Women Like You!

The Community is diverse. The current community is composed of women who are single, coupled, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, chefs, sheriffs, preschool teachers, actresses, child care workers, carpenters, homemakers, artists, financial consultants, nurses, computer technicians, bankers, community activists, poets, electricians, horticulturists, musicians, beauticians, medical technologists, journalists, novelists, and more!

McBrides are motivated - courageous - curious - experienced - dedicated - humorous - flexible - energetic - patient - determined.- and more!

Unlike some programs for the returning student, Bryn Mawr does not offer weekend classes or evening continuing education courses.

McBrides enroll in the same rigorous course of study expected of traditional-aged college undergraduates with the same faculty. They enjoy all the hallmarks of the academic environment at Bryn Mawr, including graduate-level libraries and laboratories, small classes, access to faculty, and an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect fostered by the College's Honor Code. This environment is enhanced by structured support including individual advising, special introductory seminars and workshops to assist them in a smooth transition to college work, and a network of academic and personal services. For students like Karen Mauch, who continues to work as a freelance photographer while pursuing her other passion - Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology - such support makes getting a degree possible. She says, "On every level - from services like the writing center to the attention you get from professors at a small school - the McBride program is set up to make it work for you."

McBrides benefit, too, from campus activities including lectures, a lively performing arts and film scene, competitive and recreational athletics, and traditions ranging from the Elizabethan festival of May Day to membership in the country's oldest collegiate Self- Government Association. As elected members of the McBride Student Advisory Committee, they have an active role in building Bryn Mawr's diverse community, where learning takes place not only in the classroom but within the context of new friendships. Sarah Campbell, a Comparative Literature major, says, "We're all each other's hero. I'm energized when younger women come up to me and say, 'Doing this at your age - wow!' And I've learned so much from the lives they've lived."

"To prepare rigorously for the final exam and then to sit down, open your blue book and have the information flow out of you is like climbing a mountain and realizing, when you get to the top, that there is a reason for climbing the mountain," says Elizabeth Woeckner, a Classics major who was sidetracked by cancer in adolescence, and who now plans to pursue a Ph.D. For Woeckner, as for many McBride Scholars, meeting the challenges offered by the McBride Program is a large part of the reward.

Established in 1986, the program is designed for women who want the best education possible, who are motivated to achieve that goal, and who have come to a point in their lives where they are committed to realizing that achievement.

Applicants to the program are women, aged twenty-four and older, who present credentials of life experience, wisdom, sharpened focus and a seasoned enthusiasm for learning. McBride Scholars range in age from the mid-twenties to the seventies. Over ninety percent of these women have been employed in the past; currently, about fifty percent are employed part time and ten percent full time. In addition, virtually all McBrides conduct their academic pursuits in the context of managing significant family needs, often those of children and/or aging parents.

The vitality of the McBride Program is due in part to the diversity of these women's ages, life experiences and interests - but also to the intellectual excitement they share, often deepened by their efforts to get here. "McBrides look at things from a different angle," says Aline Rowens, who continues to work full time as a medical credentialing coordinator at a Philadelphia hospital while pursuing her bachelor's degree. "Our shared experience of trying to meet this goal is what makes the experience so rich." Helen Rehl, who saw her children through high school before entering the McBride Program to study cultural anthropology, will celebrate her 60th birthday, her 30th wedding anniversary, and her graduation from Bryn Mawr all in the same year. She says, "It's a jubilee time."

Fall 2007 Director Seminar Schedule

The Osher Reentry Grant

Office Descriptions