Dear Class of 1975,

I am writing on behalf of your class board to notify you that a class meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 25 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time, via Zoom. The purpose of the meeting is to hold a class vote on a new treasury management system which has been endorsed for approval by the class board.

If you wish to attend, please register here and review the info sheet and details below to prepare for the meeting and vote.

To ensure we can answer any questions you may have, we invite you to share them using this form. We will be sure to address them ahead of or during the meeting.

Sincerely,
Laura Minsky
Associate Director of Classes & Reunion

A Note From Your Class Board

After our class votes on the treasury changes, we will continue the class Zoom which will be a social program. We are asking each participant to recommend a book for summer reading. This can be the same book you may have recommended to scribe Eileen Leahy Epstein for her class notes column in the Alumnae Quarterly, or it can be any other book you’d like to recommend, fiction or non-fiction. Although the members of our class have very diverse interests, the one thing that unites us is a love of reading!  See you virtually on June 25!

Background and Voting Procedures
The Alumnae Association is moving to a new system for class treasury management. In response to feedback from classes that manage individual bank accounts for their treasuries, we have developed a process that enables the Association to manage class treasuries on your behalf. This new setup will streamline financial processes and allow for more seamless transitions with the shift of class officers every five years.  

Your class board has been briefed on the changes being made to treasury administration and have decided to recommend that your class vote to adopt these changes. At the meeting they will share an overview of the change, leave time for questions and discussions and hold a vote. The agreements being voted on are (1) the Merger Agreement and (2) the Class Charter. Language for the vote is as follows:

– I vote to adopt the Merger Agreement
– I vote to adopt the Class Charter

Please note that only class members in attendance may participate in the vote. A quorum is comprised of the classmates in attendance.

A briefing packet is available here and includes:
– Treasury Info Sheet & FAQs

– Merger Agreement

– Class Charter 

– Collaboration agreements (voted on by the class board)

– Recording of the Treasury Orientation session offered to class board memb

Dear Classmates,

Please join our next class Zoom, Thursday, May 9 at 8p.m. ET!  Our program will star Susan Cartmell, who will lead us in a discussion based on her newly published book, The Perpetual Pivot:  Ministry in the Pandemic and Beyond. The link is below:

This Zoom will also involve a brief presentation by Alice Maroni about the MHC Alumnae Association’s proposed changes in the management of class treasuries.  The 1975 Class Board approved these changes unanimously during an April board meeting, but all class members must vote on these proposals in late June.  If the changes are approved, our class dues will still be collected by the 1975 treasurer.  Dues will finance special Class of ’75 events at our 50th Reunion next year.  If your surname appears below, you have paid, and if not, you are invited to mail a check for $50 payable to the MHC Class of ’75 to Alice Maroni, 15 Franklin Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. 

Berney, Brown, Budden, Buendo, Campbell, Crosby, Colman, Dillingham, Ducat, Ellington, Epstein, Fine, Fischer, Foster, Fotiades, Gavalis, Geller, Gerber, Grealish, Grout, Hirsch, Hunter, Jukofsky, Kadlec, Koltes, Kozer, Lawrence, Leber, Lipschutz, Lovelace, Lucas, Lundin, Maroni, Milnor, Murphy, Owens, Pascale, Porrazzo, Seibert, Shelly, Sims, Sosnow, Souder, St. John, Stein, Stone, Tassinari, Teasdale, Terrazas, Walgren, Weinbarger, Wellvang, Welsh, White.

Last but not least, mark your calendars….OUR 50TH REUNION IS MAY 22-25, 2025!  You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime milestone event!

Best wishes,

Elizabeth Stone, Class Co-president

Happy New Year, Classmates-  Wishing you all happiness, peace, prosperity, and health in 2024!  This year, we will kick off our class activities for the year with a Trivia Night on January 30, at 8p.m. Eastern Time.  Holly Hughes will be back by popular demand, hosting another evening of trivia fun, and we hope to see you virtually on the 30th!  Please note that for this event, advance registration is required.

When: Jan 30, 2024 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkd-qtrzIrEtKTtY3Ey11FHCo1oYDptvas

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thank you to all class board members who have been volunteering for you behind the scenes.   In November, the board networked with current students in a virtual meeting with the Class of 2025 Class Board.  The current MHC juniors were very interested in learning what the Class of ’75 did for Junior Show!  Board members have also been reaching out to classmates on behalf of the Development Office, and in January,  will participate in initial Alumnae Association reunion planning.

We are now seventeen months away from our 50th Mount Holyoke Reunion. To reintroduce you to your board,  read on…

Co-presidents:  Elizabeth Stone, elizabethmstone2712@gmail.com  and Sandi Carbonari Welsh, sandiwelsh12@gmail.com Contact the co-presidents for general info or to inform MHC of serious illness or death of a ’75.

Reunion Co-chairs:  Judy Karlen Stein, judystein13@gmail.com and Linnea Wiltenberg Grealish, linnea1027@comcast.net  Write the reunion chairs for suggestions about the 50th reunion or to host a mini reunion in your area.

Co-treasurers:  Alice Maroni, ac108@gmail.com and Coral Grout, cmgrout@comcast.net. If you haven’t already, please send a check for class dues of $50 to Alice at 15 Franklin St., Alexandria, VA 22314.  Class dues are not a donation to MHC, but will be used for 50th Reunion activities specific to our class.

Head Class Agents:  Ruth Dillingham, ruthdillingham@gmail.com and Sandy Fotiades sfotiades@comcast.net.  Our head class agents can help you make a generous gift to MHC.  Remember, a gift in any amount given this year is applied to our class 50th Reunion gift.

Nominating Committee:  Elaine Coutanche Minor, elainemilnor@hotmail.com  Dale Bonner Murphy, dbmotr@aol.com  Denise Schutzenberger Terrazas, deniseol@aol.com   To nominate anyone for a future class board position, please contact any of these alumnae.

Website:  Rhonda Berney,  berneymd@sonic.net  Rhonda maintains the class website at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu  Past newsletters are available on the website.

Zoom administrator:  Coral Grout, cmgrout@comcast.net  Coral keeps us in touch virtually by setting up and moderating our class Zooms.

Class Scribe:  Eileen Leahy Epstein, batescolby@gmail.com  Eileen not only writes about class news in the Alumnae Quarterly, but also maintains online class news available at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu. Write Eileen anytime you have anything to report about your life.

Again, best wishes for 2024,

Elizabeth  Stone, Co-president

Dear Classmates,

     This is a reminder to kick off the holiday season with Mount Holyoke ’75 friends this Thursday, Nov.30, at 2p.m. Eastern Time!  Join panelists Mary Jane Cowles, Nancy Bourne Haley and Eileen Leahy Epstein for their program, “Experiences and Adventures in France”.  Besides having some French food & drink with you, you might also want to have a map of France to consult as the speakers identify different areas in the country.  Hope you can attend and share some of your favorite destinations in France!  Here is the link:

     For French speakers in the Class of ’75,  Kim Hunter invites you to join a French language Mount Holyoke Zoom group hosted by  Mèryem Puill-Châtillon ’80.  The group meets virtually every other week for an hour of French conversation and fun.   Are you eager to practice your French and connect with Francophile alums from all over the world?  Then send Mèryem an email at meryem.puill@wanadoo.fr

     Tonight, November 27, your 1975 Class Board is having an online meeting with the MHC Class of 2025 Class Board.  The Class of 2025 is our Connections Class, the students who will graduate as we reunite for our 50th Reunion.  We look forward to chatting with these engaging young women to find opportunities to interact with them between now and May 2025.  

     Last week, as my husband and I drove home to Michigan after Thanksgiving in Massachusetts, we stopped briefly in South Hadley.  I expected Mount Holyoke’s lawns to be torn up from construction related to the geothermal energy conversion project, but that was not the case…the campus looked beautiful, even in late November.  I walked my dog along one of the newly creating walking trails on Prospect Hill, and saw parts of the College grounds that I didn’t know existed.  Did you know that the entire MHC campus has deservedly been designated as an arboretum?

     Lastly, I am sorry to inform you of the deaths of two classmates, Anyse Storey and Fontaine Tebo.  Anyse was a urologist in Toledo,OH and Fontaine was a middle school counselor in Kansas City, MO. Here are links to their obituaries:  For Anyse, https://www.houseofday.com/memorials/anyse-storey-taylor/5266006/ and for Fontaine, https://www.souderfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/FONTAINE-Frances-Tebo?obId=29655791

It is often months after an alumna passes away that her heirs send the College a death notice, but to inform you of deaths more promptly in the future, I will send out separate emails to the class upon receipt of a death notice.  Please contact me if you hear of a classmate who is seriously ill or who has passed away.

With best wishes for your health and happiness this holiday season,

Elizabeth Stone, Class of ’75 Co-president

elizabethmstone2712@gmail.com

MOUNT HOLYOKE CLASS OF 1975 SUMMER 2023 NEWSLETTER

Dear Classmates,

With many members of our class living under heat domes, others breathing air from Canadian wildfires, and still others enduring storm-related power outages, there is good news about how Mount Holyoke is dealing with climate change.  This summer, many of the lawns on campus are torn up as a campus-wide geothermal heating and cooling system is installed.  MHC will no longer rely on fossil fuels to keep the College buildings warm in winter and cool in summer, and will achieve carbon neutrality ahead of schedule.  How times have changed!  In our day, I recall some students kept dorm windows open in the depth of winter because ancient radiators overheated their rooms, while other rooms in the same dorm were cold.  Then came the Arab oil embargo and the energy conservation initiative, e=MHC 73, when thermostats were lowered uncomfortably across campus.  We can all be glad those days are over at Mount Holyoke!

This summer, we have sponsored two class events to make new friendships and network, a mini-reunion in New York City, and a Berkshires mini-reunion which will be held August 4.  Thanks to Class Reunion Chairs Judy Karen Stein and Linnea Wiltenburg Grealish for planning and hosting these fun events.  If you wish to attend the Berkshires festivities, please contact Judy judystein13@gmail.com as soon as possible.

In the fall, our class will resume our well-attended Zooms.  First, we will have a presentation on travel and living in France, featuring classmate Mary Jane Cowles, retired Professor of French at Kenyon College and possibly other ‘75 francophiles, moderated by Eileen Leahy Epstein, who has traveled in France extensively herself.  Later in autumn, Eileen will host a panel discussion with classmates who have recently moved.  If you are thinking of moving to live in a new location in retirement, to downsize, or to be near family members, this Zoom will be for you!  Watch your inboxes for details on these upcoming events.

Do you admire a special classmate for her professional achievement?  If so, Melissa Sherman Tassinari, chair of the Alumnae Association’s External Awards Committee, would like to hear from you.  At our 50th Reunion in 2025, we hope that the Alumnae Association can honor ’75’s with exemplary careers. In addition, the Alumnae Association Internal Awards Committee, chaired by Marianne Fouhey ’78, recognizes alumnae for service to MHC.  Please nominate a classmate for an award by emailing Melissa at melissa.s.tassinari27@gmail.com

Denise Schutzenberger Terrazas still has a few reunion books from our 45th Reunion in 2020, and she would like to send them to people who missed getting one three years ago.  If you’d like one of these books, please email Denise at deniseol@aol.com  Thank you! 

Our Head Class Agents Ruth Dillingham and Sandy Fotiades are pleased that members of the Class of 1975 gave $217,970 to Mount Holyoke for the fiscal year which ended June 30.    However, Ruth and Sandy have even higher aspirations for us in the coming year!  If you have not made a gift to MHC in recent years, please consider doing so through the college website.  Any donation given now counts toward our 50th Reunion gift.

Class Treasurers Alice Maroni and Coral Grout urge everyone to pay 2020-2025 class dues of $50 by sending a check to Alice at 15 Franklin St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3828.  The more dues we collect now, the better our Reunion Chairs can budget for the festivities at our 50th Reunion.  Below are the surnames of those who have paid to date.  Thank you!

Berney, Brown, Burden, Buendo, Campbell, Crosby, Dillingham, Ducat, Ellington, Epstein, Fine, Foster, Fotiades, Franchi, Gavalis, Geller, Gerber, Grealish, Grout, Hirsch, Hunter, Jukofsky, Kadlec, Koltes, Koser, Leber, Lipschutz, Lovelace, Luca, Lundin, Maroni, Milner, B. Murphy, D. Murphy, Owens, Pascale, Porrazzo, Seibert, Sherry, Sims, Sosnow, Souder, St. John, Stein, Stone, Tassinari, Teasdale, Terrazas, Walgren, Weinbarger, Wellvang, Welsh, White.

Lastly, I am sorry to report the death of one our our classmates, Liz Abrams Thompson, whose obituary is at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/elizabeth-thompson-obituary?id=52539951  If you have heard of any other ’75’s who have passed away recently, please contact me at elizabethmstone2712@gmail.com or co-president Sandi Carbonari Welsh at  sandiwelsh12@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Stone, Co-President