Category: President

Nov 15 2023

Sad News: Joy Whiteley Ackerman

  • November 15, 2023

Hello everyone, I have some very sad news to report.  Our classmate, Joy Whiteley Ackerman, passed away unexpectedly at her home on September 21st.  

I feel fortunate that Joy maintained ties with our class and I’m so glad she came to the last reunion and was able to spend time with everyone.  She also recently participated in our Knit-A-Long and Virtual Book Club meetings, and it was so great to see her at these events.  

Below is her obituary:

Publication: The Millbury-Sutton Chronicle
Date: 10/06/23

 JOY ACKERMAN Joy W. (Whiteley) Ackerman, 68, of Keene, NH and formerly
of Sutton, MA, passed away unexpectedly at home on Thursday, September
21, 2023. She was born a daughter to Marilyn P. (Van Orden) and Roger
L. Whiteley on March 24, 1955, in Bethlehem, PA. Joy attended Saucon
Valley High School, graduating in 1973. Joy earned a BA in Geology at
Mount Holyoke College and an MS in Environmental Geology at Colorado
State University in Ft. Collins, CO. Joy continued her education at
Antioch University New England in Keene, earning her Ph.D. in
Environmental Studies. On October 29, 1979, Joy exchanged vows with
her high school sweetheart, Michael T. Ackerman. He predeceased her in
2011. Joy was fortunate enough to find love again. She married Richard
“Rick” S. McVoy on July 19, 2014. They had a beautiful service with
family and friends surrounding them at the St. John’s Episcopal Church
in Sutton, MA. Joy was employed by Antioch University New England,
Keene, NH, teaching Environmental Studies for 30 years until she
retired in 2019. She was awarded Professor Emeritus in 2020.
Previously, Joy worked for Interdisciplinary Environmental Planning
(IEP) in Keene. She always worked in Government and Private
Enterprises in Environmental Affairs. Joy loved spending time with her
grandchildren, helping with their care. She spent hours in the garden,
cooking, and canning. She and Rick enjoyed hiking, kayaking, biking,
and walking their dog. She was a member of St. James Episcopal Church
in Keene, the Order of Julian of Norwich, the Thoreau Society, the NH
Master Gardeners, and Petersham Curling Club. Dr. Ackerman is survived
by her parents, Marilyn, and Roger Whiteley of Bethlehem; her husband,
Rick McVoy of Keene; her two children, Mary E. Maloney and her
husband, Nick of Cranston, RI; Rachel A. Ackerman and her husband,
Michael Bailey of N. Smithfield, RI; her two stepsons, Christopher A.
McVoy of Shirley, NY; and Jeffrey M. McVoy and his wife, Chelsea of
Ashburnham, MA. She is also survived by her three siblings, Jon L.
Whiteley and his wife, Denise Kassebaum of Denver, CO; Joanne “Jody”
L. Burtner and her husband, John of Sylva, NC; Jeffrey L. Whiteley and
his wife, Denice of Perkasie, PA; her six grandchildren, Spencer
McVoy, Aaron McVoy, Sydney McVoy, Henry Bailey, Theodore “Teddy”
Bailey, Gryfinn “Finn” Maloney; along with many cousins, nieces,
nephews, extended family and friends.

Memorial donations can be made
to: St. James Episcopal Church (44 West St., Keene, NH 03431), Order
of Julian of Norwich (W704 Alft Rd., White Lake, WI 54491), or Society
of St. John the Evangelist (980 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02138. As
a way of helping heal the grief the family asks that you write down
stories of how Joy was part of your life. They may be sent via email
to: clanmcvoy@gmail.com. Services will be announced online at a later
date. All services are under the care of Cheshire Family Funeral
Chapel and Crematories, 44 Maple Ave. Keene, NH. 03431.
www.cheshirefamilyfh.com.

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2023/11/15/sad-news-joy-whiteley-ackerman/

Aug 08 2023

Connecting With The Class of 2027 – September 1st Opportunity

  • August 8, 2023

Hello all, and I hope you are enjoying the rest of your summer. It’s hard to believe but the 2023-2024 year at MHC is beginning soon, and since we are headed towards our 50th reunion, the Class of 1977 is the “Connections Class” with the incoming Freshman class. Below is a brief summary of the background of this program, and you will be hearing more about this over the next couple of years.

 

Overview

As alumnae classes prepare for their fiftieth reunion, many choose to initiate a “connection” with the class that is fifty years younger, in order to find common ground between generations. Classes approaching their fiftieth have supported the newest members of the Mount Holyoke community by holding special campus events, offering encouragement through letters and emails, and participating in Mount Holyoke traditions.

The relationship between fifty-year connection classes is unique to each pairing and dependent upon the interest, commitment, and investment of both groups. Learn more about the history of the program in this article from the summer 2015 issue of the Alumnae Quarterly (alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blog/meaningful-moments).

 

Goals

  •  Grow the base of connected alumnae through involvement with classmates and with current students (specifically in the years leading up to the fiftieth reunion)
  • Create cross-generational learning opportunities and foster community between alumnae and students
  • Demonstrate the network of support that exists within the alumnae community

 

And for our 14 (and possibly 16) classmates who are part of the Pairing Project with incoming International Students, this might be a perfect time to meet your “Pair” face-to-face.

BTW, you may wonder why I am sending this to the entire class, but I have realized that many of you might be in the South Hadley area from time to time, so I don’t want to assume that only Massachusetts alums could get to College for the Orientation.

I hope some of you will be able to represent our Class on September 1st, and also get to “connect” with fellow ’77 classmates.

Fondly,

Liz

 

 

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2023/08/08/connecting-with-the-class-of-2027/

Feb 28 2023

Good Morning America interview with Debra Martin Chase ’77

  • February 28, 2023

Good Morning America highlighted trailblazing MHC alum Debra Martin Chase ’77 as part of their celebration of Black History Month. Congratulations!!!
 
Check out the interview. 
 
 
 
 

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2023/02/28/good-morning-america-interview-with-debra-martin-chase-77/

Feb 06 2023

Invitation to Our First Virtual Book Club Meeting Thursday March 30th at 8:00 EST

  • February 6, 2023

Hello everyone, I hope you all had an excellent holiday season, maybe seeing lots of family or taking time for some introspection.  

After the outstanding book review we had at reunion, many people suggested that we keep doing this throughout the year.   You all have heard me talk about my objective to foster Connection, Communication and Connectivity, and I think a MHC Class of 1977 Book Club would do just that.  

 

So…., with the help of Susan Granahan Colgan, we are taking the plunge and offering a virtual Book Club discussion, with plans to do this every quarter.  For the first one we will be reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, and even if you have already read it, please plan on joining the discussion, or maybe you want to read it again (Susan is going to).  Susan and I decided we will make this first one somewhat informal, and she and I will come with some questions to spark the conversation, but knowing our class, and how smart and thoughtful we are, I don’t think we will have any trouble talking amongst ourselves about the book.  

 

My plan is to suggest a book at the beginning of every quarter (I know I’m a little late this quarter) and hold the discussion at the end of the quarter.  So for this one, we have picked the date of Thursday, March 30th, 8pm EST, so our friends in the middle of the country and the West Coast can join at a reasonable time.  The Zoom call invite is below.

And I am hoping that for this first meeting, after we discuss the book we can talk about the path forward, how we will pick books, who might want to help lead the discussion, etc. etc. So please come with some ideas to share. 

 

Susan and I can’t wait for this first one! And if we have a lot of participants, we can break out into smaller groups, as necessary.  If you can let me know if you are planning on joining (lizgershon@att.net, 201-513-6310 – cell and text), then we’ll have an idea of how many of you will join.  And please do not hit “reply” to this email since it basically goes nowhere and I won’t get your message, so just email me directly or call or send a text. 

 

Looking forward to seeing many of you to discuss Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus on Thursday, March 30th at 8pm EST.

 

Fondly, 

 

Liz

 

Topic: MHC Class of 1977 Book Club Discussion

Time: Mar 30, 2023 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84240754356?pwd=NWF6U1VhNDhLSGEveGlsRUUvRGRIUT09

Meeting ID: 842 4075 4356

Passcode: 276668

 

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2023/02/06/invitation-to-our-first-virtual-book-club-meeting-thursday-march-30th-at-800-est/

Dec 13 2022

Recording & Slides from Learning About Osteoporosis and Cardiology/Electrophysiology Meeting Now Available

  • December 13, 2022

On December 8th we had an outstanding Zoom call, Learning About Osteoporosis and Cardiology/Electrophysiology, led by our amazing classmates, Dr. Cathy Kowal-Montecalvo ’77 and Dr. Jodie Hurwitz ’77. We had 42 classmates and friends participate for the entire 90 minutes, with many asking specific questions about their health or just general questions on the topic.

The feedback has been great, with comments like “Jodie’s explanation was so on point and helpful!!”, “I take medication for osteoporosis and it was so helpful to have Cathy explain the possible medications to take and the advantages and disadvantages of each”, “Knowing why pickleball is not a great activity for me since I have Osteoporosis was disappointing but important to know why”, You have to tip your hats to Jodie and Cathy for being so bright! I can’t imagine how Jodie learned all this and has done these procedures. I was amazed!”, and so on.

Cathy and Jodie both said that if anyone has more questions for them, they are happy to discuss it, so feel free to contact them, their info is on the Alumnae Directory on the alumnae website (https://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu).

And many of you have already reached out to ask if there is a recording of the Zoom call, and I’m happy to report that we did record it and you can listen to it right here.

Video: vimeo.com/user128230132/ 

PPT: mch talk

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2022/12/13/recording-slides-from-learning-about-osteoporosis-and-cardiology-electrophysiology-meeting-now-available/

Dec 03 2022

Class Zoom Call Thursday December 8 @8:00 pm EST: Learn About Cardiology/Electrophysiology and Osteoporosis with our Class Doctor

  • December 3, 2022

 

Learning About Cardiology/Electrophysiology and Osteoporosis 

 

Dear Classmates – as I mentioned in my November e-blast, I want to continue our Zoom discussions, helping to keep us all Connected and leveraging all the talents and expertise of our amazing Class. 

 

Our first Zoom discussion since the reunion is about learning about how to take care of our health and the health of our family and friends, on two topics:

 

Electrophysiology and the study of heart rhythm problems with Dr. Jodie Hurwitz, Cardiologist:

 

Jodie specializes in heart rhythm issues and LOVES to talk about palpitations, rapid heartbeats, tachycardia, supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and so on (lots of medical terminologies here!).  She does procedures called ablations using both cold and hot energy and will talk about that and how it is done and why. She puts in pacemakers, defibrillators and special devices for heart failure patients

 

Jodie went to Albert Einstein College of Medicine and did an internship/residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas and a Cardiology/Electrophysiology fellowship at Duke.  She was an Assistant Professor at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is a partner at North Texas Heart Center in Dallas since 1993.  She is the head of Electrophysiology at North Texas Heart Center and at their hospital: Medical City Heart and Spine Hospital.  And as she told us at the reunion, she is the President-Elect of The Heart Rhythm Society, which is a really big deal!

 

Overview of osteoporosis with current treatments and controversies about treatments with Dr. Cathy Kowal–Montecalvo, Rheumatologist:

 

Cathy graduated from the American University of the Caribbean with her MD and did her internship, residency, and fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been in private practice for 30 years in Naples Florida.  Cathy is the former president of Collier County Medical Society, is on the Florida Medical Society Board of Governors and the Board of the Florida Society of Rheumatology.  She is the Founder of the Women’s Health Forum in Naples, the Head of the Women’s Physician Group in Collier County, and the recent Physician of the Year of Collier County. And she is an Adjunct Professor at the NOVA physician assistant program. 

 

Wow! We sure are lucky to have these two incredibly distinguished doctors, and wonderful classmates, leading this Zoom call so I hope as many of you as possible can join.  And please have friends or family members who are interested in these two topics join you for this discussion, or share the Zoom link with them so they can participate.  I know there are so many people out there who are interested in osteoporosis and electrophysiology and have lots and lots of questions, and we surely have the experts.  So please bring your questions with you and there will be plenty of time to discuss these with Jodie and Cathy.

 

Here is the link for next Thursday’s call at 8 pm EST: 

 

Liz Gershon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

 

Topic: Class of 1977 Zoom Call: Learning About Electrophysiology and Osteoporosis 

Time: Dec 8, 2022 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81990831763?pwd=cHdGVmozdU93WGxTSERkaFEyMys3QT09

 

Meeting ID: 819 9083 1763

Passcode: 026495

One tap mobile

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Dial by your location

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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdw3PeOAEM

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone next week, 

Fondly,

Liz

Permanent link to this article: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1977/2022/12/03/class-zoom-call-thursday-december-8-800-pm-est-learn-about-cardiology-electrophysiology-and-osteoporosis-with-our-class-doctor/