The Briar Wire | Volume 8, Issue 3 | March 2022

The Briar Wire

Volume 8, Issue 3 | March 2022

THE SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE ALUMNAE NEWSLETTER

My fellow alumnae and friends, I’m writing to you on a blustery day at the end of February, knowing that March is just a few days away.

Thankfully, Sweet Briar’s campus has received a brief respite from snow and ice — the winter aconites have popped out and the daffodils along the road entering campus are beginning to sprout.

Of course, no matter the weather, we are preparing for March Days of Giving, which bring with them a renewed commitment to Sweet Briar College. These ten days each year reaffirm our loyalty and dedication to our alma mater, which have taken us to new heights as a college. President Meredith Woo has laid out a bold vision for Sweet Briar for the next five years, which will expand and grow Sweet Briar for the foreseeable future. As you know, we plan for Sweet Briar to be here long after we are gone, which is why making your best gift in March matters today, tomorrow, and in perpetuity.

Whether you choose to give on March 1 or sometime between March 2 and 10, your continued support makes a tremendous difference to our current students. Gifts to the Sweet Briar Fund make the greatest impact by providing support for scholarships, faculty and academic program development, and the stewardship and maintenance of our natural and built environment, which is especially important given our historic and spacious campus.

I especially want to thank the Class Leaders Working Group of the Alumnae Alliance Council, who have been working tirelessly with class leaders and our office to rally participation in March Days of Giving. To date, alumnae participation stands at 10.3% — at this time last year, participation was 8.9%. The hard work of these volunteers is already showing results, and with help from alumnae who have not yet made gifts this fiscal year, I believe we can achieve our goal of 30%!

Together with our current students, parents of Sweet Briar students today and from years past, our faculty and staff, and our alumnae and friends, we make up the Sweet Briar family. We are one Sweet Briar, and together, we can do anything.

Join me in making a gift and we will ring the bells together!

With gratitude, Mary Pope M. Hutson ’83 Senior Vice President for Alumnae Relations, Development, and Communications PS: We thank all of you who have already made your gift this fiscal year (since July 1, 2021). We truly appreciate your leadership!

March Days of Giving Tuesday, March 1 through Thursday, March 10

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Every gift makes a difference!

Please help Sweet Briar: MARCH 1: Raise $500,000 MARCH 2-10: Raise $500,000 to celebrate the birthday of Indiana Fletcher Williams on March 10 Focus the camera of your smartphone or tablet on the pink square to visit the online giving form or visit sbc.edu/ give to make your gift on March 1 and/or March 2-10.

Thank you!

Board of Directors of Sweet Briar College

Georgene M. Vairo ’72, Chair Dr. Meredith Woo, President of the College Michael Elliott Marianne “Mimi” C. Fahs ’71 Kelley Manderson Fitzpatrick ’85 Sally Mott Freeman ’76 , Secretary The Honorable Bob Goodlatte Lendon Gray ‘71 Fred “Buzzy” Griffin Martha Holland ‘72 Keenan Colton Kelsey ’66 Gillian Munson John L. Nau III Michelle O’Neill ’85 The Honorable Chap Petersen Holly Prothro Philbin ’95, Executive Committee Member at Large Mason Bennett Rummel ’83, Vice Chair Stephen P. Smiley Norma Bulls Valentine ’93 Claude Becker Wasserstein ’82

Alumnae Relations and Development Staff

Mary Pope M. Hutson ’83, Senior Vice President for Alumnae Relations, Development and Communications Lea Sparks Bennett ’83, Advancement Services Coordinator Pam Boydoh, Executive Assistant Lee Anne MacKenzie Chaskes ’83, Director of the Sweet Briar Fund Margaret McClellan Driscoll ’92, Director of Planned Giving Paula Eanes, Advancement Services Manager Heather Colson Ewing ’90, Admissions Ambassadors Manager Claire Dennison Griffith ’80, Senior Director of Alumnae Relations and Development Lea Harvey ’90, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Corporate and Foundation Relations Caroline Chappel Hazarian ’09, Associate Director of Alumnae Relations Keeley Sullivan Jurgovan ’92, Associate Director of Alumnae Relations Sarah Lewis, Associate Director of Stewardship, Systems and Major Gifts Lisa Wray Longino ’78, Senior Director of Major Gifts and Stewardship Kathleen Placidi, Faculty Grants Officer Rachel Pietsch, Assistant Director of Alumnae Relations Emily Dodson Sadler ’18, Assistant Director of the Sweet Briar Fund Clélie D. D. Steckel, Director of Data Analytics and Development Communications Megan Sunwall, Alumnae Relations and Development Assistant Wanda Vest, Data Entry Manager

Opening Convocation in 1988.

Nominations for the Outstanding Nominations for both awards and Distinguished Alumna Awards are are invited from any member of the open! Presented each year at Reunion Sweet Briar family: Alumnae, faculty, Convocation, these awards recognize administration, staff, members of alumnae who have made a difference the Alumnae Alliance Council and to Sweet Briar or who have made a the College Board of Directors, difference in their communities. and students. Nominations remain In 1968, on recommendation of the active for 3 years — after that time, Board of the Alumnae Association, they will be considered to either President Anne Gary Pannell be re-proposed or withdrawn from established “The Sweet Briar College consideration.

Alumna Award in Honor of the Class If you have an alumna in mind to of 1910.” President Pannell presented nominate for either award, please visit them with the Award because they alumnae.sbc.edu/awards to review the “showed such courage and faith in the list of previous recipients. There is also future of Sweet Briar that they came a form on that site, which you can use to this brand new college when it to submit your nomination for either first opened, trusted that their credits award. If you have any questions about would be good, that it would succeed, these awards, please email alumnae@ and that they could graduate. They set sbc.edu or call (800) 381-6131. the pace and ideals which our young women have followed ever since.”

Later known as the Outstanding Alumna Award, the award may be given to graduate alumnae who have been out of College for at least 15 years in recognition of outstanding service to Sweet Briar College in a volunteer capacity. Not more than three awards may be made in any year. The first award was made to the entire Class of 1910 Recipients of the 2021 Outstanding Alumna Award, from left: and was presented at Kathy Garcia Pegues ‘71, Ann Gateley ‘70, and Vikki Schroeder ’87 Founders’ Day in June 1968.

In 1987, the Board of the Alumnae Association established the Distinguished Alumna Award to honor alumnae graduates who have brought distinction to themselves and to Sweet Briar College through outstanding accomplishment in a volunteer or professional capacity. The first awards The graduates of the Class of 1910 on their graduation day were presented at with President Mary K. Benedict.

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ALL-CLASS REUNION 2022

ALUMNAE AWARDS

Celebrating classes ending in 2 and 7

Schedule of Events

Please visit sbc.edu/reunion for the most up-to-date schedule, which is subject to change.

Friday, June 3, 2022 1-9 p.m.

2-4 p.m.

4 p.m.

4-6 p.m.

4-7 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

6 p.m.

7 p.m.

Registration Babcock Fine Arts Center Float the Boathouse Boathouse and Lower Lake Riding Harriet Howell Rogers Riding Center Advance registration required.

Welcome Reception and Happy Hour for All Senior Steps, Pannell, Quad Dell Party with Music by The Jangling Reinharts Dell Cocktails and Dinner for Post-50th Reunion Classes Conference Center, Boxwood Room, upper level Cocktails and Dinner for the Class of 1972 in Honor of their 50th Reunion Sweet Briar House and garden Class Picnic for Class of 1997 in honor of their 25th Reunion Boathouse NYNY Dueling Pianos Mary Helen Cochran Library fountain pavilion Performance begins at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 4, 2022 7-9 a.m.

Buffet Breakfast Prothro Hall, Prothro Dining Room

8-9 a.m.

Breakfast with President Meredith Woo for 50th and Post-50th Classes Conference Center, Boxwood Room, upper level

8 a.m.1 p.m.

Golf Poplar Grove Golf Course Advance registration required.

8-8:45 a.m. Discussion and Tour of the Greenhouse 8:15-9:15 a.m.

Nature Walk with Dr. Linda Fink Meet in front of Sweet Briar House

8:30 a.m.5 p.m.

Registration Boxwood Alumnae House (for those who did not register on Friday)

9:30 a.m.

Convocation - College Update and Awards Presentation with the President Prothro Hall, Prothro Dining Room

11 a.m.2 p.m.

Lunch Upper Quad

12:301:15 p.m.

Discussion and Tour of the Greenhouse

Saturday, June 4, 2022 (cont.)

12:30 p.m. Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) Tour Shuttle with limited capacity. Driving across US 29 recommended to 154 San Angelo Drive, Amherst, Va. 1:30 p.m. Riding Harriet Howell Rogers Riding Center Advance registration required.

2-2:45 p.m. Alumnae College: President Meredith Woo and her Leadership Team Mills Chapel 2-5 p.m.

Sweet Briar Museum Open Elijah Road, lower level of Boxwood House 3 p.m.

Riding Harriet Howell Rogers Riding Center Advance registration required.

3-3:30 p.m. Alumnae College: Artist Uzo Njoku Lecture Anne Gary Pannell Center Artwork of Uzo Njoku Anne Gary Pannell Center 3-5 p.m.

Van Tours of Campus Depart from upper quad in front of the bell tower at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

3-5 p.m.

Tours of Sweet Briar House Public spaces on main floor.

3-4:30 p.m. Wine Tasting in the Vineyard Vineyard between the Train Station and the Green Barn 3-5 p.m.

6 p.m.

Indiana Fletcher Williams Associates Cocktail Reception (by mailed invitation) Sweet Briar House

7-11 p.m.

Reunion Celebration Dinner and Dance with music by Another Level Prothro Dining Hall Children’s Program Reid Pit Program will include dinner, age-appropriate activities, movie, and supervision by trained and certified child care workers with additional student assistants. Advance registration required.

7-11 p.m.

Sunday, June 5, 2022

7:30-10 a.m. Continental Breakfast Prothro Hall, Prothro Dining Room 8:45 a.m.

Alumnae Choir Rehearsal Mills Chapel 9:30 a.m.

Service of Remembrance officiated by Alumnae Clergy Mills Chapel 10:15 a.m.- Brunch 12 p.m.

Prothro Hall, Prothro Dining Room

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LIVING WITH ART

SWEET BRIAR FOREVER

Artist Uzo Njoku Brings “Animals Make Us Human” to Sweet Briar

How do we love thee, Sweet Briar?

Uzo Njoku’s collection entitled “Animals Make Us Human” is on display in Pannell Gallery from February 3 through June 5, 2022. Born in Nigeria, Njoku moved to the United States at the age of 7 and now resides in New York City. She earned a Bachelors in Studio Art from the University of Virginia and is currently a candidate for the MFA at New York Academy of Art. While her primary media are oil paint, acrylic, and collage, Njoku has produced prints, apparel, and other items with her art for sale on her website, uzoart.com. She uses motifs with patterns and bright colors and her paintings depict “melanin figures” in different forms which “portray them in various contexts of beauty,” as described on Njoku’s website.

Njoku’s works have been exhibited at several spaces in Charlottesville, VA as well as in Lagos and at the Congress Heights Art and Culture Center in Washington, D.C. For our alumnae and friends returning for Reunion, please mark your schedules for Uzo Njoku’s artist talk on Saturday, June 4 at 3 p.m. in Pannell Gallery.

Each year, the Sweet Briar family shows its love for our community and our college through our “I Love Sweet Briar” social media campaign. We ask alumnae, students, and members of the campus community to share what they love about Sweet Briar. Then, in March, which is Sweet Briar Forever month, we share those thoughts to celebrate what makes our college so special.

Let us count the ways…

Amorphous, 2021

#ILoveSweetBriar for the outstanding education it gave me. Professors Drayer and Kent were so instrumental in teaching me to write well, think analytically, and read critically. I am indebted to them and to many others for challenging me to become my personal best.

It goes without saying that my Sweet Briar sisters are my family, and the beauty of the campus is beyond compare.

A love of “place” from the Quad up to Monument Hill and to the lakes. Memories of walks to Babcock and Guion for classes and collecting data for bio projects around the lakes and in the old growth forest behind the Wailes Center. Ice skating on the finger of the upper lake as a student and bringing my kids there in both winter and summer for hikes.

Coming back for 50th reunion reinforced my love of the campus.

Betty Rau Santandrea ‘70 Santa Fe, NM

Martha Tisdale Cordell ‘82 Pass Christian, MS

Life is Sweet, 2021

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The Neighborhood, 2021

#ILoveSweetBriar because of the lifelong friends that I made in an environment where women are always the leaders.

Arielle Sperrazza Morgan ‘15 (pictured on far left) Prince William County, Va

I have come to understand that I outgrow places and things. Elementary school with its comicallysized restrooms. A job that doesn’t suit me anymore.

Pre-COVID jeans. With all that shifts and changes in my life, there are some magical exceptions. Destiny sprouted me into a young woman perfectly suited to be a Sweet Briar student. Determination and hard work transformed me into a Sweet Briar graduate.

Compassion and leadership now re-focus my attentions as a Sweet Briar alum. #ILoveSweetBriar for being ever relevant. It’s not four years. It’s for life.

Epiphany Soward ‘15 Lynchburg, VA

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HISTORIC PRESERVATION

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NEW ADDITIONS

Sweet Briar embarks on scoping study for Pannell and Gray

Meet Dr. Kala Bonner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

As part of our ongoing commitment to stewarding our natural and built environment, Sweet Briar has engaged in a process to seek proposals for a scoping study of Pannell and Gray. These two historic buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, along with 20 other buildings on our campus.

Both the Refectory and Gray were built in 1906, just in time for the opening of the College.

Designed by Ralph A very early photograph of the former Refectory, now Pannell, taken in 1906-1907.

Adams Cram like the rest Note that Manson and Randolph had not yet been constructed. of the main portion of campus, the two buildings are adjacent and complement each other architecturally and in their functions.

While the Refectory became Pannell in 1984, Gray was a residence hall until the early 2000s, when it was transformed into classrooms and faculty and staff offices. Since 2018, it has been off-line when faculty were relocated to Benedict. Previous staff departments had already relocated from Gray to other A copy of a blueprint depicting the east and west elevations of Gray. areas of campus.

With the aim of restoring Gray as a residence hall, this scoping study will provide recommendations (MCWB), an architectural firm out of Albany, NY on architectural design of the interior with space and Williamsburg, VA. If the name sounds familiar, planning options. The scoping study for Pannell will that’s because it should — MCWB also conducted identify areas for improvement in its purposes for the conditions assessment of our historic buildings a learning space, including its office and classroom in 2019-2020. Over the spring, MCWB will work spaces and storage for our collections. We anticipate on the scoping study, with conclusions and that we will also gain additional exhibition space with recommendations to be delivered by this coming fall. any proposed renovations to Pannell.

Both buildings will also be reviewed for the integrity of their systems, including electrical, HVAC, water infiltration mitigation, and improved ADA accessibility, including elevators.

After putting out a request for proposals, Sweet Briar selected Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker

As part of the Black History Month schedule of events, the Black Student Alliance (BSA) highlighted Black faculty and staff members “who help make this campus just a little bit sweeter.” The first community member was Dr. Kala Bonner, our new visiting assistant professor of biology. In addition to her full course load, Dr. Bonner plans to conduct her own cancer research alongside that of our students.

The BSA began by asking, “Who is Dr. Bonner?”

Dr. Bonner responded, “That is always such a hard question for me to answer, so I’ll do my best.” She continued: I feel as though the best way to get to know me is by knowing about the things that I love. I am a lover of the arts and the stories that they tell. Over the past two years, I have become very invested in using myself as an art medium to tell a story. I have an infatuation with the “Women of the Movement” and when I say movement, I’m referring to the Civil Rights movement. Through my art, I try to encourage partakers to reflect on people from the movement that history has glanced over.

In doing this I feel as though I am bringing honor to my women of the movement, my grandmothers, my aunts, my mother, and the countless women who

came before them.

While their stories weren’t blasted for all to see and hear, they still made an impact, and I stand as proof of the impact that they made.

What else is there for you all to know about me? Well for starters I genuinely love my job. I love that I get a chance to participate in molding the minds of tomorrow. My students keep me on my toes and I love it. I really feel as though I am blessed to hold this unique position of being a Black woman in the field of STEM. I am able to show the generations that came before me that what they endured was not in vain, I am able to show myself that I can do it, and lastly I will show the future that while in some cases I was the first I will not be the only. If I can do it, so can you!

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”

While the words “sweet briar” leave our lips frequently, when they do, we’re usually thinking of the College, not the rose for which it is named.

While the land that Elijah Fletcher purchased and on which Sweet Briar now occupies was originally known as Locust Grove, the name Sweet Briar is attributed to his wife, Maria, nee Crawford, who was delighted by the sweet briar roses she saw growing on the property on her first visit.

Native to Europe, rosa rubiginosa or rosa eglanteria was chosen by gardeners for its sweet, apple-like appearance, which blooms in June and July. It may have been one of the first ornamental species brought to North America, but it may also have been brought from Europe to be grown as a hedge row, as it impedes the movement of livestock.

The growth of the sweet briar rose was documented in New England in the late 1600s.

Because areas where the sweet briar rose is planted can quickly become invaded and because the seeds are spread easily by birds and wildlife, it is classified as an invasive species.

While you might assume that the sweet briar rose appears in the College’s seal, in fact, that’s incorrect — the three roses are red Tudor roses. According to

John M. McBryde, Jr., who designed our seal, “The Tudor roses symbolize Sweet Briar, although they are not the color of the sweet briar rose, for pink is not a proper heraldic tint. At the same time, though rather remotely, it is true, they might suggest Virginia, through Elizabeth Tudor, the Virgin Queen, from whom our State derives its name.”

Of course, we must also remember that the sweet briar rose also influenced our motto: Rosam quae meruit ferat, Latin for “She who has earned the rose may bear it.”

Thanks to our campus horticulturalist, Paul Munn, our sweet briar roses bloom regularly. He and his team maintain the roses on campus, including the ones we have planted on March 1 for the last seven years. They have also cultivated our existing roses to ensure they are not impeding the growth of other species in our landscape.

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Alumnae Relations and Development P.O. Box 1057 Sweet Briar, VA 24595

the o t t r gif oday at u o y t Make iar Fund t Br du/give e e w S sbc.e

Swimming and NCEA and IHSA Riding Teams Meet with Success The Sweet Briar swim team (8-4, 6-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference) finished the ODAC Championships in seventh place out of twelve teams with 165 points. First year Acadia ElzHowe from Georgetown, TX was named All-ODAC First Team.

ElzHowe is the first swimmer from Sweet Briar to be named to an All-ODAC team since 2014.

Sophomore Kass Carpenter came in eighth place in the 1650-yard freestyle. She also qualified for the B final and finished 15th place overall. Carpenter recorded a new season-best time in the 200-yard backstroke.

Seniors Lauren Jones, Rachel Mills, Elizabeth Sanford, Taylor Shaw, and Mary Catherine Warner all registered new season-bests in the 100-yard freestyle.

Our student athletes are not only making waves in the pool, but also in the riding ring.

The Sweet Briar National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) Team met Sewanee for the first time in competition history, and finished the meet by beating Sewanee’s Tigers 7 to 1. Senior Britt LarsonJackson earned Most Outstanding Performer (MOP) honors in fences after scoring an 86 with Dorado

— the third MOP awarded to a Sweet Briar rider this season. Junior Kacie Freeburg finished with the highest score for the Vixens, beating her Sewanee opponent by a 24-point lead.

The success in the ring also continues among our International Horse Show Association (IHSA) team members, with Emmy Longest ‘24 and Jen Markey ‘22 qualifying for regionals. They join five other Sweet Briar student athletes who have previously qualified for regionals: Chloe Kerschl ‘22, Abby Bell ‘22, Anne Rucker ‘22, Madeline Rucker ‘22, Sita Moses ‘23.

The IHSA Region 4 Show was held at Sweet Briar’s Harriet Howell Rogers Riding Center on Sunday, February 27.

The NCEA Team will compete against Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX on Friday, March 4 and Texas Christian University in Burleson, TX on Saturday, March 5. The NCEA National Championship begins on Wednesday, April 13 in Ocala, Fl. Visit vixenathletics.com for live scoring and videos of these events.