issue

the

Class of 2009

Mills QuarterlySummer 2009 Alumnae Magazine

CongrAtulAt ionS grAduAteS BeAt it with will iAM winAnt geAr up for reunion

Fiona McCann ’10 Major: Dance.

How Mills invests in Her: This year, Fiona received the Mary E. Lanigar Endowed Scholarship for students from Northern California.

wHat sHe likes Most about tHe Dance DepartMent: Classes contain undergraduates and graduate students, which adds a rich flavor to the learning experience—and provides more exposure to choreography than is usually available to undergraduates.

Make a gift by phone: talk to the student who calls you on behalf of the Mills College Annual Fund or call 510.430.2366.Send a gift in the enclosed envelope.Give online at www.mills.edu/giving.

Help more students like Fiona attend Mills!

“I’m a resumer and transfer student from a college where my favorite instructor was a Mills alumna. I like the balance between dance and academics at Mills and have enjoyed the intellectually stimulating environment in all my classes. I want to major in everything!”

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 1

Mills Quarterly

contents Summer 2009

169

Departments

2 LetterstotheEditor

3 LeadershipPerspectives

4 MillsMatters

20 Bookshelf

21 ClassNoteswith Notes from Near and Far: Alumnae Activities Report

30 InMemoriam

9 Commencement 2009 Fromstudentspeechestothekeynoteaddress,thepowerofeducationtoovercomeadversitywasathemefortheClassof2009.Plus:BentTwigs.

13 Pursuing passions, achieving excellence by Sarah Stevenson, MFA ’04Threeoutstandinggraduatesexemplifytoday’s“Millswoman.”

16 Bang a gong by Pamela WilsonWilliamWinant,MFA’82,wowstheworldofpercussionwithhisenergeticperformancesandgenre-breakingcollaborations.

18 Living a simple life by Linda SchmidtInconversationwithConvocationspeakerandReunionhonoreeStephanieMills’69,weexplorethejoysofcommunity,nature,andscalingback.

32 I came, I SAW, I conquered by Monique Parker ’04, MBA ’06 TheSummerAcademicWorkshopgavethiswoman—andhundredsofothers—thekeystosuccessintheclassroomandinhercareer.

“I encourage you to explore, to employ the privilege of this education.”—Commencement speaker Kavita Ramdas

On the cover: Alongwith242otherwomen,LilianGonzalezandNadineHachouchereceivedtheirbaccalaureatedegreesatMillsCollegeonSaturday,May16.TheCollegealsoawardedgraduatedegreesto219womenandmen,aswellasscoresofcertificatesandcredentialstostudentsinavarietyoffields.PhotobyBruceCook.

Reunion ’09Rediscovering Mills

October 1–4, 2009

Haveacommentoropinion?WritetousatMills Quarterly,MillsCollege,5000MacArthurBlvd.,Oakland,CA94613oremailquarterly@mills.edu.

2 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Alumnae Relations 510.430.2123 Alumnae-relations@mills.eduwww.mills.edu/alumnae Find out about Reunion, alumnae clubs, and events; update your contact information; and request our @mills enewsletter. LauraGobbi,Director....................510.430.2112

AlexandraWong,ProgramCoordinator................... 510.430.3363

CaitlinMcGarty,ProgramAssistant....................... 510.430.2123

Career Services 510.430.2130 Connect with other alumnae in your field through Mills’ career network.

Alumnae Admissions Representatives510.430.2135 Help prospective students learn more about the College.JoanJaffe,AssociateDeanofAdmissionEmail:Joanj@mills.edu

Giving to Mills www.mills.edu/givingMake gifts to the Mills College Annual Fund or the AAMC endowment. HollyStanco,AnnualFundDirectorEmail:hstanco@mills.edu..........510.430.2366

To contact any of these Mills College staff or offices by mail, please write to: Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613

Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC)Learn about AAMC membership, merchandise, travel programs, Board of Governors, committee meetings, or reach your elected representatives on the College’s Board of Trustees.Email:aamc@mills.edu.................510.430.2110

AnitaAragonBowers’63,President...................................... 510.430.3374Email:AnitaAragonBowers@alumnae.mills.edu

BillWhite,Accountant.................. 510.430.3373

To contact the Alumnae Association of Mills College, please write to: AAMC, P.O. Box 9998, Oakland, CA 94613-0998

At Mills, for Alumnae

Letters to the EditorThe relevance and currency of Mills was once more brought to light in the lat-est Mills Quarterly issue on sustainability. When I was at Mills in the early 1970s, we participated in the burgeoning green movement. It became part of our con-sciousness, though challenging to carry out in everyday life past college. In recent years the awareness of, participation in, and avenues for being green have blos-somed—and hopefully this time it is more than just a movement.

Like the three Mills graduates featured in the spring Quarterly, I have put the skills from my corporate career towards an environmentally friendly business, Beneterre (www.beneterre.com). We wanted to eliminate some of the barriers to being green by designing products that were appealing, functional, and friendly to the environment. Our line of shopping and

storage bags for groceries, produce, and travel are all made in America using sus-tainable or recycled fibers.

—Louise Hurlbut ’75Denver, Colorado

Thank you for acknowledging The passing of Dean Shirley Weishaar in your spring 2009 issue. Shirley was dean during my first year at Mills and the first person I met at Mills College. During the open-ing luncheon for the Summer Academic Workshop program, she introduced her-self and walked me across Toyon Meadow to hear President Holmgren speak at Mills Hall. That moment solidified my choice to attend Mills. Shirley was an incredible human being, my dear friend, and a great mentor. I miss her very much.

—Daisy Gonzales ’07 Fairfield, California

VolumeXCVIIINumber1(USPS349-900)Summer2009

President JanetL.Holmgren

Executive Vice President RamonS.Torrecilha

Director of Development and Alumnae Communications DawnCunningham’85

Managing Editor LindaSchmidt

Design and Art Direction NancySillerWilson

Contributing Writers MoniqueParker’04SarahStevenson,MFA’04PamelaWilson

Research and Editorial Assistance KelseyLindquist’10

Special Thanks To AnitaAragonBowers’63

TheMills Quarterly (USPS349-900)ispublishedquarterlybyMillsCollege,5000MacArthurBlvd.,Oakland,CA94613.PeriodicalspostagepaidatOakland,California,andatadditionalmailingoffice(s).Postmaster:SendaddresschangestotheOfficeofInstitutionalAdvancement,MillsCollege,5000MacArthurBlvd.,Oakland,CA94613.Copyright©2009,MillsCollege.

AddresscorrespondencetotheMills Quarterly, MillsCollege,5000MacArthurBlvd.,Oakland,CA94613.Letterstotheeditormaybeeditedforclarityorlength.

Email:quarterly@mills.eduPhone:510.430.3312

Printedonrecycledpapercontaining30percentpost-consumerwaste.

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 3

At Mills, for Alumnae

PerspectivesLeadershipEvery summer, the people who make up the Mills community are renewed in myriad ways. About one-third of our student body changes: a few months ago, 463 undergraduate women and graduate women and men successfully completed degrees at Mills and now, as summer draws to an end, we are wel-coming well over 500 outstanding new students to campus, drawn from our largest-ever applicant pool. We are also welcoming new tenure-track professors in English, education, and dance (and will begin several faculty searches this fall); new Trustees; a new vice president for institutional advancement; a new art museum director; and other talented fac-ulty and staff.

Also during the summer, our continu-ing students and faculty take a break from classes. Students typically use the time for internships, focused research or creative projects, jobs on or off campus, or travel. Our faculty renew themselves through their own research—often with the collaboration of their Mills students—and by developing new classes. While our students and faculty renew, the campus itself is a beehive of activity. This was the first summer that Mills hosted the Middlebury College Language Schools program, which brought some 300 stu-dents to live and study on campus.

Our campus is enjoying renewal this season, too. At the intersection of Richards and Kapiolani Roads, we’re putting the finishing touches on the “green” building for the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business. This new facility not only serves as a space for learning—students have already begun attending lectures and seminars there in multimedia-enabled rooms—but also symbolizes the connec-tions Mills builds between liberal arts education and graduate programs that prepare women for leadership. Alumnae who come back for Reunion in October

will have the opportunity to tour this contemporary architectural landmark and learn about the resource-saving fea-tures that make it a case study in environ-mentally sustainable design.

The concept of “institutional renewal” in higher education—coupled with the concept of sustainability—signifies all the ways that an institution grows and adapts in order to remain effective in pursuing its mission, including enrolling greater num-bers of students, building new facilities to accommodate new learning technologies and activities, redesigning curricula to meet the changing needs of our students, and hiring new faculty with expertise in evolving curricular areas.

The renewal taking place at Mills right now can’t be taken for granted, however. For many educational institutions, reces-sion has been a much stronger theme than renewal this summer. California’s public universities are faced with unprec-edented budget cutbacks requiring fur-loughs for faculty and staff, elimination of programs, reductions in enrollment, and steep tuition increases.

Whether a private college can pursue institutional renewal—or whether it finds itself defined by recession—depends in great part on the support of its alumnae/i. Mills has been fortunate that, to this day, alumnae from every class year regularly help renew the College by volunteering time and expertise, recruiting new stu-dents, and making gifts, including very generous bequests. Thanks to these con-tributions, Mills continues to invest in the excellence of our faculty, in the beauty of our campus, and in service to our stu-dents. We have made it a priority to keep Mills within the reach of students who are up to the intellectual challenges we offer. We’ve limited this year’s tuition increase to just 3 percent for undergraduates, and our commitment to providing scholar-ship support is stronger than ever.

To continue the pursuit of institutional renewal in the face of recession, Mills is calling upon alumnae to participate in a resurgence of support for the College. Last year, the rate of alumnae participa-tion in giving to the Mills College Annual Fund reached 27 percent. By the end of June 2010, we hope to achieve a 35 per-cent participation rate. In time, we aim for our rate to rival that of other top women’s colleges, some of which boast annual sup-port from 50 percent of their alumnae.

We are also looking forward to a con-tinued resurgence in Reunion attendance this year. Participation in Reunion 2008 was more than 50 percent higher than the preceding year, and early registra-tions for Reunion 2009 promise another great turn-out. When you come back for Reunion, you not only have the chance to witness the results of institutional renewal firsthand, but you also have the opportunity—through your presence and encouragement of our faculty and stu-dents—to help renew the collective power of our community.

Sincerely,Janet L. Holmgren

A Message from Mills College President Janet L. HolmgrenMills depends upon its alumnae for renewal

4 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

September17 Center for Socially Responsible Business Lecture7:00 pm, Lokey Graduate School of Business Gathering Hall, freeNoahAlper,founderofNoah’sBagels,speaksonintegratingcommunityservicewithbusiness.Formoreinformation,contactthecenterat510.430.3248orcsrb@mills.edu.

24 Latina Heritage Month: Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez7:00 pm, Rothwell Center Faculty–Staff Lounge, freeComemeetoneofthemothersoftheChicana/omovementandaninternationallyrecognizedleaderformultiracialjustice.MartinezhasbeeninvolvedinmostU.S.movementsforsocialjusticeoverthepasthalf-centuryandhaswrittenmanyacclaimedbooksandarticlesusedbyeducatorsandactivists

October1–4 Reunion 2009: Rediscovering MillsVisitwww.mills.edu/reunionorcall510.430.2123torequestafullbrochure.

12 Listen Up, Mr. President: An Insider’s View of Leadership with Journalist Helen Thomas and Congresswoman Barbara Lee ’737:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall, freeHelenThomas,WhiteHousebureauchiefforUPI,hascoveredtheadministrationof10U.S.presidentsinacareerspanningalmost60years.JoinherinconversationwithCongresswomanBarbaraLee’73foraninsider’slookattheWhiteHouse.Forinformation,contactBonnieGibson,bgibson@mills.eduor510.430.2040.

28 Can Women Make a Difference in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict?6:30 pm reception, 7:00 pm lecture, Lokey Graduate School of Business Gathering Hall, freeLindaGradstein,IsraelcorrespondentforNationalPublicRadiosince1990,sharesajournalist’sperspective.TheFriedkinLectureSerieswasmadepossiblebyagiftfromMortonandAmyRothschildFriedkin’68.RSVPtorsvp-oia@mills.eduor510.430.2373.

CalendarFor information about exhibitions in the Mills College Art Museum, see back cover.

This summer, the Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC) installed five new members on its Board of Governors. Julia M. Almanzan ’92 was elected Alumna Trustee by the general member-ship of the association and confirmed by the Mills College Board of Trustees at its May meeting. She will represent the voice of alumnae on the College board and serve on the AAMC board until June 30, 2012. (See more about Almanzan in the winter 2009 issue of Mills Quarterly.)

The following alumnae were nomi-nated as governors by the AAMC Nominating Committee and approved unanimously by the Board of Governors in May:

Darice Balabanis, MBA ’08, a Bay Area health and wellness business consultant. She serves on the AAMC Finance Committee as well as the Mills College Alumnae of Color Committee

Mills Mattersand has held leadership positions for the Black MBA Association and the Golden Gate Association of Health Underwriters. “I look forward to using my leadership, fundraising, and advocacy expertise to promote leadership and education to the Mills community through community outreach and service,” says Balabanis.

Lucy Do ’75, who has held various engineering and research and devel-opment positions with Cordis-Dow Corporation and Chevron Corporation, during which time she spent four years working in Kazakhstan. She and her hus-band now own and operate a mechanical manufacturing shop in Oakland. “My experience worldwide has fortified my conviction that education, especially for women, is an absolute requirement for the improvement of all lives,” Do says. She recently joined the AAMC Travel Committee.

Viji Nakka-Cammauf, MA ’82, presi-dent of Little Flock Children’s Homes, a ministry to orphans and widows. Nakka-Cammauf holds a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union and serves as an adjunct professor at American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley and Logos Evangelical Seminary in El Monte, California. As a Mills student, she served on the Alumnae Student Relations Committee. “As a member of the Board of Governors, I hope to strengthen the ties between the students and the Alumnae Association,” says Nakka-Cammauf.

Sharon Tong Pierson ’06, MBA ’07, a senior regulatory analyst at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Pierson says, “I hope to maintain an open and produc-tive relationship between the alumnae and the College so the entire Mills community can continue its tradition of teaching women to be strong, confident, and effective leaders.”

AAMC appoints new leadership

November7 Orange County Mills College Alumnae fall fundraiser 11:00 am, Newport Beach Yacht Club, 1099 Bayside Drive, Newport BeachBuyuniqueartworkbyMillsalumnaeatthebranch’sNovemberfundraisertosupportstudentscholarships.Forinformation,contactKirstenLynnChallman’89,949.244.8780orkirstenchallman@yahoo.com.

12 Dance concert honoring Ellen Rogers ’638:00 pm, Lisser Theater, freeFeaturingworksbyMillsdanceprofessorsMolissaFenley’75andSonyaDelwaide,JapaneseguestartistShinichiMomoIova-Koga,andothers.

12 Ethnic Studies at Mills: 40 Years of Struggle and Social Justice5:30 pm reception, 6:30 pm program, Student Union, freeCelebratethe40thanniversaryoftheMillsCollegeEthnicStudiesDepartment,oneofthefirstinthenation.JohnnellaButler,provostandvicepresidentofSpelmanCollege,presentsthekeynoteaddress.ContactJeanWong,510.430.2080orethnic@mills.edu.

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 5

Laleh KhadiviBobi Céspedes

Mills Music Now: Concert SeriesAll performances at 8:00 pm, Littlefield Concert Hall, $15 general, $10 seniors and non-Mills students, free with AAMC card. For more information, contact Steed Cowart, 510.430.2334 or steed@mills.edu.

October 2 Darius Milhaud ConcertFree. Seepage17.

October 10 Nick Didkovsky, Krys Bobrowski, and Cheryl LeonardAone-of-a-kindperformancebythefounderofavant-rockoctetDoctorNerve,asoundartistwhotransformseverydayobjectsintomusicalinstruments,andaperformerwhohasrecordedsoundinAntarctica.

October 15 Iva BittováTheCzechviolinistandsingersharesherpassionandtalentsonherfavoritemusicalinstrument.

October 30 Mills Performing Group: Music for Multiple PianosFeaturingtheworksofMortonFeldman,FredFrith,JoséMaceda,MeredithMonk,WolfgangAmadeusMozart,andSteveReich,MA’63.

November 7 Bobi CéspedesTheAfro-Cubansinger,dancer,andpercussionistperformsinfectiousCubandancemusic.

November 13 Center for Contemporary Music with Special Guest Stephen VitielloSoundartistVitielloperformswithcomposersfromtheCenterforContemporaryMusic.

Songlines Series: Symposia on Sound, Nature, Technology, and PerformanceAll events at 7:30 pm, Music Building Ensemble Room, free. For more information, contactJohn Bischoff, 510.430.2331 or bischoff@mills.edu.

October 19 Theresa WongThecomposerandcellistperformssongsanddiscussesherworkonthesite-specificimprovisedopera,O Sleep.

November 2 Thollem McDonas McDonasisknowforeclecticmusicwithinfluencesfromsymphonyconcertostoJavanesegamelantoafro-punkrock.

November 9 San Francisco Tape Music CollectiveAneveningofworksbymembersofthecollective,Millsstudents,andothers.

Contemporary Writers SeriesAll events are free in the Mills Hall Living Room, 5:00 pm–6:30 pm, unless otherwise noted. For more information, contact Stephanie Young, 510.430.3130 or syoung@mills.edu.

September 22 José Rivera5:30 pm. Riveraistheauthorof28playsand13screenplays,includingtheAcademyAward–nominatedscreenplayforThe Motorcycle Diaries.

October 13 Andrew Sean GreerGreerisauthorofThe Confessions of Max Tivoli,The Story of a Marriage,andothernovels.

November 3 Mark NowakTheauthorofCoal Mountain Elementaryhasfacilitated“poetrydialogues”withworkersaroundtheworld.

November 10 Mei-Mei BerssenbruggeBerssenbruggeteachesattheInstituteofAmericanIndianArtinNewMexico,hascollaboratedtoproduceseveraltheaterworks,andistheauthorofmultiplevolumesofpoetry.

November 17 Laleh Khadivi, MFA ’06, and Carolina de Robertis, MFA ’07Twonovelistsdiscusshowtheirexperi-encesinareasfromimmigrationtothecriminaljusticesystemhaveinfluencedtheirwriting.

There’s still time to register for Reunion 2009 and rediscover the Mills people and places that you love most. This issue of the Quarterly highlights a selection of Reunion events; for details on all the weekend’s activi-ties, see www.mills.edu/reunion or call 510.430.2123 to request a Reunion brochure. You may register online or by mail using the form in the brochure.

Reunion 2009 honors, in particular, the Golden Girls of 1959, alumnae from class years ending in 4 and 9, and this year’s recipients of the Alumnae Association of Mills College Awards.

Class Luncheon and AAMC Awards CeremonyGather with classmates at 11:45 am on Saturday, October 3, to enjoy lunch and toast three outstanding alumnae. Stephanie Mills ’69 will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award (see page 18); Leone LaDuke Evans, MA ’45, will take home the Outstanding Volunteer Award for her many years of extraordinary commitment and ser-vice to the AAMC and the College; and Angela Adams DeMoss, MA ’99, will receive the Recent Graduate Award for her enthusiastic participation in two Southern California alumnae branches, including serving as president of the Los Angeles Mills College Alumnae. Reunion registration required.

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09October 1–4, 2009

Andrew Sean Greer

At its May 2009 meeting, the Board of Trustees elected a new chair, two new vice chairs, and three new Trustees—and confirmed the AAMC Board of Governors’ election of new Alumna Trustee Julia Almanzan ’92.

Kathleen Burke, of Tiburon, California, who returned to the board for a second term last year after serving as a Trustee between 1998 and 2006, is the new chair. Prior to retiring in 2007, she was executive director of the Stupski Foundation, preceded by 20 years in the financial services industry, where she was the one of the highest-ranking women at Bank of America. “Chairing Mills’ Board of Trustees is a tremendous honor and a tremendous responsibility,” Burke said. “I went through a number of economic cycles while I was in financial services; with this background and a strong team of experienced Trustees, we will move forward on the strategic plan, maintain Mills’ legacy, and weather this economic storm.”

Nan Gefen, of Berkeley, the new first vice chair, is the founding editor of Persimmon Tree: An Online Magazine of the Arts by Women Over 60. Of her elec-tion, Gefen said, “I’m deeply honored to be the new first vice chair of the board. Mills College, which does such important work educating women for the 21st century, is very dear to my heart, and I’m pleased to be able to support it in this way.”

Helen Muirhead ’58, an artist and Tiburon resident, is the new second vice chair. She remarked, “I am honored to serve as second vice chair of the board. Mills College is an outstanding educa-

Mills College Trustees install new members

tional institution, and Mills students are the hope and bright light of our future.”

The following new Trustees were elected to begin terms on July 1:

Gordon H. Chong, FAIA, of Berkeley, an architect whose firm collaborated on the design of San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences and a Mills Trustee between 1997 and 2000;

Margaret B. Wilkerson, PhD, of Kensington, California, professor emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, former director of media, arts, and cul-ture at the Ford Foundation, and a Mills Trustee between 1999 and 2008; and

Alexandra Widmann ’08, of Carmichael, California, a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, who was president of Associated Students of Mills College in her senior year.

In addition, former board chair Vivian Stephenson was named Honorary Lifetime Trustee.

Florence Eyre Bryan ’46 (above) welcomed 75 members of the Cyrus and Susan Mills Society (CSMS) for a spectacular garden party on May 23 at her estate in the Napa Valley, Sycamore Vineyards. The party featured a wine tasting, a performance by flutist April Wood ’08, and an address by President Janet L. Holmgren. The CSMS honors individuals who give $1,500 or more to the College in a fiscal year.

The next event for CSMS members will be a breakfast with the President during Reunion on Saturday, October 3. For information on joining the CSMS, contact 510.430.2366 or mcaf@mills.edu.

6 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Kathleen Burke

Mills welcomes new Art Museum directorStephanie Hanor took the helm as assistant dean and director of the Mills College Art Museum on September 1. Hanor received her baccalaureate degree from Tulane University, her master’s from the University of Minnesota, and her doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin—all in art history. She joined the staff of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in 2001 and was promoted to senior curator and head of the curatorial department in 2007. During that time, she has been

responsible for several major exhibitions, presented solo exhibitions for younger artists, and overseen the installation of prominent outdoor works. Hanor suc-ceeds former Mills College Art Museum director Jessica Hough, who joined the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles as director of exhibitions and publications.

CSMS Spring Garden Party

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vis

Appointment of new vice president for institutional advancement

Cynthia Brandt Stover, a development and communications executive with a strong background in higher educa-tion, will become vice president for institutional advancement, commencing October 1, 2009. Her charge at Mills is to strengthen philanthropic partnerships with alumnae and friends of the College and implement strategies to achieve fundraising goals as well as to build a vibrant and responsive alumnae rela-tions program.

“I’m thrilled to join this community of people with a shared mission—to educate women for leadership,” Brandt Stover says. “I’m eager to get out and meet alumnae and parents in the Bay Area, California, and around the world. I want to hear about your experiences on campus, what you value about Mills, and how you would like to be involved with the College now.”

Brandt Stover comes to Mills after five years at Stanford University. She most

recently served as associate dean for external relations at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, where in 2008 her development team surpassed the five-year fundraising average by fifty percent, and also has served as director of development and associate director for the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Previous employ-ment includes three years as planned and major gifts officer of the National Wildlife Federation and work as a chari-table trust officer.

“Cynthia brings a dynamic personality and track record of professional success to this position,” says President Janet L. Holmgren. “Her strong academic back-ground and deep enthusiasm for Mills’ mission made her our top choice among a strong field of candidates.”

Brandt Stover studied English and art history as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University; she also holds an MA and PhD in sociology from

Stanford University.“My interest in philanthropy was

shaped in part by my own experience,” she says. “As a student I always had at least one job, but I also received gener-ous scholarships at both Vanderbilt and Stanford. I am grateful to the donors who supported my education and I am very motivated to provide educational opportunities for current and future generations of Mills students.”

Until June 30, 2010, you can establish a scholarship endowment at Mills College with a gift of $50,000, which may be paid over a five-year period. Each subsequent year, your endowment will generate scholarships that support outstanding Mills students. These scholarships will bear your name—or the name of someone you choose to honor—in perpetuity.

In July 2010, the minimum gift to fund an endowed scholarship will increase to $100,000. As student need for scholarship support increases, the College must seek larger endowments to meet this need. Today, Mills students receive an average financial aid award of more than $30,000 dollars. More than 20 percent of the College’s budget is devoted to financial aid.

To find out how you can establish a scholarship endowment at Mills, call 510.430.2097 or email donors@mills.edu.

A life-changing education for generations of Mills students far into the future.

Lina’s Legacy: Lina Au ’77 and her partner endowed the Lina Au and David Stranz Scholarship Fund in memory of her mentor Carol Lennox, Mills computer guru from 1971 to 2000. “I received a full scholarship to attend Mills, so it was important to me to give back to the College,” she says. “We set up the scholarship as a way to focus our philanthropic efforts and extend the opportunity of a Mills education to current and future students. We’ ll continue to contribute to the scholarship fund, even though it is now fully endowed.”

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 7

What can today’s investment of $50,000 yield?

Cynthia Brandt Stover

Lina Au and David Stranz

8 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Assistant Professor of Education Priya Shimpi knows exactly what she wants to do when she gets to Mills this fall: “I plan to work closely with students, guiding them in developing ideas that are both intellectually and personally fulfilling.”

Shimpi, who received her PhD in

developmental psychology from the University of Chicago, is one of three new tenure-track professors joining the Mills College faculty in the 2009–10 academic year. Her work focuses on language development in infants and children. As a researcher with the Ounce of Prevention Fund, an organization that works to close the achievement gap for children in poverty, Shimpi co-authored a grant implementing programs to improve the language and pre-literacy skills of children in the organization’s Head Start classrooms.

“As a teacher, my responsibility is to provide intense training in theory, to encourage active participation in research, and to help students become critical consumers of knowledge,” she says. “It is important to me that my stu-dents become experts at linking theory and practice so that they may be espe-cially effective teachers and advocates for young children.”

Patricia Powell, a visiting writer at Mills in 2007, is the newest addition to the English Department’s full-time faculty. In discussing the inspirations behind her writing, she says, “I write because I have so many questions and

Callers to Reinhardt Alumnae House are likely to hear a new friendly voice: that of Caitlin McGarty, who joined the Alumnae Relations staff as program assistant on July 31. McGarty will play a vital role in expanding the alumnae volunteer network and managing the Class Secretary Program.

A graduate of Tufts University, McGarty has organized successful events for her alma mater’s alumni in the Bay Area. For the past four years, she has worked as com-pany manager and casting assistant for TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, where she fulfilled a broad range of administrative and event responsibilities.

In May, Phoenix Reed Feinbloom ’93 joined the Office of Institutional Advancement as associate director of major gifts. Her personal experience of the benefits of a Mills education and extensive professional knowledge in fundraising and volunteer management make her an excellent ambassador for the College.

In addition to her Mills degree in music, Feinbloom earned her master’s in vocal performance at Mannes College in New York. She has held positions at Stanford University, the Marin Opera, and CMP Media.

New faces greet alumnae and donors

New faculty combine practice and instruction

Priya Shimpi and her son, Deven

Patricia Powellthere are no reasonable answers in sight; writing becomes a way of investigating.”

A graduate of Wellesley College, Powell has taught writing and literature courses at Stanford, Harvard, Queens, and Middlebury Colleges, and has pub-lished four novels. Her writing is defined by a passionate desire to deconstruct common misconceptions about the world around her. “I’m concerned about the way we live in the world, the injus-tices we heap onto other people because of difference—race, class, gender, sexual identity, cultural identity,” she says. “I should not have to be Chinese to write about the plight of the Chinese back in the 1800s or even today. I should not have to be gay or a gay man with AIDS to be concerned about the ways in which homophobia kills all of us, gay and straight alike.”

Also joining the English Department is Faith Adiele, distinguished visit-ing writer from 2009 to 2011. Adiele is author of Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun (W.W. Norton & Co., 2004), which received the PEN Beyond Margins Award in 2004. A widely published essayist and experi-enced teacher, she is developing a class at Mills based on Coming of Age Around the World, an anthology she co-edited.

Six years after her arrival at Mills as a visiting professor of dance, the College has granted Sonya Delwaide tenure track status as of fall 2009. Delwaide has taught, choreographed, and performed with a variety of dance institutions in the United States and Canada, includ-ing Ballet Austin, AXIS Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2, and Compagnie de Danse l’Astragale (Montreal). She has received grants from the Irvine Foundation, Zellerbach Family Fund, and Canada Council, and was honored with a Sarlo Award last year. Delwaide was listed as one of Dance Magazine ’s “Top 25 to Watch” in 2002 and won an Isadora Duncan Award for best ensemble performance in 2001.

—Kelsey Lindquist ’10

2009

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 9

Commencement

10 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Celebrate good times

Previous page, top then left to right: Vivianna Pena beams with pride. Child development majors Camellia Gaerlan, Amapola Obrera, and Caitlin Alegre-Thiry enjoy their big day. Jessica Brooks-Gary prepares to receive her master’s degree in educational leadership. Graduating becomes a team sport: Hannah Peragine, Lilian Gonzalez, Claudia Bugarin, Stacy Villalta, Paige Gardner, Trevina Caldwell, Daniella Pineda, Sarah Gonzalez.

This page, from top: Even the youngest fam-ily members take part in Degree Day. Ashley Aaron-Williams has no problem accessorizing her cap and gown. Senior student speaker Breyon “Boots” Austin (far left) shares some love with friends Bridget Carls, Jennifer Beitzell, and Alexa Hall.

Facing page: A flower gives Amelia Hogan’s ensemble a festive burst of color. Alumnae banner bearers make a proud entrance. Presentation of the Senior Class Gift.

T oday is The day you are going to hear the words of speakers who speak of courage, who speak of strength, and who speak of having built on their educational experience,” President Janet L. Holmgren said to the throng of Mills students, families, alumnae, and friends gathered for

Commencement on May 16. An optimistic outlook in the face of adversity was a recurring theme for the Class

of 2009. Students graduating this year know that economic times are tight and job prospects may be hard to come by, but the women of Mills seem unfazed by the obstacles that lie ahead—whether they be personal difficulties or social injustices.

“Education lies on my side,” said senior speaker Breyon “Boots” Austin, a political, legal, and economic analysis major. “I have an army, where the generals are my pro-fessors, and the soldiers are my fellow students, my weapons are my textbooks, my pen, my paper, my laptop, and my voice.”

Austin, who will study law at the University of New Mexico as the next step in her goal to empower underrepresented youth, had surprising words of encouragement for her compatriots: “You will fail. All of you…. But in this moment, you have a tre-mendous opportunity to determine where you want your life to go. Don’t let go of that for anything. Fail, make mistakes, and get back up.”

Graduate speaker Anita Kaur Sufi, who received her MA in educational leadership, has faced defeats and triumphs of her own. She came to Mills, she said, to discover “a new understanding of why I was an educator.” Sufi currently teaches at San Quentin State Prison, leading a class in which inmates write their life stories.

Sufi was once told by a high school counselor that she should pursue vocational training, but found the courage to determine her own path. She urged her Mills classmates to do the same: “Your stories matter, you matter. Your stories have formed you,” she said. “As you move out into the world you will form new narratives and, with those narratives, I believe you will create a world full of hope.”

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Keynote speakerKavita Ramdas, president and chief executive officer

of the Global Fund for Women,stoodastestamenttothenecessityoffindingyourownwayandthepowerofeducation.

AdropoutfromDelhiUniversityattheageof19,Ramdasadmittedshewasnotliving“thenicemiddle-classIndiangirlstoryline.”Togainexperienceoftheworldshewantedtosave,shewenttolaboralongsidevillagersinaruralareaofIndia.Itwasaneye-openingexperiencefortheidealisticyoungKavita.“NothingIhadseenuntilthenhelpedmeunderstandaworldwhereyoungwomenwereexpectedtobequiet,notvoiceanopinion,cook,clean,andserveeverymaleinthefamily,giveuptheirdreamsofschool,”shesaid.Itwasavillageelderwhosteeredheroutofthefieldsandbackintotheclass-room.“Mygranddaughterdreamsofgoingtoschool,”theoldmantoldher.“Youcanreadandwrite….Youreallywanttohelpus?Thenuseyoureducationandabilities.”

Ramdasreturnedtoschool,completingherundergraduatestudiesatMt.Holyoke,awomen’scollegeinMassachusetts,andamaster’sdegreeatPrincetonUniversity’sWoodrowWilsonSchoolofPublicandInternationalAffairs.OnCommencementDayatMills,shewasawardedanhonor-arydoctorateofhumaneletters.InadditiontoheadingtheGlobalFundforWomen,an

“One member of our class could not be here today, but she stands out in our memory and in our hearts,”

BrittanyTaylor-VernonsaidasshepresentedtheSeniorGifttoPresidentHolmgren.TheClassof2009raisedmorethan$6,000,withwhichabenchandolivetreehavebeenplacedoncampusinmemoryofBoitumelo“Tumi”McCallum,amemberoftheclasswhowaskilledbyherformerboyfriendinAugust2007.TheareanearMaryMorseHallwillserveasaplaceforallalumnaetoreflectonthemanywomenwhocamebeforethem.TheremainderofclassgiftfundswillbedirectedtoascholarshipestablishedatMillsinmemoryofMcCallum.

Is there a nurse in the house?Thanks to the collaboration of Mills College and Samuel Merritt University, the answer to this ques-tion will increasingly be “yes.”

On May 22, the first cohort of the Mills Nursing Program graduated from Samuel Merritt University after completing their first two years of study at Mills. This group consists of 11 of the original 12 students who enrolled in the program; the remain-ing student expects to complete her studies before next year’s ceremony.

“Our program emphasizes critical thinking skills, ethical decision mak-ing, and patient advocacy—the kind of education that is necessary for serving our multicultural commu-nity,” said Diane Jassawalla, director of the Nursing Program at Mills.

The intercollegiate program consists of two years of general education and basic science courses taken at Mills, followed by two years of study in nursing theory and clini-cal experience at Samuel Merritt University. The program, funded by the Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative, emphasizes the develop-ment of leadership skills through workshops and seminars on cultural literacy, conflict resolu-tion, and healthcare advocacy.

organizationthatprovidesgrantsexclu-sivelyforprogramsthatsupportinter-nationalwomen’shumanrights,sheisanadvisortotheBillandMelindaGatesFoundationandparticipatesintheAfricanWomen’sMillenniumInitiativeonPovertyandHumanRightsAdvisoryCouncil.

“Becauseofyoureducation,youknowthatweliveinaworldthatcontinuestobeunequalintermsofgenderrelations,”Ramdastoldthegraduates.“Youreduca-tionwillhelpyoubesensitivetoissuesofrace,class,gender,andprivilegeofallkinds….Iencourageyoutoexplore,toemploytheprivilegeofthiseducation.”

President Janet L. Holmgren with Kavita Ramdas

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12 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Bent Twigs

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1AdrienneAustinandhermother,KatharineMortonAustin’70

2LauraBuchanandheraunt,MonicaSloboda’99

3EmilieTaylorNachtigallwithhersister,AlyshaJ.Nachtigall’07,MPP’08

4ChristopherDelmarHarrison,EdD,andhiswife,NnekaAllen-Harrison,MEd’04

5ShelbyPhillipswithhersister-in-law,MeganBrian’06

6AlexaKalaniHallandhermother,PatriciaDuncanHall,MA’03

7AmeliaCorbett-Greenwiththeyear-bookinwhichhergreat-greatauntIrmaCumminsJohnson’34appears.

8ChristineRobertsandhergrandmother,NancyNorris’56

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A Bent Twig is a Mills student or alumna whose family tree includes another Mills alumna. We are proud to recognize Bent Twigs in this year’s graduating class.

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by Sarah J. Stevenson, MFA ’04

In These pages, we invite you to meet three graduates from the Class of 2009 who exemplify today’s “Mills woman.” They are diverse in their talents and goals: one combines her analytical intellect with an outgoing and energetic

personality, the second complements flamboyant performance with serious academic inquiry, yet another supplements economic expertise with a desire for social justice. But each student found that the rigorous academic program at Mills, along with the College’s socially and financially supportive environment, allowed her to follow her desire to accomplish great things.

Pursuing passions, achieving excellence

Mathematics and computer science are disciplines that might seem dry or tech-nical, but not to Nichole Stockman ’09, whose passion for both shines through with every word. In fact, the Ukiah, California, native took math courses every year in high school, she says, “just because it was cool.”

Unsurprisingly, Stockman, who attended Mills with the benefit of a Trustee Scholarship, declared a math major upon matriculating at Mills. But then she took a computer science course with Professor Barbara Li Santi.

“It was coding in Java, writing little programs, and I fell in love with it.” That first computer science class was followed by another, and still more. Her advisor, Associate Professor Susan Wang, urged her to declare a double major, and this spring Stockman graduated with a BA in computer science and a BS in math-ematics, winning both the George Brown and Helen Pillans awards for outstand-ing achievement in math and computer

science as well as the McCollum Prize in Natural Sciences.

One of the highlights of Stockman’s aca-demic career was a Research Experience for Undergraduates, which she partici-pated in last summer. Working under a team of graduate and faculty mentors at UC Berkeley, she studied “fuzzers,” soft-ware tools that locate bugs and other errors that can compromise computer security or cause programs to crash. With Stockman’s assistance, the research group analyzed different types of fuzzers and wrote a paper on the results. It was the type of hands-on experience that got her thinking about where her future plans may lead.

Academia and industry both hold an appeal for her, she says, so she isn’t cer-tain where she’ll end up. No matter what, though, she wants to make a difference, to be an innovator in the field of com-puter science, whether through product development or academic research. This fall, she begins a doctoral program in

computer science at UC Santa Barbara, where she plans to focus on human–computer interaction—including innova-tions such as touch screens and other interface devices—and machine learning, which is an important part of the artificial intelligence field.

Before heading off to graduate school, she’s spending the summer tutoring chil-dren in math and computer science, a pursuit that was inspired by her involve-ment in the Expanding Your Horizons Conference, an annual one-day event at Mills that encourages sixth- through eighth-grade girls to stay interested in math and science.

“I volunteered for that a couple years in a row, and it’s fantastic,” she says.

Her enthusiasm is infectious. With such clear motivation to excel in her field, there’s no doubt that we’ll soon be seeing this outstanding graduate’s name in lights—or at least lit up in pixels on our computer screens.

Nichole Stockman

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production—art, movies, music—and how regular people in their day-to-day lives can use creative expression to initiate social change. A lot of times people only look at things in museums as ‘culture.’”

Cooper, who was born in Panama, spent time in North Carolina, Texas, and Germany before graduating from high school in Hanau, Germany. She then spent two years at Ithaca College in upstate New York before deciding to leave school to work for a labor union. After working at several nonprofits in Washington DC, including Planned Parenthood, Cooper chose to return to school, not only to pursue her aca-demic interests but also to develop skills that would be beneficial to community- oriented work.

“The time off helped me figure out how my education could be most useful,” she says. The emphasis on social justice and feminist issues in the Ethnic Studies Department appealed to her, as did the commitment to community activism among the faculty. The College’s sensi-tivity to the needs of resuming students was an additional plus. Professors Vivian Chin and Julia Sudbury were two of Cooper’s greatest mentors, who encour-aged her investigations. Cooper credits Sudbury’s support for helping make her

unconventional undergraduate research successful—her thesis at Mills focused on the performance of black queerness in popular culture, and that research was ultimately what secured her admis-sion to the PhD program in performance studies at UC Davis. When she begins her doctoral studies this fall, Cooper plans to hone her knowledge of cultural produc-

Stephanie Cooper Still waters run deep . . . and sometimes a placid surface hides surprising ener-gies. Stephanie Cooper ’09 has a quiet intensity about her, but that reserve hides her exuberant alter ego: the polit-ically-minded queer performance artist Thisway/Thatway.

Thisway/Thatway has appeared in ven-ues as diverse as academic conferences and the National Queer Arts Festival, investigating pop culture and perfor-mance in the black queer community. Her shows incorporate the iconography of drag and burlesque while they impart critiques of fashion and consumerism— her recent show Laye(red), which exam-ined the Gap’s (PRODUCT) RED campaign, is just one example. By day, however, Cooper is an accomplished graduate of Mills’ Ethnic Studies Department who served as editor of the Womanist, the literary journal of Mills women of color, and earned the Ethnic Studies Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. Cooper also received the Tumi McCallum Memorial Scholarship and the Dean’s Scholarship.

“Ultimately, I want to have my own the-ater company,” she says, one that focuses on political art. “I’m interested in cultural

FlorMelaraisoneof12womeninthefirstclassofMillsMBAstudentstobenefitfromGoldmanSachs’10,000 Womeninitiative,aglobalphilanthropicprogramdesignedtoincreasethenumberofunderservedwomenreceivingabusinessandman-agementeducation.GoldmanSachsselectedtheLorryI.LokeyGraduateSchoolofBusinessatMillsCollegeasapartnerinthisinitiativelastyear.

Asapartof10,000 Women,MillsMBAstudentswhodemonstrateacademicexcellence,financialneed,andleadershippotentialreceivefinancialsupportandmen-toring.TheGoldmanSachsscholars,alongwithallMillsMBAstudents,alsobenefitfromGoldmanSachscareerworkshops.

“GoldmanSachs’10,000 Womeninitia-tivesignalstheimportanceofmovingwomenintobusinessleadershiptocreateamoreequitableandsustainableworldeconomy,”saysPresidentJanetL.Holmgren.“InkeepingwiththeMillspioneeringspirit,weareveryproudtobeoneofthefirstU.S.partnersinatrulyinnovativeglobalinitiative.”

Researchhasfoundthatexpandingeducationalopportunitiesthroughdevelopingentrepreneurialtalentandcreatingamanagerialpool—especiallyamongwomen—isoneofthemostdirectwaystoreduceinequalityandtoensuremoresharedeconomicgrowth.

In2008,GoldmanSachslaunchedthe10,000 Womeninitiativewiththegoalofprovidingbusinessandmanagementeduca-tionto10,000womeninfiveyears.10,000 Womenincludesmorethan50academicandnonprofitinstitutions,includingsevenofthetop10businessschoolsintheworld.

Goldman Sachs partnership propels women to business success

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tion and how the arts can be used to create social change in everyday life.

It’s a topic that dovetails nicely with her own performance work, not only as Thisway/Thatway, but also through col-laborations with other local artists such as the group Mangos With Chili, co-founded by fellow Mills graduate Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, MFA ’09.

Flor Melara ’08, MBA ’09 Not many people know that one of the world’s most productive sources of sap-phires is the island nation of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, or that most of those sapphires create profit for foreign companies rather than benefiting the local economy. Flor Melara ’08, MBA ’09, witnessed the situation firsthand, and she wants to change it.

Melara, who speaks English, French, and Spanish, studied not only the Madagascar sapphire industry but also the African oil industry and the international diamond trade during her time in the 4+1 MBA Program at Mills. Because of her strong desire to help residents of other countries take advantage of available resources rather than being exploited by foreign businesses, her ambition is to work for the United Nations in a prominent role, studying and working towards the eco-nomic development of countries in need and creating educational opportunities for women.

Melara was born in El Salvador and came to the United States with her family when she was six years old. While attend-ing Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, she discovered that she had a

“10,000 Womenisdesignedtoopenopportunityandstimulateeconomicgrowthbyinvestinginwomenasentrepreneurs,managers,andleadersforthefuture,”saidDinaHabibPowell,managingdirectorandglobalheadofcorporateengagementatGoldmanSachs.“InMillsCollegewefoundaninstitutionthatisspeciallyqualifiedtoopendoorstowomeninbusiness.”

TheMillsstudentsparticipatingintheinitiativereflectawidediversityofbackgroundsandbusinessinter-ests,withaspirationstocareersasvariedashealthcareadministration,finance,andeconomicdevelopment.

“WearethrilledtobepartoftheGoldmanSachs10,000 Womeninitia-tive,”saysNancyThornborrow,deanoftheBusinessSchool.“Thispartnershipoffersthefinancialsupport,mentoring,andprofessionaldevelopmentoppor-tunitiesthatareneededtosucceed.”

talent for numbers and a strong interest in foreign languages. The relatively new 4+1 program at Mills drew her to the College, and she chose to double major in business economics and French, pur-suing a burgeoning interest in economic development throughout the world.

“I could see the passion that the Economics Department had for the MBA 4+1 program,” she says. “From the very moment that I started my educational career at Mills, my two economics advi-sors, Professors Siobhan Reilly and Nancy Thornborrow, were always on top of everything that I was doing. They had a vision for me that was equal to the vision that I had for myself; they believed in me all along the way.”

Melara also credits her family—particu-larly her mother, who raised her on her own—for encouraging her drive to suc-ceed. Growing up in a supportive envi-ronment provided her with “pressure, in a positive way, that has given me strength at those times when I felt like I wasn’t going to make it.”

Melara, the first in her family to attend college, worked throughout her time at Mills and was a full-time teller at Wachovia Bank in the final year of her MBA studies. Shortly after graduation, to further her aim of working in economic development, she moved on to a position at Women’s Initiative in the Bay Area, a nonprofit which provides high-poten-tial, lower-income women with training, resources, and support to establish their own businesses. But she sees it as a step-ping stone toward her ultimate goal of working with the United Nations.

“I want to feel that I’m doing something,” she says, “something with a purpose that, at the same time, is rewarding.”

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Prolific percussion virtuoso and Mills music instructor William Winant, MFA ’82, makes playing music look fantasti-cally fun. Fun if you like a challenge, any-way. When he’s performing a complex and demanding piece, juggling an array of drumsticks, mallets, and beaters as he cycles from timpani to marimba to wood-blocks and a gong, his tongue peeks from the corner of his mouth like that of a schoolchild poring over algebra. Even as he is clearly plotting out his next moves, Winant is in the moment as he steps from instrument to instrument—surefooted, confident, and just a little bit hammy.

Winant first came to Mills in 1980, enrolling in the Music Department to study with composer Lou Harrison, whose prominent use of percussion and embrace of Asian instruments expanded the palette of concert music. Harrison, along with Henry Cowell and John Cage, moved percussion from the back of the orchestra to the center of attention and added new instruments, some scavenged, others specially constructed, and some from non-Western cultures. Harrison had a particular affinity for Indonesian gamelan and was, at the time, building one at Mills with his partner, William Colvig.

“Building the gamelan, that was Lou’s

From timpani to tins cans, William Winant whacks them all

project for me,” remembers Winant, who was awarded a graduate assistantship to help with the work. He filed metal bars for metallophones and cut wood for xylophones, among other tasks. The new gamelan, named Si Darius and Si Madeleine for the Milhauds, remains at Mills today along with a collection of instruments that Winant inherited from Harrison upon the composer’s death in 2003. “There are things collected from junkyards and instruments picked up in Chinatown along with ones he had built,” Winant explains. “There are brake drums, tin cans, and wood blocks, along with instruments from China, Korea, and Japan.” Winant donated the collection to the College, where they are now available to students and other artists.

After completing his MFA, Winant stayed on at Mills as a music instructor, where he is influencing new generations of percussion students who are attracted by his energy as a performer, his impres-sive discography of nearly 200 recordings, and his creative links with musicians and composers across many genres.

Winant is making a lasting mark by expanding the contemporary repertoire for percussionists through commissions and collaborations; his influence and stat-

ure motivate composers to write expressly for him. When he formed a trio with David Abel and Julie Steinberg in 1984, there was just one single piece already written for their instrumentation of violin, piano, and percussion—by Henry Cowell. Over the group’s 10-year residency at Mills, they commissioned over 25 new works for such trios by leading contemporary composers, many of whom taught or performed at Mills’ Music Department or Center for Contemporary Music.

Because he has had the rare opportu-nity of working directly with the majority of composers whose work he interprets—including John Cage, Steve Reich, and John Zorn—Winant has benefitted from their advice about how their music should be played. He is able to pass down this per-formance practice history to his students, and considers teaching another aspect of his varied musical pursuits. “Performing, teaching, recording, or talking about the music all contribute to my ongoing every-day practice of music,” Winant explains. “And I learn from exchanging ideas with students as I’m teaching them. It’s all part of the same thing.”

Winant has helped prepare a number of Mills alumnae to move to the forefront of the percussion field, where women have

By Pamela Wilson

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historically been underrepresented. “We have more women studying percussion at Mills, it’s true. I treat everybody the same and try to expose my students to as much music as possible,” Winant says. His stu-dents at Mills have included Betsey Biggs ’00 and Shayna Dunkelman ’07. Biggs, now a postdoctoral fellow in the Multimedia and Electronic Music Experiments pro-gram at Brown University, recently com-pleted her PhD in music at Princeton. In July, a review in the New Yorker turned the spotlight on her “soundwalk,” an inter-active work that called for participants to download a site-specific work com-posed by Biggs onto iPods, which they wore while touring Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal. Dunkelman is in the experimental bands Slow Children and Mute Socialite and is following in Winant’s footsteps by performing works written especially for her—in Dunkelman’s case by Wu Fei, MA ’04, and The Norman Conquest, among others. She also performs regularly with Winant’s percussion ensemble.

In many ways, Winant acts as a ful-crum between the modernists of the 20th century and today’s postmodern art-ists, bringing the type of contemporary music usually heard in concert halls to

wider audiences through his collabora-tions with experimental rock bands. He chose many of the pieces on Goodbye 20th Century, a 1999 collaboration with Sonic Youth, which features Winant, the band, and friends performing works by contemporary avant-garde composers. Pauline Oliveros wrote “Six for New Time” especially for the project. And as a guest artist with cult band Mr Bungle—a group that seamlessly mashed up death metal, Persian modes, cartoon music, free jazz, horror film soundtrack moods, Indian percussion, and outright noise—Winant was responsible for playing everything from timpani to glockenspiel, tabla, Jew’s harp, a jangling ancient Egyptian metal shaker, and a South Indian frame drum as he contributed to a pair of albums and world tours.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that Winant is equally comfortable dipping into the diverse worlds of orchestral percussion, electro-acoustic music, and avant rock while simultaneously teaching, record-ing, performing, and catalyzing connec-tions among musicians and composers. As proven on stage, he’s a master at jug-gling diverse instruments and tools to propel scintillating rhythms.

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09

More than MilhaudSee William Winant and other outstand-ing Mills musicians perform in the Darius Milhaud Concert at 8:00 pm on Friday, October 2, in the Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall. Under the direc-tion of Nicole Paiement, artistic director of Ensemble Parallèle and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, Winant will lead ensem-bles of Mills students and alumnae in Milhaud’s La Mort d’un Tyran (1932) for chorus and orchestra, and in Milhaud’s rarely performed Second Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion (1961). Winant will also perform in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (1918), based on a Russian tale about a soldier who sells his violin to the devil for a book that predicts the economy. For details, see www.mills.edu/reunion or call 510.430.2334. Admission to the concert is free and does not require Reunion registration.

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There’s been a great upsurge of interest in environ-

mental responsibility lately, but do you think there

really is a widespread commitment to changing life-

styles? In other words, is sustainability sustainable?

No, I don’t think so. There’s green consumerism, and then there are sustainable lifeways, and those are two different things. The kinds of changes that people can make as consumers are not trivial—energy conservation, organic diet, biodegradable cleaners. All those things will temper the destruc-tive practices of industrial civilization; however, we need to drastically reduce our consumption of resources, starting with our consumption of energy. I think sustainable lifestyles are peasant lifestyles. There were relatively more sustainable lifestyles all around planet Earth up until the Industrial Revolution.

If people were to do one thing to lighten their tread

on the earth, what would it be?

Well, you’ve got to start somewhere. I would say, “Ditch the car and quit flying,” but the infrastruc-ture that most of us inhabit militates against this practice. I do minimize my automobile use, but I’ve got to say I was doing better at that last year, before I fell off my bicycle and broke my femur. That’s an explanation, not an excuse. But I recycle, I buy in bulk, I have a very energy-conserving—although conventional—house. More and more, I think, all such things are getting to be standard operating procedure.

And although I never want to dismiss the impor-tance of individual actions, some kind of collective action is necessary. The threshold really is com-munal living and primary productivity. We need to begin to understand what’s involved in supply-ing basic needs—food, energy, and so on—starting

at the household level and then moving outward to larger social groupings: a neighborhood, a city, a region.

What do you mean by “primary productivity”?

I mean direct production of material necessities: food for one, as well as remanufacturing or utiliz-ing existing stocks of goods that are now catego-rized as waste in order to have households that are more self-reliant. I also mean reclaiming some basic skills of making things, making clothes or shelter.

I hope to see more of what is termed “intermedi-ate technology”: energy production, manufactur-ing, and transportation, built at the human scale. I live in Michigan, where the big centralized auto industry appears about to tank completely, but less than a century ago, there were a few hundred auto manufacturers in the state. So I say: let ten thou-sand mechanics bloom. Let there be machine shops and bike repair people. Let’s encourage that kind of hands-on involvement with simple tools and clever manufacture and judicious use of materials.

You often speak of building community and foster-

ing cooperation. What have been the most surprising

experiences as you’ve become increasingly engaged

with your local community?

I live in a semi-rural area, and it’s been wonderful

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Living a simple

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Eight questions with Stephanie Mills

By Linda Schmidt

Bioregionalist, author, and activist Stephanie Mills ’69 will present the keynote address at Convocation on October 2 and receive the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Alumnae Association of Mills College on October 3. In advance of her appearances on campus, we talked with her about nature, sustainability, and community.

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to encounter the readiness to help a neighbor, to pitch in and throw a benefit to pay medical bills, or to help each other build houses. Every summer I see haying parties—people will get a keg of beer and 20 friends, and they’ll buck the hay on a hot July afternoon. That’s been wonderful to witness.

What’s unpleasantly surprising is the extent to which people are willing to buy into “flat earth” propaganda—like climate change deniers. There’s scientific consensus around the planet on this, but these hugely amplified, hate-mongering fools are encouraging popular ignorance of the grav-ity of this situation. I’m kind of shocked by the extent to which this combination of denial and susceptibility to easy answers holds sway. It’s everywhere.

Where does that sense of denial come from, is it

media or education or politics?

Well, I’ve got a goodly amount of it myself; if I didn’t I’d be living differently! It’s a matter of institutional inertia. When I, as an individual, get mobilized to change something and come up against entrenched physical and social systems, it’s discouraging. Our American sense of individu-alism, fostered by so many of our institutions and mythologies, makes it feel strange to undertake a cooperative endeavor to make necessary change. We don’t have a lot of skills to do it. So when you pop up and out of denial, the requirement to act puts you into an arena that’s incredibly challeng-ing. But what choice do we have?

You’ve also said that rededication to nature can be

a spur to change. How can urban dwellers become

closer to nature?

Well, it’s really important to meet the neighbors, for starters. Try to form some relationships of mutual aid. If there’s a balcony or community garden, plant some things, maybe something you can eat. And see what you can do to discover what remains of wildness in the city. Where are the creeks, where are the wild little patches of so-called undeveloped ground where there might be a fox den, or where are the ledges where the peregrines are nesting? Look around and try to discover what there is of nature wherever you are.

Even city dwellers can learn to perceive them-selves as being in bioregions. Maybe it’s not too wild a dream to imagine that there could be farm-belts around cities where city dwellers could go to have some direct connection with the people who are helping to feed them or the places supplying the water that flows through their plumbing.

To play devil’s advocate, why should I do any of this?

I have my food and water, why should I care?

That’s a fair question. But you’re living a pretty partial life when you’re disconnected from your sustenance and the life system that supports you. There’s a much fuller, richer, more empowered exis-tence available through paying attention to these realities. And it is a moral issue. We—and I include myself in this—we’re robbing the future of a range of possibilities. I think we ought to leave future inhabitants of planet Earth a little bit of biology.

It’s a beautiful summer day today and I have to ask:

in a life dedicated to simplicity, what do you do

for vacation?

You know, I almost never take vacation. But I go for a walk every day, and I love this square mile or so that I inhabit. In the wintertime when it’s snowy I cross-country ski; in the springtime there’s a walk I take through a lush little woodland. It’s teaching me about the wildflowers that grow here and the birds. Today, I’m going to walk over to a neighbor’s lake and go for a swim. So it’s not like I’m suffering. I have a wonderful mix of work and pleasure and I would wish this kind of existence for anyone and everyone.

Go greenHearStephanieMills’69delivertheConvocation addressat10:15amonFriday,October2,intheJeannikMéquetLittlefieldConcertHall.ReunionregistrationisnotrequiredtoattendConvocation,butitwillallowyoutoparticipateinaslewofeventsonOctober2and3highlightingsustainabilityandtheenvironment.Toregisterfortheeventslistedbelow,seewww.mills.edu/reunionoryourReunionbrochure.Call510.430.2123formoreinformation.

• ToursthroughouttheweekendoftheBotanicGardenandthenew“green”buildingfortheLorryI.LokeyGraduateSchoolofBusiness.

• 7:00amFriday:Campus Bird-watching Walk with ProfessorofBiologyJohnHarris.

• 12:00noonFriday:Curb Your “Carb-ons” Lunch showcasinglocalfarmers’bountifulfare.

• 1:30pmFriday:Eucalyptus Tree Planting Ceremony forthefirstof90youngEucalyptus salignatobeplantedalongKapiolaniRoad.

• 2:30pmFriday:Discussionofcampus sustainabilityinitiativeswithBotanicGardenCoordinatorChristinaMcWhorter.

• 9:00amSaturday:Landscape Heritage TourofcampuswithProfessorofHistoryBertGordon.

• 1:30pmSaturday:Screening of EARTH DAYS,adocumentaryabouttheoriginsofthemodernenvironmentalmovementtoldthroughtheexperiencesofnineAmericanactivists—includingStephanieMills,whowillsigncopiesofhermemoir,Whatever Happened to Ecology?,afterthescreening.

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09

This is not a story of happy endings. In fact, many readers may find the cruelty and brutality too dis-turbing to withstand as the author depicts mur-der, rape, ethnic strife, abuse, and forced military conscription. But the novel also offers rewards in Khadivi’s pulsing use of language to create a dreamy, poetic landscape of ancient traditions and conflicted souls.

Set in the 1920s, in the tumultuous early days of the nation that would become known as Iran, the book’s main character is a Kurdish boy who sees his relatives killed by the troops of Shah Reza Pahlavi; the young orphan travels with the shah’s army and rises through the ranks to a position of power and authority. Less than 20 years later, he is promoted to a position overseeing his old Kurdish homelands, where he is torn between his desire to be part of the modern industrialized nation and a sublimated allegiance to his native land, people, and culture.

The author, born in Esfahan, Iran, to a father of Kurdish descent and an Esfahani mother, based much of her research on interviews with older relatives. She was one of 10 “writers of excep-tional talent and promise in early career” to receive a Whiting Writers’ Award in 2008 and was the 2007–2009 creative writing fellow in fic-tion at Emory University in Atlanta. A documentary film-maker, she has investigated topics from the American criminal justice system to life and culture in Brazil.

In discussing her debut novel with the Kurdish Herald newspaper, she said she hoped that “readers could read the story, learn about the diffi-culties faced by Kurds dur-ing this period, but ultimately understand that we are all torn between one loyalty and the next and how artificial nation-ality actually is.”

20 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Khadivi speaks at Mills on November 17 as part of the Contemporary Writers Series. See details and other authors in the series in Calendar, page 4.

—Linda Schmidt

Mare’s WarTanita S. Davis, MFA ’04Alfred A. Knopf, 2009

Sisters Tali and Octavia are less than thrilled to be spend-ing their summer vacation on a cross-country road trip with Mare, their sports car–driving, stiletto-wearing, eighty-some-thing grandmother. But Mare’s stories about her years as a private in the 6888th African American Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II spur dialogue among the three travelers about the changing dynamics of race, family relationships, romance, and child-rearing. Tali and Octavia soon realize that quirky Mare is a stronger woman than they ever thought possible. With its colorful characters, descriptive details, and focus on a little-known aspect of WWII, Mare’s War is a valuable and empowering history lesson for young readers.

Approaching NeverlandPeggy Kennedy ’76 iUniverse, 2009

This memoir of growing up in a close-knit Irish American family in the Bay Area in the 1960s and ’70s initially focuses on the confusion that young Peggy feels as a result of her mother’s erratic behav-ior—a symptom of deeper mental illness. This alone creates an interesting family dynamic, but the Kennedy siblings and other relatives form a cast of characters who are both ordinary and extraordinary: with their quirks, challenges, talents, and love for one another, they lead us on a journey through a time of great social change and evolving attitudes about mental health, sexual orientation, the role of women in marriage and in the workplace, and, especially, the necessity of each person’s finding understanding and for-giveness as a step to achieving happiness.

The Age of OrphansLaleh Khadivi, MFA ’06 Bloomsbury, 2009

Bookshelf

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09Alumnae Authors InvitedBring your published works to the Reunion 2009 Writers’ Salon at 4:30 pm on Saturday, October 3. We welcome sub-missions in all genres, fiction and non-fiction, ranging from poetry collections to cookbooks, from novels to plays. This event, open to all attendees of Reunion 2009 and Family Weekend, provides the opportunity to visit with fellow alumnae authors and to sell, sign, and/or take orders for your books. If you would like to participate, please contact Anita Aragon Bowers ’63 at anitabowers1@comcast.net or 510.339.0804 by September 10.

s u m m e r 2 0 0 9 29

Two weeks after graduation I leave for

Thailand. I’m looking forward to taking a break on the beach and traveling through the countryside by motorbike. When I get back, it’s time to start deciding what my next step might be. I intend to take the GREs and apply to several PhD programs. I also have several oral history projects lined up through the GLBT Historical Society, and I will be volunteering at TGI Justice Project with their pen pal program!

—Nic Weinstein, queer studies

I will begin putting my schooling to use

as a pre-school teacher. Next April, my husband and I plan to travel extensively, and I plan to conduct a research study on education abroad. Upon our return, I will work on opening my own nature-inclusive preschool.

—Lori Aghazarian, MA, education with an

emphasis on early childhood education

My future plans are aimed at supporting

teachers in designing inquiry-based learning environments that help students deepen their understanding of math and science, and research-ing ways to support administrators in integrating technology into K–12 classrooms.

—Christopher Harrison, EdD

I will be pursuing a PhD in linguistics

at the University of California at Santa Barbara this fall, specializing in socio-cultural linguistics with an emphasis on gender and identity. But first, I’ll spend three weeks visiting friends in the Salvadoran village where I used to live to investigate possibilities for doctoral research.

—Lynnette Arnold, women’s studies

with a minor in anthropology

Mills’ newest alumnae and alumni—members of the Class of 2009— share news of their plans for the future.

I’ll vacation in Washington, then come back

home and search for a job—possibly work-ing in the county health department in preventing alcohol and drug abuse in youth, a program I have been working with since high school. And if there is a location close enough, I might just audi-tion for American Idol this year!

—Amanda Page, psychology

with a minor in women’s studies

I’ll be an artist in residence at UC Berkeley’s

Poetry for the People program and in October will tour the South with Mangos With Chili, North America’s only queer/trans of color annual performance tour.

—Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha,

MFA, English and creative writing

I am getting a full professorship at Gdansk

University in Poland, where I’ll teach literature classes on grief, queer stud-ies, and graphic novels. I’ll be living in and renovating my childhood home in Gdynia, the lovely beach town not far from my school. —Izabela Filipiak, MFA, English

and creative writing

I will be attending the Edward R. Murrow

Graduate School of Communication at Washington State University in the fall to work towards my master of arts in communication. —Jennifer Safreno, English

with a minor in film studies

I will be moving to Chico, California, and

trying to find a job in a law firm as a recep-tionist/assistant, but will soon be moving back to the Bay Area because my partner got into nursing school.

—Shelby Phillips, political, legal, and

economic analysis and English literature

The first day of the rest of your life

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Alumnae Charlotte Baker Montgomery ’29,April28,inNacogdoches,Texas.Shetaughtart,headedthePortlandArtMuseuminOregonforfiveyears,andwroteandillustrated21booksforanimalloversandchildren.Anactivememberofenvironmentalandanimalrightsorganizations,sheissurvivedbynumerousmem-bersofherextendedfamily.

Helen Hotchkiss Foster ’32,September15,2008,inSebastopol,California.

Janine Lempereur Mouraille ’32,in2006,inFrance.ShehadacareerasaprofessorofEnglishattheUniversityofNice.

Elizabeth Ross Danz ’36,February20,inSeattle.ShesupportedSeattleRepertoryTheatreandSeattleChildren’sHospital.Sheissurvivedbytwodaugh-ters,fourgrandchildren,andhercousin,M.R.Redd’60.

Charlotte Menker Decker ’36,March25,inCorvallis,Oregon.AresidentofCorvallissince1946,from1981to1985sheandherhusbandlivedinWashingtonDC,wherehewasamemberofReagan’scabinet.Shevolun-teeredwith4-H,BoyScoutMothers’Club,andBentonCountyRepublicanWomen’sClub.Survivorsincludeadaughter.

Helen Norton Hudson, MA ’37,inBoise,Idaho.ShelivedinTexasformanyyears.

Willa Percival ’37,August16,2008,inSandySpring,Maryland.Shetraveledwidelyandwasanaccomplishedphotographerofdignitaries,industry,andeverydaylife.

Grace Williams Nicholl ’39,April8,inLeawood,Kansas.SheservedMillsasclasssecretaryandregionalgovernorfortheMidwestareaandwasanavidtennisplayer,gardener,andcommunityvolunteer.Survivorsincludeherhusband,Tom;fivechildren;and14grandchildren.

Charlotte Paules Schachter, MA ’39,inRollingHillsEstates,California.

Donna Wear Winslow ’41,February8,inStockton,California.Sheissurvivedbyfourchildrenandninegrandchildren.

Edith Lilienthal Dorfman ’42,March9,inSanFrancisco.SheservedontheboardoftheJewishCommunityCenterandvolun-teeredatCongregationEmanu-el.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Ben;ason;andsixgrandchildren.

Nancy Scovil Roberts Durning ’42,November30,2008,inPrescott,Arizona.Shewasanavidgolferandbridgeplayerandvolun-teeredfortheGirlScouts.Sheissurvivedbytwodaughters.

Peggie Parker Eccles ’42,May8,inJacksonville,Oregon.AWASPpilotinWorldWarII,shelaterservedaspresidentofUnitedWayforKlamathCountyandthePacificNorthwestRegion;shewasalsoaleaderontheNationalCampFireBoard.Sheissurvivedbythreechildrenand17grandchildren.

Ardell Burnett Davis ’44,May14,inEdina,Minnesota.Shewasafounderandlifelongmem-berofSt.Stephen’sEpiscopalChurch.Survivorsincludefoursonsandfivegrandchildren.

Elsie Richmond Monette ’46,May25,inDallas,Texas.SheservedasdirectoroftheSt.MichaelSchoolinDallasuntil1985.ShewasontheboardofthenationalandsouthwesternassociationsofEpiscopalSchoolsandamem-beroftheJuniorLeague.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Bob;twochildren;twograndchildren;andhersisterDaphneRockwell’41.

Susan Harnly Peterson ’46,March26,inScottsdale,Arizona.AprofessorofceramicartsattheUniversityofSouthernCaliforniaandfounderoftheceramicsdepartmentatHunterCollegeinNewYork,shewroteseveralaward-winningbooksonfamedpottersandthecraftofceramicsandearnedaLifetimeAchievementAwardfromtheNationalCouncilonEducationintheCeramicArts.Sheissurvivedbythreechil-drenandsevengrandchildren.

Martha Wickland Stumpf ’46,May2,inArcata,California.SheworkedfortheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,formorethan20yearsandwasatraveltourleader;inretirement,shevolunteeredasareaderinRichmondelementaryschools.Sheissurvivedbyfoursonsandsevengrandchildren.

Beryl Fayette Kettner ’47,January10,2007,inLagunaWoods,California.Agiftedmusician,shetaughtpianoandfluteanddirectedachorusofHarvardBusinessSchoolwiveswhileherhusbandstudiedthere;shewasalsoanathletewhotrainedfortheOlympics.Survivorsincludeherhusband,Bob,andfivechildren.

Mayrelee Fallquist Newman ’48,October22,2008,inBoone,NorthCarolina.ShewasafacultymemberineducationatAppalachianStateUniversityuntil1989,withparticularinterestsinadulteducation,occupationaltraining,andliteracy.

Ann Berman Ullman, ME ’48,July29,2008,inSantaRosa,California.

Jeanette Johnston Caston ’49,August21,2008,inOklahomaCity,Oklahoma.Shewasagiftedneedleworker,gardener,andgolfer.Sheissurvivedbythreechildren,sixgrandchildren,andhercousinJudithSueTurner’61.

Catherine Osgood Chanock ’49,January15,inBethesda,Maryland.ShewasadanceinstructorandperformedwiththeWashingtonDanceRepertoryCompany.Survivorsincludeherhusband,Robert;ason;andfourgrandchildren.

Lorraine Miller Kuppenbender ’49,February3,inCarmichael,California.Shemanagedaranchandreal-estateinvestments,andenjoyedbridgeandgolf.Survivorsincludefourchildrenandtengrandchildren.

Jane Lewis Luers ’49,May18,inSpringfield,Illinois.Shewasinvolvedinforeignstudentactivitiesformanydecadesandsupportedseveralcommunity-

buildinginitiatives.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Byron;threechildren;andtwogrand-children.

Laura Lee Thompson McClure ’49,January4,inPrinceton,NewJersey.ShetaughtattheNewSchoolforMusicStudyinNewJersey,foundedawomen’schoralgroupinChicago,andservedonthewomen’sauxiliaryoftheChicagoSymphony.Shelatercompletedamaster’sdegreeatWestminsterChoirCollegeinPrinceton.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Donald;threechildren;threegrandchildren;andastep-grandson.

Beverly Baugh Turner ’50,January29,inCollinsville,Oklahoma.ShewasactivewithcommunitytheaterandJuniorLeagueofOklahomaCity.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Robert;threesons;ninegrandchildren;andhercousinVirginiaHarmonGohrband’51.

Joan Gilbert Bailin ’52,January12,inUpland,California.Shewasengagedwithmanycommunityandpoliticalgroups,includingtheLeagueofWomenVotersandClaremontAdultSchool,whereshetaughtEnglishasaSecondLanguage.Sheissurvivedbythreedaughters.

June-Marie Fink Engelbrecht ’51, MA ’53,May11,inCincinnati,Ohio.Sheworkedasalegalsecretary,historian,andphoto-grapher.Survivorsincludeherhusband,Lloyd.

Martha McDuffie Youngberg ’52,March27,inCoronado,California.

Marilyn Guild ’53,October15,2008,inOklahomaCity,Oklahoma.ShespentmostofheradultlifeinSanDiego.SheissurvivedbyhersisterJaniceTrigg’51andaniece.

Phillipe Mutrux, MA ’53,November10,2008,inSanFrancisco.

Jessie Squire, ME ’53,inOregon.ShewasanursinginstructorandauthorofBasic Pharmacology for Nurses.

Marilyn Justman ’60,May27,inEvanston,Illinois.Shemadeher

In MemoriamNoticesofdeathsreceivedbeforeJune12,2009

30 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

livingasacomputerconsultantbutwaspassionateaboutpoetryandsocialjustice.Sheleavesbehindasonandtwograndchildren.

Laura Bliven Moseley ’64,March19,inOakland,California.Survivorsincludeherhusband,William.

Elaine Lee Elliott Flynn ’68,February17,inShermanOaks,California.Sheworkedasataxaccountantandwasanavidgardener.Sheissur-vivedbyherdaughter.

Agnes Friesen ’87,March16,inBerkeley,California.

Jane Curliano Mazzella ’88,May6,inMilan,Italy.Anadvocateforchildren’seducation,literacy,andthearts,shepursuedherinterestinculturesbyteachingEnglishinJapan,studyingarthistoryinItaly,andpursuingarteducationatColumbiaTeachersCollege.Sheissurvivedbyherhusband,Marcello,andtwochildren.

Karen Ramey ’96,March14,inAlameda,California.ShewasinthefirstgroupofwomentograduatefromtheMillsEveningProgram.Sherecentlystartedmakingjewelryandhadalreadysoldmanypieces.Sheissurvivedbyherhus-band,BruceVandenBroucke,hermother,andabrother.

Timanna Tamlyn Bennett ’02,February8,inOakland.ShelovedhertimeatMillsasanAmericanstudiesmajorandwomen’sstudiesminor,andwasplanningonreturningthisfalltopursuegraduatestudies.

Faculty & StaffHerbert W. Graham,January25,inWoodsHole,Massachusetts.Anexpertinoceanography,paleontology,andbeekeeping,hejoinedMillsasanassociateprofessorofbiologyin1939,eventuallybecomingafullprofessor,headoftheBiologyDepartment,andconveneroftheSchoolofNaturalSciences.In1948,hebeganworkwiththeU.S.government’sPhilippineRehabilitationProject.HewentontojointheFishandWildlife

Service,thenledtheFisheriesLaboratoryinWoodsHoleuntil1971.Survivorsincludeason,adaughter,andtwograndsons.

Spouses & FamilyWarren Baird,husbandofMimaGoudgeBaird’77,dateunknown,inWalnutCreek,California.

David Bull,husbandofAnnaEwingBull’52,September23,2008,inGreenwich,Connecticut.

Glenn E. Camper,husbandofJanisBottsCamper’51,March24,inLodi,California.

Rune Carlson,husbandofChristinaWardMiller’71,April3,inAlbuquerque,NewMexico.

Virginia Cravanas,motherofSharonCravanasJohns’73andMaryMills’03,April17,inOakland,California.

Clifford Henry Evans,fatherofBarbaraEvans’63,January30,inColorado.

Everett Evans,fatherofLauraEvans’05andson-in-lawofJaneBoardmanMowry’54,November29,2008,inOrinda,California.

Ted Fisher,husbandofMaryJaneFisher’70,December10,2008,inThousandOaks,California.

Penny Z. Hansen,motherofKarenHansen’00,February4,2008,inGlendale,California.

William Ingram,husbandofPollyOngIngram’50andbrother-in-lawofSandraOng’59,November20,2008,inRaleigh,NorthCarolina.

Michael Majchrzak,for-merhusbandofElizabethNusbaumMajchrzak’75,May5,inMoraga,California.

Lancelot Orlando,husbandofMargaretYoungOrlando’69,April1,inBountiful,Utah.

Eric L. Peterson,brotherofYvonnePetersonNoack’48,December8,2008,inGrassValley,California.

Lloyd Pitts,fatherofLindaPittsCustard’60,March16,inDallas,Texas.

Nate Rosenberg,husbandofDeborahBeckRosenberg’57,February4,inPaloAlto,California.

31

Gifts in Memory of

Mabel Angby Virginia Ong Gee ’51

Laura Balas, MA ’92, by Helen Hovdesven

Phyllis Lupton Brislawn ’52by Virginia Brown Liebergesell ’53

Rune Carlson,husbandofChristinaWardMiller’71,by Leah Hardcastle Mac Neil, MA ’51, P ’75

Trista Kline Conger ’43by Mary Kellogg McDonald ’63

Evelyn “Peg” Deane ’41by Mary Hart Clark ’42

Jean Ginder Dew ’56by Marilyn Hudson Niepoth ’56

Nancy Roberts Durning ’42by Alice Gonnerman-Mueller ’42

Gary Ericksonby Mary Ann Doty Erickson ’82, P ’79, P ’82

Everett “Bill” Evans,fatherofLauraEvans’05,by Flora Kirschner Isaacson ’54

Barbara “Barb” Hazelton Floyd ’48by Marcia and David Bowen, William Floyd, Margery Friday, and Susan Schmitter

Evelyn Crampton Franke, MA ’56by Carol Castner Staiger ’46

Alfred Frankensteinby Cheri Foster Feiner ’67

Professor William A. Gaw and his wife Helenby Jane Farrell Gaw ’52

Janet Gill ’62by Susan Shackleford Lounsbury ’62

Caroline Goodwin ’22,P ’52,by San Joaquin Mills Club

Jane Green ’79by Emilie Reese Green ’45, P ’79

Sara Amodei Grosskettler ’58, P ’83, P ’86,by Amy Schanno McCarthy ’58

Elizabeth Rulison Harrington ’40by Helen Smith

Lorraine Miller Kuppenbender ’49by Carol Brehm

Mary Lanigar ’38by Joan Lewis Danforth ’53, Terry Hinkle Fairman ’68, Irene Panagopoulos ’85, Lorna DuMont Shinkle ’79, Edgar and Patricia Grubb, P ’95

Jane Lewis Luers ’49by Jane Melin Wilday ’43

Emiteria Reyes Manese, P ’72,by Corazon Manese Tellez ’72

ReceivedMarch1–May31,2009

P=parent;Forinformationaboutmakingatributegift,contact510.430.2097ordonors@mills.edu.

Boitumelo “Tumi” McCallum ’09by Steven Burrell, Margaret Moja, Teboho Moja, P ’09

Laura Thompson McClure ’49by Donald McClure

Charles and Elizabeth Merwinby Irene Crown Merwin ’67

Madeleine Milhaudby Katherine Farrow Jorrens ’57

Marcia Miller ’63by Josephine Bailey, Anita Aragon Bowers ’63, P ’84, Grace Dote ’63

Laura Bliven Moseley ’64by Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75

Grace Williams Nicholl ’39by Dorothy Prouty Karr ’43

Susan Harnly Peterson ’46 by Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75, Paula Merrix Sporck ’46, Betty Taves Whitman ’46

Ruth Poh by Julie Gonsalves Eseltine ’00

Virginia Hill Roemer ’52 by Judith Hill Jensen ’54

Nate Rosenberg,husbandofDeborahBeckRosenberg’57, by Myrna Bostwick Cowman ’57, Elizabeth Elston ’57

Barbara Rouse,motherofRobinBuntzHarris’70, by Nancy Meyer Neal ’70

George and Julia Saslow by Rondi Saslow ’64

Martha “Marty” Wickland Stumpf ’46 by Edward and Audrey Ditmer Gibney ’46, Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75, Helen Barbour Poindexter ’46, Paula Merrix Sporck ’46, Alice Hughes Weber ’46, Betty Taves Whitman ’46

Franklin and Imogene Walker by Katherine Farrow Jorrens ’57

Shirley Weishaar by Edward Balzer, MA ’97, Shannon Wolfe ’96

Cecily Jones Welmers ’61 by Thomas Welmers

Marian Wickline ’35 by Janet Armes Koupal ’57

Reynold and Helen Wik by Katherine Farrow Jorrens ’57

Bonnie Wilkinson, P ’68, by San Joaquin Mills Club

Elaine Amerine Witt ’48 by Sally Mayock Hartley ’48

to reflect on what it means to be a leader in the classroom and in life.

My idea of success, for one, found an entirely new definition. In the past, “suc-cess” meant receiving an A on an assign-ment or having the right answer in class. As I realized that this would happen less frequently at Mills than in high school, I began to doubt whether I could actually succeed in college. Through the support of my SAW sisters, staff, and mentor, I was able to expand my beliefs. Today, success means I’ve used all of my resources to complete a task. It means that I’ve care-fully considered every possibility. At the end of the day, success is my willingness to try, and then try again. I also came to see that leadership could happen in many ways and extends beyond the vice presi-dent or president of a club.

The classes taken during SAW encour-aged me to think critically about my assignments and the questions posed during lectures and on tests. Instead of every problem demanding a dichotomous answer—black or white, yes or no, up or down—SAW enabled me to see the gray areas and to incorporate complexity into my thinking. I felt fully engaged in my coursework and soon found, for exam-ple, that concepts from a sociology class became relevant for an English essay.

SAW’s explicit goal of helping students achieve academic excellence inspired me to study harder when I felt like going to sleep or partying, to seek additional help from the writing center when an impor-tant paper was due, and to reach out to women who had completed the program before me. In fact, the social relationships established through SAW with fellow students, staff, professors, and mentors were an important factor in my success at

Mills. Some of the women I met through the program remain my best friends, while others have been instrumental in my life as mentors, advisors, and profes-sional references.

Today, as a professional liability claims examiner with Oregon Health and Science University, I believe that I can attribute most of my personal and profes-sional achievements to the skills I gained through SAW, including self-discipline, problem solving, team building and time management. The skills I learned that summer validated what my parents had taught me: “With hard work and dedica-tion you can achieve any goal.”

I came, I SAW,

By Monique C. Parker ’04, MBA ’06

I conquered

In The suMMer of 2000, just before the start of my first year of college, I boarded the plane in Portland, Oregon, and headed to Oakland,

California. I was excited—and scared—not knowing what to expect when I arrived at Mills College to attend the Summer Academic Workshop (SAW). I had no idea that a six-week program would have such a tremendous impact on my academic, personal, and professional life.

I joined 11 other young women on a summer journey that included classes to help us develop effective study habits and build the leadership and team-build-ing abilities necessary to achieve aca-demic excellence. Workshops provided a comfortable environment in which to reexamine ideas I had about myself and

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09SAW 20th Anniversary CelebrationFormerparticipantsintheSummerAcademicWorkshop(SAW)areinvitedtojointheAlumnaeofColorBBQonSunday,October4,tocelebrateSAW’s20yearsofsuccessinpreparingfirst-generationcollegestudentsforsuccessatMillsandbeyond.

ForSAWalumnaeandguests,admissionisfree.RSVPto510.430.2123.Forallotheralumnae,Reunionregistrationisrequiredforthisevent.Fordetails,seewww.mills.edu/reunionorcall510.430.2123.

I had no idea that a six-week program would have such a tremendous impact on my academic, personal, and professional life. –Monique C. Parker

32 M i l l s Q u a r t e r ly

Support and success: Monique Parker (second from right) and her SAW classmates.

The Civil Rights Movement: Beginnings and HopesJourneythroughhistorywithMillsProfessorofSociologyBruceWilliamsasyourstudyleader.TheitineraryincludesthehomeofMartinLutherKingJr.andKingMemorialBaptistChurch,theAlabamaJazzHallofFame,theSouthernPovertyLawCenter,BrownChapelAMEChurch,andEdmundPettusBridgeinSelma.Thesix-daytripalsoincludesavisittotheGee’sBendQuiltersCollectiveandameetingwiththedirectorsoftheBirminghamCivilRightsInstitute.April 6–11, 2010, $2,195

The Flavors of Burgundy and ProvenceEnjoyatwo-daystayinParis,the“CityofLight,”thenrelaxonacruisefromChâlons-sur-SaônetoArlesinthesouthofFrance,whereVincentvanGoghcreatedmanyofhismostfamouspaintings.Alongtheway,seethepicturesqueandhistorictownsofTournon-sur-RhôneandTain-l’Hermitage,Viviers,andAvignon.AnexcitingexcursiontoMonteCarlocompletesyour12-dayjourney.June 12–23, 2010, $3,640

The AmazonSpend10daysinoneoftheworld’smostbeautifulnaturalenvironments,whereyouwillcruisetheriverinsearchofexoticwildlife,suchascolorfulmacawsandriverdolphins.VisitvillagesalongtheriverandPeru’scapitalcity,Lima.Includedisanoptionalone-nightcampexperienceinthePeruvianrainforest,complementedbyregionalmeals.February 26–March 7, 2010, $4,695

Mysteries of the Mekong: Saigon to Angkor WatVisithistoricvenuesinHoChiMinhCityandenjoyareceptionanddinnerwithlocalMillsalumnae.CruisefromVietnamtoCambodia,visitafamily-ownedfoodbusinessinVinhLongandacatfishfarminChauDoc,andseethestunningKhmerarchitectureofAngkorWatduringthis12-daytrip.March 7–18, 2010, $4,195

Early booking discount: sign up for either of these two trips by September 24 and receive $1000 off!

See the Amazon for $3695 or travel to Asia for $3195

The best way to learn about new

AAMC travel opportunities is to sign up

for our monthly @mills email newsletter.

Every issue lists new tours. To receive

@mills, send your email address to

alumnae-relations@mills.edu along with

your full name, any previous name, and

class year (if applicable). Write “@mills”

in the subject line of your message.

Share your AAMC travel adventure on Facebook!

Past,present,andfuturetravelerswiththeAlumnaeAssociationofMillsCollegecannowsharetheirexperiencesbypost-ingcommentsandpicturesonthe“AAMCTravelers”Facebookpage.Linkstobro-churesforfuturetripscanalsobefound

undertheEventstabofthispage.

Rediscovering Mills Reunion ’09

ALumnAe trAveL 2010

Support and success: Monique Parker (second from right) and her SAW classmates.

Cuba: Beauty and Decay A Photographic JourneyPhotographsbyVivianStephenson

TextbyCarlotaCaulfield

Through December 13, 2009

AHavananativeandtirelesstraveler,VivianStephensonreturnedtoCubain1999and2002afteralongabsence.Inthisexhibit,StephensonoffersasplendidseriesofphotographsofthecitiesofHavana,Trinidad,andSancti-Spíritus.Thesethreecities,foundedearlyinthe16thcenturybySpanishsettlersinCuba,areatestamenttocenturiesofhistory.ThroughStephenson’seyes,thathistorycomesalive.Herphoto-graphsdocumentimportantarchitecturaltreasures:forts,palaces,churches,plazas,civilbuildings,andevenaruinedsugarmill.

• Vivian Stephenson,formerchiefoperatingofficerofWilliams-Sonoma,hasservedfor10yearsontheMillsCollegeBoardofTrustees,whichsheledaschairfrom2002to2009.

• Carlota Caulfield,professorofSpanishandSpanishAmericanstudiesatMills,wasborninHavana,Cuba.HerworkincludesnumerousarticlesonLatinAmericanandSpanishliteratureaswellasninebooksofaward-winningpoetry.

Pae White: In Between the Inside-Out Through October 18, 2009 Artist lecture: September 30, 7:30 pm, Danforth Lecture Hall, free

Workingontheboundarybetweenartanddesign,PaeWhitecombinesintricatecraftsmanshipwithaninventiveuseofmedia,fromdigitalimagingtoearthenwareceramics.CuratedbySandraPercival,thisexhibitionofnewworkandaninstalla-tioncoincideswithWhite’sparticipationinthe2009VeniceBiennaleinItaly.

VivianStephenson,Central Park View / Vista del Parque Central.Courtesyoftheartist.

Also on view at the Mills College Art Museum

A Room of Their Own: Bloomsbury Artists in American CollectionsNovember 7–December 13, 2009

ConceivedtoexemplifythebreadthandstrengthofthecomplexartisticoutputoftheBloomsburyartists,theexhibitionwillincludeover190paintings,watercolors,drawings,booksfromtheHogarthPress,anddecorativeworksfromtheOmegaWorkshops.OrganizedbytheHerbertF.JohnsonMuseumofArt,CornellUniversity.

Mills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613-1301

510.430.3312 quarterly@mills.edu www.mills.edu

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Mills Quarterly

Museum Hours:

Tues.–Sun. 11:00 am–4:00 pmWednesday 11:00 am–7:30 pm

Monday closed

Admission is free

www.mills.edu/museum

510.430.2164