November 2010.
Hello Frances Perkins Alumnae!
In May 2010, the Frances Perkins Program celebrated its 29th graduating class, bringing the number of FP alumnae to 915. To our newest Frances Perkins graduates, welcome to the alumnae community! We are here to support you as you transition into the next stage in your life, keep you connected to Mount Holyoke College and to the FP community.
During the 2010 Frances Perkins reunion (held every 4 years,the weekend after graduation), the Frances Perkins Alumnae voted in a new board of officers: Liz Hamlin, President; Denise Goetsch and Sheila Davison, co-chairs of the next FP reunion in 2014; Jennifer Griswold, Treasurer; Nina Laurie, Web Coordinator; Penni Martorell, Class Scribe; and Stevie Converse, Head Class Agent. As newly elected officers, we thank the past officers for their work and look to the next four years as an opportunity to reconnect with our fellow alumnae and strengthen our community both within and beyond the grounds of Mount Holyoke.
Coinciding with this change of Alumnae officers is Lynn Pasquerella’s inauguration, and a subsequent renewal in the life and energy of Mount Holyoke College. As Professor Karen Remmler said at Lynn’s inauguration:
“Here at Mount Holyoke, I am struck by a similar need for new bridges. We need bridges between different cultures, origins, and modes of being, bridges between the past and the present. We need bridges between competing arguments as well, reaching consensus by listening and by creating new ways of doing things.”
As we near our 30th year at Mount Holyoke, it’s time for Frances Perkins Scholars to assume a stronger presence and build our own bridges to connect alumnae to one another, to current students and to the college itself. As officers, we are here to listen to you and discover new ways of strengthening our alumnae network and creating a lasting legacy for the Frances Perkins Program.
Part of that legacy includes taking our place among the alumnae classes. In order to increase our visibility, we are now included in the MHC Class Colors Chart. As you know, each class is assigned a color and symbol: Lion (blue) Griffin (green) Pegasus (red) and Sphinx (yellow). Frances Perkins Scholars’ official color is purple and our symbol is the Phoenix. This mythical, sacred firebird has the ability to be reborn, to recreate itself from its own ashes — an apt symbol for both alumnae and current FPs.
The phoenix, will grace our Class Notes in the Alumnae Quarterly and on our brand new website.
Yes, we now have a website dedicated to Frances Perkins Alumnae! We hope this will be the main resource for FP news, events and an online place for FPs to connect. Please take a look and see what you think. This is obviously a work in progress, and we’d love to have your feedback. We need your help to make the site useful and entertaining.
We also have a presence in social media with our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72486205986, our Mount Holyoke Frances Perkins Alumnae LinkedIn page, http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular&gid=3251522, and
a Flickr page, in addition to MHC Connect. If you are a Facebook, LinkedIn or Flickr user, please check out our pages.
Along with these virtual spaces, the officers are planning in-person reconnects in various locations, where FP’s in your area can meet one another and network. Please take some time and update your contact information on MHC Connect or email Liz directly, so we can inform you of these gatherings. When possible, a class officer will be there to meet you. It’s always good to get together, have a few laughs, share some memories, make new friends and learn something new.
The website, our Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr pages and our face-to-face gatherings will all serve as bridges from you to the Frances Perkins alumnae and Mt. Holyoke College. We are 915 intelligent, creative, hard-working women who know the ways of the world and are willing to create change. Imagine what we can do together as we share our resources, skills and talents.
Please stay in touch. Visit the website and watch for new opportunities to engage and connect. We’ll be rolling out new content on the site and new ideas for building a vital presence on campus and beyond.
Sincerely,
Liz
Liz Hamlin
President
eahamlin@gmail.com