President's Message

Dear Northern California Alumnae:

Nothing says confidence like laughing, albeit somberly, in the face of a weakened endowment. Yet laugh is exactly what MHC President Joanne Creighton did during a recent California stop on her farewell tour of MHC alumnae clubs. Named an honorary alumna in 2009, Creighton projects the very confidence that graduates tell her they take as a gift from MHC. Such confidence speaks volumes, as it is usually hard-won by enduring bumps and tumbles on the road to some pretty amazing accomplishments.

Even as Creighton said that the College couldn't survive without the support of its alumnae, she spoke with optimism. She proudly told of a college that hews to its original mission while updating its infrastructure and adapting its offerings to meet the needs of a new generation. As an example, she touted the Nexus program, which helps students prepare for careers by combining academic learning and real-world experiences. In addressing the College's financial situation, she highlighted cost-saving synergistic approaches toward such non-academic departments as security that members of the Five-College Consortium have jointly undertaken. And she encouraged us to keep providing financial support to the institution that has given us so much.

I chatted with a number of women at the gathering. As they talked about their lives, all projected the sense of can-do confidence of which Creighton spoke. One, a graduate student in psychology at Stanford, said she hopes to explore what factors motivate people. Her curiosity was piqued, no doubt, by spending four years among intensely self-motivated young women! Another was an IT consultant more focused on doing good work than on having plenty of it. Instead of charging her clients for implementing easy-to-use websites, she helped them launch the sites and train students to implement them. Still another lavishly praised President Creighton's accomplishments and announced to the audience that she would write a check to the College that evening. When I stopped at her table to compliment her eloquence, she credited the College. "Well, I am a Mount Holyoke graduate!" she proclaimed. "Enough said," I laughed. What I meant was, "Right on!"

Peri Caylor