Mary Lyon Dinner: Conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum

You are cordially invited to “A Conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum,” the Mount Holyoke Club of Hartford’s 2023 Mary Lyon Dinner. Please RSVP by May 3rd online at bit.ly/MaryLyonDinner!

We are delighted that the Mount Holyoke community in Connecticut will have this special opportunity to engage in lively, thoughtful discussion with Dr. Tatum, the Interim President of the College. We hope you will join us as we celebrate coming together for our first Mary Lyon Dinner since 2019.

The Town and County Club

22 Woodland Street

Hartford, CT 06105

$55 per person

$35 for members of the classes of 2017-2022

Marisa Halm on Zoom

Zoom Meeting with Marisa Halm: “The Privileges and Positives of Working as a Public Interest Lawyer”

When: Thursday, April 20, 7:00 p.m.

RSVP:  To register and receive the Zoom meeting invitation, email cedorais@comcast.net by Tuesday, April 18.  

Marisa Mascolo Halm ’94 has been the Director of the Youth Justice Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy for the last 10 years. She represents youth and young adults who are involved with the justice system or at risk of involvement, and works to ensure that they receive the education they are entitled to, whether in the public schools, in alternative or therapeutic programs, in juvenile justice facilities or adult correctional facilities. 

Marisa is a passionate advocate for her clients and a staunch opponent of the school-to-prison pipeline, strenuously opposing unfair disciplinary practices and policies that facilitate pushing youth out of school. She identifies systemic barriers and inequities that impact her clients’ education and successful re-entry into the community, and develops strategies to eradicate those barriers and inequities. Her advocacy includes legislative initiatives, administrative advocacy and facilitating policy change, as well as filing complaints against school systems that violate students’ basic educational rights.

The Connecticut Law Tribune named Marisa one of the recipients of the 2022 “Game Changer” award, given annually to attorneys who have been “a positive force for change.” 

Prior to working at the Center for Children’s Advocacy, Marisa was in private practice with the firm of Klebanoff & Alfano, where she represented children with disabilities and their parents against school districts.

Marisa earned her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2006 and graduated with honors from Mount Holyoke. She was admitted to the practice of law in 2006 and is a current member of the Connecticut Bar Foundation Education Section.

Mystery Writer Carole Shmurak ’65

When:   Tuesday, March 7 at 7 p.m.

RSVP:     To receive the Zoom link for this event, email Carolyn Dorais (cedorais@comcast.net) by Monday, March 6.                                          

Join us online to hear from Carole Bernstein Shmurak ’65 about her career as a mystery writer.

Carole’s eleven books include the four Susan Lombardi mysteries. Her heroine is an academic sleuth, a professor of education at a state university and former teacher at a girls’ school — both in Connecticut, so the series incorporates quite a bit of local color. Deadmistress, the first book in the series, was named a Notable Book of 2004 by Writers Notes Magazine.

Under the pseudonym Carroll Thomas, Carole is also the co-author of six young adult historical mysteries with a 19th century background, the Matty Truscott series.

A professor emerita of education at Central Connecticut State University, Carole began her career as a teacher of biology and chemistry, first at the Dalton School in Manhattan and then at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington. While at CCSU, Carole published numerous articles on women in science and gender issues in education. Her first book, Voices of Hope, a work of non-fiction published in 1998, was named a “Critic’s Choice” by the American Educational Studies Association.

Carole majored in chemistry at Mount Holyoke and holds a master’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard and a Ph.D. in science education from Indiana University.

To learn more about Carole and her books, visit her website, https://carole-books.com, where mystery fans can find information about ordering her books, as well as details of the Mystery Book Groups she leads in Simsbury, Southington, and Wallingford.

Send-Off Party for New Students

This August, the Mount Holyoke Club of Hartford hosted a send-off party for new students beginning their journey at MHC. This annual event provides a wonderful opportunity for new students from Connecticut to meet each other and alumnae, welcoming them to the Mount Holyoke community, and wishing them well on their first semester! Thank you to Meredith Jacob ’77 for providing her home for the occasion!