Bryn Mawr College

Alumnae Bulletin May 2010

From the Editor

As the record snowfalls during the beginning of the spring semester melted, what seems to be a record number of speakers visited campus. In the month of March alone: Black History Month keynote speaker Melissa Harris-Lacewell talked about her research on the political lives of African American women (see Archways). Lilly Ledbetter, who gave her name to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps ensure that workers who suffer discrimination on the basis of gender have a fair chance to sue their employers, talked to students about the case. President Emeritus Nancy J. Vickers unveiled her portrait, which will hang in Thomas Great Hall (see Lenses). Film, television, and stage actress Maggie Siff '96 met with students and discussed her work, her training, and her career.

Elaine Ciullia Kamarck '72 spoke at the inaugural Pen y Groes seminar, begun by President Jane McAuliffe to bring women and men of accomplishment to campus for lunch with small groups of students. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand and artist Red Grooms, who collaborated on the 1986 children's book Rembrandt Takes a Walk, were on campus at the same time, Strand to give a reading and Grooms to attend the opening of the exhibit of his work. Filmmaker John Waters performed his one-man show for a sold-out house in the newly renovated Goodhart auditorium and talked informally with students.

In this issue we introduce a regular column by President McAuliffe (see page 17) as well as "Speaking Out," an op-ed page for which we invite informed opinion pieces (see op-ed page). We also launch our series on career transitions with a feature on first jobs out of Bryn Mawr. Our research included reading initial Class Notes columns for every class back through the 1920s. In spite of some changes in opportunities open to women, the columns are remarkably consistent in their tales of a variety of pursuits and adventures, from the impressive to the mundane, reported with great zest. Student efforts to support recovery in Haiti continue (see Archways). Among alumnae, Mary Constantino '95 and husband Billy, who started the Mangrove Fund in 2007 to support sustainable projects in Haiti, raised $71,000.