future

The Fully Engaged Student

The Honors Summer Research Program

Girl Scouts (and Prospective Students!) at the Sweet Briar Museum

Arts Day 2005

Campus School Summer Program

The Saturday Enrichment Program

Kids in College Gives Local Children a Taste of What Sweet Briar is All About

Commencement 2005

Outstanding Alumna 2005

Reunion 2005

In Memoriam

Recent Deaths

Transitions/Retirement

Class Notes

Letters and E-mails

INSIDE BACK COVER: “In the Sweet Briar Tradition” BACK COVER: Every Gift Is Important COVER: Sweet Briar’s first MAT graduates, l-r: Ellen Phillips, Anne Benham; Julia Ambersley; Angela White. Cover Photo © David Abrams.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 1

This wonderful tree saw us through our first one hundred years (right), and then said to us “Take it from here.” Now The Centennial Newman Fletcher Oak prospers (below), honoring former Chairman of the Board J. Wilson Newman, planted on his 92nd birthday, November 3, 2001, a gift from his children: Mr. and Mrs. Bradley R. Thayer (“Bee” Newman ‘61); Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Blanchard (“Ginger” Newman ‘60); Mr. and Mrs. James W. Newman; Mr. Charles C. Newman II. Our beautiful Centennial Oak is, indeed, “taking it from here.”

Implementing

the Shape of the Future Initiatives Campus-Wide

his issue of the Alumnae Magazine will give you a taste of what’s new around the campus from lots of different perspectives. Outgoing Chairman of the Board, Michela English and Chair-Elect

Ginger Collier write from the Board’s perspective. You’ll also hear from faculty, staff and members of the administration. Along the way, you’ll see how, by integrating learning in and out of the classroom, the Sweet Briar Promise helps each student weave a future. 2 • Fall 2005

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

From the President’s Perspective

reetings to each of you. As I write this, we have begun a new academic year, welcoming the 100th entering class for Sweet Briar. What a difference a year makes! Last September, we had just concluded a major strategic planning exercise: Shape of the Future (SOF). Throughout 2004-2005, we set about collectively—Board, faculty, staff and students—to implement the approach we had agreed upon. Today, SOF has become the Sweet Briar Promise: a campus-wide commitment to each student that guarantees she will have access not only to a first-rate academic experience, but also to out-of-classroom opportunities that will help her shape her life after Sweet Briar. New students entering this fall will benefit from this Promise, through internships, leadership development, international experiences and as Dean Green describes herein, a unique advising network that will provide each student individualized guidance, designed by her to ensure that she can take advantage of all Sweet Briar has to offer. This issue of the Alumnae Magazine will give you a taste of what’s new around the campus from lots of different perspectives. Outgoing Chairman of the Board, Michela English and Chair-Elect Ginger Collier write from the Board’s perspective. You’ll also hear from faculty, staff and members of the administration. Along the way, you’ll see how, by integrating learning in and out of the classroom, the Sweet Briar Promise helps each student weave a future. These days, the campus is an exceedingly busy place—but one where values of integrity, academic excellence, respect for one another and commitment to the wider community have never been stronger. To show you what I mean, let me share a few highlights of the last few months, from my perspective. As last year drew to an end, the College community hosted literally dozens of year-end events. Just a few of the special moments for me: • Two employees—Shirley P. Reid (Circulation Supervisor, Library) and

Thelma B. Jordan (Inter-Library Loans Supervisor), were honored for fifty years of service to Sweet Briar. Such sustained service is very rare; we are blessed to have staff so deeply invested in the College. • For the second year, students put on an Unsung Heroes Banquet, to honor “those who are rarely recognized but always appreciated.” SBC Postal Clerk Jimmy Rose and Ruth Canada in Housekeeping were 2005’s “Unsung Heroes” at the entirely student-run event. • The Riding Team took the Reserve Championship in the 28th annual ANRC National Intercollegiate Riding Championship, and Riding Director Shelby French led her team to top-six finishes in all five phases of team competition and four of five individual contests. • The Annual Sports Banquet celebrated a great year. Students took numerous honors within the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), and two SBC lacrosse players were named to the Division III All-South Atlantic Regional Team. But what struck me was how much the experience of being part of a team meant to all of our student athletes.

These days, the campus is an exceedingly busy place—but one where values of integrity, academic excellence, respect for one another, and commitment to the wider community have never been stronger.

Summer brought the usual mélange of camps and study groups. My favorites this year: • The 3rd Annual Kids in College (KIC) Program offered more than 100 local 3rd–8th graders a choice of 21 “courses.” In “Yucky Chemistry,” students made a naked egg, invisible ink, and learned about worms. The most

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 3

popular course: “The Art and Science of Sword Fighting.” • Summer Honors Research students were selected from the most competitive applicant pool in recent years. Weekly lunchtime presentations by faculty and students are a forum for excited giveand-take between faculty, staff, the Honors Fellows, and other students on campus; everyone is welcome. These presentations are the very model of a liberal arts college, and become “the true intellectual center of the College during summer,” as Julie Hemstreet, Associate Administrator of the Honors Program, puts it. • Dean Green asked the faculty and new students to read Fabric of the Cosmos as a shared intellectual experience, so there were many furrowed brows this summer. Author Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists, was a featured speaker for September’s Homecoming Weekend. As summer drew to a close, Dean Valdrie Walker, who served as Dean of Co-Curricular Life since 1998, left to become Vice President for Academic Affairs at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, FL. Valdrie, the chief architect of Sweet Briar’s nationally-recognized success in integrating academic and cocurricular life, will be much missed. A national search is in process; in the interim, Kelly Kraft-Meyer, Associate Dean of CoCurricular Life, is Acting Dean. And we grieved over the demise of our beloved Fletcher Oak, which fell on August 9th, miraculously hurting no one. Once it had fallen, nearly everyone on campus came by to pay respects. We couldn’t imagine how it had stayed upright so long; its root structure had completely rotted away. (There are some dramatic pictures on our Web site.) News of the loss flashed over the internet, and elicited a major feature story in the Lynchburg News and Advance, and a shorter piece in the Richmond Times Dispatch. I like to think that this wonderful tree, tied to our founding family, saw us through our first one hundred years, and then said 4 • Fall 2005

to us, “Take it from here.” Less than two weeks later, we welcomed 200 new students, including 184 first-year students, 13 transfers and three Turning Points. Indeed, the academic year is off to a wonderful start. • Twenty faculty advisors inaugurated the new team-advising system with this year’s freshmen, thus launching the most far-reaching of our Sweet Briar Promise initiatives. • We welcomed our first Leadership Certificate candidates this fall. This collaborative effort between CoCurricular Life and Academic Affairs, with its combination of academic and experiential education is a natural for us. • We have broken ground on the Art Barn project. By spring, we hope to be able to move photography, painting, and printmaking into sparkling new quarters. • Our first Homecoming was a resounding success (see the next Alumnae Magazine). Next year’s will celebrate the centennial of Sweet Briar’s first class and the completion of Our Campaign for Her World. • The Campaign Steering Committee met in August to review strategy for the final ten months of the Campaign. Our work is cut out for us, but excitement is high as our goal comes into view. Nothing is more important to Sweet Briar’s future. To each of you who have helped to move us closer, I send my most heartfelt thanks. If you haven’t yet been able to help, this is the year to do so: your gift might be the one to put us over the top! And to all of you, very best wishes,

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

A Challenging, Most Rewarding Experience MICHELA ENGLISH ’71, OUTGOING CHAIRMAN (6/30/05), SWEET BRIAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

have been fortunate to serve on Sweet Briar’s Board of Directors for eleven years, the last five as chairman. It has been a challenging and most rewarding experience. Thinking about the Board’s role in the life of the College, there are four areas where we have been particularly active and (I hope) effective over the past few years. The first is in supporting faculty and administration in ensuring that the intellectual vitality of the educational experience is strong. Sweet Briar always has taken pride in the quality of its education. I believe that the educational experience we offer has never been better than it is today, and there is considerable evidence to support that claim. In recent years, with Board support, faculty and administration have launched dynamic new programs: the MAT and M.Ed. degrees, one of the first engineering programs at a women’s college, the environmental sciences department, bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and business management, and the Center for Civic Renewal. While some of these programs are still very new, indications are that they are generating excellent response from both prospective and current students. In addition to new programs, faculty have engaged themselves and students in innovative, hands-on research projects of unbelievable variety. At each meeting, the Board receives Dean Jonathan Green’s report on new grant proposals and an overview of faculty-student research projects. The value of Sweet Briar’s research grants and the number of projects underway has never been higher. And it is a distinguishing feature of the College that an undergraduate-focused school of its size can offer such rich, individual experiences to its students.

The quality of the educational experience is further validated by the strong showing Sweet Briar has made in recent independent studies of student engagement and in the consistently high placement rates that our graduates achieve, in graduate and professional schools and in the job market. The second area of Board focus has been in striving to ensure that the College is financially viable over the long term. Financial stewardship is an important role of any governing board, but it took on new meaning at Sweet Briar in the past five years. A key challenge of small, private institutions, given the rapid rise in the costs of higher education, is to manage revenues, expenses and endowments in a manner that ensures long-term economic viability. While this is not a new issue, the unusually strong performance of the 1990’s stock market generated exceptionally high returns on invested endowment assets which, in turn, masked the negative impact of high endowment spending levels. Schools like SBC spend much more per student than they receive from tuition and fees, so must spend a portion of endowment each year to meet current operating needs. Like virtually all of its peer institutions, SBC has been spending at a rate well over that considered good business practice for colleges of its type. Working closely with President Muhlenfeld and her senior staff, the Board devoted considerable time and thought to bring these variables into a more positive alignment, instituting a multi-year financial planning process that will, over time, increase the size of the endowment (through both the capital campaign and reduced endowment spending), while reducing annual spending levels. The third area of recent Board emphasis has been an intensive strategic planning process aimed at matching Sweet Briar’s strengths with the needs of today’s young women; I think of this in business terms as a refinement of the College’s “market focus.”

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Known as the Shape of the Future (SOF), this process has had as its overarching goal to examine strategic alternatives that capitalize on SBC’s unique assets while broadening its appeal to a larger applicant pool in order to build enrollment. We know that the market for women’s colleges (especially in rural settings) is smaller today than when many of us were at Sweet Briar, but we also know that for the women who do enroll, the College offers an exceptional educational experience. The strategic question addressed in the SOF effort was how to improve the alignment of what Sweet Briar does well with the emphasis that today’s students and their parents place on “preparedness” for what comes after graduation: graduate school, careers. The SOF planning effort was led by a committee of members of the Board, faculty, Alumnae Association, and the President and senior staff. Chaired by Ginger Upchurch Collier ’72, who succeeded me as Chairman of the Board of Directors, this team sought input from and routinely communicated with students, faculty, and alumnae through frequent memos and face-to-face meetings to ensure that the process was open and inclusive. Primary and secondary market research and case studies from other institutions were used to identify needs and interests of prospective college students and to understand how SBC’s attributes do or do not fit with those needs. We examined numerous alternatives, including the possibility that the College should admit men. On that particular issue, field research showed that the College’s size, location, and name would be unlikely to appeal to a largeenough pool of prospective male applicants to justify the cost and effort required to go coeducational. The recommendations made by the SOF planning committee were accepted by the Board in May 2004, and implementation efforts are well under way on campus. Fall 2005 • 5

The fourth and final area of Board focus has been to foster more open communications across all segments of the Sweet Briar community so that the College’s challenges and opportunities are fully understood and the sense of shared purpose is strengthened. While it seems obvious that any board should communicate openly with all interested parties, it is particularly important at Sweet Briar. Given our small size, closeknit nature of our residential community, and passionate loyalty of our alumnae, it is essential that all stakeholders have a good picture of the critical issues that the Board confronts and a clear rationale for the actions it takes. As I reflect upon what is so special about Sweet Briar, I believe that there is a uniquely strong sense of “investment” in the entire enterprise that is shared by faculty, administration, students, and alumnae. That enduring sense of investment, in turn, fosters an unbelievably strong commitment to the institution. Keeping all parties so actively engaged is key to the College’s long-term success.

An Exciting Time For Sweet Briar DR. VIRGINIA (“GINGER”) UPCHURCH COLLIER ’72, CHAIRMAN, SWEET BRIAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

t is an exciting time for Sweet Briar! Under Betsy Muhlenfeld and Michela English’s leadership, the College has refocused its academic efforts. While continuing to emphasize a sound liberal arts education, the Shape of the Future (SOF) initiatives are aimed at ensuring that Sweet Briar graduates use their liberal arts degrees to the fullest after graduation. As a result, faculty and students now have one eye on Sweet Briar’s liberal arts education and another, very overtly, on where it can lead them. 6 • Fall 2005

Implementation of this concept has engaged administration, faculty, students, and the Board over the last year. In the process, every aspect of Sweet Briar’s program has been reviewed to ensure that both curricular and co-curricular programs can accomplish our goals. Guaranteed internships throughout the US and abroad, leadership training, oral presentation experience, student-maintained portfolios, transcripts which include work and internship experiences, advising teams of faculty, administration and external experts in a student’s area of interest…these are just a few of the exciting ideas that are being developed or strengthened at Sweet Briar. The Board’s oversight role requires that it keep a close eye on the College’s financial condition. It is committed to ensuring that Sweet Briar maintains its financial strength not only for the present, but for generations to come. This commitment underscores the importance of the annual budget—the revenues and expenditures of the College. The challenge of the Board and Administration is to implement fully the SOF initiatives while maintaining a level of expenditure consistent with the College’s continued strong financial position. One of the most important ways to accomplish this is to increase our revenues, or more explicitly, to increase the number of students matriculating each year. Under the able leadership of Admissions Dean Ken Huus, this is happening. I believe that Sweet Briar understands its unique strengths and is articulating them at present better than at any time in the past. Administration, faculty, and students all are delivering the same message—the Sweet Briar Promise. But it is critical that we continue to get the word out. What can alumnae do? First and foremost, speak out about your Sweet Briar experience! Our alums are our most important marketing tool. They are intelligent, informed women, who are highly involved in a myriad of professional and volunteer activities in their communities. Time and time again, Sweet Briar alumnae, just by example, generate interest in the College on the part of prospective students and their parents.

Secondly, help us keep in touch with you and come back to visit! By so doing, you will be assured that you can be as confident today about the strength of its programs and traditions as you were when you were in college. If you want to know more, check out our Web site, www.sbc.edu, to learn about the incredible variety of activities on campus today. It will excite you about Sweet Briar’s present and future. Finally, as always, consider Sweet Briar a priority as you plan your charitable contributions. Your gifts not only provide critical support of our revenues/operating budget but equally as important, they are tangible indicators of your love for the College and your belief in its future. Michela’s eleven years on the Board have been marked by continuing milestones. My goal as incoming Board Chair is to stay the course that she has charted. As an educator, I will have my eye on the outcomes of both the new and traditional programs that Sweet Briar offers. I am also particularly committed to continuing to foster open communication between the Board and all of its constituencies: students, faculty, alumnae, parents, staff, and administration. By sharing its ideas, its vision, and its challenges with those invested in the College, the Board can foster a better understanding of the rationale for its decisions. I would be remiss if I did not mention one additional personal goal: I am committed to doing whatever it takes to replace the gym, which was outdated when I was a student in the late 1960s, with an up-todate athletic and fitness center that will benefit not only the athletes, but every student and faculty member on campus. I am fortunate to have a diverse, engaged Board, which has affirmed its support for Sweet Briar as a women’s college. The Board recognizes unequivocally that the faculty and academic programs are stronger now than at any time in its history. With the help of the administration and my fellow Board members, my goal as Chairman is to ensure that Sweet Briar not only maintains its traditions and its academic and financial strengths, but that it becomes the innovator and leader in the education of young women in the United States.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

New Advising Program 2005 JONATHAN D. GREEN DEAN OF THE COLLEGE/VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AFFAIRS PROFESSOR OF MUSIC

weet Briar has always been at the vanguard of personalized education. As we welcome our 100th class to the College, we are embarking on a program that will establish us as the leader in undergraduate advising. The foundation of the Shape of the Future initiatives is this new advising system. At many colleges, advising never transcends course selection. We are inaugurating an advising process that focuses on the whole student and builds upon the strength of Sweet Briar’s tightly-knit community. Students who have made the most of their college experience have successfully woven together counsel and support from a variety of faculty, staff, and alumnae. Beginning with this year’s incoming Class of 2009, we want to guarantee that each student can form such a network. It is a process that focuses on the whole student. To be successful, this process must remain transparent and simple. To this end, the various folks whom students consult will have a simple method to “stay in the loop.” At the same time, we want to help the students to become more independent. This is where the advising team concept comes into play. Alix Ingber, Director of Advising, has developed some very nice software that allows a student to add advisors to her own individual advising site. If a student adds a faculty, staff member, or an alumna to her team, that person can, when appropriate, post a brief summary of their communication so that the rest of the team members can see it. For example: We might have an advisee interested in studying classics abroad and completing an international internship while she is there. During her planning process, she may need to con-

fer with Tiffany Cummings, Director of International Studies, about available programs and opportunities, Eric Casey, Assistant Professor of Classics, about the best academic fit from those, Wayne Stark, Director of Career Services, to make applications for the internship, and an alumna who studied in the same city. If the student makes an appointment with Wayne, and he can look at a brief summary of the advice the student has received from Eric and Tiffany, he will be prepared to make better use of his time with the student when she arrives. Finally, the student can benefit from the experience of an alumna who has already learned the ins and outs of being a student in that locale. Likewise: We may have advisees with a pre-professional interest in areas like event planning, healthcare, real estate, or politics. We are amassing a list of willing alumnae and staff who can provide valuable careerrelated suggestions to these students that their academic advisors may not be as well equipped to provide. The purpose of advising is not to hold the students’ hands, but to give them the information to make the best possible decisions about their education and preparation for life beyond graduation. The students who make the most of their college experience are those who link together a rich course load, meaningful internships and summer jobs, carefully cultivated research, and wisely chosen student activities and leadership opportunities. Each student must be responsible for

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

pulling these components together in a way that will be best for her, but those of us who have seen what works (and what doesn’t) for others can help to point out pitfalls and opportunities along the way. Other important Shape of the Future initiatives include the College’s new Leadership Certificate Program, greatly expanded internship opportunities, and an effort to guarantee a study-abroad experience for every student who earns it. Each of these initiatives is critically connected to the advising process, and each of them is designed with the intent of placing the connections between the classroom and the “real world” constantly in the minds of the entire community. By connecting the academic with the co-curricular, we help students to model lifelong learning while they are here, which we believe will help them to transfer these habits “beyond the pink bubble.” To those of us in the faculty, the classroom is that real world, and by integrating carefully chosen co-curricular experiences (on- and off-campus), students can better appreciate how concrete and relevant even the most seemingly abstract academic endeavors really are. As we expand our cadre of advisors, we will be seeking willing alumnae to aid in the process. We need alumnae team players who have made these connections between Sweet Briar and the workplace and the greater world. We will welcome your participation as mentors for the next generation of alumnae, as they plot their courses through the College and beyond.

We are inaugurating an advising process that focuses on the whole student and builds upon the strength of Sweet Briar’s tightly-knit community. Fall 2005 • 7

Sweet Briar College’s Leadership Certificate Program KELLY KRAFT-MEYER ASSOCIATE DEAN/ACTING DEAN, CO-CURRICULAR LIFE

weet Briar College’s existing Student Leadership Program was designed to prepare young women to become responsible members of a global community. Through an intense and supportive educational environment, faculty and staff guide students to lead with integrity, honor and commitment. They do so by incorporating the College’s strong liberal arts curriculum, creating and encouraging learning opportunities within and outside the traditional classroom, the campus community, and the world. However, there was desire to expand the program, give it more exposure and make it an integral part of the living and learning community. The Board of Directors endorsed that concept and directed that a Leadership Program Task Force be formed through the Shape of the Future (SOF) Initiatives. The Leadership Program Task Force brought together a vast assortment of thoughts, opinions and research regarding what should define leadership and what elements should be included in a more comprehensive leadership program, based on a statement by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS): “Leadership is an inherently relational process of working with others to accomplish a goal or to promote change.” CAS believes that all colleges should seek to develop a comprehensive program/opportunity that is purposeful, holistic, and consists of both curricular and co-curricular experiences. In addition, the program should be intentional, coherent, based on theories and knowledge, reflective of the demographics of the student population and responsive to the needs of those involved. Coupling this national benchmark with George Dehne’s1 remarks that “Leadership 8 • Fall 2005

development has become a universal theme at most small colleges, but few have programs that would convince a prospective student that the institution is serious about leadership” and “Sweet Briar could distinguish itself with a comprehensive leadership program,” the Sweet Briar Leadership Certificate Program evolved. Beginning in Fall ’05, students will have the opportunity to earn a Leadership Certificate, a four-year commitment on the part of the student. Recognizing that each student develops at a different pace and that her interests are as varied as the definition of leadership, this program has a guideline of criteria to meet. However, there is enough diversity within each criterion to allow for individuality, focus, and level of involvement on the part of the student. The Leadership Certificate Program combines required academic courses with campus workshops, lectures and meetings, community service/campus engagement opportunities, internship/externship and/or study abroad options and an annual Leadership Conference. The result: not only a greater understanding of how and why each of us leads in a variety of settings, but the honor of receiving the Leadership Certificate during graduation exercises. The first step for students working to earn the certificate is the successful completion of LEAP: Leaders Emerging and Achieving Program. LEAP focuses on individual leadership development and education through interactive learning. As an integral piece of the program, students will have the opportunity to participate in LEAP twice a year. The Fall program will include a daylong on-campus workshop at the start of the year, which will focus on theory, exploring values, ethics, and integrity while identifying personal style. There are also several events throughout the remainder of the semester that partici-

pants will be expected to attend: a Career Services workshop, an SGA meeting, and at least one campus educational lecture or event. The Spring LEAP will focus on reading a text on leadership with six follow-up meetings to discuss the book and talk with its author. Each semester will also include a civic engagement requirement and reflection paper. The programs act independently of each other, offering students the chance to participate in one or both. Students will also be expected to enroll in and successfully pass four 4-credit academic courses that have a leadership component to them. Faculty from the following areas met with Task Force members and offered to be part of the program: Government/The Center for Civic Renewal; the Engineering Program; Business Management; and Arts. Each of these areas already have established classes with a strong theme of leadership imbedded in them. Students will have the opportunity to select their courses as part of their major and/or minor over the course of their four-year educational plan. This is a wonderful meshing of academics with co-curricular to give participating students a broader view and exposure to leadership within their field of study, as well as intellectual growth. The third component requires that students take advantage of experiential learning opportunities over their four years. Through a wide array of service learning, volunteerism, community service, externship/internship, and work-study, participants can complete this requirement while fulfilling others. For example, all clubs, groups and organizations (c/g/o) recognized through the Interclub Council (ICC) are required to complete some type of service project. A member of a c/g/o completing a service project can also use it for her leadership certificate requirement. This method of “double counting,” so to speak, would prevent unrealistic expectations for a student’s time and attention. Lastly, all participants will be expected to engage in a variety of co-curricular opportunities, from lectures and events to athletics to clubs and organizations to the annual Student Leadership Conference.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Each of these will allow for individuality and personal interest in the chosen areas of involvement. All participants are responsible for attendance at each year’s Leadership Conference: the first year may be as an attendee, the second as a planning member, the third as a co-presenter and the fourth as a presenter. The goal is to expand the conference to a day and a half, with the focus of the sessions being more academic than skills-based, and an expanded participant list representing many other colleges and universities. As with any new initiative, staffing, monies, and physical space must be considered, but the end result of a conference with juried papers and publiclyrecognized speakers should certainly meet the desired outcomes for an effective leadership certificate program. Although the program is focused on those wanting the certificate, the first of which should be bestowed in the Spring of 2008, students not wanting to fully engage in and commit to the program are certainly encouraged to participate in any and all of the criteria of interest to them. Each academic year will offer different lectures, speakers, and workshops, dependent upon the focus of the campus community that year. As the program grows, so too will students’ abilities to effectively communicate, grow intellectually, self-evaluate realistically, and appreciate diversity through their own self-esteem enhancement. To accurately record and remember all that they have done over the four years, students in our Leadership Certificate Program will be required to create and maintain a portfolio and/or reflection journal—a reflection of the Sweet Briar mission!

Members of the Leadership Program Task Force

Pam DeWeese Professor of Spanish/Director of the Leadership Certificate Program Kelly Kraft-Meyer Acting Dean of Co-Curricular Life Laura Staman Director of Outdoor Programs/Student Training Development Margaret Stanton Professor of Spanish/Director, Latin American Studies Program Valdrie Walker Former SBC Vice President and Dean, CoCurricular Life (Valdrie left SBC in August ’05 to become Vice President for Academic Affairs at Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL)

April 2003: Chartering Ceremony with first group of SBC initiates in Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the National Society for Leadership. Students, faculty, and staff may be inducted into this honor group. Kelly KraftMeyer facilitated SBC’s membership in ODK as part of the leadership program.

1 Mr. George Dehne of GDA Integrated Services, the firm selected to conduct market research for the SOF Committee

Volunteer Day at Amherst Presbyterian Nursery School, SBC Orientation, August 2004 L-r, six members of the Class of 2008: Jessica Poore; Fatima Lbida; Shanna Ryan; Tegan Cohen; Bridget Davis; Aicha Haki; Associate Professor Bonnie Kestner (Physical Education/Athletics) Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 9

Career Development: A Lifelong Process WAYNE STARK, DIRECTOR, CAREER SERVICES JOAN LUCY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CAREER SERVICES

he Sweet Briar College Career Services Center views career development as a lifelong process and provides comprehensive career services to students through a fouryear Career Development Plan. This integrative cocurricular plan grooms students for success through a strong corpus of assessment, career exploration, leadership, workshops and events. Experiential education opportunities, an important part of the four-year plan, are emphasized through a strong internship program. Our SOF process has led us to commit to a guarantee that the College will ensure that every eligible student who wishes to seek an appropriate internship has the opportunity to do so. By working one-on-one with a career counselor, and with a wide array of internship resources, students gain internships that complement and augment their academic studies and career goals, and bridge the gap between their academic fields of interest and the world of work. Internships traditionally have been important to our students; over the past few years the internship program has grown significantly in the resources and support offered to students. According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Sweet Briar students participate in practica, internships, field experiences, or clinical assignments at a rate of 74%, compared to the 56% participation rate posted by the other NSSE schools, and the less-than-50% rate that NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) lists as the national average. The Career Services Center staff, with the support of faculty, alumnae, and other SBC administrators, provides students 10 • Fall 2005

with an array of excellent resources to help locate internships that interest them. Students, trained developmentally to engage in a successful internship search, are counseled on how to get the most from an internship experience once the position is secured. Career Services helps explore options and resources, but students make their own travel and housing arrangements, often large considerations as many internships are unpaid and offer no housing. In today’s world, internships are increasingly important for students wishing to explore career possibilities and gain work experience, and are viewed very highly by potential employers. Through hands-on experience students discover, expand, and explore academic and career skills, gain experience and confidence in the working world, and learn first-hand from experienced professionals the demands and rewards of a particular career field. Goals of a Sweet Briar Internship:

• To support and be closely related to academic offerings and classroom learning; • To provide an opportunity to apply and evaluate academic experience in a professional field setting; • To provide a link between the academic community and various professional/ career communities, improving knowledge and effectiveness of given organizations; • To provide an opportunity to explore possible career choices; • To gain useful experience, improving employment potential upon graduation. A Sweet Briar Internship which receives academic credit:

• Is defined as a work experience related to a student’s academic program. An on-site supervisor and a Sweet Briar College faculty sponsor are needed for direction of such an internship. • Consists of a minimum of 120 hours

of work, either at the workplace or in related field work; receives three semester hours of credit. • Exposes Sweet Briar students to the realities of the workplace. Internships are designed to be an integral part of a coordinated effort to relate a liberal arts education to the multitude of career opportunities in government, business, and nonprofit organizations. • Requires: • A written report of assigned readings which are related to the academic discipline in which the internship is taken and to the internship itself; • A journal which provides a detailed description of what the intern did; • A paper in which the intern attempts to relate her experience to her academic discipline and to any assigned literature; • A form signed by the on-site supervisor verifying the satisfactory completion of the internship. Where Students Intern

The range of internships pursued in any given year is as broad as the many different majors offered in the general liberal arts curriculum at Sweet Briar. A large number of students serve political, legal, governmental, or public service internships in nearby Washington, D.C. Economics and Business Management students look for internship possibilities in banks, brokerage houses, other financial institutions, and the private sector. Biology or Psychology students seek out hospital, mental health, or veterinary settings. Art History, Arts Management, and Studio Art majors are interested in internships with museums, galleries, auction houses and advertising firms. Students locate and pursue internships locally, nationally and, helped in part by Sweet Briar’s international population, all over the world. Collaboration Creates New Opportunities

Over the last several years the Career Services Center has worked to strengthen the collaboration and partnering of faculty, alumnae, companies and organizations to increase the number of internships

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

available to students and to enhance the experiential value of the students’ internships. We continue to develop and create many varied opportunities for Sweet Briar students, on campus and in the local communities, as well as regionally, nationally, and internationally. The addition of the MonsterTrak database also helps us to quickly post and update internship opportunities which students can access 24 hours a day. These efforts and other accomplishments of the Career Services Center have contributed to its reputation of excellence. The Center has been recognized by an outside consultant as “one of the best Career Centers he has seen” and the staff are regularly involved with professional organizations, presenting both state-wide and regionally. It is from this strong base that staff from the Career Services Center joined the SOF Internship Task Force. The SOF Internship Task Force

The Internship Task Force met regularly during Spring 2005, with the mission of ensuring that every eligible student who wishes to complete an Internship is guaranteed the opportunity to do so. The group, comprised of faculty and staff, has actively considered and adopted several key points regarding Sweet Briar’s Internship Program. The task force revisited the option of offering zero-credit internships, which would appear on a student’s transcript, but decided against this, noting that each student has the opportunity to showcase such experiences through a resume and the newly-designed portfolio system. The task force also recommended the removal of the summer fees which students were required to pay for a summer intern-

ship receiving academic credit. As many internships are unpaid, and often incur additional expense such as housing, the fee was a deterrent to many students seeking the academic credit component of their experiences. This action was approved. The task force reviewed and approved the booklet provided by Career Services, which includes guidelines for internships; the revised forms which students need to complete; and evaluation forms to be completed by the student, the faculty sponsor and the on-site supervisor, which must be turned in to the Dean’s Office for evaluation before any credit is awarded. Career Services acts as the central administrative hub for all internships. What the Future Holds

With the ongoing work of the Internship Task Force, dedicated faculty, and the support and resources of the Career Services Center, the future shines brightly for Sweet Briar students pursuing internships during their college years. We especially look forward to our continued growth, building upon the collaborative and administrative foundation of internship opportunities for all Sweet Briar students. Alumnae Internships

Students who have the opportunity of interning with alumnae not only gain valuable hands-on experience from top professionals in their fields, but gain the added value of both lifelong networking and friendship. Please contact the Career Services Center at (434) 381-6151 if you are interested in developing or sponsoring an internship within your company or organization for Sweet Briar students.

MonsterTrak Opens New Doors for Sweet Briar Students

The Career Services Center is proud to introduce its involvement in MonsterTrak, a Web site dedicated to helping college students and graduates find internships through online networking. Sweet Briar students can log onto MonsterTrak through the Career Services Web site at http://www.ccl.sbc.edu/csc to access an area reserved specifically for Sweet Briar students. Alumnae and other affiliates of the College can post jobs and internship opportunities targeted specifically for Sweet Briar students. While internships can be opened up to any site visitor, the internship poster has the option of limiting viewing to students from one or more specific schools. When students log on, they are able to search for internship listings by career field, geographic locale, and by other search criteria such as company or organization. Director of Career Services Wayne Stark is very excited about MonsterTrak. He believes it represents an “important addition to an already strong array of internship resources.” Joan Lucy, head of Sweet Briar’s internship program, will be working most closely with the new system. Joan is “excited about the opportunities MonsterTrak presents to the students, and about how many students are successfully using the program already!” If you have a job or internship opportunity that you would like to advertise to the Sweet Briar student body, please contact the Career Services Center at (434) 381-6151. —SBC Student Relations Committee

Our SOF process has led us to commit to a guarantee that the College will ensure that every eligible student who wishes to seek an appropriate internship has the opportunity to do so.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 11

The Shape of the Future: Teacher Education at Sweet Briar College JAMES L. ALOUF PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, CHAIR OF DEPARTMENT

weet Briar’s 96th Commencement, May 2005, was truly a pivotal moment in the College’s history. Four Master of Arts in Teaching candidates became the first students to receive master’s degrees from Sweet Briar, stepping into the pages of institutional history and shaping the future for generations of prospective teachers. Although Julia Ambersley ’02, Anne Benham ’04, Ellen Phillips, and Angela White are the first to receive their master’s through this new five-year program, there are currently 10 candidates for the MAT and six candidates for the M.Ed. who may receive degrees in May, 2006. Three males will earn the distinction of being the first of their gender to graduate with a degree from Sweet Briar, another historic moment. Discussion of the College’s history causes one to reflect on the development of this innovative program and why it seems so attractive to people who are serious about becoming teachers. The teaching profession has long argued about the best curriculum for professional preparation. In the last 20 years, colleges and universities have responded to research suggesting that an additional year of professional preparation beyond the baccalaureate gives prospective teachers opportunity to focus on becoming a teacher. The additional year makes it feasible for undergraduates to pursue their academic majors without competition from professional studies and helps them to gain extensive experience in real classrooms before they student teach during the fifth year. This professional year, research shows, helps to improve teacher retention. Since 50% of new teachers may leave the profession within the first five years 12 • Fall 2005

of teaching, this improvement in teacher retention is significant. At Sweet Briar, we have also added our own philosophy of teacher preparation which we feel will provide for greater retention in the profession and for greater gains in student achievement. That philosophy is differentiated curriculum and instruction. Do you remember those times in school when teachers taught with a one size fits all approach? It may have seemed that the teacher was focused more on what s/he needed to accomplish rather than on what students actually learned! Teachers who differentiate curriculum and instruction approach teaching with a different concept. They focus instruction on the interests, readiness levels, and learning styles of the students, helping them to reach learning goals by recognizing that individual students can succeed, despite their differences. The culture of the classroom becomes success-oriented and the teacher becomes the principal organizer of that success, with the assistance of the students. In the MAT program, prospective teachers learn how to differentiate curriculum and instruction so that all students can learn. Our Education Department faculty model this philosophy, and prospective teachers are required to develop and teach differentiated lessons in their field experiences and in student teaching. Does this sound challenging? It is. But what could be more rewarding than finding teachers and students working together so that everyone learns? The MAT and M.Ed. programs at Sweet Briar are strongly committed to improving student achievement through differentiation. As Ellen Phillips said: “To have Sweet Briar professors modeling this approach and actually using it in our classroom and knowing I could teach children that way was really great. I loved that focus. We see how it works because it worked with us as grad students.”

Practicing teachers who want to earn an M.Ed. experience the same philosophy. Since they have classrooms of their own, these candidates have opportunities to apply differentiation and develop a new sense of professional competence in their classrooms. At Sweet Briar, the MAT and M.Ed. candidates share many of the same classes, creating opportunities for practicing professionals and prospective teachers to share their ideas, expertise and aspirations. The Sweet Briar program has received program approval visits from the Virginia Department of Education and a regional accreditation visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities (SACS). Both of these visits occurred within five weeks, but were very gratifying for the Education Department and for the College. Our program received accolades for the quality of the curriculum and for the expertise of its faculty. We were exhausted but elated at the recognition and we continue to evaluate and revise the program with the feedback received from our graduates, from their employers, and from the evaluation visits per se. The accreditation team from SACS felt that our master’s programs have great potential for continued growth, tying us more closely to the mission of the Shape of the Future initiatives by helping to increase the size of the student body. While the future is promising, there is still work to be accomplished. Education Department faculty will be establishing a new licensure endorsement in Gifted Education this academic year and are carefully examining the possibility of adding Special Education licensure to our program offerings. Both possibilities involve continued assessment of the current program and curriculum revision to establish new courses to fulfill licensure requirements from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Campus School faculty expertise has been crucial to the development of the Special Education proposal. The Campus School and its faculty continue to be an excellent source of firsthand experience with children and with teaching practice in a real classroom setting.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

The first to receive their master’s through the five-year program, L-r: Ellen Phillips, Anne Benham, Julia Ambersley, Angela White.

We are also interested in assessing the results of our efforts. Our graduate students are researching the effects of differentiation in their own classrooms and Education faculty will be assessing how well our degree candidates continue to differentiate instruction once they have their own classrooms. We want to focus our research on the impact of differentiation on K-12 student achievement so that we can refine our program and continue to prepare quality teachers who are grounded in a solid liberal arts education.

While celebrating the accomplishments of the past year, we are committed to the mission and goals of the Shape of the Future: to prepare highly-qualified professionals for the real world of teaching and learning while providing a sound liberal arts education. There is no better place for teacher education than a liberal arts college. Sweet Briar College is demonstrating that principle in its program and practice.

In the last 20 years, colleges and universities have responded to research suggesting that an additional year of professional preparation beyond the baccalaureate gives prospective teachers opportunity to focus on becoming a teacher.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 13

2005 Briar Patch

Sweet Briar’s BFA Program JONATHAN D. GREEN DEAN OF THE COLLEGE/VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AFFAIRS PROFESSOR OF MUSIC

ne of the most distinctive new programs at Sweet Briar is the interdisciplinary Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree. In this program students integrate the study of two different art forms taken from Music, Dance, Theatre, Studio Art, Creative Writing, and Art History. Sweet Briar is the only college in the United States with a residential artist colony on its campus, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), which also happens to be the largest year-round artist colony in the United States and one of the premiere artist retreats in the nation. We designed the BFA to better use this incomparable resource. The degree centers on a workshop populated by faculty and students from all of the fine arts along with visiting artists, many of whom are Fellows from the VCCA. Creativity is problem solving. It is finding the hidden answer and, sometimes, the hidden question. The intellectual process that leads to artistic revelation or scientific discovery is one that embraces all realms of thought, which is why the stellar figures of our society often excel in many fields: Leonardo was a painter, an engineer, even a chef; Michelangelo, known for his paintings, architecture, and sculpture, was also one of the greatest poets of his age; Mendelssohn was not only a composer, but also a poet, painter, and educational reformer. Students in the program complete a major in one field of the arts and a minor in another, and these disciplines are unified in a culminating senior project designed by the student and her faculty. By working in more than one medium, our students have an opportunity to better understand creativity. Accepting the premise that the heart of creativity is problem solving, including the problem of how to effectively communicate elements of 14 • Fall 2005

personal expression in one’s art, working in a second medium provides students with an opportunity to be more objective in evaluating their own creative processes. The program encourages students to develop a clear understanding of the techniques, traditions, and challenges incumbent in each branch of the arts through handson experience and by continually observing the work of others. This regular interaction with student and professional artists in diverse media forces our students to constantly examine the many facets of artistic expression. It also provides a forum to generate feedback from an informed group of people outside of a student’s specific field. A dancer’s response to a poem may be very different from a classroom of other poets. The workshop creates a heterogeneous pool of critiques. It is a very exciting program in which to teach, and we believe our students are finding it equally rewarding. The first three graduates of the BFA program have each achieved a high-profile placement for continued study in the arts. This fall, Samantha Angus, ’05 will be attending Sam Houston State University as an MFA candidate in dance, Brienna McLaughlin, ’04 is beginning the MFA program in studio art at Savannah College

Samantha D. Angus, Amherst, VA, 2005 BFA Dance

of Art and Design, and Erin Coleman, ’04 is continuing her theatre training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The BFA workshop received important seed money from the Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation to underwrite weekly workshops with visiting artists from the VCCA and the region as well as providing a number of two-week residencies at the VCCA for artists selected by our faculty to be coordinated with a series of educational sessions with our students. The Jordan Family Foundation (Louise Corrigan Jordan, ’39) has given a $120,000 endowment to provide support of these critical components of the BFA program in perpetuity.

By working in more than one medium, our students have an opportunity to better understand creativity. Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

New Business Management Program DR. LINDA R. SHANK PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES LYNN B. KING INSTRUCTOR IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

t is 9:30 a.m. sharp and four students stand at ready in the front of the Fletcher Conference Room to present their marketing research findings and recommendations to the Amherst County Chamber of Commerce. It has been a long semester—learning the marketing research theories and methodologies while actually doing the hands-on work of a full-scale marketing research study. However, as power point after power point is projected on the screen, they know that they have achieved something that very few undergraduate students would be given the opportunity to learn at this level. They also feel good about being able to provide a valuable service to organizations and departments who could not otherwise afford to gather this type of data. At the end, a round of applause breaks out from the Chamber members present. Several enthusiastic questions follow, emphasizing that the client has taken their recommendations seriously, and proving that their research project will actually be used instead of ending up on a dusty shelf. At the same time across campus, Instructor Lynn King’s human resource (HR) students are screening resumes, reviewing videos, and conducting interviews of students in Bill Hostetler’s Marketing class who are applying for an internship position in a small company. The simulation provides the HR students with real-life experience in designing a job, screening candidates, and coordinating the selection process. Simultaneously it offers the marketing students experience in marketing themselves, via video, resume, and

in an interview setting. “Oh my gosh,” one student was heard to exclaim, “this is like a real interview!” In addition to providing experience in key business skills, the simulation offers students in both courses valuable insight into the employment process, which will benefit them in their own job searches. Meanwhile, students in Professor Hostetler’s Management class are coordinating college-wide projects to benefit charities such as Oxfam and Habitat for Humanity. Senior-level students function as the management team, providing general direction to the introductory class, who generate fund-raising ideas, plan events, coordinate marketing, and manage the project’s accounting. Along the way, they develop a critical understanding of organizational structure, the need for planning, establishment of controls, and inevitably some awareness of conflict management. These are just a few of the examples of the real world projects that students in Sweet Briar’s new Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management work on as they complete their degree. The new degree clearly exemplifies the hands-on, careerbuilding component of the Shape of the Future vision set forth last year. Previously students could only complete a Business Management Certificate. Chair of the Economics/Business Department Bill Hostetler has designed the curriculum around three major components: having students read and learn the history, practices, and ethics of business;

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

apply what they have learned in group projects, simulations, and/or case studies; and connect their learning to the business world through internships aimed at acquiring experience and career management skills. Much of the course work is also interrelated between business courses to help students see the vital connections between subjects. Entrepreneurial skills are strongly emphasized, as well as the ethics of conducting business. A new ethics component will be phased into the program this year. Most colleges try to teach ethics in one course. However, Bill Hostetler feels that one course just does not do it. “You can’t change anyone, but you can make them aware of what they can and can’t do,” Hostetler says. Therefore, the Business Management degree will feature short ethic study sessions throughout the student’s tenure in the program. The short evening sessions each semester will focus on case studies of ethical situations from a variety of business perspectives such as marketing, management, and human resources. Thus, ethics will be an ongoing part of student learning, versus just a course. One thing for certain, young women have a strong interest in business, and the department has already had to add additional sections of several courses in the curriculum. If current enrollment in the degree is any indication, the program will have strong growth over time.

L-r: Jane Mackenzie, Dr. Linda Shank, Laura Hanson lean down to pick up a completed marketing report weighing over 10 pounds!

Fall 2005 • 15

Study Abroad and International Initiatives at Sweet Briar College DR. TIFFANY CUMMINGS, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

he Offices of International Studies, Junior Year in France and Junior Year in Spain, as well as members of the Study Abroad Task Force and International Studies Advisory Committee, have been busy providing study-abroad opportunities and brainstorming about the development of new initiatives for international learning. Most importantly, the International Studies Advisory Committee awarded over $50,000 for study abroad for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years. These awards are derived from various funds including: Donna and Jack Josey, Helen Smith Davenport, Mr. and Mrs. A. Marshall Acuff, Anne Lauman Bussey and Adelaide Boze Glascock funds. As donations to these funds are increased, more scholarships will be available for study around the world. Over the past four years Sweet Briar students have studied or will study in France, Spain, United Kingdom, South Africa, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, Panama, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Cyprus, Turkey, Guam, Netherlands, Poland, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Namibia, Germany, Kenya, China, Canada, Australia, Greece, and Czech Republic. The new Study Abroad Task Force has been charged with developing more opportunities for funding study abroad. My colleagues, Drs. Margaret Scouten and Lynn McGovern, directors of our Junior Year in France and Junior Year in Spain Programs, have been working hard to develop innovative summer programs that will appeal to a new market of Sweet Briar and other college students. Some additional ideas generated by the committee have included seeking affiliations with study abroad organizations that will offer automatic scholarships 16 • Fall 2005

to our students, as well as scholarships to match those given by Sweet Briar. With the help of my very talented student assistants, I have prepared and presented to the Task Force a spreadsheet listing all of the programs our students have used over the past five years. The spreadsheet includes cost and duration of program. By studying past student interest, we are hoping to find new ways to make study abroad available to any eligible student, regardless of cost. We recognize and look forward to the fact that there is still much to be done. Closer to home, the Nations United Club International Banquet was voted “Program of the Year” in 2003-2004.

We were even more honored in 20042005 when members of the SBC Board of Directors joined more than 200 other guests at the Florence Elston Inn and Conference Center Wailes Lounge and Boxwood Room for the function. We hope that they and other readers of the Alumnae Magazine will join us in 2005-2006. The club was additionally revitalized this year by a surprisingly successful fund-raiser: handmade earrings made and sold by members of the club! In addition to oncampus sales our jewelry is offered on a consignment basis at two different gift shops in Amherst. Over $2,000 was raised for trips for international students, who traditionally do not have cars on campus. We also have added 25 new flags to our Student Center Atrium—which now displays more than 60 flags. Each of these flags is the result of a $40 donation by a member of the Sweet Briar community. More exciting news: Sweet Briar College faculty, staff, and students will

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

continue to enjoy the benefits of the multifaceted Fulbright Program. We currently offer two languages, Arabic and Chinese, which are fully sponsored by the Fulbright U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This particular program is administered by the Institute for International Education, an organization with which Sweet Briar has maintained a long-standing relationship. I presented at the Association of International Educators (NAFSA) conference with an Institute of International Education (IIE) representative in 20042005 regarding this program. Next year, Professor Claudia Chang (Anthropology/ Sociology, Archaeology Program) will benefit from a Fulbright Award to study in India and Karlena Sakas ’05, who majored in German with a minor in Sociology, has received a Fulbright Grant to study in Germany. In the spring of 2004 I was selected to participate in the Fulbright U.S. Germany International Educators Adminstrators Program. Each year, when speaking with faculty, staff, and students, I encourage and remind them that, “The only way to get a Fulbright, is to apply for one.” This tactic seems to be working: word has gotten out. I have advised several members of our community on the program in the past few months. Dean Green and I are looking forward to seeing the results of many more successful applications in the future. Overall, as I enter my sixth year at Sweet Briar, I am honored to be part of, and astounded by, our accomplishments in the development of new opportunities in International Learning for the Sweet Briar community.

Small photos, from top: View of Rio de Janiero from homestay apartment Sara visiting child care facility in favella Ciudad de Jesus, City of God Drumming class, Guga’sthebe community center, Langa, South Africa Delaire Vineyards, South Africa Cities in the 21st century, International Honors Program, outside Boston U. facilities, Paris, France Large photo: Sara (r) & classmate Erin Fenner (Barnard College), Capepoint, South Africa

“I have lived with five different families in Brazil, South Africa and France over the course of the semester. I have been to City of God and about 15 other favellas and informal settlements. I have spent the morning with a leopard and her cub and…gone swimming with penguins…been to the southwestern most point of Africa and to a secluded island off the coast of South America. I lived with a Xhosa family in one of the oldest townships built during apartheid, who gave me the name ‘Lindewe’ (one that smiles). I have danced the samba…during carnival…hiked in the Amazon, the African bush and to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I have listened as international students in my group told me about their homes…a South African who witnessed first-hand the injustices of the apartheid regime…a Hungarian who explained what it is like to live in her post-communist country…a Chinese student who this summer will research North Korean nuclear warfare. I have debated the future of the European Union at UNESCO and spent hours laughing with a 40-year-old man dying of AIDS. Through it all I have grown as a person and been a part of the most intellectually stimulating group of my life.” —Sara Coffey ’06 Sara Coffey participated in the International Honors Program “Cities in the 21st Century: People, Planning and Politics,” which took her on an odyssey from Washington, D.C. to Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Paris.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 17

The Center for Civic Renewal and the Shape of the Future KRIS OGDEN PROGRAM COORDINATOR, CENTER FOR CIVIC RENEWAL

he Board of Director’s Shape of the Future recommendations encouraged a review of programming by the Center for Civic Renewal (CCR), particularly in the areas of leadership and personal development and the forging of new collaboration between the College and diverse partners, including alumnae, community organizations, and other higher-education institutions in the U.S. CCR provides unique opportunities for Sweet Briar students, in civic involvement outside of the classroom and in participation in important programs for leadership, as well as in personal and professional development. A chance to meet Justice Sandra Day O’Connor during a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court in Spring 2005; a visit to campus by General William K. Suter, clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court; and Steve Petteway, Petteway Photographics.

Sweet Briar visitors to the U.S. Supreme Court, Spring 2005, l-r: Sheena Belcher ’05; Kathryn Niemeier ’05; Savannah Humphrey ’05; Kristin Ogden ’04; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; Professor Barbara Perry; Christina Marchetti ’05; Rebecca Martin ’05; Catherine Sobke; Page Napier ’05; Professor Stephen Bragaw holding son Quentin Bragaw; Ellen Ashley Ruffead ’05

18 • Fall 2005

the establishment of the Tomlinson LawRelated Education Program are just a few of the recent opportunities for students that further the mission of CCR, while contributing to the College’s newly-defined Shape of the Future goals. United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor graciously welcomed a group of Sweet Briar College students to the Court on March 23, 2005. Thanks to the efforts of Professors Barbara Perry and Steve Bragaw, students were given the opportunity to attend a lecture series hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society. Drs. Perry and Bragaw helped to plan the series, were each selected to deliver a lecture, and were introduced by a Justice: Bragaw by O’Connor and Perry by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Government students heard Professor Bragaw’s lecture, “Native American Sovereignty and the Court,” in the awe-inspiring Supreme Court Chamber. Later each student was personally introduced to, and engaged in conversation with Justice O’Connor. They all were impressed with her attentiveness and graciousness toward them. Senior Government major Katie Niemeier ’05 was star-struck by the presence of Justice O’Connor. “Meeting her is a dream come true for me. I wrote a paper about her in 8th grade, and she has been a role model for me ever since.” Katie begins teaching social studies this fall at Deep Run High School in Henrico County, Virginia. Dr. Perry delivered a lecture titled “Jefferson’s Legacy to the Court: Freedom of Religion” on April 4, 2005. The fivepart lecture series, proposed by Perry and Bragaw, was titled “President Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution.” Dr. Henry J. Abraham, member of the Virginia Law-Related Education Center (VALREC)

Advisory Board, also participated, presenting a lecture on “Jefferson’s Trio of Appointments to the Court,” February 23, 2005. On April 14, a packed audience on the Sweet Briar campus witnessed the presentation of the 2004-05 CCR Public Service medal to General William K. Suter prior to his public lecture. The CCR recognized Suter for his distinguished military career, including service as an Army judge advocate, major general, appellate judge, deputy staff judge advocate of the U. S. Army (Vietnam), staff judge advocate of the 101st Airborne Division, commandant of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) School, and assistant judge advocate general of the Army. His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Parachutist Badge. Today, he is the 19th person to hold the position of U.S. Supreme Court clerk, a position he has had since 1991. Suter shared with the audience an insider’s view of the Court, including anecdotes about current members of the bench and facts about their decisions, including the statistic that over 40 percent of their decisions are unanimous, despite the popular misconception that the current Court is ideologically split. The Wade H. and Teresa Pike (’87) Tomlinson Fund awarded CCR &VALREC a $10,000 grant for the establishment of the Tomlinson Internship-in-Law, and a Tomlinson Alumna-in-Residence in Law, as well as a part-time coordinator for the program. These awards promote CCR & VALREC’s missions while contributing to Sweet Briar College’s goal of “fostering a fully engaged student” through internships and links to alumnae, especially in the law field. The mission of the Tomlinson Fund is to promote social progress through education, community revitalization, and environmental preservation. With the Tomlinson programs, CCR & VALREC are able to provide opportunities for students to acquire the practical skills and career information they need to apply their college education beyond the classroom to our civic communities.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Kris Ogden

Mary Dance ’08 has been awarded the first Tomlinson Internship-in-Law grant. The Richmond, VA native served as a summer intern in the Office of the Attorney General in Mary Dance ’08 the Commonwealth of Virginia, working in the Computer Crimes Unit of the Technology and Transportation Division. Plans are already underway to continue unique opportunities. In 2005-2006 CCR will be joining with the Environmental Studies program to bring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a nationally-known environmental lawyer and author, to campus on April 27, 2006. He will present a public lecture and meet with students for discussion. Mr. Kennedy will be awarded the 3rd CCR Public Service Medal. To learn more about the Center for Civic Renewal and its programming, please visit our Web site at www.lrevirginia.org or call 434-381-6583.

CCR provides unique opportunities for Sweet Briar students, in civic involvement outside of the classroom and in participation in important programs for leadership, as well as in personal and professional development.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Kris Ogden’s Internship: Sweet Briar’s Office of Finance and Administration

When Kris Ogden ’04 pursued an internship opportunity in the Office of Finance and Administration at Sweet Briar College in the spring of 2002, she had no idea how helpful that experience would be to her as she embarked on her new job in November 2004 at the College’s Center for Civic Renewal (CCR). With the full support of then-Vice President Mary Lou Merkt, Kris worked as assistant to the Vice President for Finance and Administration, while taking classes part-time toward obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government, with a minor in Law and Society. In spring 2002, the Office of Finance and Administration became involved in several projects that required interaction with interest groups, lobbyists, and state government officials. Mary Lou recognized the opportunity this would provide Kris and volunteered to supervise the internship along with Dr. Barbara Perry, Carter Glass Professor of Government. These projects provided first-hand experience on topics discussed in Kris’s government curriculum. A Virginia Senate bill was presented on January 9, 2002 that would create dramatic changes in the way sales and use taxes were administered by nonprofit organizations, particularly in private educational institutions and medical facilities. Another bill would have decreased the amount of the Virginia Tuition Assistant Grant (VTAG) funds available to Virginia students who chose private colleges. Kris learned to track these bills using the General Assembly’s online system. Mary Lou reported in her final evaluation that “Kris researched progress of the bills throughout the legislative period and kept me up-to-date on the outcomes. This was very helpful to me, as discussions of these issues arise frequently at professional meetings I attend.” Kris accompanied Mary Lou to a reception hosted by lobbyists for General Assembly members in Richmond during the legislative term and a breakfast for local government officials hosted by the Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Kris was responsible for planning and implementing the annual Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV) conference that was hosted by Sweet Briar College in June 2002. The CICV is an association of 25 Virginia independent colleges and universities. Founded in 1971, CICV works to promote the interests of non-profit, independent higher education in Virginia. The project required assisting with program development, establishing a Web site for conference information, inviting guests and speakers, making all logistical arrangements, coordinating food services with the Catering Department, preparing agendas, and organizing mailings. When Kris joined Professors Barbara Perry and Stephen Bragaw on the CCR staff in November 2004, she was immediately able to draw on her internship experiences in tracking House Bill 1769, which established the Virginia Commission on Civics Education. Drs. Perry and Bragaw were instrumental in the successful progression of the legislation and have been named to the Commission. Kris also has been successful in planning CCR events such as the seventh Henry J. Abraham Lecture featuring Theodore Olson, former Solicitor General of the United States; the presentation of the CCR Public Service Medal to William K. Suter, clerk of the United States Supreme Court; the dedication of and reception for the Henry J. Abraham Law and Civics Library; and the six-day Institute for Advanced Civic Studies. Recently Kris observed, “Working and studying at Sweet Briar College has been an excellent opportunity for me. The practical experience I gained in my internship enabled me to take on new professional responsibilities with confidence.” Barbara Perry is grateful for Kris’s expertise, noting that “Kris was instrumental in the CCR’s successful work with the Virginia General Assembly to pass the Civics Education bill.”

Fall 2005 • 19

The Fully Engaged Student REBECCA MASSIE LANE DIRECTOR, ARTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM DIRECTOR, COLLEGE MUSEUM AND GALLERIES

20 • Fall 2005

(c) an interest in the transitional time of adolescence. Louisa wrote formal loan request letters to a number of museums and received loans from the International Center of Photography and the Mitchell Inness and Nash Gallery in New York City; the Columbus State University in Columbus, GA; the Margulies Foundation Collection in Miami, FL; and the University of Florida’s Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville. Louisa wrote a grant proposal to the Virginia Commission for the Arts and attended the Arts Panel Review at which her grant was discussed, among some 20 other proposals. She returned from this experience with a new understanding of the process by which governmental grants are evaluated. The grant review panel was highly impressed by Louisa’s proposal and recommended it for funding; her exhibition proposal was granted funds at the Virginia Commission’s meeting in June. Over the summer, Louisa wrote a catalog essay for the publication that will serve as the lasting documentation for the exhibition. She wrote letters requesting permission to publish the photographs in

As a Pannell Gallery Docent, Louisa Meeks led a Fall 2004 Architectural Treasure Hunt for Amherst County third-graders Photos by Rebecca Massie Lane

n reviewing President Muhlenfeld’s recent online newsletter which outlines Sweet Briar’s Shape of the Future goals, I was particularly inspired by our intent of “fostering a fully engaged student, who learns in many ways and many venues, in and out of the classroom, working independently and in community service settings.” Art History major and Arts Management Certificate student Louisa Meeks ’05, working with me as her faculty sponsor, organized an exhibition with catalogue, that resulted from a year of deep immersion in research and planning, and a study of photography that extends back to her adolescence. The exhibition, “The Madness of Paradise: Photographs of Gregory Crewdson, Annabel Elgar, and Justine Kurland” opened September 1 and was on view through October 1, 2005 in the Anne Gary Pannell Art Gallery. The College’s emphasis on participatory learning has resulted in many student-led projects. Exhibition curator Louisa Meeks joins a distinguished group of student curators at Sweet Briar College, one of whom, Stacy Sharpes ’98, received support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts for her exhibition, “Visions of the Apocalypse: The Work of Myrtice West and the Reverend McKendree Long,” in 1998. Another student curator, Gwen McKinney ’03, was granted loans of works of art for her 2002 exhibition on Japonisme from the National Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Maier Museum of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Through her exhibition research, Louisa linked her interests in studio photography and art history. She selected the works for her exhibition from a field of hundreds of international photographers and ultimately focused on new photography which is linked by the themes of (a) a cinematic approach to still photographs, (b) an interest in creating images of Utopia, and

the catalog, thus learning about artist’s rights legislation. She participated in the graphic design decisions for the catalog and the exhibition announcement, and sent the published catalog to organizations and schools, as an outreach from Sweet Briar. The catalog will become a major part of Louisa’s college portfolio, an opus she will include with her applications for future employment and graduate programs. Louisa presented a public gallery talk at the opening of her exhibition on September 1. Her past experiences as a Pannell Gallery docent and as a docent at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate prepared her for poised public presentations, but this was her first experience of speaking as the curator of an exhibition. She also assisted with audience development by writing a press release and contacting area photography organizations and college and high school art departments. She is training our 2005-2006 Pannell Gallery docents to enable them to give tours to interested visitors, including the many high school students and their families who tour the gallery during Admissions visits. Through this project, Louisa grew from a student interested in photography into a young curator realizing her ideas through the creation and interpretation of an exhibition.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Project Description: The Madness of Paradise Anne Gary Pannell Art Gallery September 1–October 1, 2005

Sweet Briar College’s Anne Gary Pannell Art Gallery presented the exhibition, “The Madness of Paradise,” including the work of three contemporary photographers, Gregory Crewdson, Annabel Elgar, and Justine Kurland, all of whom use staging and/or cinematic techniques to probe the mysteries of suburbia and the transition from adolescence into adulthood and beyond. The artists selected for the exhibition are all practitioners of “staged photography,” an art form that emerged in the 1970s and heralded contemporary photography’s continual questioning of the supposed “realism” of the medium. Staged photography abandoned the decades-old aesthetic of “straight photography” in favor of staging, airbrushing, artificiality, and the merging of our realities and our fantasies. Louisa Meeks Photographers such as Cindy Sherman, with whom this technique is most closely associated, do not just take their photographs; they create them. They want to expose the objectivity of the camera as an illusion and stress the barrier between reality and photography. Crewdson, Elgar, and Kurland are known for their staged images, images that prey on the weaknesses of our minds and the idea that we think we know what is normal. Their photographs display an eerie look into our own world, but with a bizarre twist. Contemporary photography of this nature is about representations of representations, symbols whose meanings are difficult to decipher. These images do not reflect who we are and what we know, as much as they comment on who we think we are and simultaneously shape how we understand ourselves. These images play upon our psyches, probing the deepest, most hidden recesses of our minds, our dreams and our subconscious thoughts. They trick us, in the same way that twilight plays tricks on our eyes as we drive, making us believe something is there when it is not, or is there when it should not be. The work of Crewdson, Elgar, and Kurland is not necessarily disturbing in its content; nevertheless, the images are jarring because while the people and places in them may seem familiar, we sense that something is not quite right—the atmosphere is alarming; something does not make sense. These images reflect upon human adolescence; the liminal time between childhood and adulthood, where we are transforming, passing from one stage to the next. During this time, we are confused by our bodies, our sexuality, and our relationships; we are struggling to form our own identity, when we truly do not know who we want to be. The work of Crewdson, Elgar, and Kurland encompasses the split between fantasy and reality, relying on childhood memories, dreams, created narratives, the familiar yet alien environment, and the difficulties and triumphs of adolescence and the entrance into adulthood. —Louisa Meeks ’05

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Good News Flash! Louisa Meeks has accepted a position as Licensing Assistant, Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Mount Vernon, VA

Fall 2005 • 21

The Honors Summer Research Program JULIE HEMSTREET ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, HONORS

or the most part, the Sweet Briar campus is a quieter place during the summer months. The pace of work is different, slower, not driven by class schedules and committee meetings, clubs and sports. For serious scholars, it’s the ideal environment for generating ideas, questioning theories, analyzing data, and rethinking assumptions. This year, as in summers past, a group of Sweet Briar students, serious young scholars in the arts, sciences, and humanities, spent part of the summer working on research projects of their own design with support from faculty mentors. The Honors Summer Research Program (HSRP) is a competitive program, awarding eight to 10 fellowships each summer to support student-faculty teams from all disciplines who wish to conduct research here on campus. The program allows students the opportunity for an intensely-focused research experience not possible during the academic year. It also provides students the opportunity to use their faculty mentor as a research role model and to learn how to engage the appropriate mode of research for their discipline. For many of the student fellows, this research internship ignites a scholarly interest the student will pursue the remainder of her college career and beyond, influencing her choice of major, her commitment to a senior thesis, her decision to attend graduate school, even her career choice. One of this year’s students, Erica Kennedy ’07, is a returning fellow. She received an Honors Summer Research Fellowship the summer after her first year at Sweet Briar. Erica, from Chapmansboro, TN, worked as an apprentice to Ana Ciric ’05 (a former HSRP Fellow), on the synthesis of carbon dioxide reduction catalysts and also assisted Dr. Robert Granger in the design of anti-cancer molecules. Her work last summer was sufficient to earn her a 22 • Fall 2005

co-authorship on a scientific publication.1 She expanded the project this summer as a returning Honors Summer Research Fellow. Her experience during her first summer gave her the confidence to make the project her own and she has recently discovered a new catalyst that rapidly converts carbon dioxide into other organic molecules. By August, Erica had added another scientific publication2 to her resume. The fact that she will be a published research scientist before she completes her undergraduate degree will certainly give her an advantage when applying to graduate school. She has already set her sights high and hopes to get into a top-ranked pharmacy or Ph.D. program. Her former research partner Ana Ciric accepted a position at UC-Riverside for fall 2005 where she will pursue her Ph.D. According to Dr. Hank Yochum, director of the HSRP and assistant professor of physics: “Clearly, the Honors Summer Research Program provides unique and invigorating academic opportunities for Sweet Briar students. Student researchers leave the program with more confidence and with the increased analytical skills that are critical for success in graduate school and the workplace.” For other students, such as two of this summer’s research fellows in the

humanities, Nell Champoux and Denva Jackson, the summer research fellowship provides the means for an emerging scholar to pursue and expand a research endeavor as she transitions from undergraduate work to graduate studies. Nell, from Northfield, MA and Denva, from Darlington, SC, are 2005 graduates. Both were awarded Honors Degrees and received highest honors on their senior Honors thesis projects. Although in different academic departments, each completed a thesis on the writings of a 14th-century French monk, John of Morigny. The text, titled the Liber Visionum, was only recently discovered; mention of it in academic journals is limited to the past few years. Both Nell and Denva are doing groundbreaking research on this obscure manuscript. There is no doubt that the research they continued to do this summer at Sweet Briar will make a significant contribution to the understanding of this text and bring each of them to the attention of noted scholars in the field. Nell Champoux was first awarded an Honors Summer Research Fellowship in the summer of 2003. Her project examined “the nature and change of the imagination in the Medieval Ages and in the Renaissance, focusing on Medieval mystics and the Renaissance humanists.” She pursued her interest in the imagination during a year abroad at the University of Amsterdam and received highest honors for her senior Honors thesis, “From Cognition to Creation: An Examination of the Imagination in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” in the Department of Religion. She describes her summer project:

Summer Honors Fellowship Students, l-r: Natalie Pye; Shaheen Moosa; Farzana Sekander; Nell Champoux; Erica Kennedy; Denva Jackson; Carlina Muglia; Margaret Loebe; Brandy Stinnette; Brittany Lambert Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

I am interested in re-contextualizing work I have already done on John of Morigny’s prologue to the Liber Visionum and researching manuscripts contemporary to his text which might be viewed as similar to the Liber Visionum. In the prologue to the Liber Visionum, a magical and visionary text composed by the French monk, John of Morigny (active 1304-1323), sculptures of the Virgin Mary provide a means by which he could interact with the divine. These statues, in effect, elevated John, both by the teachings he received through the many manifestations of Mary related to these statues and through the bare fact of his personal contact with the mother of God. In architecture—a key element through which John’s visions were mediated—John found, not so much a path to elevate himself towards the divine, but rather a means by which his own life could be understood in terms of divine patterns and symbolism. I have already completed some work on John’s relation to images and architecture. By giving a complete account of John’s magical practices and the magical milieu from which he emerged, my work this summer will provide a more nuanced context in which to frame my interpretations of John’s relation to images. Nell is well on her way to having this research published, having received a recommendation for publication by a leading scholar in the field of Medieval studies based on an earlier paper she wrote on this subject. Denva Jackson, like her colleague and friend Nell Champoux, is working on the Liber Visionum from a different disciplinary perspective. Denva completed her senior Honors thesis in Art History, “Envisioning the Virgin: John of Morigny’s Liber Visionum and the Memory of Chartres Cathedral.” She will be analyzing the imagination and visual devotion in Medieval monasteries, working from material that has only recently been translated and made available to her by the translator. Denva describes her project and explains the goal of her research: Benedictine monasticism is characterized by its three-fold vow of obedience, stability, and fidelity to monastic life. The vow of stability often confined the monks to the

monastery, a cloistered area secluded from worldly indulgences. But increasingly in the Medieval period, devotion took place in sites removed from the insular location of the monastery. To experience the religiosity of this outside world Medieval monks had to embark on imagined voyages. Imagined pilgrimage—one of the ways a monk could breach the confines of the monastery— began through the performative act of reading. I see Matthew Paris’ Chronica Majora and John of Morigny’s Liber Visionum as providing two examples of 13th- and 14th-century imagined pilgrimage. Both texts trigger mental imaging, and thus the reader’s ability to visually recreate verbal descriptions in the imaginative space of their minds. The borderless mind provided the ideal space for monks to participate in the rich experience of pilgrimage. By placing these texts within the larger context of monasticism, memory, and the visual monuments of pilgrimage, I plan to increase our understanding of how Medieval devotional practices took visual form.” One indication of the level at which Denva is working is her established rapport with the translator of the Liber Visionum, who has given her access to unpublished, translated sections of the manuscript with which to work. Erica Kennedy, Nell Champoux and Denva Jackson exemplify what is best about the Sweet Briar Honors Summer Research Program: the unequaled opportunity it provides for students to immerse themselves in the processes of research and discovery. The camaraderie shared by experienced research faculty and emerging young scholars, and the spirit of inquiry that reaches across the full academic spectrum are hallmarks of the program and of a great liberal arts education. FOOTNOTES 1 A new cis-platin analog? The Synthesis, characterization, selective cytotoxicity and DNA binding studies of Tetrachloro(1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione)platinum(IV); X-Ray structure analysis of Dichloro(1,10phenanthroline-5,6-dione)platinum(II). Robert M. Granger, II; Robin Davies; Kimberly Anne Wilson; Erica Kennedy; Brieanne Vogler, Yen Nguyen, Eric Mowles, Regan Blackwood, Ana Ciric, & Peter S. White. JUCR 2005, 2, 47. 2 Formation of Oxalic Acid and Formic Acid from Carbon Dioxide: Homogeneous Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 with Copper and Platinum compounds containing the ligand di-2-pyridyl ketone:. Robert M. Granger, Erica Kennedy, Ana Ciric, Nicole Crowder. In preparation for Inorganic Chemistry.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Ten students received Honors Summer Research Fellowships for the summer of 2005: Nell Champoux ’05 Vision, Not Visionary: Discourses of Sanctity in John of Morigny’s Liber Visionum. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Cathy Gutierrez, Religion. Denva Jackson ’05 The Geography of the Imagination: Understanding Place in John of Morigny’s Liber Visionum. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Tracy Hamilton, Art History. Erica Kennedy ’07 CO2 Reduction Chemistry. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Robert Granger, Chemistry. Brittany Lambert ’07 The Mechanisms of Jaw Protrusion: a Kinematic Study of the Creek Chub. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jeff Janovetz, Biology. Margaret Loebe ’06 Combating Misogyny with Morality: Christine de Pizan and the Querelle de la Rose. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Lynn Laufenberg, History. Christina Moosa ’06 The Director’s Process: A Dramatic Analysis of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. William Kershner, Theatre Arts Carlina Muglia ’07 The Effects of an Ecologically Relevant Auditory Stimulus on the Behavior of Male and Female Japanese Quail. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Brian Cusato, Psychology. Natalie Pye ’07 Defining Delusion: Conceptions of Madness in the Early Roman Empire. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Eric Casey, Classics. Farzana Sekander ’07 Extraction, Isolation and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from the Cleome Species. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. John Beck, Chemistry Brandy Stinnette ’06 John Powell’s Sonate Noble: The Impacts of Racial Identity and an American Musical Identity. Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicholas Ross, Music and Dr. Kate Chavigny, History. Fall 2005 • 23

Girl Scouts (and Prospective Students!) at the Sweet Briar Museum CHRISTIAN CARR DIRECTOR, SWEET BRIAR MUSEUM/ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ARTS MANAGEMENT

eginning September 2004, the door of the Sweet Briar Museum swung open with increasing regularity to admit hordes of excitedly-chattering girls. Not our students, or even our alumnae, but Girl Scout troops, a new facet of our audience identified in conjunction with the Venture Programming initiative. Bedecked in regalia that identified them as Daisy, Brownie, or Junior Girl Scouts, they came to take part in one of the four programs developed specifically for them based on the collections of the Sweet Briar Museum that count toward various badges they are trying to earn. To date, more than 300 girls have participated in the “Daisy’s Day,” “African-American Heritage at Sweet Briar Plantation,” “Museum Magic,” and “Japanese Culture” programs, many returning more than once. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most popular of our offerings was “Daisy’s Day.” Over the past few years, student workers at the Museum have been transcribing additional volumes of Daisy’s diaries, and the activities the troops are introduced to during their visit are based on things that Daisy did in her everyday life. Daisy’s story provides a natural bridge to reaching these young girls. After a brief introduction, the troops are divided among student workers who give them a botany lesson, teach them to make a silhouette, trim a bonnet, and make lemonade and meringues from scratch. This last can prove a revelation for girls who are used to mixing up lemonade from a powder. Throughout the activities we emphasize how different life is now from the time when Daisy was a child, which attracts a number of troops interested in local history. Also popular with history-minded troops is the program “African-American Heritage 24 • Fall 2005

at Sweet Briar Plantation.” Thanks to the work of faculty members, showcased during last year’s Sweet Briar History Series, we have discovered much about the individuals who were in servitude here. This walking tour begins at the Museum with an overview of their story, and includes a visit to the slave cabin behind Sweet Briar House where aspects of their daily life are discussed. This is followed by a tour of the surrounding grounds highlighting the difference between the lives of those who lived in Sweet Briar House and those who worked for them, and ends at the Plantation Burial Ground also called the “Slave Graveyard”. Scout troops working toward their multi-cultural badges are avid participants in “Japanese Culture,” which utilizes the Japanese decorative arts collected by Daisy’s family. During the late 19th century, the display of Japanese goods in the home, from parasols to porcelain, marked the inhabitants as people of taste and culture. Beginning with a short lesson in Japanese phrases, the troops learn about the importance of nature in Japanese life, make fans depicting birds and flowers like those on the porcelain in our collection, try their hand at making an origami box, and cap their visit by participating in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony while wearing a kimono and silk slippers. This initiative is really win-win, for the museum, for the Girl Scout troops, and ultimately for the College. It has also been a valuable learning experience. I’m used to teaching college students, so it was a bit of a challenge to tailor the programs to a much younger audience, but through these programs, we are able to fulfill one of the primary missions of any museum—public outreach—using the existing resource of our rich collections. The objects lend themselves well to interpretation on multiple levels, so where I might focus on the style and construction of Daisy’s desk with my Arts Management class on “Curating, Collecting,

and Connoisseurship,” I can bring Daisy to life for the Girl Scouts by telling them that this is the desk where she wrote the diaries that help us understand what it was like to be a little girl in the late 19th century. This has been a real process of give-and-take on both sides, and each troop fills out an evaluation form as it prepares to leave. Part of this form asks what sorts of programs they would like to see offered; as a result, we will add three new programs in fall 2005, “Ghost Tours,” “Art Appreciation,” and “May Day at Sweet Briar College.” I believe we’ll see the real benefit in the future, when these girls who’ve visited Sweet Briar as Scouts and had a good experience, think of SBC when choosing a college. I also think they’ll have plenty of encouragement from their parents, since we tend to have a lot of adults accompanying visiting troops and staying during the programs. Sweet Briar students lead the programs, which gives them confidence in addressing groups and assuming a leadership role in an educational capacity, but I make it a priority always to be present, and to introduce myself to the troops and parents. At some point during their visit, one or more parents tell me how delighted they are that the College is welcoming their troops, and confide that they hope their daughter will attend Sweet Briar. They have also said that many colleges offer one or two Girl Scout programs annually, but that they tend to be large, “cattle-call”-type events, and that they appreciate the individual attention the girls get at SBC. I tell them that this is the hallmark of the Sweet Briar experience for our students, too. Many people have said that if you can get prospective students to campus, the beauty of the surroundings and the warmth of the people they encounter here does the rest. I see the programs we offer as raising the visibility of the Sweet Briar Museum and letting these visitors see the wonderful resources we have here for our students. But we don’t want to confine them to the Museum, though that may be the reason for their visit. Before they arrive, each troop receives an information packet which includes a map of campus and an invitation to spend time exploring before or after the program. The Dining Hall offers a special

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

rate for Scout troops, and the Café at the Book Shop is another attractive option for lunch or an early dinner. The success of these programs, which is based on identifying and attracting a niche audience interested in what we have to offer, has relevance beyond our gates. I’ve shared our success story at the Virginia Association of Museums annual conference and at the American Association of Museums annual meeting this past spring, where it was enthusiastically received. The Girl Scouts are such a natural audience for us to cultivate. I opened these sessions by asking audience members to raise their hands if they had ever been involved with Scouting, either as a troop member, leader, or parent. Every hand in the room went up. The session at the Virginia Museum conference was the most highly-subscribed session of the meeting; it is exciting that initiatives at our little museum, which lacks many of the resources common to the field, can impact educational programs at larger, well-funded institutions. Equally gratifying has been the reach of our programs, which were publicized through listings in the area Girl Scout program guide. We were heartened to notice strong participation from troops attending local elementary and middle schools. What was most interesting to note, however, is that the average distance traveled by troops attending our programs was 80 miles from Sweet Briar. These troops come from Charlottesville, Roanoke, Staunton, and many points in between, and we’re already taking calls from interested troops for the upcoming year. We’re going to start stocking admissions materials along with maps of campus. Parents are certainly eager to find out more about us, and the girls, many of whom have returned for multiple visits, will undoubtedly think of us when college application time comes. While a number of my student workers are interested in working with the troops because they have fond memories of their own scouting days, it’s really going to be an exciting day when I hear one of my student workers tell a visiting troop that she remembers visiting the Sweet Briar Museum as a Girl Scout, and that was how she got hooked on Sweet Briar College! Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

During the Daisy Days Program, Scout troops create silhouettes and make lemonade following a recipe from Daisy’s diary

Fall 2005 • 25

Arts Day 2005 A Primary Outreach Program REBECCA MASSIE LANE DIRECTOR, ARTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM DIRECTOR, COLLEGE MUSEUM AND GALLERIES

he year 2005 marked the 19th annual Amherst County Arts Day program, a program with goals to provide enrichment in arts education for area fifth-graders, create goodwill between county residents and the Sweet Briar community, and develop arts audiences of the future. Arts Day began as a simple tour program in which fifth-graders visited Sweet Briar House, Sweet Briar Museum and the Sweet Briar Art Gallery. It evolved into one of SBC’s primary outreach programs to the surrounding community, presenting not just the Museum and historic properties, but also the performing arts, creative writing, and visual art-making. Arts Day engages some 90 faculty, staff, and student volunteers in the presentation of workshops and performances, and in service behind the scenes as campus hosts and in other functions. We estimate that more than 6,500 students over 19 years have participated in Arts Day, the oldest of whom will now be 30- year-olds. Arts Day also has resulted in the recruitment of Amherst County students as Sweet Briar students. This year, the College hosted 348 fifth-grade students, 17 classroom teachers, and 20 additional specialized faculty, school staff, and school principals who attended the event with the children. Arts Day planning, coordination, implementation, and evaluation is led by an ad hoc steering committee comprised of faculty, staff, and students, who meet from January through April. This year, Areej Abuqudairi ’06 completed an Arts Management Practicum Project in association with Arts Day planning. She coordinated the activities of the steering committee and was especially instrumental in recruiting students to help with Arts Day. Co-Chairs of Arts Day were Jackie Dawson (College Relations Office) and Rebecca Massie Lane (Arts Management/ 26 • Fall 2005

Art Gallery). Other committee members were Shelbie Filson (Dean’s Office/ Babcock Season), Tey Stiteler ’06, Gwen Reyes ’06, and Didi Robinson ’06. Arts Day began at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, April 8, with an assembly at Babcock Auditorium, a welcome by Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Jonathan Green, Superintendent of Amherst County Public Schools, Dr. John Walker, and Elementary Supervisor, Ms. Evelyn Woodruff. Sweet Briar College Theatre performed a scene from Aristophanes’ “THE FROGS” which featured Caitlin Cashin ’07 as Dionysus, Rosanna Louise Hawkins ’07 as Xanthias, Tess Drahman ’08 as Aiakos, and Didi Robinson ’06 and Katie Beth Ryan ’08 as Officers. Fifth-graders then dispersed to participate in two of 19 workshops, ranging from tours of the Art Gallery, Sweet Briar Architecture, Sweet Briar House, and Sweet Briar Museum; to several dance workshops, hands-on arts workshops, and theatrical and open mic improvisation.

Abuqudairi ’06 (Jewelry Workshop); Denva Jackson ’05, Janie Glen ’05, Natalie Pye ’07, and Erin Rogers ’08 (Architectural Treasure Hunt); Ploy Pritsangkul ’07 (Thai Dance); Caitlin Cashin ’07 (Opera Workshop); and Karlena Sakas ’05 (Wonderwoman, Superman and You). Four staff participated: Guy Brewer, Chaplain (Liturgical Art and Music); James McGhee, Co-Curricular Programming (Open Mic); Tiffany Cummings, International Programs (Jewelry Workshop); Laura Staman, Outdoor Programs (Natural Art). The fifth-graders were led through the day by 14 campus Tour Guides/Hostesses: Paulette Tinsley and Juanita Elliott (Housekeeping); Paulette Porter-Stransky (Human Resources); Shelbie Filson, (Dean’s Office/Babcock Season); Donna Nixon Dodd, (Physical Plant) Cindy Sale ( Business Office); Mary Woerner (Grants Office); Donna Meeks (Grounds Superintendent ); Bonnie Seitz (Alumnae Office); and Cyndi Fein, Anita Muglia, Gloria Higgenbotham, Cathy Mays and Allison Banton (Development Office). Now we look forward to Arts Day 2006!

Workshops were presented by faculty, students, and staff: Eleven Faculty participated: John Gregory Brown (creative writing); Mark Magruder (Dance); Lynn Rainville (Anthropology/Archaeology); Loretta Wittman (Theatre); Joe Malloy (Library), Laura Pharis (Studio Art); Tracy Hamilton (Art History); Christian Carr (Arts Management/Art History); Bonnie Kestner (Athletics); Anna Moore (Classical Studies); Rebecca Massie Lane (Arts Management/Art History). Thirteen students participated: Katie Barker ’05 (Paint ‘n’ Patches); Courtney Kiel ’05 (Sweet Briar House Tour); Maureen McGuire ’06 and Rebecca Clark, British Exchange Student (Celtic Dancing); Gwen Reyes ’06 (Open Mic); Areej Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Photos by Pat Richeson, Chaplain’s Office

We estimate that more than 6,500 students over 19 years have participated in Arts Day!

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 27

Campus School Summer Program DENA LOWMAN INSTRUCTOR OF EDUCATION DIRECTOR/KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, CAMPUS LAB SCHOOL

ven though it’s a warm summer morning at Sweet Briar, the sound of young children’s voices is heard from the play yard at the Campus Lab School. The summer program is in full swing. The children are on the playground enjoying free playtime in the warm summer sun. Once back in the classroom, students get busy with one of the many learning activities designed to meet their individual learning needs. Due to the differences in ages and abilities of the children, the program is designed to meet the developmental needs and learning styles of each student. On a typical day, Head Teacher Melissa Shelton works with a group of six-and seven-year-olds on a spelling activity while Jessica Wooten, teacher assistant, monitors an art project with the four-and five-year-olds. During the course of the day the students will have opportunities to work on one of the Apple computers in the school’s computer lab, play outside on the playground, have fun at one of the school’s many learning centers (sensory play with many stimulating materials, such as sorting living and non-living objects), and participating with others in a summer unit theme activity. Making and enjoying snacks related to the weekly themes helps reinforce their learning. After this busy schedule younger students have a rest time and older students a quiet time. Later in the afternoon, Lindsey Cline replaces Jessica as the teacher assistant to read stories, supervise play, and help students prepare to leave at day’s end. Special weekly events add extra fun to the program. Students swim twice a week at the College pool and make music with Melody Makers once a week. They visit the College Book Shop where Dianne Hunt Williams ’68 reads special books to them and shares surprise gifts. They enjoy 28 • Fall 2005

library visits as well, and walking tours of the campus. The summer program curriculum is organized around summer themes. For example, in the two-week camping unit, students learn the safety rules of camping and have opportunities to practice them. They take nature walks, learn about differences between wild and tame animals, bring their flashlights to share ghost stories, and sing campfire songs. They learn about Smokey the Bear and forest fire safety. Making and eating s’mores is a delicious and enjoyable concluding activity for this theme. Another special theme is summer fun. The children learn all about the sun and its special job of warming the earth. They see their shadows and discuss how the sun is blocked by their bodies and other objects to create shadows. They learn about the sun’s heat and its effects on materials; for instance, they talk about melting and absorption of the sun’s rays, about how harmful the sun’s rays can be to human skin and why it is important to protect themselves with sunscreen. They also learn about its beneficial properties in helping plants grow, and enjoy summer fruits and vegetables that have grown in the summer sun. The program, serving children from four to seven years of age, has been in operation since 2001when it was started

by Campus Lab School Director Dena Lowman. Some of the students are SBC employees’ children; others are from the local community. Each year several of the children have also attended the Campus Lab School during the school year, while others are new and still others are return students from previous summers. The full day program is flexible, allowing parents to send children two, three, or five days a week from early June to mid-August. The program provides fun learning activities for the young students and also offers important hands-on opportunities for Sweet Briar students to hone their teaching skills and develop their expertise in an actual classroom. An important program goal is to hire Sweet Briar education majors and graduates to staff the classroom. Volunteers are also critical to the program’s success. This summer, Molly Brown (age 13), a former Campus Lab School student, volunteered twice a week to assist in the classroom. The program provides an important service for parents by offering a rich learning environment and care while parents work. Children benefit from the opportunity to enjoy a structured learning experience over the summer months.

The program provides fun learning activities for the young students and also offers important hands-on opportunities for Sweet Briar students to hone their teaching skills and develop their expertise in an actual classroom. Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 29

The Saturday Enrichment Program CATHY GUTIERREZ ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CLASSICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION ASSOCIATE DEAN OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

ven if the weather is gloomy, on campus there’s no month more fun than February, at least for local elementary school children. Now in its second decade, the Saturday Enrichment Program (SEP) provides fun-filled learning every weekend in February for Amherst county fourth-and fifth-graders. This year, 144 children enrolled in the entirely student-run activity, taking mini-courses in 12 subjects ranging from exploding physics to music to bugs. This year’s favorites included meeting the legless lizard in the biology lab and playing Twister in Spanish, and, of course, there was plenty of snack time. The Saturday Enrichment Program began in the early ’90s as part of a grant to support local schools by providing educational outreach. The program has always been run by Sweet Briar students in charge of all aspects of organizing the events and teaching the classes. This year’s student coordinator was Sarah Kidd ’05 who, with the help of her assistant Tamra Scott ’06, made the arrangements with the county school system, reserved classrooms and labs for the month, and hired a dozen student teachers from across the disciplines. The county busses children in for three hours Saturday afternoons; classroom activities take place primarily in Babcock’s Murchison Lane Auditorium and the Guion Science Center. As in the past, this year’s SEP met with overwhelming success, with the maximum number of elementary school students enrolling in the program, which is free to parents and to the county. A stroll through the grounds Saturday afternoons might reveal fourth-and fifth-graders creating African masks, making and then playing their own wind and percussion instruments, learning to cook outdoors, and digging for history in an archaeology class. The classes offered must be inventive and inspirational, and the children get hands-on experience 30 • Fall 2005

in a college setting. For many children, this is their first time on a college campus; the impression it leaves can be a lasting one. The Saturday Enrichment Program is one of many ways that Sweet Briar gives back to the community. Alongside the summer programming for Kids in College and the free tutoring Education majors provide local children, SEP is part of a long tradition of the College educating not only Sweet Briar students but the community at large. Saturday Enrichment is administered by the Academic Resource Center and financially supported by a grant and supplies provided by the Honors Program. Natalie Pye ’07, a Classics major, taught in the SEP for the first time this year, selecting Greek Mythology for her course. Natalie reported that her experience with the program was very successful and she thought her students’ experience was, too: “The kids are at that stage where they’re becoming more aware of the world around them and they were genuinely curious about the ancient world. I tried to bring up similarities between the Greeks’ world and ours, particularly how mythology is part of religion. I emphasized that if their religion seems strange to you, whatever your religion is, it would probably sound strange to the ancient Greeks.” Natalie noted that many of the children knew versions of the stories and could describe, for instance, Medusa with her hair of serpents. She continued, “I was very pleasantly surprised by how much the kids already knew about Greek mythology, and they were really excited about it, which was really rewarding. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again.” Denva Jackson ’05, a double major in Art History and Italian, taught the African Mask class using a newly-acquired set of masks from the Pannell Gallery. “It was lots of fun and I would definitely recommend it. There’s not much of a time when you can breach the gap between

the academic world and the community. I spent a lot of time getting responses from them and this allowed us to discuss ideas of beauty and performance. And I didn’t stick to the aesthetic appeal, either…we talked about ritual and contexts. Initiation rites are not as much a part of our culture as they are in Africa, but the kids really got it. Some of the students in the classes were performers themselves and we had the opportunity to talk about the stage and the place of masks as creating a role separate from the actor. Some of the kids were already doing a project on West African dance at their schools and they brought a lot to the table.” After touching on the artistic, performative, and anthropological aspects of masks in Africa, Denva asked the students to create their own masks. Some created masks that very closely resembled those in the collection while others made very different ones. According to Denva, all of the students understood the importance of expressing a particular emotion in their masks. Denva was excited about the prospects of the kids using the resources Sweet Briar can provide, particularly in the arts: “They can always come back to campus and see the original masks; this is great outreach for the gallery and helps establish a rapport between the kids and Sweet Briar.” The exit polls from the parents show an unmitigated success, thanking the students for their exceptional organizing talents and the offbeat and exciting content of the classes. Many parents commented that they were particularly pleased to have their children get excited about learning something outside of the traditional elementary school offerings. The College hopes to one day expand the program, but for now Saturday Enrichment has all the business it can handle, giving our students a chance to teach a subject they love and showing the children that at Sweet Briar, nothing is more fun than learning.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

IMPLEMENTING THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE INITIATIVES CAMPUS-WIDE

Top left: Everyone wins in this Spanish Class! Bottom left: Making friends with lizards and bugs Botton right: SEP Director Sarah Kidd Burchett ’05 (left) with Assistant Director Tamra Scott ’06

SEP is part of a long tradition of the College educating not only Sweet Briar students but the community at large.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 31

Kids in College Gives Local Children a Taste of What Sweet Briar is All About KAREN SUMMERS, OFFICE MANAGER, PRESIDENT’S OFFICE PAM SIMPSON, DIRECTOR, KIDS IN COLLEGE PROGRAM SHANNON WELLS, FORMER MEDIA RELATIONS COORDINATOR, COLLEGE RELATIONS OFFICE

“I wanted to take a minute to thank all of those who made Kids in College possible. I operate a group home in Madison Heights and am always on the look out for opportunities to involve the children. Positive opportunities are hard to find these days especially for those who have had mostly negative things come their way. Thanks again for the service you provide to our community.” —RICH JOHNSTON, MILEU COORDINATOR, BRIDGES, VA

he third annual Kids in College (KIC) Program, held on campus in early June 2005, offered an in-depth, fun-filled educational experience to more than 100 local third- through eighthgraders. Students participated in two classes of their choice each morning for a week, selecting courses from science to outdoor adventures to art, to Chinese and Spanish. Recent alumna Samantha Angus ’05 taught “Creative Choreography and Dance.” KIC is a campus-wide community effort: SBC faculty and staff members and their spouses teach the courses and their teenaged children volunteer to assist instructors. Professor Pam Simpson (Chemistry) is the program’s director, and Karen Summers in the President’s Office is the assistant coordinator. The program has grown from the initial offering of 12 classes in 2003 to the 21

offered this summer. It began as a result of Professor of Chemistry Jill Granger’s desire to start a program at Sweet Briar after the cancellation of a similar program, “New Horizons,” in Amherst County. Seed money was provided by President Muhlenfeld. Lucy Kimbrough ’77 of Farmersville, Texas, has given nearly $1,000 for needbased scholarships. Inquiries are now coming in for next year’s program from surrounding communities and the home school network. It was a pleasure to see a high enrollment of girls in the two science courses offered. In “Yucky Chemistry,” students made a naked egg, invisible ink, and learned about worms and their jobs in nature. “The Art and Science of Sword Fighting,” where students learn the sport of foil fencing, was the most popular course.

2005 KIC courses to select from:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 32 • Fall 2005

Science Investigations (Jill Granger, Chemistry) Yucky Chemistry (Tina Beck, Institutional Research) Chinese (John Goulde, Asian Studies) Español para niños (Celeste Delgado-Librero, Spanish) Act it out (Loretta Wittman, Theatre) Creative Choreography and Dance (Samantha Angus ’05) Art and Architecture (Christian Carr, Arts Management) Pinhole Photography (Nancy McDearmon, SBC Art Gallery) Outdoor Adventure Skills (Joan Lucy, Career Services) Beginning Golf (Wintergreen golf pro Peter Stransky) The Art and Science of Sword Fighting (Chris Beazley, Fencing) Athletic Training (Shelly Taylor, Athletic Trainer) Chess (Kevin Phelps, Dining Services) Scrap-Booking (Pat James, Human Resources) Germs (Arlene Dubiel, Chemistry) Introductory German (Ronald Horwege, German) Beginning Music (Nicholas Ross, Music) Poetry Adventures (Lynn Martin ’95) African Masks (Rebecca Massie Lane, Arts Management Program) Project Citizen (Kris Ogden, Center for Civic Renewal) Fun with Sign Language (Susan Bennett, LPN, Health Services) Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

COMMENCEMENT

Senior Class gathers for Commencement in front of Benedict

Sweet Briar’s 96th Commencement: A History-Making Event

As a Sweet Briar woman,

you have lived by an

honor code. As you leave Sweet Briar, you must decide how to translate our Honor

Code into an honorable life, one of the highest integrity.

May 14, 2005, Sweet Briar bestowed its first master’s degrees and celebrated the “very special” Class of 2005. One hundred and thirty graduates from 28 states and Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Nicaragua, Peru, Serbia, and Thailand received degrees (108 A.B.; 21 B.S.; 1 B.F.A.). Suzanne J. Petrie ’91, Director for Latin America, Department of Homeland Security, delivered a memorable Commencement address, “Paths Change, Values Define”. In her Charge to the Class of 2005, President Muhlenfeld noted: “We have come to the end of our ceremony, and of your Sweet Briar years…You are such a special class. Most of you entered Sweet Briar in 2001, our Centennial Year. You arrived on a campus in a festive mood, but within little more than three weeks, the ground shifted beneath our feet, when the tragic hijackings on September 11th wreaked death and destruction. A whole nation lost its innocence, just as you were beginning to become Sweet Briar women. That was a time of so much heartbreak, fear and uncertainty. But as happened all over the world, we came together here, in the Chapel and across campus, in mutual support and comfort, and all of us realized how much we treasure this college community, and how profoundly we rely on one another. Your bonding with your classmates was a little bit different, and a lot more necessary than with most classes. “This has been a festive week, a joyous time for you and your families. But it, too, is a moment that bears real weight—an important decision point…Exactly how your future unfolds depends on some underlying decisions you must now make that speak not to career or locale but to your character. As a Sweet Briar woman, you have lived by an honor code. As you leave Sweet Briar, you must decide how to translate our Honor Code into an honorable life, one of the highest integrity. Decide now that under no circumstances will you deviate from what is honorable, honest and trustworthy, that you will do what is right even when it costs you dearly. Too few people in the world are willing to do that. “You belong to the future. Our expectations for a graduating class have never been higher.”

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 33

The Judith Molinar Elkins Prize

The family of the late Professor Judith Elkins established a prize to recognize the outstanding achievements of a senior majoring in the mathematical, physical, or biological sciences, actively participating in the College community, and demonstrating the ideals and dedication to learning exemplified by the life of Professor Elkins. Elizabeth Brentz Basten, Lynchburg, VA Seniors turn their tassels!

COMMENCEMENT HONORS The Emilie Watts McVea Scholar

The highest-ranking member of the Class of 2005. Casey Dineen Knapp, Mequon, WI

The Lawrence G. Nelson Award for Excellence in English

The Penelope Lane Czarra Award

This award honors the senior who best combines scholastic achievement, student leadership, and effective contributions to the quality of life at the College. Mary Katherine Page Napier, Pawleys Island, SC

The Presidential Medalist

The Presidential Medal recognizes seniors who have a range of accomplishments comparable to those associated with candidates for Rhodes, Marshall, or Truman Scholarships. Awardees must have demonstrated exemplary intellectual achievement. Denva Edelle Jackson, Darlington, SC Casey Dineen Knapp, Mequon, WI Karlena Mariel Sakas, Springfield, VA

Kathryn Massie Strong, Beverly Hills, MI The Leigh Woolverton Prize for Excellence in the Visual Arts

Katie Bird, Bishop, CA The James Lewis Howe Award in Chemistry

The Connie M. Guion Award

This is given to a senior for her excellence as a human being and as a member of the College. Nancy Elizabeth Kirbo, The Woodlands, TX

Ana Ciric, Belgrade, Serbia The Pauline Roberts Otis Award in French

Mary Katherine Page Napier, Pawleys Island, SC

The Walker Family Award

This award honors a senior with high scholastic standing who has a cheerful, positive disposition and shows warmth, generosity, and humility. Susanna Price Knouse, Washington, D.C. Samira Hossain, Dhaka, Bangladesh

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Outstanding Scholar Education Award

Krystal Rene Dean, Charlotte Courthouse, VA

A L U M N A E R E L AT I V E S

Cousin Augusta Jones Dunstan ’88, Virginia Tripp 34 • Fall 2005

Charlotte Speilman, sister Laurel ’03

Karen Dennehy, grandmother Marjorie Short ’43

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

COMMENCEMENT

Alpha Lambda Delta Award

Casey Dineen Knapp, Mequon, WI The W. H. Overly Award in Spanish

Jennifer Elizabeth Woodson, Altavista, VA The Juliet Halliburton Davis Environmental Studies Award

Leah Kathleen Reedy, Altavista, VA Commencement Speaker Suzanne Peterie ’91

The Lucile Barrow Turner Award

Laura Townsend Howard Denson, Houston, TX

The Anne Gary Pannell Taylor Award in History

The Jean Besselievre Boley Award

Elizabeth K. C. Eager, Managua, Nicaragua

Savannah Elizabeth Oxner, Madison Heights, VA

The Maxine Garner Prize in Religion

The German Embassy Book Prize Award for an excellent academic record

and significant contributions to the German program at Sweet Briar. Hannah Jeanmarie Silva, Tomball, TX The Goethe-Institut Buchpreis Award to the outstanding student major-

ing in German or German Studies. Karlena Mariel Sakas, Springfield, VA

Nell Guenna-Beatrice Champoux, Northfield, MA The George H. Lenz Excellence in Physics Award

Mariana Spasova Lazarova, Plovdiv, Bulgaria The Kathryn Haw Prize in Art History

Denva Edelle Jackson, Darlington, SC The Shakespeare Prize

PHI BETA KAPPA 2005 Diana Rumenova Boncheva, Samokov, Bulgaria Nell Guenna-Beatrice Champoux, Northfield, MA Ana Ciric, Belgrade, Serbia Elizabeth K. C. Eager, Managua, Nicaragua Elizabeth Jane Glen, Charlotte, NC Denva Edelle Jackson, Darlington, SC Jamie Lynn Jensen, South Bend, IN Sarah Elizabeth Kidd, Dakota, IL Casey Dineen Knapp, Mequon, WI Heather Link, Roanoke, VA Savannah Elizabeth Oxner, Madison Heights, VA Robin Lynn Parkinson, Robesonia, PA Ashley Jean Rogers, Loveland, OH Karlena Mariel Sakas, Springfield, VA Charlotte Leigh Speilman, Lovingston, VA Amanda Morgan Swan, Garrison, NY Melinda Katherine Wolfrom, Coeur d’Alene, ID Assistant Professor of Economics Eugene W. Gotwalt, Recipient of the 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award from the SBC Academic Affairs Committee

Jamie Lynn Jensen, South Bend, IN

Savannah Elizabeth Oxner, Madison Heights, VA

The Jean Taylor Meyer Memorial Poetry Prize

Tye River Elementary “Big Sister” Award

Mercedith Miranda Nuesca, Honolulu, HI

Diane Hundley Lotz, Haymarket, VA

Thelma B. Jordan, Inter-library Loans Supervisor, received the Shirley P. Reid Excellence in Service Award from the Student Government Association, but was unable to be present.

Sister Grace ’04, Elizabeth Farnsworth

Kathryn Davis, sister Leah ’04

Sister Monique ’02, Michelle Moshier

The Mathematical Sciences Award

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 35

CUM LAUDE Claire Edison Anderson, Great Falls, VA Heidi Ann Benson, Sterling, VA Laura Townsend Howard Denson, Houston, TX Offra Elmkies Jeri, Lima, Peru Elizabeth Lynn Farnsworth, Grafton, MA Susanna Price Knouse, Washington, D.C. Erin Gail Mays, Fairfax, VA Mary Katherine Page Napier, Pawleys Island, SC Leah Kathleen Reedy, Altavista, VA Veronica Ray Richards, Palmdale, CA Meredith Katherine Richel, Zionsville, IN Amanda Morgan Swan, Garrison, NY Virginia Harrison Tripp, Richmond, VA Elizabeth Tustin, Adams, MA Lynsie Annabel Watkins, Clifton, VA Jennifer Elizabeth Woodson, Altavista, VA Heather Nicole Wright, Princess Anne, MD MAGNA CUM LAUDE

Katie Bird, Bishop, CA Ana Ciric, Belgrade, Serbia Kathryn Kay Davis, Moberly, MO Elizabeth K. C. Eager, Managua, Nicaragua Amanda Renee Evans, Gladstone, VA Elizabeth Jane Glen, Charlotte, NC Samira Hossain, Dhaka, Bangladesh Jan Marie Jennings, Lafayette, IN Mariana Spasova Lazarova, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Kerry Elizabeth Martin, Mechanicsville, VA Adriana Louisa Meeks, Alexandria, VA Barbara Christine Merk, Forest, VA Mercedith Miranda Nuesca, Honolulu, HI Savannah Elizabeth Oxner, Madison Heights, VA Robin Lynn Parkinson, Robesonia, PA Joyce Marie Scott, Cottonwood, AL Hannah Jeanmarie Silva, Tomball, TX Catherine Helen Sobke, Wycombe, PA Charlotte Leigh Speilman, Lovingston, VA Lauren Michelle Wade, Clinton, MS Melinda Katherine Wolfrom, Coeur d’Alene, ID Lindsey Grace Wydner, Amherst, VA

THE HONORS PROGRAM, CLASS OF 2005 High Honors in Chemistry

Ana Ciric, Belgrade, Serbia High Honors in English

Charlotte Leigh Speilman, Lovingston, VA High Honors in Psychology

Melinda Katherine Wolfrom, Coeur d’Alene, ID Honors Degree with High Honors in History

Elizabeth K. C. Eager, Managua, Nicaragua

SUMMA CUM LAUDE Diana Rumenova Boncheva, Samokov, Bulgaria Nell Guenna-Beatrice Champoux, Northfield, MA Jamie Lynn Jensen, South Bend, IN Sarah Elizabeth Kidd, Dakota, IL Casey Dineen Knapp, Mequon, WI Heather Link, Roanoke, VA Ashley Jean Rogers, Loveland, OH Karlena Mariel Sakas, Springfield, VA

Honors Degree with High Honors in Mathematics

Elizabeth Jane Glen, Charlotte, NC Honors Degree with Highest Honors in Art History

Denva Edelle Jackson, Darlington, SC Honors Degree with Highest Honors in Religion

Nell Guenna-Beatrice Champoux, Northfield, MA

A L U M N A E R E L AT I V E S

Sister Lisa ’03, Alexandra Lussier

36 • Fall 2005

Sister Megan Meighan ‘07, Brianna Meighan

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

REUNION

2005 Outstanding Alumna Award To Norma Patteson Mills ’60 INTRODUCTION OF HONOREE AT REUNION CONVOCATION, MAY 28, 2005 BY ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT LINDA DEVOGT ’86

drive to the campus and Olan, who courted Norma at Sweet Briar, enjoyed accompanying her—and still does! Norma is among the strongest contributors to her alma mater. “Sweet Briar made a big difference in my life, and I want to make sure young women will continue to have that type of experience,” she explained. As a member of the College’s Board of Directors, she played a vital, guiding role during those years when the College was in the midst of a strategic planning process, a master planning process, and preparations for the current, major fund-raising campaign, Our Campaign For Her World. During the campaign, she has served as Co-Chair of the Campaign Steering Committee and in the crucial position of Chair of the Development Leadership Council. With her husband, she has made a magnificent pledge to the campaign and in 1999 the

“Sweet Briar made a big difference in my life, and I want to make sure young women will continue to have that type of experience,” © David Abrams

It is my great pleasure and privilege, as President of the Alumnae Association, to introduce Norma (“Butch”) Patteson Mills of the Class of 1960, recipient of our 2005 Outstanding Alumna Award. This award, one of the highest that Sweet Briar College can bestow, was founded in 1968 to recognize alumnae who have given outstanding service to the College in a volunteer capacity. All who know Norma will agree that she is the quintessential volunteer. Her efforts and generosity on behalf of Sweet Briar College have been unremitting. President Muhlenfeld expressed the sentiments of all of us when she wrote to Norma: “Your sustaining support and enduring belief in Sweet Briar’s present and future is a gift for which all who love and work for this very special place will ever be grateful.” We are delighted that Norma’s husband, Olan Mills II, himself a staunch Sweet Briar supporter, is here today for the festivities. Let me extend a warm welcome too to her family and to Norma’s classmates, celebrating 1960’s 45th Reunion as well as Norma’s honor. Born and raised in Amherst, Norma attended Sweet Briar from 1956 to 1959, then left to marry Princeton graduate Olan Mills, owner of the eponymous Chattanooga-based national photography studio chain. But moving to Chattanooga and completing her degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee in 1960 did not diminish Norma’s ties to Sweet Briar. She quickly became involved in the Sweet Briar Alumnae Club of Chattanooga, of which she remains an enthusiastic participant. She sold bulbs in the days when the Alumnae Association ran the “Bulb Project.” Her trips home to visit family and friends always included a

two of them made a landmark gift of $3 million to spur the implementation of the College’s master plan. Norma’s personal generosity is matched only by her efforts to encourage others to support Sweet Briar. She has played a leading role in every major fund-raising effort of the College and is a member of the Williams Associates, having named Sweet Briar in her will. Norma is also a recognized leader in her adopted state of Tennessee and hometown of Chattanooga. Indeed, Chattanooga honored her as the Chattanooga Woman of Distinction and in April, she was named the 2005 Tennessee Woman of Distinction. To mention just some of her contributions: She was vice chairman of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 21st Century campaign. For the University of the South (Sewanee), she served on the Board of Regents and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree. She was also Vice Chairman of the Campaign for Sewanee and Co-Chairman of the Visiting Committee of the School of Theology. She was Chairman of the capital campaign of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. In 2003, she and her husband won a Life Achievement Award for their commitment

RECIPIENTS OF THE OUTSTANDING ALUMNA AWARD

Norma Mills ’60 Accepts the 2005 Outstanding Alumna Award

1968 SBC’s first graduates, Class of 1910: Anne Cumnock Miller*; Eugenia Griffin Burnett*; Louise Hooper Ewell*; Frances Murrell Rickards*; Annie Powell Hodges* 1969 Edna Lee Gilchrist ’26* 1970 Gladys Wester Horton ’30 1971 Mary Huntington Harrison ’30* 1972 Phoebe Rowe Peters ’31* 1973 Edith Durrell Marshall ’21* 1974 Florence Freeman Fowler ’19* and Helen H. McMahon ’23* 1975 Elizabeth Prescott Balch ’28* 1976 Juliet Halliburton Burnett Davis ’35 1977 Martha von Briesen ’31* and Jacquelyn Strickland Dwelle ’35* 1978 Dorothy Nicholson Tate ’38* 1979 Martha Lou Lemmon Stohlman ’34 1980 Dale Hutter Harris ’53 1981 Ann Marshall Whitley ’47 1982 Preston Hodges Hill ’49 1983 Mary Elizabeth Doucett Neill ’41 1984 Nancy Dowd Burton ’46* and Jane Roseberry Ewald Tolleson ’52 1985 Julia Sadler de Coligny ’34* 1986 Adelaide Boze Glascock ’40 and Sarah Adams Bush ’43* 1987 Julia Gray Saunders Michaux ’39 1988 Evelyn Dillard Grones ’45* 1989 Anne Noyes Awtrey Lewis ’43 and Catharine Fitzgerald Booker ’47* 1990 Margaret Sheffield Martin ’48 1991 Sara Shallenberger Brown ’32 1992 Catherine Barnett Brown ’49 1993 Ann Samford Upchurch ’48* 1994 Clare Newman Blanchard ’60 and Mildred Newman Thayer ’61 1995 Helen Murchison Lane ’46 and Adeline Jones Voorhees ’46 1996 Alice Cary Farmer Brown ’59 1997 Julia Mills Jacobsen ’45 1998 Elizabeth Trueheart Harris ’49 1999 Allison Stemmons Simon ’63 2000 Sara Finnegan Lycett ’61 2001 Nannette McBurney Crowdus ’57 2002 Elizabeth Bond Wood ’34* and Ann Morrison Reams ’42 2003 Ethel Ogden Burwell ’58 2004 Elizabeth Smith White ’59 2005 Norma Patteson Mills ’60

Life is full of wonderful surprises and this honor is one of the most wonderful ever to come to me. When I received the letter from Linda telling me that I had been chosen by the Alumnae Association as this year’s Outstanding Alumna, I was shocked, overwhelmed, and humbled. Sweet Briar has enriched my life beyond measure and it has been a joy to try to give something back. This recognition puts me in the company of a group of women who have dedicated their time, talents, and resources to our alma mater. Specifically, I would like to mention my classmate, Ginger Newman Blanchard, who received this award in 1994 with her sister, Bee Newman Thayer ’61. That my name is being added to those of Olan Mills in the Ginger and Bee and Convocation audience the rest of these distinctive women is indeed very special to me. Several of my family members are here today and I would like to introduce them to you. First is my mother, Judith Whitehead Patteson. She recognized that Sweet Briar was a strong school and encouraged me from a young age to consider applying here. She has consistently supported me in whatever I undertook and I want to thank her. Next is my husband, Olan. He is a Sweet Briar enthusiast, too. We started dating while I was a student and he has always enjoyed coming to this campus with its beautiful women. Also here are my brother, Wayne Patteson and his wife Gwen, my niece, Denny Patteson Tome, and my cousin, Betty Phillips Lupton, Class of ’58. My association with Sweet Briar is somewhat unusual in that it has been a part of my life for more than 60 years. As many of you know, I was born in Amherst and grew up there. I think my first

*DECEASED 38 • Fall 2005

“…I am confident that Sweet Briar has a rosy future.”

to the A.I.M. Center (a mental health center providing the only psychiatric rehabilitation day program in Chattanooga). Norma has been active in the Junior League, and has served on the boards of the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, the Tennessee Aquarium, the University of Chattanooga Foundation, T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Girls Club, and the Bright School. She was the recipient of the Pilot Club of Chattanooga’s Women’s Community Service Award, and the Y-Me group’s Women of Valour Award. When Norma and Olan together won the Distinguished Service Award from the Kiwanis Club, the Chattanooga Times/Free Press wrote, in December 2003: “The warm, unselfish personalities of both Olan and Butch have been expressed in great service to many people and contributions of millions of dollars to the betterment of our community.” We are immensely proud of Norma for being such a shining example of a Sweet Briar alumna. I am thrilled to present to her the Outstanding Alumna Award, along with a framed copy of a resolution passed in her honor by the Sweet Briar Alumnae Association Board.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

REUNION

Our latest venture in fund-raising is Our Campaign For Her World. To date more than 90 million dollars has been raised in gifts and pledges and we are well on the way to the goal of 102 million dollars. However, we still need everyone’s help to achieve this goal. If you have not made your best gift to this campaign yet, please consider doing so. Sweet Briar is training the next generation of women leaders. Others invested in us and now it is our turn to help today’s students. As you well know, they are the future. While you are here this weekend, you will see that Sweet Briar is thriving. With President Muhlenfeld’s vision and leadership, our beloved college has been revitalized with a focus on students’ professional and personal achievements here and beyond Sweet Briar. Our students, faculty and boards are the strongest ever and I am confident that Sweet Briar has a rosy future.

exposure to Sweet Briar was when my mother entered me in the Healthy Baby Contest when I was about a year old. It was part of Amherst County Day which was held annually for many years on the Sweet Briar campus. I won the contest. Back then, a fat baby was considered a healthy baby. You can deduce for yourself what the title meant. My mother has the pictures to prove it. A few years later, as a Girl Scout, I remember coming to the campus and selling poppies on Poppy Day. I recall being in awe of the students and daydreaming that one day I would be like them. Well, that dream did come true. In the community and in my church there were many people associated with the College: professors, staff members, and alumnae. One Sweet Briar alumna, Lucille Cox Jones ’36, a Latin teacher by profession, was my Sunday School teacher for many years and tutored me for the SAT. Another alumna, Eugenia Ware Myers ’32, taught me in high school. In fact, one year she was my teacher for English, French, and Latin. It is no surprise, is it, that a Sweet Briar alumna would be qualified to teach all three subjects. Both of these women had a strong influence on me and were a big part of my coming to Sweet Briar. We all know what differences good teachers can make, like the two I have just mentioned. And, of course, a talented and dedicated faculty has always been a part of this college. Here they taught us, nourished us, and left indelible marks on us. Since my family still lives in Amherst, I have returned several times every year since 1960. On those visits, I usually took the time to drive through the campus. That adds up to numerous trips over the course of the years to this very special place. What a privilege it has been to watch the changes and what a pleasure to see the beauty retained. When I moved to Chattanooga as a newlywed, it was the Sweet Briar alumnae who helped welcome me to the city and I might add, enlisted my aid in selling bulbs. Many of you will remember when Sweet Briar alums throughout the country sold Dutch bulbs to endow scholarships. That was my introduction to raising funds for Sweet Briar and that has continued.

Norma and Olan at Saturday night Cocktail Buffet

My experiences here played an important part in the formation of the person I am today. My feelings for Sweet Briar are of love and gratitude. It has been my privilege to enjoy a long association. May all of us dedicate a part of ourselves to this school where young women are imbued with a focus on life and inspired to make their places in society, our economy, their family and in the world.

B RESOLUTION

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of the Sweet Briar College Alumnae Association, assembled on April 16, 2005, acknowledges with gratitude the extraordinary record of devoted service that our 2005 Outstanding Alumna, Norma Patteson Mills of the Class of 1960, has shown to Sweet Briar College. Norma was a member of the College’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 2000 and for two years held the position of Alumnae Fund Chair on the board of the Alumnae Association. She spearheaded the current Our Campaign for Her World and in the College’s previous campaign in the early ’90s, she and her husband both served on the President’s Campaign Advisory Council. Though the Mills name is a household word in the fields of international business and philanthropy, the hallmarks of Norma’s leadership are personal humility, coupled with graciousness and charm. She is a powerful force in the world of volunteerism and we are grateful that she keeps Sweet Briar central among her interests. A charter member of the Keystone Society, that group of donors who have made lifetime commitments to Sweet Briar of $1 million or more, Norma is also a member of the Williams Associates, having named the College in her will. A leader also in her class, she is a member of the Class Reunion Gifts Committee, indeed she has served on that committee for every Reunion since 1985, and was committee chair for the 30th Reunion in 1990. Sweet Briar is also proud to recognize Norma’s very positive impact upon the educational, religious and environmental institutions of the state of Tennessee and the city of Chattanooga. The Board of the Alumnae Association wishes to express its deepest appreciation to Norma for the splendid ongoing stewardship she exercises on behalf of her alma mater. They do so by way of this Resolution to be recorded in the official Minutes and to be transmitted to her.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Linda DeVogt ’86 President, Sweet Briar Alumnae Association Louise Swiecki Zingaro ’80 Director, Sweet Briar College Alumnae Association Fall 2005 • 39

reunion scrapbook 1935

Alma Simmons Rountrey and Dorothy Barnum Venter were back for 1935’s 70th celebration.

1930

“We salute Evelyn Ware Saunders [’30] who returned for her 75th, yes, 75th Reunion…that is the right blend of perseverance and chutzpah that should make every Sweet Briar alumna proud!” (Quoting Beverley Crispin Heffernan ’75).

1950

Rushton Haskell Callaghan ’86, National Reunion Giving Chair, congratulated and thanked every Reunion Class, from the 5th to the 50th and beyond, for their incredible fund-raising effort. Total for 2005 Reunion Giving: $656,491, including gifts from the classes of 1925-2000; Participation Rate 45%! GRAND TOTAL FOR ALL GIFTS BY 2005 REUNION CLASSES: $896,523. 40 • Fall 2005

A spirited trio turned up to mark 1950’s 55th. Virginia Luscombe Rogers, Catherine Clark Rasmussen, Lola Steele Shepherd joined the party with 2 husbands, 1 guest. RG: $19,075; Part: 39%; TG: $406,843.

1945

1945: 10 alumnae and 3 husbands came on 10-strong for the 60th: RG: $49,021; Part: 41%; TG: $576,249. “A fine time was had by all!”

Photos © David Abrams. Note: All names read l-r. ABBREVIATIONS CP: Class President RGC: Reunion Gifts Chair Sec: Class Secretary Each class made three announcements at Convocation: Reunion Gift to the Annual Fund (RG); Class Participation: (Part); Five Year Total Giving (to all funds): TG Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

REUNION

The Fabulous Class of 1955: Happy 50th! They were everywhere, generating excitement with nonstop revelry, including a performance of Dorothy Parker’s “The Waltz” by ’55’s actress Jane Feltus Welch.

1955 1955

’55 reminisced: ““Remember the flap when General Douglas MacArthur was fired by President Truman? We were all fascinated! Remember Mr. Caldwell filling in for late-night Bridge in the senior smoker...Hurricane Hazel and the water shortage that preceded it? Only members of the hockey team and girls who had a date were allowed to take showers on most days—an interesting set of priorities…” And they sang—with gusto! “Oh we’ll be back when the wind stops blowing in March; And we’ll be back when the laundry forgets to use starch; And when the fire bell rings at a quarter to three, We’ll be back at SBC!” Ginger Chamblin Greene leads ’55 in song.

1960

President Muhlenfeld hands the Nancy Dowd Burton Award to Patti Powell Pusey, RG Co-Chair.

Co-CP Amanda McThenia Iodice and husband Don produced perhaps the best-ever Reunion Scrapbook; 45 alumnae, 18 husbands, 2 guests set the beat for all-out enjoyment at being “Back at The Patch.” RG: $115, 016; TG: $870,598 ’55 won the Participation Award for Classes celebrating the 25th50th Reunions with 77 %! (RGC Didi Stoddard).

1960

1960 at the 45th, besides celebrating classmate Norma Patteson Mills as the Outstanding Alumna honoree, reveled in Reunion awards! With 69% participation, they won the Nancy Dowd Burton Award for the largest Reunion Gift, $160,927 (which also is the largest gift ever given by a 45th Reunion Class), and the Centennial Award, representing the largest Total Giving amount over the 5 years since the last Reunion ($3,355,640); 22 alumnae, 13 husbands experienced A Reunion To Remember.

1965

1965’s 40th brought 24 alumnae, 1 husband to join the festivities. Did they have fun? Yes! RG: $69,936; Part: 53%; TG: $350,901.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 41

reunion scrapbook Philip Sparrow prepares to drive the Saturday Hayride with a cargo of delighted children!

1975

1975’s 30th drew 21 alumnae, 2 husbands, 3 daughters to take a look at SBC’s campus changes—they roamed, examined, enjoyed. They laughed over streaking, which made news in their day. CP Bev Crispin Heffernan noted that “It’s true that the professors who taught us are getting a little harder to find…but it was great to see [those] who stopped by to say hello…and if the Van Treeses can still dance like THAT [Saturday Night Buffet] all these years later, there is hope for our future!” CG: $64,812; Part: 40%; TG: $186,144.

1970

Six alumnae were here for 1970’s 35th: Kris Herzog; Mary Kelley; Betty Glass Smith; Becky Mitchell Keister; Jane Davenport; Corbin Kendig Rankin. They noted that, as in their SBC days, once again we are in troubling times—Iraq! RG: $46,682; Part: 41%; TG: $239,495.

1980

1980 congratulated themselves on “a huge turnout for the 25th—a group of remarkable women!” They were joined by 8 husbands, 8 children at The Farm House, campus home of classmate Louise Swiecki Zingaro (Director of the Alumnae Association) and husband Scott. In their Convocation skit, they sang that “In 25 years, we’ve never stopped having fun!” RG: $66,588; Part: 41%; TG: $219,810.

42 • Fall 2005

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

REUNION

1955 1985 1990

1990 at the 15th (14 alumnae, 3 husbands, 10 children) noted “Many changes—but one thing is constant—our devotion to SBC.” RG: $10,055; Part: 27%; TG: $35,002.

1985’s 20th was a whopper: 27 alumnae, 14 husbands, 28 children came to frolic through the weekend, enjoying a picnic at the Boathouse on arrival Friday night. They dedicated their Class Reunion Gift of $21,209 in memory of Lynne Toombes and daughter Rebecca. They won the Participation Award for classes celebrating the 5th through the 20th (34 %)! TG: $63,779.

2000

2000 was feted for the fifth at the Deanery, with a special Welcome Back! Reception pre-Friday Night Picnic—a happy beginning to their first official Reunion. RG: $3,990; Part: 24%; TG: $23,095. Noreen Parker receives warm thanks from the Reunion Convocation audience and the Alumnae Association as she retires after 21 years on the Alumnae Office staff.

1995

1995 had tremendous fun reconnecting, checking the status quo at the 10th; 22 alumnae, 6 husbands, 5 children, 2 guests participated. RG: $8,928; Part: 20%; TG: $34,214.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 43

IN MEMORIAM

44 • Fall 2005

Winter 1981 Alumnae Magazine

We are saddened to learn of the death of Phyllis W. Stevens (“Stevie”), retired Professor of Psychology at Sweet Briar for nearly 25 years. She died at her home in North Carolina on August 27 at age 86. Before her teaching career at Sweet Briar, Professor Stevens was head of the Department of Psychology at Queens College, Charlotte, North Carolina. She had received both her M.A. and Ph.D. at Queens, and in the course of her graduate work, was a Veterans Administration trainee and acquired several years of experience in clinical psychology before completing her Ph.D. The Department Chair in Psychology for several years at Sweet Briar, she completed numerous computer programs to be used in statistics courses for psychology students. During a sabbatical in 1971-72, Professor Stevens worked as a psychologist at the Lynchburg Training School and Hospital and spent time in London, England working at the University of London, focusing her studies on the role of lifestyles in the development of cognitive styles. She was a member of the AAUP, EPA, CAUSE, Psi Chi, Association for Women in Psychology, and the Academy

Edith Davis Whiteman 1925-2005

We are sad to share the news of the death of Edith (“Deedie”) Whiteman, loving wife of Sweet Briar’s late former president, Harold Bartlett Whiteman, Jr. She died of natural causes at the age of 80 August 15, 2005 at the Richland Health Center in her hometown of Nashville, TN. Deedie was born January 20, 1925 to Maclin and Edith Davis in Nashville, attended Parmer School, Ward Belmont School and Vanderbilt University. A month after graduation from Vanderbilt in 1946, she married Harold B.

Whiteman, Jr.; they moved to CT, where they worked at the Taft School and later to New Haven, to spend 16 years at Yale University. Deedie volunteered for many organizations, and was especially involved in the Red Cross, a family tradition since her grandfather had been head of the American Red Cross under Franklin Roosevelt. Another move in 1964 took them to New York, where Harold was vice chancellor at NYU. Nineteen-seventy-one began “the Whiteman Years” at Sweet Briar, when Harold was appointed president. During his presidency (1971-1983), Deedie dedicated herself to participating fully in every facet of campus life. Her special enthusiasms centered on enhancing the Arts Program and student life. She will be remembered for her flair and zest for life. Deedie’s last visit to campus was to attend the memorial service for Harold, who died in 2002. She is survived by her brother, Maclin Davis, Jr. and sister, Norma Davis Owen, SBC ’56; by three children, Bart Whiteman, Maclin Whiteman, Priscilla Whiteman Kellert; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held August 29, at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville. The family has asked that any contributions be made to Sweet Briar College or to the Nashville Humane Association, 213 Oceola Avenue, Nashville, TN 37209.

Courtesy Ann Marshall Whitley ’47

1980 Briar Patch

Dr. Phyllis W. Stevens

of Science, and also coordinated the Lynchburg chapter of NOW (National Organization for Women). Professor Stevens’ family held a reception on September 5 in the lounge of the Sweet Briar Memorial Chapel. A memorial service followed in the Chapel with interment immediately following at the Monument Hill Columbarium. Letters and notes of condolence may be sent to Professor Stevens’ nephew: Dr. Thomas Frazer, 1102 Country Club Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Mary Anderson Bowley ’44

With sorrow we report the death of Mary (“Sally”) Anderson Bowley, who died at the Hartford, CT hospital April 14, 2005 at the age of 82. An International Relations major in Sweet Briar’s Class of 1944, she continued to further her education throughout her life, traveling and making a home in many distant places with her husband, the late Freeman W. Bowley, Jr., a Major in the U.S. Air Force and graduate of West Point. After Freeman’s retirement from active duty, the Bowleys “came home” to the Amherst area, and Sally volunteered her time for the College and the Alumnae Association, a much loved and admired member of the Sweet Briar community from 1979 until 1985. An avid horticulturist, she was manager of the College’s Ames Greenhouse, offering non-credit courses in horticulture as part of Sweet Briar’s continuing education program. She assisted the Biology Department in the preparation of laboratory materials and engaged students’ interest in learning about plants. An expert on the propagation of the Sweet Briar Rose, she presented one graduating class with tiny Sweet Briar Rose

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

TRANSITIONS

Natalie Brown Adee ’96 Product Development, Dynalloy Incorporated San Jose, CA Region 10 Chair Sheena Belcher ’05 Assistant Director of Admissions, Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar, VA Student Relations Co-Chair/ Member-at-Large Gigi Collins ’84 GGC Financial Ventures LLC Short Hills, NJ Region 2 Chair Kathleen “Kelly” Meredith Iacobelli ‘88 Manager, Advertising & Marketing CommunicationsEarthlink-Atlanta Marietta, GA Region 5 Chair Vikki Schroeder ‘87 Business Analyst-Energy Operations, Target Stores Saint Michael, MN Region 7 Chair Linda Mae Visocan Gabriel ’87 Independent Consultant/District Manager, Arbonne International Chagrin Falls, OH First Vice President, Chair of Alumnae Clubs and Regional Committee Cecilia Moore ’88 Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton Dayton, OH Nominating Chair

46 • Fall 2005

CURRENT ALUMNAE BOARD MEMBERS WHO HAVE MOVED INTO NEW POSITIONS, JULY 1, 2005

Catherine Bost, SBC College Relations Office

NEW ALUMNAE BOARD MEMBERS, JULY 1, 2005

Diane Dalton ’67 Milwaukee, WI Alumnae Nominated Member to the Board of Directors Mary Beth Hamlin ’76 Winnetka, IL National Reunion Giving Chair RETIRED FROM THE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION BOARD, JUNE 30, 2005 VM Del Greco Galgano ’64 Harrisonburg, VA Victoria McCullough Carroll ’84 Albuquerque, NM Shirley Pinson ’03 Boiling Springs, SC Frances Root ’80 New York, NY Rushton Haskell Callaghan ’86 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor Of English Lee Piepho, June, 2005

Professor Lee Piepho Retires

Lee Piepho (B.A. cum laude with honors, Kenyon College; M.A. Columbia University; Ph. D., University of Virginia) began his distinguished teaching career in Sweet Briar’s Department of English in 1969. His primary interests in teaching, research, translations and published works range from modern literature to Shakespeare and English Renaissance literature. Recipient of many fellowships, grants and awards, in 1991-92, he was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award, established by the Student Government Association and determined by student members of the Academic Affairs Committee, to encourage and recognize outstanding teachers. In 1994, he was named Sweet Briar’s Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor of English. Lee’s respect for the College, its students and alumnae, is well known. At the conclusion of his 1991 Opening Convocation address (“Getting Milton ‘Right’: Ways of Reading in the Late Twentieth Century,” he spoke directly to new students: “Those of

you who enter this institution as students tonight are about to join a remarkable community…I have grown increasingly impressed, not only by the intelligence, curiosity and sheer energy of its graduates, but by their deep wisdom, their sympathy, kindness and compassion. All these qualities abide at the College—in the students drawn to her, in what they learn here, and in the spirit that, after graduating they bequeath to the College…so long as they do, I have faith that Sweet Briar can continue to fulfill its educational role in the years to come.” In his May 2005 Baccalaureate address (“Trust Your Sweet Briar Moxey: The Importance Of Integrity”), Lee noted: “I’ve taught in the English Department for 35 years…students here and graduates of the College almost to a woman are endowed with what I call Sweet Briar Moxey…Sweet Briar Moxey has to do with a strong sense of self-identity. Its deeper reserves spring, however, from an integrity of character that I very much admire in the College’s graduates.” This admiration is warmly reciprocated by generations of the College’s graduates.

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

R E C E N T D E AT H S

plants on Commencement Day, and at other times had Sweet Briar Boxwood plants available for alumnae returning to campus for Reunion and other occasions. Sally retired to Hartford, CT, where she was a volunteer for the blind, taping information for blind listeners for the Connecticut Board of Education and Services for the Blind. She became committed to helping the visually impaired after suffering optic nerve damage, which made it difficult for her to read or drive. Her vision improved enough for her to read again and she began projects for the agency at home. In a class questionnaire for her 50th Reunion in 1994, Sally noted: “In the course of 50 years, there have been 21 ‘permanent’ changes of address —some better than others, all challenging. Among the most interesting was a three-year tour in Warsaw, Poland from ’46-’49. Certainly the most delightful was our move to Amherst, whither, it being ‘my turn,’ Freeman followed me as I took a job managing Sweet Briar’s greenhouse. It was a real homecoming for me.” Sally is buried in Amherst Cemetery. Donations may be made to Greater Hartford Chapter, American Red Cross, 209 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032 or to the Office of Development, Box G, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA 24595. If you wish to write to a member of the family of someone recently deceased, please contact the Alumnae Office for name and address.

1924

1939 Janet Trosch Mrs. Robert J. Moulton August 24, 2004

1948 Betty Ann Warner Mrs. Terry H. Keith June 5, 2005

1927

Virginia Hartman Mrs. Virginia Hartman Sorensen May 29, 2005

Betty Johnson Mrs. William M. Ragland March 30, 2005

1940 Clara Call Mrs. Charles W. Frazier, Jr. July 1, 2005

1950 Helen Missires Mrs. Richard J. Lorenz June 24, 2005

Evelyn Williams Mrs. Evelyn Williams Turnbull April 23, 2005

Donna Wunderlich Mrs. Royal McCullough, Jr. May 8, 2004

Cynthia Noland Mrs. Karl Young, Jr. March 29, 2005

1953 Mary Kimball Mrs. E. Bosworth Grier, Jr. July 10, 2005

Elizabeth Guy Mrs. W. Parke Tranter April 19, 2005 Kathryn Reid Mrs. J. Irvine Emmott April 29, 2005 Ruth Lowrance Mrs. Gordon P. Street May 17, 2005

1928

Elizabeth Hurlock Mrs. Allison S. Mills June 22, 2005

1929

Sue Tucker Mrs. F. Ogburn Yates March 18, 2005 1931 Eda Bainbridge Mrs. Harold G. Kolbe March 25, 2005 1933 Hetty Wells Mrs. Hetty Finn August 27, 2005 Anna Willis Mrs. Willis S. Elkins May 25, 2005 Glen Worthington Mrs. Boine T. Johnson Date unknown 1934 Helen Bean Mrs. Natt M. Emery, Jr. March 8, 2005 1935 Florence Crane Mrs. Charles C. Goodfellow Date unknown Virginia Morgan Mrs. Paul R. Mowry Date unknown Pauline Langford Mrs. Polly L. Payne July 18, 2005

Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

1941 Josephine Harlan Mrs. Kenneth C. Darby June 2, 2005

Eugenie Pieper Mrs. William Massie Meredith April 21, 2005

1942 Grace Bugg Mrs. Grace Bugg Muller-Thym Septmeber 28, 2005

1955 Elizabeth Rector Mrs. Ross F. Keener, Jr. June 8, 2005

1943 Mary Lee Mrs. Frederick S. Aldridge April 22, 2005

1957 Patricia Johnson Mrs. Patricia J. Brockman July 24, 2005

Nancy McVay Mrs. F. J. O’Neill May 16, 2005

1959 Susan Glass Mrs. Susan Anne Glass March 2, 2005

Anne Williams Mrs. Thomas Tuley, Jr. March 21, 2005 1944 Eleanor Goodspeed Mrs. H. Lawrence Abbott April 21, 2005 Mary (Sally) Anderson Mrs. Freeman W. Bowley April 24, 2005 Helen Crump Mrs. John Cutler June 20, 2005 1947 Jacqueline Schreck Mrs. Lane K. Thompson February 21, 2005

1961 Roberta Wawro Mme. Georges Bataillon May 16, 2005 1964 Nancy Arni Mrs. Charles M. Briggs August 2003 1969 Marie Madeleine Lane Mrs. Frank T. Hamilton III December 7, 2004 1973 Lida Franchot Miss Lida Franchot Date unknown Fall 2005 • 45

IN THE SWEET BRIAR TRADITION

Irene Mitchell Moore ’42: Investing in Sweet Briar’s Present and Future

Indiana Williams’ loving gift provided the foundation for this College. Every day each of us involved with Sweet Briar adds to that generous legacy through our work, our commitment, and our belief in our enduring mission: “To prepare women to be active, responsible members of a world community.” Irene Mitchell Moore ’42 cannot remember when she wasn’t actively working for Sweet Briar. “One year I sold the most bulbs and I won a trip to Holland with my husband, Beverly,” she recalls. She assists the College in meeting its current priorities and she provides a future benefit for her family by creating a Charitable Lead Annuity Trust that pays the College fixed payments for five years. When the term of the trust ends, her remainder beneficiaries—Mrs. Moore’s family—receive what remains in the trust. “The lead trust is a great way to leave more to my family, particularly to my grandchildren, because we save on taxes,” she explains. This kind of trust saves gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxes. Mrs. Moore, who received her Bachelor of Arts in History in 1942, is a member of Sweet Briar’s Boxwood Circle, the Silver Rose Society, and other recognition societies. She has participated in Our Campaign For Her World by generously endowing the Irene Mitchell Moore Scholarship as well as the Irene Mitchell Moore Merit Scholarship for Civic Renewal with a $500,000 gift. Establishing the Charitable Lead Trust and thus becoming a Williams Associate of the College is the culminating expression of Mrs. Moore’s lifelong love and loyalty. When asked what inspires her continued generosity, Mrs. Moore responds: “I was living close enough to Sweet Briar that I could go up regularly. I guess I always kept up with what’s going on at the College.” Rene Moore is an inspiring example of our Sweet Briar tradition: believing in a bold vision for the College and having the courage to match it with her philanthropy.

Irene Mitchell Moore

Establishing the Charitable Lead Trust and thus becoming a Williams Associate of the College is the culminating expression of Mrs. Moore’s lifelong love and loyalty.

EXAMPLE OF A LEAD TRUST: You transfer $250,000 to a nongrantor Charitable Lead Annuity Trust that will pay Sweet Briar $15,000 annually for twenty years and then give your children the remainder interest. Using the July 2005 rate of the month (a federal rate used to calculate trust value over time), and assuming the trust’s total return of 7 percent annually, the benefits to your family and Sweet Briar College would be as follows: • Sweet Briar College receives $15,000 annually: $250,000 over twenty years. • Your beneficiaries receive $458,870 in twenty years. This is just one type of trust that you can establish to benefit both Sweet Briar College and your descendants. Your financial advisor can determine what tax advantages your specific circumstances allow in setting up a charitable lead trust. To learn more, please contact the Office of Development: 888-846-5722. This information is provided for illustration purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Sweet Briar College Alumnae Magazine • www.alumnae.sbc.edu

Fall 2005 • 49

Every gift is important. $25,000 an extra Reunion gift to help the class set a new record $100 from a graduating senior to begin a lifetime of philanthropy $3,500 from a current parent excited about the Sweet Briar experience $25 from a first-time donor to help boost alumnae participation $500 toward general scholarship support from a former financial aid recipient $2,500 to join the Boxwood Circle for the first time $1,000 from former parents in honor of their daughter’s Reunion $50 from a young alumna, with a corporate match.

Alumnae daughters 2005… No matter the size, Every Gift is Important to the Annual Fund. Of each dollar given to the Annual Fund: ◆

60 cents supports teaching, faculty, and academic programs

◆

16 cents benefits students through scholarships and student life programs

◆

24 cents funds technology, research, and general support.

The Sweet Briar Experience is not possible without YOU! This is the last year of Our Campaign For Her World—the College’s historic $102 million capital campaign. We have already raised over $90 million, but we need you. Every Annual Fund gift counts in the campaign, so DON’T MISS OUT!

…Alumnae 2021

Your gifts are the future. Your gifts are THEIR future! To make a gift or pledge—call, mail, or visit our website: 888.846.5722 • Box G • Sweet Briar, Virginia 24595 • www.giving.sbc.edu

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