Read about the plans for the 50th Reunion, May 14-17 2020!

50th Reunion — Still Uncommon After All These Years
Thursday, May 14 – Sunday, May 17, 2020

Dear Classmates,

Our 50th reunion will be a four-day celebration, with many opportunities for our class to reconnect, reflect, and rejoice together as we think about how we’ve been shaped by the uncommon times of our college years and the years since. We’re already working on our reunion book — a portrait of who we were, who we’ve become, and how we’re launching this next phase of our lives. We hope to hear from every one of you, and the electronic options make it easier than ever to contribute.

Here’s how we invite you to participate now:

  1. Complete our class survey using this link. This should take about 20 minutes. Your responses are confidential. We’ll summarize the results in the reunion book and use them to create Alumnae Parade signs.
  2. Share your reflections for publication in our reunion book. As always, the book will include personal pages from class members. See the guidelines for electronic submissions below.

Please respond as soon as possible. The deadline is January 31, 2020.

Writing Your Personal Page

Think of this page as a conversation with the still-uncommon women of our class — a roommate you haven’t seen for decades, class members you’ve gotten to know at reunions, people you’ve never met, even friends you’re in touch with today. Reflect on your accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, roads taken and not taken, and perspectives on the future. What you say is up to you. We also invite you to add short answers to these two questions: What have been the defining moments or turning points in your life? What has been the biggest surprise in the way your life has unfolded?

The Details

  • Microsoft Word documents are preferred. You may also use Pages, Google Docs or text typed in the body of an email. No PDF files, please.
  • At the top of the document, provide your name today, name at graduation, physical address, email address, and phone number. If you’d prefer not to publish contact information, please let us know.
  • Write up to 300 words. If you write more, we may need to edit for length.
  • Send your document, along with a current personal photo (JPG file), to Ellen Cochran Hirzy, reunion book editor.

 
Sharing Your Photos

Do you have photos we could use to illustrate the reunion book — our college years, reunions and mini-reunions, informal gatherings of MHC friends? Please scan and send them as JPG files (no PDFs) to Ellen Hirzy. In your email, include your full name and a few words to identify each photo.

To receive your book, come to reunion and pick it up in person! The cost is included in registration. If you’re registering on campus, a limited number of copies will be available. If you’re not able to attend, you can order a copy. You’ll receive ordering information in a class e-blast early next year.

Questions? Write to Ellen Hirzy if you have questions about any part of this process.

This fall, we’ll be in touch with more details about reunion plans. Remember: There’s no reunion without you! Come to participate and interact, come to remember, or come to satisfy your curiosity. But most of all, just come.

Barbara Cooke Monks
Jane Hiller Farran
Yvonne Watford-McKinney
Reunion Co-Chairs

Ellen Cochran Hirzy
Reunion Book Editor

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It’s for real!  Our 50th reunion will happen May 14-17, 2020, thanks to the planning of these Uncommon Women: Barbara Cooke Monks, Jane Hiller Farran, Martha Doolittle McIver, Jill Brethauer, Mary Phinney, Ellen Cochran Hirzy, Judy Leno Case, Helen Diesenhaus’ Susan Ellis, Arleen McGrath Heiss, Katy Hart, and Jean Olson ( click on the picture and it will enlarge). And here is a letter from our reunion co-chairs

Dear Classmates,

Do you have a hankering for milk and crackers?  And do you want to find out what the “Fimbel Makerspace” is or enjoy gazing at the Chihuly sculpture in the Library Atrium or check out the snacks at “Super Blanch”?! This May (14th until the 17th) is the big celebration for our 50th reunion. It will be a wonderful chance to reconnect, celebrate, remember friends no longer with us and to have a great time together. The campus has grown and changed since we graduated, and we have too. MHC is still beautiful and it is well-equipped to meet the challenges of an education today. Come and see for yourself!

Our reunion committee has been hard at work and is committed to bringing you a fun and affordable weekend. So far, we have planned a lot of class events that are additional to the Alumnae Association events: classmate-led panel discussions, a morning walk around Upper Lake on the Sustainability Boardwalk, a gala class dinner followed by a DJ playing “our” music for dancing, breakfast with Sonya Stephens, College President, and many others. The complete schedule will be sent out with reunion registration materials in February.

  • Email our reunion chairs (listed below) with your ideas and your willingness to serve on a committee (volunteers receive snazzy red t-shirts designed by Barb for this reunion!)
  • Send news to our Class Scribes, Ellen Cochran Hirzy and Diane Mayer Murphy
  • Check out our Facebook page and class website
  • Send names for future class officers to the Chair of the Nominating Committee: Arleen McGrath Heiss
  • Complete your class survey and prepare your individual page for the class book. These two items are due December 1st.
  • Pat Sobers Mitchell will be leading the Memorial Service and would like to include music as part of the ceremony honoring our deceased classmates. Please contact her directly if you would like to offer your musical gifts individually or as part of a group at the service. Both vocal and instrumental music contributions are welcome. The service will be held outdoors on Mary Woolley Green (weather permitting). You can email Pator call/text her at 914-419-0800. 

Our 50th reunion gift co-chairs, Susan Ellis, Martha Doolittle McIver, and Jean Olsen are pleased with the progress we’ve made towards our class gift goal. So far, 58% of our class have contributed to Mount Holyoke in honor of our 50th reunion. Our goal is to achieve 70% participation.

Reunion registration opens March 1. We’re excited to announce that the Alumnae Association has made some changes to the overall costs of Reunion after listening to feedback from alums over the past few years. In addition to lowering registration fees for our class from $150.00 to $110.00, there are Saturday packages to choose from, helping to make Reunion more accessible for everyone. 

Attending our entire reunion weekend normally costs about $380 for the events, meals, and accommodations.  We are very conscious that budgets can be tight, and we are working to make attending our reunion affordable for all of our classmates. The more of us who come, the more old (and new!) friends we will all find. If anyone is worried that getting around campus is more of a challenge than it was 50 years ago, we will have mini-buses, vans and golf carts to get us to and from the various events as well as accessible accommodations.

Before registration for reunion opens in March, go to the Alumnae Association and update your information. While there, you can bookmark the reunion site. That is where the schedule of events for our reunion will first be posted.  

All of us who are already working on our reunion REALLY want to see you this May. It’s really not o-u-r reunion without u in it! Call or email your MHC friends—get a group to come. We can make this the reunion we all want and such a great time together!

We’re hoping to see you in May!

Jane Hiller Farran
Yvonne Watford McKinney
Barbara Cooke Monks