Susan Swart Rice ’70
Classes and Reunion Committee Chair

Lily Klebanoff
Blake ’64
Clubs Committee Chair

Welcome from Committee Chairs

usan Swart Rice ’70, chair of the Classes and Reunion Committee, writes:

My best wishes to you for a happy and productive 2008!  The Classes and Reunions Committee has been busy this fall, working with individual classes on issues that have arisen, and holding the Alumnae Council training for newly elected class officers. The committee encourages any member of a class board to call on us if you need support while fulfilling your duties as a class officer. Each member of the committee is assigned a range of classes.  Please go to our Web site to see the person you should contact. The Reunion Planning Workshop was also held this fall. Alumnae Association staff reviewed the Reunion planning process with those classes who will hold their Reunions in 2009. A lot of very useful information was shared and resources identified in support of the great volunteers. We had fun, too!

Lily Klebanoff Blake ’64, chair of the Clubs Committee, sends this New Year’s greeting:

With ongoing e-mail communications and a series of regional conference calls, Clubs Committee members now reach out to 100 percent of the more than 90 Alumnae Association clubs throughout the world, allowing Clubs Committee members to serve as resources to help clubs craft creative solutions to the challenges they face.  Previously, only one third of clubs were contacted annually.  Online discussion groups for Clubs Committee members will be formed shortly; current discussion groups on the AA Web site include groups for club officers and club volunteers. With the help of the Alumnae Resource Committee, a number of clubs have conducted surveys of their local alumnae, permitting them to assess the needs of their alumnae and to better tailor programming.  For a list of Clubs Committee members and the clubs they are responsible for, please visit our Web site. 

There was broad regional representation of clubs at Alumnae Council this fall, with some clubs attending for the first time.  The interactive program permitted greater dialogue and sharing of experiences amongst clubs, and it was wonderful to be on campus during fall foliage season.  European Council held its ninth Reunion/Symposium in Geneva in November, drawing more than one hundred alumnae and guests. Along with staff, we continue to support the work of clubs and work with alumnae who are interested in starting new clubs.

I personally want to thank you for all of your work on behalf of clubs and look forward to hearing from you.

Second from left: Sheila Lirio Marcelo; Photo by
Claudia Kimsky ’79

Clubs Spotlight

heila Lirio Marcelo ’93, president of the Mount Holyoke Club of Western Suburbs (Boston), writes in her personal blog:

“When I recently became president of our alumnae club, the current members told me that the group needed a revival and help reconnecting. I decided that for my first event as president, I wanted to leverage my experiences at Care.com to organize an event about health, wellness, networking, and helping women everywhere to strive for a balanced life—just in time for the craziness of the holiday season.

“On Monday, November 5, we held “Amazing Women Energized (AWE): An Evening of Women’s Wellness” at the Care.com offices. About 75 women from all over the Greater Boston area attended, including MHC alums and guests spanning the generations. Our panel of accomplished and inspiring women featured radio host Candy O’Terry; Brenda Stanton, founder of The Modern Woman’s Toolkit; sports nutrition expert Nancy Clark; and Terri Trespicio, senior editor at Body + Soul magazine and a contributor on Martha Stewart Living Radio.

“The panelists and audience members alike shared their thoughts on life, career, family, fitness, and general well being—everything from childhood obesity to finding time for ourselves while juggling successful careers and the demands of personal life. Read on for some of the night’s key takeaways so that you, too, can find the inspiration and reassurance needed for a happy, healthy, and fulfilling year.”
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Classes Spotlight

ini-reunions are a wonderful way to stay connected with classmates when you can’t make it back to Mount Holyoke for the big event, when your class reunion is a few years away, or when you just want to celebrate ties with old friends. Three members of the Class of 1999 recently celebrated a mini-reunion in San Francisco; Susan Detering ’99 wrote to tell us all about it:

“Who needs a girls’ weekend? We do! Tania Staykova ’99, Kimberly Conley ’99, and I got together in San Francisco in April. Kim was actually on the continent; she’d been working in China (and already went back). It was my 30th birthday—and Tania needed no excuse to visit the city by the bay. We had a glorious mini-reunion replete with old memories, new dreams, and Champagne in Golden Gate Park! We are all happy to report that we are ridiculously successful in our fields, happily single, and living the dream.

“For the last two years, Tania has been working at Young and Rubican as a senior broadcast producer. She produces TV commercials for Lincoln Mercury and loves her job. Traveling to great cities, shooting in exotic locations, and collaborating with amazingly talented people from all over the world are part of her normal work week.  

“Kimberly recently returned to Beijing (her seventh year in China) to establish a presence for Bite Communications, a technology public relations firm. She’s developing and implementing the company’s China strategy and growing the team from the one-woman-band it was when she arrived to the ten-person group it will be in a year’s time.  She misses her hometown of San Francisco but loves China’s amazing opportunities, breakneck pace, and Wild West environment. 

“I am moments away from completing my M.Ed., Art Education. I’m focusing on the use of visual culture in curriculum to promote equity and conscious action.  In the summer months you can find me rowing a boat at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  When I’m not rowing, I’m painting—still obsessed by landscape.”

View Susan’s work at www.susandetering.com

We cordially invite class volunteers to send us descriptions (and photos) of your own mini-reunions. E-mail Leanna James Blackwell —we’ll highlight the best writeups we receive in the next issue of Clippings.

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New! Club event packets filled with promotional items and other goodies to give your event polish and style. Banners with the College and AA logo, custom balloons, “Smart Women Know It” decals, class animal notepads, and much more. e-mail Krysia L. Villón ’96 to find out more.

Classes & Clubs Spotlight

here’s a lively conversation going on among class and club volunteers, and we invite you to join in! Go to MHConnect on the Alumnae Association Web site and click on “discussion groups.” You’ll find groups for class volunteers, club officers, club and affiliate group volunteers, alumnae book club members, and much more. Discussion groups are fun, easy, and convenient. They’re a great way to share ideas and interests, make plans, stay in touch, and get advice from other dedicated alums.

All you need to join the conversation is a password. (No password? No problem. Go to the “click here to register link” on MHConnect. In less than three minutes, you’ll be ready to take part in the discussion—or start one of your own.)

Once you’re registered, you can access all our password-protected services. LifeNet allows you to network with alums in your field or area (and update your own profile); Search the Directory

helps you find long-lost friends; Online Class Notes lets you catch up with your classmates’ doings; and there’s more you can do. Find out what MHConnect can offer you and get connected today!

Class and Club Web and Blog templates

The Alumnae Association introduced new, custom-designed Class and Club Web and Blog templates last fall. Since then, dozens of classes and clubs have created Web sites that are easy to learn, fun to use, and gorgeous to boot. Click here to find your class Web site, or here to locate your club’s site.

If your class or club doesn’t have a Web site yet (or if you’d like to update your site with the new template), please visit our Web site to see what we offer, and contact Stacey Coleman-Litterer to begin the process.

Sun Cunningham ’94

Reflections

eflections brings you personal interviews with alums who share candid stories about their experiences and insights as volunteers. This month we profile an exceptional volunteer, Sun Cunningham ’94, Classes and Reunions Committee member and treasurer for the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Club of Colorado.

What originally drew you to volunteering for MHC? Why do you feel volunteering for the College/Alumnae Association is important and/or satisfying?  

“I have always been a “volunteer’er” (like Girl Scouts when I was younger). The more I volunteer, the more I realize how critical we volunteers are. I also volunteer in my local community and the same is true here; without volunteers, these places would not be able to run. I enjoy helping others and doing my part for causes that I think are worthy—and I think Mount Holyoke and the Alumnae Association are very worthy of my time and attention.   “When I get together with Mount Holyoke alums, I always feel wildly impressed with the amazing things they’re doing. It’s never an envious feeling. It’s more like, ‘Ooohh, what an inspiration.’ I don’t think of alums as ‘measuring sticks.’ I think instead, ‘Wow, look at you, you have a career and a family; you’re a volunteer and you’re curing breast cancer too—I better step up a notch!’”  

What were your volunteer responsibilities when you were serving on the Classes and Reunion Committee?

“I was liaison to the classes of 1966-75 and also had exposure to women in other classes—classes I normally would never have been able to interact with in any fashion. All these women from different generations, volunteering for decades, and still doing it! I loved exposure to the whole alumnae body. We often hear that we’re part of a huge alumnae community, but this was a way to really experience it, something much bigger than my class or club.   “Sometimes I felt I should have paid to be on the committee. It never felt like work. Not to sound like a Pollyanna, but I just loved it. And if it ever starts to feel like too much, you can say ‘I can’t do this right now,’ or ‘I don’t have time—maybe I can share it or give it to someone.’ It’s never a problem; we’re all happy to help. You don’t have to feel you’d die rather than not do the whole job. On the committee, we all worked together and it’s working really well now. There didn’t used to be much structure, but now we have a calendar. Committee members now know when to contact volunteers, what the timelines and tasks are, what the specific duties are and how to fulfill them. We played a much bigger role in Alumnae Council, really training the officer so they’re prepared and have everything they need. We had sub-committees that focused the work; we wrote the handbook and made sure it all got online—so many things. The body of the work increases the enthusiasm of the members. We saw areas to improve and just took it on. We made work for ourselves but we liked it!”  

What were your volunteer responsibilities as a treasurer?
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