In this issue…

Volume 2 • 12 December 2007 • Issue 9

	Welcome from the Executive Director Green greetings		Alumnae Nominations Nominate an outstanding alumna
	Alumnae Quarterly Be part of a future article		Cori’s Career Corner Wanted: alumnae career stories
	News & Events MHC alumnae in the media		Online Class Notes Read the latest news from your sister alumnae

Welcome from the Executive Director

or several weeks now, we’ve all been hearing about how to have a “green” holiday season. We’ve been urged to plant trees as well as decorate them, give earth-friendly gifts (a donation to the Sierra Club instead of a new scarf?), and leave a smaller carbon footprint (fewer trips to the mall in the S.U.V.!). What I also like about a green holiday is that it encourages us to focus on loving actions rather than things. It invites us to mindfully connect with one another, instead of mindlessly consume for the sake of tradition. (Consuming large amounts of chocolate, though, is one tradition worth keeping. Ditto for butter cookies.) But the point is well taken. How to both splurge and conserve?

In this regard, Mount Holyoke alumnae are my inspiration. We give back more than we take. We’ve been taught to be stewards—of the College and of the world the next generation will inherit. And part of caring for our community is the act of true celebration. This idea struck me powerfully during the Sunday performance of the annual Christmas Vespers in Abbey Chapel. As the processional entered the chapel by candlelight, singing the traditional Gregorian chant, I felt my spirits rise along with the gorgeous voices. With everyone else who had braved the cold that day to attend the concert, I was being lifted. The timeless tradition of Vespers, like so many of our Mount Holyoke traditions, has nothing to do with glitz and everything to do with a genuine richness of experience. I left feeling a part of something enduring and joyful—an apt description, as I think of it, of the College itself.

What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate the holidays? What are your cherished traditions? Here on campus, plans are underway to ring in 2008 with a new tradition: a nationwide teach-in on climate change solutions, Focus the Nation. In January, more than one thousand educational and social institutions will take part in what will be the largest national teach-in in U.S. history—and Mount Holyoke was one of the first to sign up.

I’m signing up now for a year of peace, prosperity, and conscious living. I warmly invite you to join me.

With best wishes for a lovely holiday,

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83
Executive Director, Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College

Alumnae Nominations

he Alumnae honors research Committee is always on the lookout for nominations in the following award categories:

Alumnae Trustee:  Selected for willingness and ability to involve herself actively in the workings of the College, participate in the policy making discussions of the Board of Trustees, and use her expertise in special areas to enrich those discussions. Deadline for submission: January 15, 2008.

Mary Lyon Award: Awarded to a young alumna who has been out of College fifteen years or less, who demonstrates promise or sustained achievement in her life, profession, or community consistent with the humane values which Mary Lyon exemplified in her life and inspired in others.

Achievement Award: Presented to an alumna whose achievements and service to the larger society, through salaried or volunteer fields of endeavor, exemplify the ideals of excellence of a liberal arts education, who uses her talents with professional distinction, sustained commitment, and creativity, and who reflects the visions and pioneering spirit of Mary Lyon.

Alumnae Honorary Degrees: Awarded to an alumna of genuine achievement and distinction who has contributed to learning in the arts and sciences or who has contributed to society in some service, career or otherwise, distinguished for both intellect and character.

Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award: Given periodically to an outstanding alumna educator in any discipline—including alumnae in higher education and at the K-12 level—this award honors the service given to the College, and to education in general, by former president Elizabeth Topham Kennan ’60.

If you would like to nominate an alumna, please visit our Web site to submit a recommendation form.

Be Part of a Future Quarterly Article

he Alumnae Quarterly magazine staff seeks alumnae with experience with and/or information about the topics below. We’re planning an article on each one, and seek appropriate interviewees.

• For our “Downshifting” feature, we seek alumnae who have taken jobs with lower pay/prestige in order to achieve greater life balance. (What did you leave, and what did you gain in the process?)

• For our “Like Father, Like Daughter” feature, we seek alumnae who have taken over a business from their fathers.

• For our “Shades of Green Living” feature, we seek alumnae who are living environmentally conscious lifestyles. (How have you changed your life to make it “greener”?)

Please send your name and contact info., along with a brief description about why we should interview you (and for which topic), to Emily Weir: eweir@mtholyoke.edu or c/o Alumnae Quarterly, Alumnae Assn., MHC, 50 College St., S. Hadley, MA 01075-1486.

Cori’s Career Corner

appy Holidays! I look forward to the season, and to all the promise of a new year. January will find me at the 2008 annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. I’ll be speaking on a panel, “Redefining Paradigms of Success,” that will look at women’s career paths and how they vary from men’s. I have quite a bit to say on the topic, but I’d also like to share your stories. I’m looking for personal accounts of how Mount Holyoke alumnae are handling career, home, and family—the complex balancing act that defines so many women’s lives today. Got a story to share? I’d love to hear it! Please e-mail me at cashwort@mtholyoke.edu anytime between now and January 5.

Here’s another question for you: are you familiar with Catalyst? It’s a nonprofit corporate membership research and advisory organization working globally with businesses and the professions to expand career opportunities for women. I recently found two particularly interesting articles on the Catalyst Web site that gave me new insights on women and business. A study sponsored by the Chubb Corporation that was released in October reports that Fortune 500 companies with more women serving on the board of directors experience higher financial performance than those companies with the lowest board representation of women. More…

News & Events

Online Class Notes

o read more online class notes, or post your own notes and photos, please visit our Web site.

Jennifer Atwater ’90 writes, “I don’t think I’ve announced the birth of any of my kids! Such is life with three! I have a 6 year-old son named Jimmy, a 4 year-old daughter named Amelia and my baby girl (who is now 2!) is Mary Kate. We live just outside the city limits of Baltimore, MD. I teach journalism at Towson University. I stopped TV reporting full time when I had my second child…”

Nadene Tabari Bradburn ’94 writes, “Hello from gorgeous Upstate NY! Binghamton has been a fantastic move for us! I have been with Lourdes Hospital for almost 2 years now, working to make sure our community has the physicians we need in an impending shortage situation. I work with a truly visionary and mission-driven group of leaders, who have confidence in me and give me free reign to explore opportunities…”

Tilda Kapuya ’98 received a MA in English from The Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury Coll. in July 2007.

Damaris Rivera Woodbury ’99 writes, “Markeisha and I packed our bags and left the Motor City and Chi-town for some much needed R&R at MHC for the Alumnae & Students of Color conference in early November. We gushed over how beautiful the campus is in the fall and all the amazing alumnae of color we reconnected with and then met. We replenished ourselves, became inspired…”

Courtney Hopf ’01 writes, “I’m very excited to be producing a short film with my husband, director Liam Creighton. The film is called “Julie, Julie” and will begin screening on the festival circuit in July 2008… Check out our video production blog. In the meantime, I’m also halfway through my PhD in English at the University of California, Davis, and I’m loving it out here.”

Amanda Russell Munroe ’03 and Patrick Munroe are happy to announce their marriage on October 20, 2007 in Acton, MA. They currently reside in Fayetteville, Georgia. Elizabeth Abbate (2003) and Sarah Signor (2005) were two of the four bridesmaids.