In this issue...

Volume 1   •   19 April 2006  •   Issue 4  

	Welcome from the Executive Director Communities, service, and giving back		Welcome to the Class of 2006 MHC’s newest alumnae
	A Special Event for Firsties Tips, advice, and free coffee mugs		MHC Faculty Show Reflections from a professor-performer
	Concert to Honor Catharine Melhorn Mark the Music		Cori’s Career Corner Support groups, job fairs, and good books
	Be Part of a Quarterly Article Work, money, friendship, life		Reunion 2006 Two more days to register
	Alumnae Stay Help an MHC student find summer housing		Alumnae in Action MHC alumnae get down to earth
	Online Class Notes Read the latest news from your sister alumnae, or post your own today

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

Welcome from the Executive Director

pril is recognized in many ways, from the sublime (National Poetry Month) to the down-to-earth (April 22 marks the national celebration of Earth Day). In lieu of offering an original poem as my greeting this month, I’ll take my lead from Earth Day and tell you about some exciting Alumnae Association programs that promote, encourage, and support the MHC ideal of service.

Alumnae in Action, our new Alumnae Association community-service program for classes, clubs, and groups, will be inaugurated this month by alumnae and friends around the country. Planned events include river clean-ups, school and playground volunteer projects, and other environmental activities that bring alumnae together to take positive action in their communities. Please check out the Alumnae in Action news item in this e-newsletter for more information.

Our spring Lyon Lecture Series introduced alumnae to another exciting community-oriented project—this one right at MHC. The Community-Based Learning Program (CBL) is a groundbreaking program that links MHC students with local communities in courses that combine analysis and action. The CBL was the featured topic of a recent Lyon Lecture in Holyoke, organized with grace and flair by assistant director of clubs Krysia L. Villón ’96. Guest speakers were Preston H. Smith II, associate professor of politics and director of the program, and student Yaminette Diaz ’06, who described her work bringing urban youth to local farms to learn about health and nutrition. The course culminated in a festive dinner prepared by the students—many of whom had never cooked before—using organic produce from the farms. Her beautiful story illustrates both how we can learn from communities and give something back of lasting value.

Giving back—in hundreds of ways—truly defines the MHC alumnae community. We endeavor to honor that spirit in everything we do at the Alumnae Association.

With best wishes for a lovely spring,

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

Members of the Class of 2006 at Convocation

Log In Today!
To register for the Alumnae Association
Web site, click here.

Welcome to the Class of 2006

he Alumnae Association is proud to welcome the Class of 2006. With Commencement just a few weeks away, the newest class of alumnae now has access to the Association’s Web site log in services, available exclusively to alumnae. Log In services include:

Find An Alum
You can find contact information for Mount Holyoke alumnae through our online directory. Use My Page as a starting point—you can bookmark directory listings as an easy reference for future visits, view the latest online class notes, and see who has recently updated her listing. Use LifeNet to contact alumnae for professional, social, or academic networking, or set up your own profile.

Share Your News
Got news? We want to hear it! Your class scribe keeps us in the loop with class notes for the Quarterly, but life happens between issues of the magazine. With online class notes, you can update your fellow alumnae about that job promotion, a move to a new city, your nuptials, or brand-new baby—and post photos, too. This is also the place to update the Association and the College with your new address or new employment/academic information. Simply click Update Your Listing.

Online Career Resources
Many online resources are available on our site to help you successfully make your career transition while maintaining balance among all the aspects of your life. In addition to public areas of our Web site that include self-assessment materials, Web sites and databases, and graduate school links, we offer job postings and résumé postings.

Another benefit of Alumnae Association Log In Services on our Web site is that they are password-protected, which ensures privacy and confidentiality. To take advantage of our log in services, all you need to do is register. Registration is an easy, four-step process that takes just a few minutes. This lock icon appears next to any service that requires a username and password.

We look forward to providing the newest MHC alumnae with our services—and to welcoming the Class of 2006 to the worldwide alumnae community!

To view more photos, visit the Alumnae Association Photo Gallery

A Special Event for Firsties

n April 9, the Alumnae Association hosted a hugely successful event for MHC’s first-year class: “What I wish someone had told me toward the end of my first year.” The event, co-sponsored by the Alumnae Association, the Career Development Center, the Center for Global Initiatives, the academic deans, and the dean of students offices, was created to help first-years make a smooth transition from first year to sophomore year. Students received advice on topics ranging from finding an internship to tips on effective networking, and learned more about the special benefits of attending a women’s college.

Alumnae from various fields, current students who work as academic department liaisons, and staff and faculty were all present to offer advice. Alumnae shared their experiences as first-years and beyond in a lively panel discussion. After refreshments, students participated in small-group discussions aimed at answering questions and offering advice related to specific topics. At the conclusion of the event, 155 firsties left with both an Alumnae Association mug (in their class color, green) and valuable advice that will help them navigate through the remainder of their first year—as well as the rest of their Mount Holyoke experience.

MHC Wireless

For more photos, see the College’s Web site.

MHC Faculty Show

hy does MHC have Faculty Show? Is there a good reason why dignified college professors put on hilarious skits and sing silly songs—for the entire MHC community—once every four years? Jonathan N. Lipman, professor of history, explains it all for you:

“This past March I sang a couple of songs in our Faculty Show, joining many of my colleagues in an exercise designed to make us look as funny as possible for our community’s amusement. Rehearsals and performances cut a hole in my precious time, creating a measure of resentment. At several moments during the week, heading off to Chapin with my guitar or pondering my monologue at home, I thought, ‘They don’t do this at Harvard!’” More...

Catharine Melhorn

Concert to Honor Catharine Melhorn

ammond-Douglass Professor of Music Catharine Melhorn, retiring this spring after 36 years as choral director, will be honored by a gala spring concert on Saturday, April 29, at 4:00 pm. More than 200 MHC students and alumnae will participate in “Mark the Music,” which takes its name from the title of a new work by Clifton J. Noble Jr. of Westfield, Massachusetts. Mount Holyoke’s music department commissioned Noble to write the piece in honor of Melhorn’s many contributions to the department. More...

Upcoming Job Fair:

MERC Career Fair
Bayside Expo and Executive
Conference Center
Boston, MA
Thursday April 20
9:00 am-4:00 pm

This recruitment fair for public and private school teachers will feature representatives from over 200 East Coast schools.

A quick reminder:
the Alumnae Association Web site includes an area for listing and searching jobs. If you have a lead for other alumnae, this is a wonderful place to list it for our community.

Cori’s Career Corner

am currently conducting an eight-week job support group for MHC women; we are meeting every other week on Wednesday nights for one hour. I plan to start another group targeted to young alumnae (alums out 10 years or less), which will meet on Wednesday nights from 8:00-9:00, beginning June 7 and running through July 19.

The format of the group is simple: we meet and share updates, focus on a particular skill, and then work on that area. In between meetings, I ask for participants to do some personal work and e-mail me with updates. Please e-mail me if you would like to join this summer group. I can accommodate ten members, and will hold a space for the first ten alumnae who respond. We are enjoying our work together and offering good traditional MHC support to colleagues, so join us for the next round!

Sometimes alumnae ask me to suggest books about job searches and résumés. I’d like to offer a few suggestions here. Each of the books listed below contains some good ideas. If you’re making major changes, I recommend looking at several books to get multiple perspectives. Here goes!

Resumes in Cyberspace by Pat Cristito
Through the Brick Wall by Kate Wendleton
Expert Resumes for Career Changers by Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark

If I can be of help in your career work or transition planning, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Happy Spring!

Be Part of a Quarterly Article

he Alumnae Quarterly magazine staff is gathering information for several future articles, and invites your input.

• Shaping Your Life while Living on Little Money: The Quarterly plans a series of articles on this general theme; in each, we’ll ask an alumna with professional expertise in that area to provide advice to a fellow alumna with a real-life issue to solve. We are considering topics including paying back student loans, decorating on a dime, managing credit-card debt, budgeting, and saving for retirement when you think you can’t afford to. What issues would you like to see an alumna expert help you with?

We’re also planning articles on:

• Mid-career work issues
• Non-career ways MHC has had an impact on your life (with special emphasis on extraordinary alumnae friendships)
• Coping with widowhood and building a new life for yourself after the loss of a spouse/partner

If you have something to say about any of the topics above—or want to volunteer to be interviewed by the article’s author—please e-mail Emily Weir (mention the article topic in the subject line) or send a letter to her c/o Alumnae Quarterly, 50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075-1486).

In order to register via
our secure Web site, you must first be registered to use our log in services.
If you are not yet registered, click here.

Reunion 2006

orried because you missed the reunion registration deadline of April 14? Not happy about paying that pesky $25 late fee? Don’t lose any more sleep over it. The registration deadline for the 2006 reunion has been extended to Friday, April 21, at midnight (Eastern Standard Time).

We’ve extended the deadline because:

• We’re nice that way
• We know some of you needed just a bit more time to get organized
• We miss you and want you to come back for the best MHC reunion ever

You can register now online, check out the attendance listing to see who’s coming, or send a yearbook e-card to a classmate to invite her to come, too. Or you can do all of the above—just make sure you register on or before (before is even better) Friday, April 21.

Questions? Send us an e-mail or give us a call at 413-538-2201, Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. We’re happy to help. See you at reunion!

To take part in LifeNet, you must be registered with the Alumnae Association Web site.
In order to register,
please click here.

Alumnae Stay

o you have a spare room in your home during the summer? The Alumnae Association’s Alumnae Stay program helps students (and sometimes alumnae) traveling on academic and/or employment-related business find safe and free housing with alumnae in locations throughout the country and abroad.

Students have the greatest need for housing during the summer months and the month of January, when they participate in internships. Because most internships pay very little or nothing at all, students need free housing during this time. With your help, we can provide an MHC student with a safe and comfortable place to stay during her internship. We are especially seeking housing within—or easily accessible to—major urban areas, as most students will not have their own transportation.

If you’ve got a spare room, an empty house or apartment, or a suitable nook in your home, please consider hosting an MHC student during her internship this summer. Most internships last between six to eight weeks, but the length of the stay is entirely up to you. For example, if you have four weeks available, another alumna in the area may be able to help with the other few weeks. (Once you’ve signed up, you may choose to take yourself out of the program at any time by simply clicking a button to update your information in our online database called LifeNet.)

To sign up, please visit our Web site.

Thank you in advance for your generosity—and for helping a deserving MHC student have a safe and successful summer. We are grateful for your help!

Alumnae in Action

lumnae in Action, a new Alumnae Association community-service program for clubs, classes, and affiliate groups, is officially kicking off this month. In honor of Earth Day (April 22), alumnae clubs and classes are holding environmental service events in April and May in five different locations (more are being organized). The Alumnae in Action events currently planned include two Massachusetts events (Holyoke and Boston), as well as projects in New Orleans, Louisiana; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Durham, North Carolina.

There’s still time to get involved! We encourage groups of alumnae to gather on any remaining day in April or on a weekend in May for a volunteer service activity—a river cleanup, a community garden project—in their home communities. Let us know about your plans, and we’ll not only post your event but send your class or club a free action kit (with custom-designed water bottles and bandannas). Find out more on our Web site.

Didier Sora Gonsa

To view or post online class notes, you must be regsitered for the Alumnae Association Web site. In order to register, please click here.

Online class notes is a great place to share photos of recent weddings, new babies, or your latest travel adventure! To post a note, click here.

Online Class Notes

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

Lisa Anderson (1987)
Lisa Anderson (1987) writes, “I am completing my first year in acupuncture school; it has been quite a shift from my years of work in literature! My second book was accepted by University of Illinois Press, and will be published in the next year. And, on top of all of that, I was just tenured and promoted in my “real” job at ASU. It’s been quite a spring!”  

Ayako (Sato) Gonsa (1993)
Ayako (Sato) Gonsa (1993) is proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Didier Sora. He was born on June 25, 2005 in Frankfurt/Main Germany, Sachsenhausen Hospital,.

Jennifer Wirth (1994)
Jennifer Wirth (1994) writes, “I have been studying ceramics for the past several years and teaching kids pottery classes for the past two. Recently I’ve begun to exhibit my work in juried shows as well as galleries.”  

Anna Allen (2004)
Anna Allen (2004) writes, “I have been accepted to the DVM program at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine for the fall of 2006! At this point I have an interest in equine medicine, specifically infectious diseases. I also plan to study public health and potentially pursue a Master’s in Veterinary Public Health at NC State while I am a veterinary student if time permits! If anyone is interested in the application process etc. I would be glad to help!”  

Carissa Liro-Hudson (2004)
Carissa Liro-Hudson (2004) writes, “Currently I am at Dartmouth College finishing up my master’s thesis, which is focusing on the politics of memory and representation in contemporary imaginations of the Korean “comfot women” of the Pacific War. I hope to complete my thesis by August because in mid-August I will be moving to College Park, MD to start my PhD program in Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland. I am very excited to have successfully transitioned from my English major at MHC to my MA degree in Cultural Studies to this PhD program. I’m looking forward to being close to DC, where I hope to later pursue internships at the Feminist Majority and N.O.W.” 

Joanna (Bradshaw) Schatz (2003)
Joanna (Bradshaw) Schatz (2003) and Luke Schatz are happy to announce their marriage on July 9, 2005 in St. Joseph Chapel, College of the Holy Cross, MA. They currently reside in Providence, RI. On July 9th, 2005 Luke and I were married at the college of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Mohos in the wedding party included...