September 2023
Dear Classmates—
With Mount Holyoke students reappearing on campus and special anticipation in the air as Danielle Holley will be inaugurated as president this month, it seems to be an appropriate time for a letter to our class. The main focus of the past year for our class was, of course, our wonderful May 25th-28th reunion. Carol Mills, Beth Boland and Lisa Oberreuter did a terrific job in organizing the huge number of details. And we’re lucky that they will do it again for us three years from now at our 55th!
Fifty-seven classmates and nine guests appeared on campus, and the option of Thursday arrival was popular. The weekend was packed with activities plus a good amount of time to just socialize in Torrey. In addition to options of activities open to all classes, our class Climate Change group sponsored a Sustainability Stroll on Friday and we coordinated with our Connections Class of 2021 for a Strawberries and Champagne reception on Saturday. Our scribe Linda Keown entertainingly summarized the weekend in the Class Notes of the Summer Quarterly. You can also get a flavor of the weekend by clicking REUNION 2023 on the class website where our webmaster Kathy Bendo has done a great job of compiling photos along with some of the other aspects of the weekend: Sustainability Stroll.
By checking out the second two subtitles under REUNION 2023 you can get a sense of the amount of effort that the Climate Change group put into the Sustainability Stroll as well as their commitment to all aspects of the topic. Becky Ritchie Cutting, Wendy Hagen Bauer, Helen Wills Brown, Val Bryan, Joann Otto, and Sallie Welles deserve a lot of credit and thanks.
Thanks also to Alice Capson, who did a great deal of research and organizing to compile tributes for all of our deceased classmates. They can be seen under IN MEMORIAM on the class website, and it will continue to be updated as time goes on. At the class meeting held by the magnolia tree planted in honor of our 50th reunion volunteers, the names were read of those who had died since that reunion. Since my letter of a year ago, we have unfortunately lost Lauren Hewitt Branower, Judy Crowder, Marian Chase Dalgarn, Ann Hurd, Marcia Mead Lebre, and Nancy Richards.
This past year, we continued to have well attended Sphinx Salon Zoom sessions organized by Beth Boland and Lisa Oberreuter:
September–preliminary reunion organizing meeting, with all classmates invited
November–in lieu of a 3rd Sunday event, a chance to join an election eve program hosted by the MHC Politics Department
January–classmate Marian Strobel’s presentation “Can We Make Sense of the Sixties?”
March–open discussion about “What’s Next?” Questions we might be asking ourselves at this stage of our lives
Stay tuned to receive information about the first Sphinx Salon of this fall. And Beth and Lisa always welcome any suggestions for possible topics for upcoming sessions!
Our class achieved a 51% participation rate in donating to the Mount Holyoke Fund this past year, contributing $284,000, both figures surpassing our goals of 50% and $200,000. Thanks to our class and to Andrea Lange, who has done a wonderful job as our head class agent for the past two years. This coming year Christine Chastain-Warheit has agreed to be co-head class agent along with Andrea. We’re grateful to both of them, as well as to their class agent team, who have worked either or both this past year or this coming year: Willo Carey, Linda Chu, Mary Corbitt Clark, Catherine Conover Covert, Bethany Holley Craig, Meg Gere Harris, Victoria Pierce, Marian Strobel, Susan Weed, and Marjorie Deitzler Zunder.
As for smaller scale finances, treasurer Carol Mills has managed the class treasury so well that the balance of $8500 is about $800 more than it was before our reunion!
As always, your class officers welcome comments or suggestions, so do feel free to be in touch with any of us.
Hoping you have an enjoyable fall—
Meg Gere Harris
Class President
August 2022 Class Letter
Dear Classmates–
A bit over a year after our wonderful, despite being virtual, 50th reunion seems to be an appropriate time for a letter to our class. The big news, which most of you learned from a recent eblast, is that our class has been invited to Reunion 2023 on Reunion II weekend, May 26th – 28th. We will still be having our 55th reunion on campus, but we hope to see many of you next spring as well! A Zoom session for the purpose of sharing reunion planning ideas will be held on Sunday, September 18th at 8:00 pm (ET). The link will be sent a few days before, and all are welcome to join in.
The class officers have tried to continue the enthusiasm that was evident during last year’s reunion planning and weekend event. Since the presentations during that weekend were so well received, we decided to build on that idea, with the result being five Zoom sessions this past year. The timing of 8:00 pm (ET) on the third Sunday of every other month between September and May has seemed to work well. Some of the topics of those Sphinx Salons came from those addressed during the reunion, and this coming year we’ll hope to revisit a couple of other topics that were a hit during the reunion weekend, such as the art exhibited by many of our classmates. Beth Boland and Lisa Oberreuter organized an interesting and varied schedule this past year:
September–suppression of voting rights in North Carolina, led by our classmate Laverne Berry
November–holiday traditions
January–climate change
March–presentation about Frances Perkins, MHC alum and first woman Cabinet member
May–open discussion about travel
Since the session on racial justice during the reunion was so successful, a follow-up session was held in October. And because the waiting list for the topic was so long, the organizers tried for a couple of catch-up sessions this spring, but the timing seemed to be unfavorable, though they may try another time.
Another especially timely topic, climate change, was discussed during reunion weekend and in January. A group initiated by Barbara Benedict and now led by Becky Cutting put on a Zoom event during MHC’s Earth Week. And Becky has put out a couple of newsletters concerning climate change to those who have expressed interest.
Our class website is being updated when needed by Kathy Bendo.
As for the art exhibit that was such a hit last year, the class display will remain on the website; just click on 50th Art Exhibit. And to see works from the classes of 2021 and 2022, click on Links to Other Exhibits.
Still on the topic of reunion related items, a lovely magnolia tree has been planted (and has blossomed!) near the Art Building and the Greenhouse. This wonderful gift was given anonymously in honor of the many volunteers who contributed to the planning of our 50th reunion, and a plaque reflecting that was placed at the site in April.
Thanks to Carol Cramer Mills, whom you all know as our multiple times wonderful reunion chair, for taking on the treasurer’s role as well. The treasury is in good shape thanks to her great overseeing and the response of many of you to the request for class dues. It’s never too late to submit class dues; just send a check made out to MHC Class of 1971 for $50 (to cover five years) to Carol Cramer Mills, 83 Walker Street, Falmouth, MA 02540.
And great thanks as well to Andrea Lange, our class vice president, who stepped up to also be the head of our class agents. The participation of donors from our class to the Mount Holyoke Fund is close to the 50% goal and we contributed about $270,000, well over our modest goal. And thanks to Andrea and the group of class agents, we responded well to the March4MHC Challenge, with 64 classmates giving $18,472 and earning another $1000 to be added to the class total because of our participation level.
Our scribe, Linda Keown, has done an excellent job writing class notes for the Alumnae Quarterly. She is always eager for more news to report! Her email address, as well as those of the other class officers, is under Class Info and Links on the website. While most of the content in the class notes is about enjoyable happenings, the loss of class members is also recognized, with the deaths of Lily Tang Hausman and Susan Murphy Marie occurring this past year.
Your class officers welcome any suggestions, questions, or comments, so please feel free to be in touch with any of us.
Hoping you are having an enjoyable summer—
Meg Gere Harris
Class President