Notes from One Mead Way: SLC Alumni eNewsletter

WEB HIGHLIGHTS

Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies Judith Babbitts announced that Health Advocacy Program faculty member Rebecca O. Johnson MFA '07 has been named Associate Program Director of Graduate and Professional Studies for the End of Life Care program. The College's new End of Life Care program aims to address the need for information, tools, and analysis for health care professionals, caregivers, and the general public to create new perspectives in medical care.

 

Shank's Mare, a puppetry collaboration between theatre faculty member Tom Lee and Japanese puppet master Koryu Nishikawa V, which premiered at Sarah Lawrence this past April, is set to open in New York City in November, as noted in The New York Times.

 

The New York Times remembers former faculty member Cynthia Macdonald MA '70 for her poetry and other achievements, including co-founding the University of Houston's creative writing program and becoming a certified Freudian psychoanalyst, specializing in treating patients with writer's block.

 

Anne Hathaway is set to star in a TV adaption of recently published novel The Ambassador's Wife by Jennifer Steil MFA '96, as featured in Entertainment Weekly.

 

Vice President of Administration Tom Blum sheds light on modern day admission and retention strategies with PBS NewsHour.

 

In a photo essay for The New Yorker, Alec Soth '92 documents the "persistent suffering and persistent renewal" of New Orleans 10 years after Hurricane Katrina.

 

CONNECTIONS

Sarah Lawrence Magazine

SLC Magazine

Then and Now
Spring 2015

It's bound to happen. Once set in motion, a story unfolds in ways we don't expect and could never foresee. People enter and exit. Seemingly unrelated events impose on the narrative arc. Just like that, a plot line that began way back then becomes a rich, complex tale that continues in the here and now, as the stories in this issue will attest.

 

GIVE TO SLC

Fund for Sarah Lawrence - Donate today!

It's early September and we are all watching many people we know and love go back to school. Here at the Fund for Sarah Lawrence we get to welcome our newest students, the Class of 2019. They will be visiting our offices on an Orientation Tour of Bronxville. Though our mailing address remains the same, we are now located with the rest of our Advancement and Alumni Relations colleagues at 45 Kraft Avenue, conveniently located near the Metro North Station for those of you who'd like to visit. And as we are only minutes from campus you can also visit with your favorite professors. The campus is abuzz with activities for new and returning students. All of whom are enjoying Opening Week because of the generosity of our alumni and parent donors. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the 2015 Fund. We hope we can count on your continued participation and the support of all of our alumni for the 2016 Fund. Your donations work together to provide essential resources for all of our wonderful students and our brilliant faculty.

You can mail your contribution to the 2016 The Fund for Sarah Lawrence, 1 Mead Way/Bronxville, NY 10708; call us at 914-813-9220 or donate online at
http://www.sarahlawrence.edu/give.
The FSL team is grateful for your investment in Sarah Lawrence.

   

Look at these Exciting Upcoming SLC Events!

 

Get out your planners, because The Office of Alumni Relations has many exciting upcoming events.

Upcoming Calendar of Events

Minneapolis/St. Paul: End of the Summer Party
White Bear Lake, MN
Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM

End of the summer party hosted by Vicki Churchill Ford '60, MSEd '87 and Silas Ford. Join us for a lovely afternoon on beautiful White Bear Lake for a party. Bring your swimsuit. Guests are welcome.

Brooklyn: Women of York: "Shared Dining"
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, September 13, 2015 at 11:30 AM

Please join us for brunch and discussion with Susan Meiselas '70 and Cate Muther '69 on the exhibit: Women of York: "Shared Dining".

D.C.: Happy Hour at Chaplin's
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at 6:00 PM

A casual get together for SLC alumni at Chaplin's Restaurant & Bar (1501 9th Street NW, Washington, D.C.). Appetizers will be provided. Drinks must be purchased at the bar. Don't miss this opportunity to make new friends and Sarah Lawrence connections.

Providence, Rhode Island: Reading and Discussion with Brian Morton '78
Providence, RI
Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 4:00 PM

Brian Morton, Writing faculty, reads from and discusses his acclaimed novel, Florence Gordon.

Minn/St. Paul: Opening Mary Griggs Burke '38 Collection
Minneapolis/ St. Paul, MN
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 2:00 PM

Opening of Mary Griggs Burke '38 Collection and lecture at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Reception to follow at the home of Chrystina Hanson Hakam '90

Register for an event today!

View photos from recent events

See Office-sponsored Events Calendar

Be sure to visit the Alumni web site frequently, as we are adding events all the time!

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Save the Date and Sign Up to Be a Reunion 2016 Volunteer!

 

Mark your calendars for next year's festivities, Reunion 2016 (June 2 - 5), and consider becoming a volunteer! You can help make the weekend a success. Volunteering is a fantastic way to connect with fellow classmates and assist in planning the weekend. Your creativity, feedback, and support are essential to making the weekend a success. Sign up to be a volunteer here.

We look forward to seeing you in June 2016!

View Reunion 2015 photos now!

Sign up to be a Reunion 2016 volunteer today!

Reunion 2016
   
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Remembering Faculty Member Carol Ann Pelletier

 

Carol Ann Pelletier, Theatre faculty, passed away on August 31. Carol came to Sarah Lawrence in 1993; she had an active career in costume design in the New York City area, including work for venues such as La Mama, Theatre for the New City, and Ubu Rep. Carol taught multiple courses in costume design, supervised a spectrum of independent studies and projects, and costumed countless shows on campus. We will remember Carol Ann during Reunion 2016 at the Service of Remembrance.

Read more about Carol Ann Pelletier

 
   
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Faculty on the Road Season Underway

 

The Edith Ingalls Vignos '45 Faculty on the Road Program brings together alumni and faculty to re-create a Sarah Lawrence seminar. Members of our renowned faculty take their academic passions to cities across the country, and ask you to come prepared to discuss questions pertinent to their topics. It's not quite the same as sitting around a table in Dudley Lawrence Living Room, but you will find the same challenging give-and-take that marked your Sarah Lawrence experience.

This Fall, take seminars with esteemed faculty members Mary Morris (Writing), Robin Starbuck (Visual Arts), Drew Cressman (Biology), Sam Abrams (Politics), Marek Fuchs (Writing), and Jeffrey McDaniel '90 (Writing).

Upcoming Faculty on the Roads

September 26
1:00 p.m.
San Francisco "What Took You So Long?" Mary Morris, writing faculty, discusses her new novel The Jazz Palace and why it took her 17 years to write. The event will be hosted by alumna Nancy Boas.
September 27
2:00 p.m.
Los Angeles "What Took You So Long?" Mary Morris, writing faculty, discusses her new novel The Jazz Palace and why it took her 17 years to write. The event will be hosted by alumna Janet Sanfilippo Ciriello '59..
Faculty on the Road candid
   
 
   

The John and Penny Barr Poetry Reading Series Features Joshua Mehigan MFA '94

 

Sarah Lawrence College is pleased to announce the launch of the John and Penny Barr Poetry Reading Series. The John and Penny Barr Poetry Reading Series celebrates the ever-changing art of contemporary poetry. By bringing notable poets, both prominent and emerging, to read at the College, the program aims to enrich and inspire the community of writers and readers at Sarah Lawrence and in greater Westchester. The inaugural event features award-winning poet Joshua Mehigan MFA '94.

Joshua Mehigan, a graduate of the College's MFA program in writing, will open the series on September 30 at 7 p.m. in the Donnelley Lecture Hall, Heimbold Visual Arts Center, 915 Kimball Avenue, Bronxville, New York. The reading is free and open to the public.

Joshua Mehigan
   
 
   

The Ascent of Woman Presented on BBC by SLC alumna Dr. Amanda Foreman

 

The Ascent of Woman is a landmark four-part documentary series for BBC Two that charts the role of women in society over the course of 10,000 years. Dr. Amanda Foreman argues that the history of women isn't a straight line from Eve's apple to Margaret Sanger's Pill. Over the past ten thousand years it has veered wildly between extremes of freedom and oppression, inclusion and exclusion.

This ambitious series sets out to redress a significant imbalance in global history, exploring the extraordinary and often overlooked role women have played in the forging of the modern world. Amanda confronts the difficult questions: How did power become a male right? Why is the female body a living battleground? Who decided that women are inferior?

In addition to asking the hard questions, The Ascent of Woman is also a celebration of women from around the globe that have made and changed human history.

The Ascent of Woman premieres this September on the BBC. See more information on Amanda on her personal web site.

The Ascent of a Woman
   
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Fall 2015 Courses are Open for Registration at CCE Writing Institute

 

Interested in taking a class at the Writing Institute this Fall? Fall courses are now open for registration! There are more than 50 to choose from. Check out the new Fall schedule here. Find out more at our annual Fall Open House to meet with instructors, take a sample class, and discover the right class for you. The Writing Institute Fall Open House will be Wednesday, September 9, 2015 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Alumni receive a 10% discount. Please call the office to register 914-395-2205 or email: SOrefice@sarahlawrence.edu

Writing Institute Candid
   
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Double your impact … It's not too late

 

Did you know that on average, one in 10 companies match employee donations?

By simply completing a matching gift form from your company, you may be able to double—or even triple—the impact of your donation to Sarah Lawrence. Most employers include spouses and retirees in their matching gift programs.

As a supporter of SLC, you know your contributions directly enable our students and faculty to explore, innovate, and constantly push the boundaries in their fields of study. Matching gifts are a wonderful way to magnify the power of your gift to help sustain and expand the college.

To find out if your employer has a matching gift program, just click on this link:
www.sarahlawrence.edu/giving/fund/Matching_Gift_Programs.html

 
   
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NCAA Approves Sarah Lawrence as Full Member

 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Membership Committee voted to grant Sarah Lawrence College active membership status, as announced by Jay Jones, Associate Director of Division III. Effective September 1, 2015, SLC is a full member of the NCAA.

Sarah Lawrence College President Karen Lawrence noted, "We are delighted that our athletic program has reached full membership in NCAA Division III, providing a high and appropriate level of competition for our accomplished student-athletes." "This is an exciting culmination of the provisional membership process," commented Director of Athletics and Physical Education Kristin Maile. "This is a major accomplishment for our athletic programs and the College. I personally thank all the staff, faculty, student-athletes and members of the SLC community who contributed to reaching this goal."

Come celebrate Tailgate Day with SLC on September 19 by cheering on Men's Soccer at 1:00 and Women's Soccer at 4:30 at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers. Boston chapter alumni: Women's Soccer team will be playing Wellesley College on September 26 at noon.

Read more on gogryphons.com

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Plan Now to Make More Possible

 

Leaving a gift in your will or as a beneficiary on your IRA or 401(k) is a great way to support Sarah Lawrence. For stories about what our alumni, faculty and friends have planned for the future, follow this link: www.slc.edu/Legacy-News. And please contact Dorea Ferris, Director of Gift Planning, at (914)813-9251 or at dferris@sarahlawrence.edu with any questions you may have; or visit us at our website at https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/giving/planned/ to explore ways to give

 
 
     

Connect on Facebook and LinkedIn!

The Office of Alumni Relations has created Facebook Groups for you to connect with classmates and fellow alumni in your area. Please, stay active in these groups -- and keep the content coming! Click here to join the Facebook group for Alumni in your city and Alumni in your class year.

Don't forget to network with fellow alumni on LinkedIn for all of your career-related inquiries, needs, or announcements.

Join the SLC Alumni Office's Twitter feed: @SLCAlums.

All SLC alumni groups are closed and membership is by request and invitation. To gain membership, you must click the "request to join" button at the top right corner of the group. Once you're a member, be sure to invite your friends to grow the group!

Join Us on Facebook
   

Alumni Announcements

 

Have you recently changed jobs, received a promotion, or won an award in your field? Share your accomplishment with the alumni community.

 
   

Carol Zoref '76 MFA '97 is the recipient of the 2015 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Award for the Novel, for her novel, Barren Island. Paul Harding said of Zoref's novel: "Barren Island is a wonderful synthesis of character and history. From the moment Marta Eisenstein Lane begins to tell us about her remarkable family's lives on the rank, forsaken sand bar of Barren Shoal, rendering animal carcasses into glue, the author immerses us in a world most readers would never otherwise have known existed. As squalid and hardscrabble as these lives may be, they are also suffused with strange beauty and love by Marta's solicitude and honesty. Barren Island is big-hearted, generous, and fascinating."

Carol Zoref headshot
   

Zach Zamchick '12 is producing a new "theater experience"--where the audience becomes part of the show--called Rocking Dead: Bedlam. Rocking Dead: Bedlam is an immersive zombie thriller, set in a nightclub at the end of the world. Developed by members of Playing with Reality, New York's premier interactive theater company, audience members play pivotal roles in this post-apocalyptic exploration of morality and mayhem. View Gabriel Chaignon's trailer for their spring production.

Rocking Dead: Bedlam poster
   

Marian Fontana '89 announced that she will be performing at Epiphany Magazine's Fall Fundraiser. Marian Fontana has been a writer and performer for over twenty-five years. As a writer, her articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Salon.com, The Guardian and more. Her memoir, A Widows Walk was published by Simon and Schuster in 2005 and was on The New York Times best selling biography list and was nominated for a Books for A Better Life Award.

epiphany magazine logo
   

"Someone Else", a film by Chelsea Catalanotto '12, is an official selection for screening at the LA Lift-Off Film Festival. The Lift-Off Film Festival Global Network supports grassroots filmmakers on their quest into the film industry.

Someone Else movie poster
   

Tara Passoni '98 became a National Champion in the Women's B Quad at the US Rowing Masters National Championships. Racing with Chinook Performance Racing Team, she also took home a silver in the Women's B 8+. Tara rowed for Sarah Lawrence College from 1995 - 1997

 
   

Rhona Free '78 became president of the University of Saint Joseph on July 1, 2015.

Rhona Free '78

   

Click here for more information on alumni news

Click here for College updates

 
 

Visit the SLC Alumni Web Site Join the SLC Alumnae/i Community and slc.edu