Mills QuarterlyFall 2014

T H E A T E R G R A D S A R E C H A L L E N G I N G R O L E S A L U M N A E S E R V I C E D A Y S

Science WILD

in the

Working closely with Mills professors—like Kristina Faul— was such a fantastic experience for me as a student. I want to be part of the College’s history of graduates paying scholarships forward, so young women have the opportunity to learn and grow in an inspiring environment. Leaving a legacy through my donations continues to make me feel connected to Mills.

Johanna Sayo ’07

behindevery gift there is a story

Each gift to the College has a story—about a life-path

discovered at Mills and followed into the world, about life

long friendships and inspiring mentors, about a voice found

or strengthened. These are the stories you make possible for

future generations when you give to Mills. Each gift really

does count: college assessors, including U.S. News & World

Report, consider graduates’ giving an important measure of a

learning community’s excellence. Your gifts to Mills are a vote

of confidence in the College’s future.

Give to the Mills College Annual Fund by calling 510.430.2366, picking up the phone when a student calls you, visiting alumnae.mills.edu/give, or returning the enclosed envelope.

061402 Mills AnnualFundAd#1_final.indd 1 7/23/14 5:56 PM

3 NewbeginningsAs Mills launches a new academic year, the College works to serve students more effectively and efficiently while remaining true to our core values of excellence and inclusion.

6 TeamSquirreltakesthefieldby Susan McCarthyAn ambitious project in behavioral ecology, headed by Assistant Professor of Biology Jenn Smith, examines the social lives of squirrels—and gives students first-hand experience in conducting field research.

10 Behindthescenesby Jessica Langlois, MFA ’10 On stage and screen, these three alumnae take on roles that challenge stereotypes based on gender and race. The theater experience, they say, provides a way for all of us to recognize our human connections.

24 ActionheroesFun and rewarding days of volunteer service bring Mills alumnae together to benefit local organizations.

Departments

2 Calendar

4 MillsMatters

15 ClassNotes

21 InMemoriam

6 10 24 Mills Quarterly

CONTENTS Fall 2014

On the cover: Assistant Professor Jenn Smith and Kay Singh ’15 scan the landscape for squirrels at Briones Regional Park. Photo by Dana Davis.

OnTheseIStand:AnExhibitofRareBlackBooksandCollectibles

October 27–December 18, F. W. Olin Library Items from the collection of writer and social commentator Daphne Muse illustrating the history of black intellectualism in the United States.

November 2 Conversation and Q&A with Daphne Muse and Professor of English Ajuan Mance, followed by a reception and special tour of the exhibit. 2:00 pm, Faculty Lounge.

For information, contact Janice Braun, jbraun@ mills.edu.

MillsCollegeArtMuseum

SarahOppenheimerSeptember 13–December 14, 2014 New York–based artist Sarah Oppenheimer is internationally recognized for her architec-tural interventions that explore how space is animated and experienced. This exhibition presents archival material highlighting a set of key projects, including hand and digital drawings, three-dimensional models, and light studies.

For more information, see mcam.mills.edu or contact 510.430.2164 or museum@mills.edu. The museum is open 11:00 am–4:00 pm Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 am–7:30 pm Wednesday, and is closed Monday. Admission is free.

The 5.5 x 4” folded notecard (right) displays a eucalyptus branch across the front and is blank inside.

The 4 x 6” correspondence card featuring a small eucalyptus leaf is also available.

Each comes in packets of six, with envelopes, for $10, plus $2.50 shipping and handling for up to five packets. Proceeds benefit Orange County Mills College Alumnae chapter activities, including an annual scholarship for a Mills student.

To order: Mail your check, payable to Orange County Mills College Alumnae, along with a note indicating the quantity of each style, to Jana McDonough, 29262 Country Hills Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675.

For more information, please contact Jana at OCMCA@gmail.com or 949.347.8744.

Mills cards now available

Take note!

MillsMusicNowConcertSeries

October 5 Early Music: Shira Kammen

October 11 Mills Performing Group: Berio Folk Songs Celebration

October 18 John Driscoll

November 1 In Memoriam Robert Ashley

November 8 Improvisation: Tim Hodgkinson and Dans Les Arbres

All events start at 8:00 pm (unless otherwise noted) in the Littlefield Concert Hall. Free to Mills students, faculty, and staff; $15 general; $10 senior, Mills alumnae/i, and non-Mills students. Buy tickets at boxofficetickets.com.See musicnow.mils.edu or contact Steed Cowart at 510.430.2334 or steed@mills.edu.

SonglinesSeries

October 20 Annie Lewandowski and Tim Feeney: Improvised percussion and piano/electronics accompanying videos by artist Michael Ashkin.

October 27 The Hub: Featuring two new pieces by the band that pioneered laptop ensembles.

November 3 Shudder: Phillip Greenlief, Kyle Bruckman, Lance Grabmiller: Compelling instrumentation of reeds and electronics.

November 17 Ken Ueno: Quarter-tone electric guitar and vibraphone with vocal multiphonics.

All events start at 7:30 pm in the Ensemble Room. Admission is free. For information see musicnow.mills.edu or contact John Bischoff at 510.430.2332 or jbischoff@mills.edu.

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Calendar

Volume CIII Number 1 Fall 2014

PresidentAlecia A. DeCoudreaux

ChiefofStaffandVicePresidentforCommunicationsandExternalRelationsRenée Jadushlever

EditorLinda Schmidt

DesignandArtDirectionNancy Siller Wilson

ContributingWriters

Jessica Langlois, MFA ’10 Susan McCarthy

EditorialAssistanceRussell Schoch

The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly by Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California, and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send address changes to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Copyright © 2014, Mills College

Address correspondence to the Mills Quarterly, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity or length.

Email: quarterly@mills.edu Phone: 510.430.3312

Printed on recycled paper containing 10 percent post-consumer waste.

(Please use outline)

AnnieLewandowski

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New Beginnings

One of the most exciting times on cam-pus is when we begin the new academic year and welcome new and returning stu-dents. This year, after much preparation by our hard-working staff and extraor-dinary faculty, the Class of 2018 arrived full of energy, enthusiasm, hopes, and dreams.

With Reunion 2014 fast approaching, I can hardly wait for our loyal alum-nae to return to Mills, reconnect with their friends, make a few new ones, and enjoy interacting with students, faculty, and staff on our beautiful campus.

This is a time of new beginnings.Mills is a dynamic institution, continu-

ally evolving while still embracing core values and beloved traditions. The year presents many opportunities for innova-tion as the College introduces changes that will strengthen our students’ edu-cational experience and enhance their ability to become leaders in a challeng-ing world. These changes will ultimately improve their Mills experience, while remaining true to values that have been established over the institution’s long his-tory. They will enable us to meet strategic objectives, advance the College’s mission, and, at the same time, make a tremen-dous difference in our students’ lives now and in the future.

Some initiatives will improve pro-cedures and revamp the structure of departments, allowing for more cost-effective delivery of programs and ser-vices. Other changes will allow us to meet more of our students’ needs. For example, we have streamlined and centralized our recruitment and enrollment processes to ensure a more coordinated and efficient approach. Potential students, as well as

all enrolled students, will be positively affected by these modifications. Also, we have devoted more resources to increase access for first-generation and financially challenged students. To better serve stu-dents’ needs as they transition to post-college employment, we have reallocated resources to strengthen career services. In today’s world, students need additional tools and greater support to tie their cur-ricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular achievements to real-world jobs at home and abroad.

In order to make Mills more competi-tive in the changing landscape of higher education, we have introduced adminis-trative changes that will result in more integrated academic programs, such as a more formalized collaboration between the MBA and MPP graduate programs. A team of faculty is engaged in a Curricular Transformation Task Force to re-imagine the Mills 21st-century curriculum to ensure that our students are exposed to relevant contemporary academic think-ing within a strong liberal-arts frame-work.

And, as much as we rely on the gener-osity of alumnae donors to support the College financially, we have also been building momentum to attract institu-tional grants that will advance our long-term goals, support faculty research, and enhance the student experience. Private foundations are an important source of funding for the College, and we continue to cultivate existing foun-dation relationships while seeking new partnerships with additional funders who share our values. Since May, the College has received several noteworthy commitments from private institutional

donors, including a $1.25 million pledge from a prominent Bay Area funder for an emerging capital project; many other sig-nificant grants are acknowledged on page 4. Mills has dozens of requests to private foundations currently pending or slated for submission in the coming months potentially bring in millions of dollars for infrastructure, programs, and services. I appreciate the enormous effort our staff and faculty have invested in these pro-posals. Creating a diverse and robust income structure is of critical impor-tance for the College’s ongoing viability. In addition, we continue to pursue other revenue-generating possibilities, includ-ing the better use of our underutilized land, increased rental of our facilities, and strategic partnerships.

In all these efforts, we remain commit-ted to what makes Mills special: provid-ing a diverse and inclusive environment, recognizing the power of community, and advancing education for women as a way to effect positive change in the world. Together, we have a responsibility to ensure a strong future for the College, maintain an extraordinary educational experience for our students, and to adhere to our deeply held values. I am profoundly grateful to all members of the Mills com-munity who are dedicated to meeting these crucial goals and to preparing lead-ers who will make a positive difference in our world now and in the future.

A Message from the President of Mills College

By Alecia A. DeCoudreaux

Mills Matters

Mills College gratefully acknowledges the following selected gifts, grants, and pledges of $50,000 or more received between January 1 and June 30, 2014.

Several members of the Mills College Board of Trustees pledged their support of a new project, the renovation of Lisser Hall, including Chair Kathleen Burke and her husband, Ralph Davis; Richard W. Barrett, P ’93, and his wife, Elaine; Glenn and Ellen Voyles; Wendy Hull Brody ’68 and her husband, William; Maribelle and Stephen Leavitt; Katie Brown Sanborn ’83 and her partner, Barbara Wright; Jim and Mayhill Fowler; Mei Kwong ’70 and Laurence Franklin; and Elizabeth Parker ’85 and Keith Crow. President Emerita Mary S. Metz and her husband, Eugene, also made a pledge in support of the renovation. We are truly grateful for this early and strong support of this goal, which is an important com-ponent of the College’s plan to revitalize the campus core.

The Barretts also funded the Barrett

Generous gifts and pledges sustain College prioritiesUndergraduate Research Program and the Five-Year Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Program with a commitment through the Barrett Foundation, while Kwong and Franklin also contributed through the Morris S. Smith Foundation to support the strategic initiative to internationalize Mills. Parker and Crow made an additional pledge toward Mills’ Greatest Need.

Grants to sustain the Mills Teachers Scholars Program came from the Stuart Foundation and the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation. The Spencer Foundation made a grant in support of research by School of Education faculty. The Challenge to Learning School in San Francisco gave to the Mills College Children’s School Gift Fund and cre-ated the Challenge to Learning Endowed Scholarship for Children’s School students.

Trustee Joan Lewis Danforth ’53 made a gift to both Mills’ Greatest Need and the Mary Ann Childers Kinkead Initiative for Faculty Innovation. An anonymous donor created a fund to

enhance the study of Chinese language at the College. Ann Wolff ’42 gave to Mills’ Greatest Need. Helen Salvin Kennedy ’67 opened a charitable gift annuity that will one day lead to the cre-ation of an endowed scholarship for sci-ence and math students. Sally Lampson Kanehe ’64 endowed the Sally Lampson Kanehe Scholarship. Meredith and William Parker contributed 100 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century art to the Mills College Art Museum.

Mills received an unrestricted dis-tribution from the estate of Evamaria Chookolingo ’36 of Thousand Oaks, California. A distribution from the estate of a friend of Mills, Vilma Patterson-Antoine of Walnut Creek, California, created the Myrtle Pedersen Swanson Fund for Classical Music, named for her niece. A bequest distribution from the estate of Marilyn Mary, longtime Art Department staff member, created the William and Marilyn Mary MFA Studio Art Endowment.

Mills has become the first single-sex college in the country to publish an admission policy for transgender appli-cants. Developed with extensive input from faculty, staff, and students and fol-lowing thorough legal review, the policy was unanimously passed by the Mills College Board of Trustees’ Enrollment and Financial Aid Committee in May and went into effect on September 1.

According to the new policy, any appli-cant who identifies as a female or who is born female but identifies outside of the traditional gender binary is eligible to apply to a Mills undergraduate program. Graduate programs remain open to all, regardless of gender.

“We’re very proud of our history and

identity as a women’s college, and this policy begins by reaffirming that iden-tity,” says Brian O’Rourke, vice president for enrollment management. “We were founded and still exist to question gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles.”

Three to five students who apply to Mills each year identify as a gender different from their original biologi-cal assignment or as gender neutral. O’Rourke states that the policy serves as an important part of promoting an inclusive environment on campus.

“Mills is exceptionally diverse by a variety of definitions, and the idea that we would take this step to make students feel more included is only appropriate,” he says. At the same time,

College forges transgender admission policyhe adds, “We are in no way consider-ing becoming a coed institution at the undergraduate level. We have been operating under these procedures for some time; it was important to codify this publicly and let students know how we will treat their applications.”

Tess Filbeck-Bates, a senior who served on the Diversity Committee that endorsed the new policy, says, “Mills does support diversity—not when it’s easy, but when it’s time to be a leader. I feel my education will be enriched greatly as a result of this decision. When people are free to express who they are, they can be stronger in every-thing they do. That’s what Mills is all about.”

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Campus kudos A selection of recent achievements by faculty, staff, and students

David Bernstein, professor of music, has been appointed editor of Music Theory Spectrum, the official academic journal of the Society for Music Theory. Published by Oxford University Press, the journal features the best work in music theory and analysis, including aesthetics, his-tory of theory, post-tonal theory, critical theory, linear analysis, rhythm, and music cognition.

Professor of English Stephen Ratcliffe has received this year’s prestigious San Francisco State University Poetry Center Book Award for Selected Days, a collection of poems from over a decade of work. He will receive his award and read from the book on October 2 at the Poetry Center on the SFSU campus. Ratcliffe has previ-ously been honored with the Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative American Poetry, as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts. His small press, Avenue B, has published the writings of innovative contemporary poets.

Bill Issel, visiting professor of his-tory, has been selected to receive a 2014 Award of Merit from the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society for his contributions to the study and teaching of San Francisco history. This annual award honors individuals, organiza-tions, and businesses that have made significant contributions to the historic fabric of San Francisco. Recently he was historical adviser for the highly praised

documentary American Jerusalem: Jews and the Making of San Francisco.

President Alecia DeCoudreaux was one of five people profiled by San Francisco’s ABC7 television in this year’s Profiles of Excellence series. The show celebrates the Bay Area’s rich cultural diversity and the residents who have made important contribu-tions to the community.

DavidBernstein,StephenRatcliffe,AleciaDeCoudreaux

Twenty-five years after its founding, the Summer Academic Workshop (SAW) has become a model of success in prepar-ing low-income, first-generation college students for the rigors of undergraduate study at Mills. In fact, this year’s enter-ing group of 28 students is the largest cohort in the program’s history, and Bruce Williams, Fletcher Jones Professor of Sociology who has served as SAW director since 2000, anticipates that the need will only increase.

“SAW is more important today than ever,” he says. “National data indicate that the majority of students coming into the academy over the next 15 to 20 years will be low-income, first-generation, and students of color. We have a track record

now of helping these students succeed.”The success of the program is eas-

ily quantifiable. Although the national graduation rate for this population is only 11 percent after six years, 60 percent of SAW participants complete their degrees at Mills in four years. In addition, SAW cohorts earn a group grade-point average of over 3.1. “Our retention rate equals—and sometimes exceeds—the College’s overall rate,” says Williams. “Most who leave do so for financial reasons; even many of those go on to finish at other institutions. We’re doing something very special to achieve such results.”

Incoming SAW students live on cam-pus for four weeks prior to the start of the fall semester, logging 65 classroom hours in addition to attending work-shops, structured study time, leadership development activities, and orientations

to campus resources and services, earn-ing a half-course credit for their work.

Williams points out that the program is not remedial. “The students call it boot camp,” he says. “It is run like an honors program, with very high expectations of our students coupled with excellent ongoing student services and academic support.” Throughout the year, students can take advantage of seminars, guest speakers, visits to businesses, and staff and alumnae mentors. The social sup-port of peers, faculty, and staff is another key to ensuring success. “These students often face additional stress from finan-cial hardship, as well as self-doubt,” says Williams. “We help them keep a positive sense of themselves and build the belief that they can do this work.”

SAW primes students for academic success

OOne day in Kenya, doctoral student Jenn Smith watched carefully as a lion advanced to steal food from a group of hyenas. To Smith’s surprise, the hyenas turned the tables. “I actually saw spotted hyenas chase a lion up a tree. Lions never are seen in trees!” she exclaims.

She later saw the hyenas defeated by a similar tactic: when a hunting clan of hyenas approached grazing zebras, instead of fleeing, the zebras formed a ring, protecting the foals inside. The defense was successful enough to send the hyenas away still hungry. “The zebras were the prey animals, but they won at the end of the day,” she says. “That was pretty neat.”

PHOTOS BY DANA DAVIS; SQUIRREL INSETS BY JENN SMITH AND MINNIE VO

Theteampreparesfortheday’swork(left);JennSmithandKaySinghseekouttheirstudysubjects(right).

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TEAM SQUIRREL

takes the field

By Susan McCarthy

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Both of these examples demonstrate the results of individual animals working together to benefit other members of their social group. This is the primary focus of Smith’s research. An assistant professor of biology at Mills since 2012, Smith exam-ines how animals interact with their natural environment and with each other. “My work is studying how animals have evolved and why they behave the way they do,” she says. Her passion is to understand social evolution in mammals, particularly the evolution of cooperation. “It’s sort of uncoding the secret lan-guage they’re using.” Such “language,” she explains, may include various behaviors, such as vocalizations and postures, as well as more obviously social actions like mutual grooming or who has priority for feeding and mating.

Secrets like these are untangled through field work, observing animals in nature. Such study allows the animal to interact with the full range of influences in its habitat and, while less tidy than lab work, provides results that simply can’t be duplicated in a controlled environment. While in Kenya, Smith lived in a

tent among the Masai, where she was called Mama Fisi (“hyena woman” in Swahili).

Now, she is training students in the skills of field research, albeit a little closer to home. Under Smith’s guidance, Team Squirrel, a group of Mills undergraduates, is studying ground squirrel colonies in the East Bay’s Briones Park.

Jenn Smith grew up in a small town in Maine, and was always drawn to observing animals. She planned to be a veteri-narian, the only job with animals she knew about. In her sopho-more year at Colby College she took a between-semester course in the British West Indies. Her project was to figure out what land hermit crabs did at night; to trace their journeys, she fixed the ends of tiny spools of thread to their shells. The answer? They went to the chicken coop, looking for food. In discovering the hermit crabs’ path, Smith found her own.

She went on to earn an MS at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and dual doc-torates in zoology and ecology and evolution-ary biology and behavior from Michigan State University while studying hyenas under the mentorship of zoologist Kay Holekamp. In her post-doctoral work, Smith joined in on a rare long-term study of yellow-bellied marmots liv-ing in the Rocky Mountain area. That project, which began in the 1960s, is now headed by Dan Blumstein, professor of ecology and evo-lutionary biology at UCLA. Blumstein explains a handy thing about marmots: “They have an address! It’s great, they stay put and you have a place to go every day to look at your animals.” (Hyenas, in contrast, can range over an area of up to a thousand square kilometers, so keeping up with your subject can be a challenge.)

Working with these scientists inspired Smith. She wanted to initiate a study of free-living wild animals, and she wanted to mentor young women scientists. Mills was the perfect place. “It’s rare that people who are such good teachers are also world-class researchers,” says Blumstein. “Mills is lucky to have her.”

On a fine June day, Smith and Team Squirrel are circling a colony of California ground squir-rels in an old walnut orchard at a picnic area in Briones Regional Park. The squirrels here are protected from excessive human encroach-ment. There are colonies in slightly differ-ent habitats. They live much of their lives in the open, easily observed. They are relatively fearless of humans, so being watched creates minimal disturbance. Like marmots, they have addresses.

“Squirrels are abundant at Briones,” says Smith. “Our research focuses on several large colonies, totalling roughly 100 squirrels each season. It’s great to have so many animals involved in the soap opera!” Smith sees oppor-tunity for a model long-term study here, and hopes the project may span decades. Collecting interlocking life stories is an important aspect of the work. “It’s fascinating to build up a data set with individuals you’ve known since birth,” she says. “You can see how they interact with others within their social net-work, and observe them across their whole life span.”

The squirrels themselves are lovely. They are brindled with a mantle of lighter hairs over the shoulders like a silver stole, and have elegant white eye-rings. Their large dark eyes survey the landscape watchfully. With hyenas, Smith was looking at

cooperation in a predator species. With mar-mots and these squirrels, she’s looking at a prey species. Sentinel behavior and alarm calls are an example of their cooperation. “By announcing the danger, they’re putting themselves at a greater risk. But the benefit is that they’re warning other individuals in their group,” she says.

The plump little squirrels scampering around aren’t just attractive to biologists—they’re also attractive to hawks, coyotes, and rattlesnakes, against whom they have developed impressive defenses. Adult ground squirrels have some immunity to snake venom and are valiant in their actions to protect the colony’s babies. When faced with a rattler, they’ll call an alarm to the col-ony, kick dirt at the snake, and flip their tails repeatedly. They can make their tails hotter, confusing the snake’s heat receptors and warning that they’re ready to stand their ground. Often the snakes will exhibit defen-sive reactions and, having lost the element of surprise, slink away from confrontation.

Team Squirrel moves exuberantly, but seriously. Before venturing into the wilds of the park, each student researcher has studied all aspects of their mission. Students have become knowledgeable about the eth-ics of live trapping, and making sure squir-rels don’t stay in traps any longer than necessary. They have become familiar with techniques for gathering physical evidence, in the form of hair, fecal, and parasite sam-ples. They have learned to recognize squir-rel predators and to tell a gopher snake from a rattlesnake. (Students wear snake gaiters as a precaution.)

The students have also prepared an etho-gram, a table of possible behaviors such as “sand kicking” or “courtship chase,” that allows them to systematically record the activities of the colony. Team Squirrel pored through the literature to learn what they might expect to see. Armed with binoculars and a notebook or digital voice recorder, these observers gather an enormous amount of information about individual squirrels,

their social interactions, and their colony behavior. Smith loves observation. “It allows for a quiet moment where

you can sit and just really watch and understand what these animals are doing.” Observation often reveals patterns that raise new questions about the animals’ behavior.

To glimpse the team in action, I begin by watching Minnie Vo ’15 set out lures for the squirrels. A biology major and pre-med

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student, Vo dabs peanut butter on the treadle in the middle of each wire box trap, just enough to entice a squirrel, and places it near squirrel burrows or trails. “We tried buying the generic peanut butter, but that didn’t work,” Vo says. “It has to be Skippy.” Vo also lays a trail of black oil sunflower seeds. On the path of deliciousness, squirrels will enter. When they touch the treadle, the door closes.

Trapped! With nothing else to do, they go ahead and eat the peanut butter.

I trail Kate Lee Newcomb ’14 as she checks traps. The season’s just begun, but she already knows the colony’s neigh-borhoods. Many squirrels have already been given an identifying mark “nam-ing” the individual. The dyed marks are a bit whimsical—Umbrella, Smiley, Peace Sign—and enable observers to recog-nize individuals on sight. Near a burrow under a derelict walnut tree, Newcomb murmurs, “Umbrella lives here.”

When she finds a furry captive, Newcomb collects the fresh poop from underneath the cage; it will be assayed later for hormones. She notes details about the squirrel’s behavior: does it chatter or try to escape? Is it bold or shy? Then she carries the squirrel to shade, where Smith fits a tapering canvas bag over the end of the trap. “This is a handling cone,” Smith explains. “They’re calm when they’re in a narrow space.”

When Smith opens the end of the trap, the squirrel bolts into the security of the dark cone, wedging itself snugly in the point as it might in a burrow. All except for Peace Sign—he’s a squirrel with personality and doesn’t rush into the nice dark bag. He sits up and looks around calmly. Smith blows at him. He doesn’t budge. Newcomb stomps her boots. Nothing. Only the sight of a thin stick waved outside the cage gets him to step back until he’s in the bag. Finally, Smith weighs the bagged squirrel, then undoes a set of Velcro straps so the squirrel’s body can be examined.

Before the squirrel is released, a few hairs are pulled from its rump. The bits of cuticle on the root end contain DNA, which will be analyzed so that Team Squirrel can build a colony family tree without taking blood. The squirrel is checked for ectopara-sites—fleas and ticks. Some “fleabags” have noticeably more para-sites. Smith wants to find out why. “It could be an indication of being really social. We are asking whether parasites represent an evolutionary cost of living in a social group.” This is a question Kay Singh ’15 will explore as part of extensive research Smith plans into parasites and disease transmission, and into the rela-tionships between sociality, stress, and levels of parasitism.

“Each student takes a part of the project,” Smith explains. “The goal is to publish a paper based on our findings.” Valeska Muñoz ’14 is constructing the genetic tree and exploring connections between relatedness and how squirrels interact. Newcomb is

studying whether squirrels use scent or hearing as their primary method of detecting predators. Vo is examining levels of a stress hormone in squir-rel droppings, a baseline measure-ment that may later be correlated with other factors. (She predicts that mature males will have higher levels than younger males due to the pres-sure of having to “protect his squirrel mistresses from invaders.”)

At the end of the day, Team Squirrel carries the precious data back to Smith’s lab at Mills, where there are freezers for samples, chemical hoods for purifications, and microscopes for parasite identification. Here’s where hormone levels are measured and DNA family trees are constructed.

Team Squirrel is supported by the Jill Barrett Biology Research Program, which was established by the par-ents of the late Jill Barrett ’93, a keen wildlife conservationist. In addition to Team Squirrel, this summer’s Barrett

program includes three other research groups: Super Fly, investi-gating synapse development in fruit flies; the Nematode Ninjas, identifying odor receptors in nematodes; and the Flower Children, studying rare plants on serpentine soil in Marin County.

“The students have a really sophisticated research experience,” says Professor Jared Young, who directs the Barrett program at Mills. “It is more like graduate work in the sense that every stu-dent has a project that they can take ownership of.”

Jenn Smith’s many publications give an idea of the theoretical work that can come out of her field research. Most of her articles appear in journals about animal behavior and ecology, but she is also lead author on a paper in Current Anthropology about the evolution of cooperation in mammalian carnivores (like hyenas) and its similarity to early Homonin evolution.

That paper links cooperation among carnivores with such factors as large brains, reduced sexual dimorphism (males and females being more similar), increased reproductive investment (more parental care of fewer babies), and endurance hunting in open habitats. It suggests that a similar look at multiple factors, rather than relying on just one (such as tool use, hunting, or language), will be useful in analyzing the development of coop-eration among humanity’s ancestors.

“It’s so exciting to think about something that happens in a primate and then inquire whether it also happens in something with a nervous system similar to a squirrel’s. I love investigating whether you really need a human’s cognitive apparatus in order to interact in complicated ways, keep track of relationships, and so forth,” Smith says.

Sounds like a lifetime of inquiry for Smith and squads of Team Mills biologists. ◆

AsquirreltakesthebaitsetbyValeskaMuñoz(left);KateLeeNewcombandJennSmithcombforcluestolearnaboutsquirrelparasites(above).

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“The director would say, ‘Treat, take Kathryn’s hand. Help her do it. Help her.’ So, I was always being pulled along behind, and I just kept saying, ‘You know what? I totally have got this. I can run, I can get on this horse by myself, and I think I can even fight these guys if I need to,’” Harrold recalls. Eventually, the director listened, and Harrold considered it one small victory in her 35-year career as an actress. Throughout her time in Hollywood, she almost always worked with male writers, male directors, and all-male crews, and she often felt called upon to stand her ground when she was told what a woman would or wouldn’t do. “I was very fierce. I was determined. I felt at the time like a feminist—and I still do today,” Harrold says.

Along with Elizabeth Carter ’92 and Anna Ishida ’05, Harrold is among the many Mills alumnae who have estab-lished careers in acting, and who have found theater and film to be vital ven-ues for women to explore emotions they might otherwise suppress. They have

By Jessica Langlois, MFA ’10

I n 1981, Kathryn Harrold and Treat Williams were on the run from Robert Duvall. They were on

the set of The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, one of the many early eighties films Harrold starred in, and one of the many times the young actress found her-self causing a stir.

also found the acting profession to be a way for people to be held accountable to one another and to themselves, as well as a means of practicing empathy and questioning social assumptions. As Carter says, “Theater creates a space where we’re all human together.”

Theater as therapyKathryn Harrold ’72 has a classic Hollywood look—high cheekbones, large doe eyes, and sculpted ash-blond hair—which at one point led her to play the role of Lauren Bacall. Drawn from rural Appalachia to the countercultural vibe of the San Francisco Bay Area, with its flower children and Vietnam War protests, Harrold majored in literature and dra-matic arts at Mills while studying mime in San Francisco, movement at Stanford,

and circus arts in Berkeley. In the early ’70s, she went to New York, where she studied with acting legends Sanford Meisner, Ute Hagen, and André Gregory.

But it wasn’t long before she was swept from New York’s experimental theater scene on to the silver screen. She was cast on the soap The Doctors and, by the late ’70s, she was dividing her time between New York and Los Angeles, appearing in such popular television shows as The Rockford Files and Starsky and Hutch, whose star, Paul Michael Glaser, she hap-pened to meet over brunch. This lucky break was “kind of goofy,” but it cata-pulted her career forward, says Harrold.

She began to get leads in feature films and TV movies, though the atmosphere of a movie set was a far cry from the camaraderie she’d felt on the small New

Mills women on stage and screen

10 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

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York stage. In Hollywood, she noticed young actresses coming out of the dress-ing rooms of male stars or giving them naked pictures of themselves. “It was hard for women at that time. There was so much sexism, and always a million more roles for men,” says Harrold, whose soft-spoken demeanor covers an inner strength. She turned her disappointment and anger at the inequality she witnessed daily into a steely resolve—not only would she make it in Hollywood, she would rep-resent strong women on camera.

Over the course of her career, Harrold has mostly played smart, professional women, but, paradoxically, those women were almost always in the shadow of a leading man. She’s been Steve McQueen’s schoolteacher girlfriend (in The Hunter, McQueens’s final film); the defected mobster sweetheart to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s FBI agent; and the con-stantly jilted bank executive girlfriend of Albert Brooks. When asked how she felt about perennially deferring to a male star, Harrold says with a dry wit, “It depended on whether or not they were good kiss-ers!” More seriously, she says that she got tired of talk show hosts posing more questions about the men she worked with than about her own experience in the films.

While her acting always got excellent reviews, critics panned most of her mov-ies and TV shows, and her career hit a plateau. In 1986, the Los Angeles Times called her “the actress many critics pre-dicted would become a movie queen but who, through no fault of her own, usually wound up as a lady in waiting.”

Then, in 1991, Harrold landed the role of a lifetime. She was cast as Christina LeKatzis, a defense lawyer in the critically acclaimed 1960s-era civil rights televi-sion drama I’ll Fly Away. The ground-breaking show approached racial topics from complex perspectives, telling the parallel stories of a white district attorney and his African-American housekeeper. In addition to winning multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, the show won four NAACP Image awards and a Humanitas Prize, awarded to film and television that promote human dignity. Elizabeth Carter, who watched I’ll Fly Away while she was

at Mills, says that the show was a benchmark for her as an African-American actor.

Though Harrold was still playing a love interest, the role was the favorite part of her career. “I remembered my mother very well during that period, so I had a lot to draw upon—the smoking, the hairdo, the idea of a girdle,” Harrold says.

When I’ll Fly Away was canceled after three seasons, Harrold made a complete turnaround with her role as a journalist and Gary Shandling’s ex-wife/girlfriend, Francine Sanders, in the satirical com-edy The Larry Sanders Show. The real-ity-style spoof on late night talk shows had razor-sharp writing interlaced with improvisation. Harrold realized she was part of something good, and she also finally found well-deserved acclaim. The Washington Post called I’ll Fly Away and The Larry Sanders Show “two high-caliber shows” for Harrold, and in these roles she proved she was both a seasoned dramatic actress and a skilled comedienne. “I did my best work, and I was surrounded by people who were doing their best work,” Harrold says.

After The Larry Sanders Show, Harrold’s career and life took another turn. She married (and later divorced), had a daughter, and settled permanently in

Los Angeles. As Harrold was entering her 50s, both the opportunities and the plea-sure of acting started to fade. “My forte was the long arc, the subtle little-by-little revelation,” Harrold says. “But in the last decade of my acting career I played a lot of moms that were jokes. I didn’t like any of those parts.”

She did read for the part of a therapist on The Sopranos, written expressly for her by former I’ll Fly Away head writer David Chase; she later found out she didn’t get the role because she was too much like a real therapist. Fittingly, Harrold was

enrolled in graduate school studying psy-chology at the time.

Now, as a licensed marriage and fam-ily therapist, she serves mostly actors, writers, and other artists. Her peaceful Brentwood office is bathed in sunlight and decorated with statues of the Buddha. In this newest role, her experience as an actor informs her work. “In ancient times, theater was used in the same way that we use therapy nowadays, for people to sit in a group and work through some emotion or some event,” Harrold says.

As a young actress, Harrold channeled

Mills women on stage and screen

Kathryn Harrold ’72

On the lam in The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, 1981; at her office in Brentwood today; as defense lawyer Christina LeKatzis in I’ll Fly Away, 1991.

her anger and frustration over inequal-ity for women into a motivation to suc-ceed; now she’s helping her clients do the same. “As a therapist I think anger is a wonderful emotion. Rage is a problem, but anger is OK. It’s a valid feeling, even though women are often judged horren-dously for expressing it,” she says.

Taking off the maskGrowing up as one of the few African-American students in her high school in 1980s Eugene, Oregon, Elizabeth Carter ’92 felt pressure to be nice and polite, both at home and at school. For her, the primary draw of the stage was as a place to let out her anger.

“My mask was fantastic,” says Carter, whose perfect posture and wide smile convey a comfortable confidence. In the Laurel District home she shares with her wife, two-year-old son, and a large, effu-sive dog, she describes how her high school drama teacher recognized her need for an outlet, assigning her mono-logues from bold plays like Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls. Carter tosses her ringlet curls and snaps her fingers as she works out the words to the choreo-poem she performed decades ago: “i lived wit myths & music waz my ol man & i cd

dance a dance outta time...” she recites rhythmically, remembering all the pauses, which words to whisper and which to punch.

“Theater was a place where it was OK to be really, really sad. It was OK to be angry. It was OK to be jealous or devi-ous—all of those things that I, as the good acceptable black girl, wasn’t otherwise allowed to be,” Carter says.

The daughter of a college professor and an elementary school teacher, Carter grew up enchanted with words. The dic-tionary was a frequent guest at the din-ner table, and Carter devoured the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, Nikki Giovanni, and May Sarton. At 14, a favorite aunt took her to see the ’60s-era musical review Beehive. Carter recognized one of the black actresses from a then-current television commercial. “I thought, ‘This woman was real.’ She was accessible. I could see myself up there; I could do that,” she recalls.

Carter’s love of poetry—and a year abroad in London during her time at Mills—forged a strong attach-ment to Shakespeare, which she now teaches, along with voice, at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. “The Bard’s high-stakes plots and no-holds-barred dialogue

present a rich opportunity for actors and students, particularly students of color, to express their emotions and to recognize commonalities of human experience,” she says.

Sometimes, though, lessons come across backstage. Early in her career, while preparing for The Merchant of Venice, a play written 400 years ago and noted for its presentation of the Jewish character Shylock, Carter found herself face to face with very modern, and very personal, con-cerns about stereotyping. While apprentic-ing at the California Shakespeare Festival (now the California Shakespeare Theatre), she was cast as a maid in a 1930s era adap-tation of that play.

“I went through all the costume fit-tings, then one day they wanted me to put this little doily on my head. All of a sud-den I had a bit of a panic attack. I didn’t want to wear that doily!” In that moment,

12 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Elizabeth Carter ’92

As Helen in Wittenberg at Berkeley’s Aurora Theater; as herself; playing Rose in August Wilson’s Fences.

FA L L 2 0 1 4 13

she’d flashed back to the long history of African-American women in Hollywood being portrayed as the subservient help. Carter pulls out a thick photo album and, flips to her picture in the costume; she is embracing fellow cast members, but with eyebrows knit and a forced smile. She wore the doily and played the part but, from then on, Carter knew she would fight for roles where she wasn’t pigeon-holed as an African-American woman or perpetuating dated stereotypes.

“I’ve played every Shakespeare country wench,” Carter recalls with a laugh. “I’m great at it, but, in the end, it’s not OK if black women only get to play the country wench. If she also gets to play the queen or the villain, that’s alright.” She’s stuck to her convictions, having since played such deeply nuanced characters as a novice nun in Agnes of God, a Walmart employee and hotel worker in Nickel and Dimed, and the Eternal Feminine in Wittenberg.

But Carter is most proud of her roles that have spoken specifically to black women’s experiences. In the 20 years she’s been acting in the Bay Area, one of Carter’s proudest moments was play-ing Rose in August Wilson’s Fences. The Pulitzer Prize–winning play deeply explores the domestic, urban African-American experience in 1950s Pittsburg. After the show, women from the audience flocked to meet Carter—either sharing their own experience of being a “Rose” or expressing gratitude at being able to experience it through her performance. This coming February, she will appear in Marin Theater’s production of The Convert, a play set in 1896 South Africa.

Establishing an intimate relation-ship with her audience only confirmed for Carter the purpose of theater as not only entertainment, but as a venue for social justice and a way to build a bridge of understanding between individu-als. “Actors are always required to put themselves in the position of whatever character they’re playing, so even if their character is completely cruel or manipu-lative, they have to find where that per-son’s humanness is and why they’re doing what they’re doing. You cannot judge them,” she says.

A casting director once told Carter she

was a “heart” actor, and could make any-one like her onstage, something she con-nects back to her childhood of trying hard to be accepted by her peers. Now she uses that skill to create emotional connections between the audience, her characters, and herself. She’s helping people develop empathy for one another, something she hopes they will take with them after the curtain closes.

Finding a voiceFor Anna Ishida ’05, the quest for shared experience is one of the greatest goals of the theater, particularly in the 21st cen-tury. “Theater demands an accountability to the human experience,” Ishida says over coffee and croissants at a sidewalk café near Lake Merritt. Theater creates an environment in which both actors and audience members learn to acknowledge that everything one does affects someone else, she explains. “You’re not just pas-sively watching, then changing the chan-nel or turning it off,” says Ishida. “The way people live today, we’re losing that sense of engagement.”

Ishida, who grew up watching Miyazaki

and Disney films, remembers first becom-ing interested in theater and music in sec-ond grade, when listening to a tape of Les Misérables at a friend’s house. She rattles off the lyrics to “On my own,” describing how she became fascinated by the con-flicting motivations of the musical’s young women characters. When Ishida started belting out arias from Phantom of the Opera, her mother realized she had real talent and enrolled her in voice lessons. After high school, Ishida attended the Pacific Conservatory for Performing Arts, which gave her intensive training in act-ing, movement, and dance, before transfer-ring to Mills and earning a BA in English.

Like Harrold and Carter, Ishida found the study of literature to be just as impor-

tant in the development of her craft as acting workshops. One of her favorite classes was Kirsten Saxton’s Eighteenth Century Novel, in which students regu-larly launched into critical analysis of women’s representations from Jane Austen’s Emma to Sigourney Weaver’s role in Alien. “There was always a grace-ful, intelligent presentation of other sides at Mills that really informs my approach. I

Anna Ishida in Beardo

learned to not just take what’s fed to me,” Ishida says.

Ishida was determined not to take what casting directors were feeding her, either. Early on, major companies were only contacting her for shows that called for Asian characters, like Snow Falling on Cedars and Miss Saigon; in one email she was even asked to bring all her Asian friends to the audition. She found that smaller independent stages were more likely to consider her for roles based on her talent as a singer, dancer, and actor, rather than on her physical appearance as a petite Asian woman. So, for 13 years, Ishida became a self-declared “downtown theater actor”—working prolifically within the fertile arena of the Bay Area’s smaller, independent theaters rather than paying high union dues for the chance at roles in larger theaters. The choice brought her into contact with a rich network of artists and gave her the chance to premiere sev-eral original productions.

In the rock opera Beowulf: A Thousand

Years of Baggage, which premiered in Berkeley, played off-Broadway in New York, and was featured in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she got to exercise her most powerful instrument, her voice. Music, she believes, is one of the most direct ways to connect with a theater audience. “Songs are for expressing what cannot be expressed in mere words—you have to sing about it,” says Ishida. “It’s incredibly powerful to have something that makes you feel so alive and can really impact people.”

A recent profile in the San Francisco Bay Guardian noted Ishida’s tendency to play “angry god queen” characters, like Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in Titus Andronicus at Impact Theater and Tsarista in Beardo, an alternate take on the Rasputin story, at Shotgun Players. Ishida, whose face is framed by short hair tousled into soft spikes, says that what-ever she’s going through personally is reflected in the pieces she takes on; with these roles, her declaration was, “I am not

a little Asian girl.” But, when she played French anarchist feminist Louise Michel in The Red Virgin last year, Ishida began exploring a different persona. That char-acter, a leader of the Paris Commune of 1871, exhibits both grit and tenderness. “She fought on the front lines with a rifle and would kill people. But, at the same time, she would also drag injured enemy soldiers to safety,” Ishida says, speaking swiftly, with a focused gaze. With that role, Ishida realized she didn’t have to limit herself only to playing angry gods.

When Ishida got a call from A.C.T.—the top-tier San Francisco theater com-pany with which Mills collaborates for its theater studies major—she was ready to accept the opportunity. She was cast as an understudy in the intense and humor-ous Venus in Fur and the musical epic The Orphan of Zhao. Ishida wryly acknowl-edges the irony of her decision to accept an Asian character, but she loved Zhao’s music and story (and the relatively sub-stantial paycheck didn’t hurt, either). Next season, she will be part of the regu-lar cast in A.C.T.’s production of Mr. Burns, a post-apocalyptic retelling of an episode of The Simpsons. The edgy, modern role proves that Ishida doesn’t have to leave her artistic values behind to play on the big stage.

Regardless of the venue—small stage, large stage, or screen (Ishida recently starred in her first independent feature film, I Am a Ghost, a fresh take on the classic horror genre)—Ishida says she wants to make “big art.” That can mean transcendent songs, massive line loads, outrageous costumes and set design, or just a great story with heavy feelings and rich characters.

Though “big art” may mean something different to Ishida, Carter, and Harrold, they all value being able to step into dif-ferent realities and expand their knowl-edge of humanity and the world with each performance. Whether it’s research-ing Paris’s 19th-century anarchists, reliv-

ing the Civil Rights movement in Atlanta, or living as a minimum wage worker in middle America for the run of a show, each role is like a two-month college course. Carter says, “Theater is a place where you never stop learning.” ◆

14 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Anna Ishida ’05

In The Salt Plays: Of The Earth at Berkeley’s Shotgun Players theater in 2010;

as herself in Oakland.

AlumnaeFlorenceSheldonGillespie’35, April 4, in Portland, Oregon.

AliceBlossomSchmidt’39, May 2, in Walnut Creek, California. A longtime volunteer for the Mount Diablo Rehabilitation Center, she was a member of the Kiwanis Club and was noted for her eclectic art work. She is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

BarbaraBishopWard’40, June 5, in Seattle. She enjoyed foreign vacations, served on the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, and volunteered with several health-oriented organizations. She is survived by two children.

LuraineCollinsTansey,MA’41, June 18, in Bristol, Rhode Island. She was an accomplished violinist and artist, but is best known for her work in creating the first universal slide classification system. Developed with computer indexing in mind, the system is still in use at many university libraries. A founding member and later president of the Art Libraries Society, she taught at San Jose City and Evergreen Colleges for several decades and assisted her husband, Richard Tansey, in producing many editions of Gardner’s Art Through the Ages. She is survived by four sons and five grandchildren.

PatriciaBoadwayCox’43,MA’44, February 15, in Palos Verdes, California. After her husband retired from the Navy, she returned to her art pursuits, working in watercolor, oil, collage, and assemblage. She served as a juror for the National Watercolor Society and on the board of the Los Angeles Art Association. Survivors include three sons, five grandchildren, and her cousin, Lorraine McAdam Patten ’54.

BettyBrighamDaly’43, March 30, in Ventura, California. She enjoyed entertaining, social events, and bridge and book clubs. She is survived by three children and four grandsons.

AnnaMayLeongDuncan’43, June 14, in Palo Alto, California. A longtime resident of Atherton, she was an active member of the Menlo Park Kiwanis Club and the US Figure Skating Association, and a devoted fan of Stanford football and women’s basketball. Survivors include four children, including Robin Duncan ’73, and her niece Stephanie Leong ’78.

JoyceKellyMcKay’43, April 14,in Port Townsend, Washington. She was editor of the Mills Weekly in her junior and senior years, and was a resident of Oakland and Grass Valley, California, for most of her life. She is survived by six children and 12 grandchildren, including Katherine Paisley ’06.

VirginiaYoungScarlett,MA’43, May 8, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was an expert gardener and needleworker, and continued to study and learn throughout her life. She is survived by four daughters and six grandchildren.

NoticesofdeathreceivedbeforeJune30,2014

Tosubmitlistings,pleasecontactalumnae-relations@mills.eduor510.430.2123

BerylBlackshearWalter’43, April 22, in Silverdale, Washington. She was a member of Haili Congregational Church in Hilo and First Presbyterian Church of Port Townsend, Washington. She is survived by four sons and 11 grandchildren.

AllisonCookCutler’44, May 10, in Newport News, Virginia. She was a founding member of the Warwick Garden Club, was active in the Presbyterian Church, and volunteered at Riverside Hospital. She is survived by three children and five grandchildren.

PatriciaHookGroves’44, January 15, in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. She is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren.

BarbaraKellyMerritt’44, July 3, 2013, in Montecito, California. She was president of Junior League and the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Charity League, as well as a trustee or board member of numerous other civic and charitable organizations. She is survived by two daughters and eight grandchildren.

KayMalloryApley’45, May 16, in Salem, Oregon. She was a reporter and columnist for the Statesman-Journal newspaper and was involved with Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church and as a volunteer at Salem Hospital. Survivors include her daughter and four grandchildren.

SallyPickrellJones’45, January 12, 2013, in Riverview Plaza, Florida.

DorothyVollmerBillingsley’47, April 20, in Hemet, California. She earned a master’s degree in psychology and worked as a teacher then, later, as an administrator in early childhood development and Head Start. After retiring, she and her husband became investment brokers and enjoyed travel and boating. She is survived by her husband, Dick; seven children; and 16 grandchildren.

FrancesTaylorCatlettCrawford,MA’47, April 22, in San Leandro, California. One of the first black social workers in San Francisco, she also taught at California State University Sacramento. She took up painting in her 50s and within 10 years had a piece in a group show at the Oakland Museum, and exhibited later at galleries in San Francisco and Oakland. Survivors include a son, four grandchildren, and her great niece, Lisa Chapman Mills ’87.

RuthMartinGruenstein’47, April 19, in Sarasota, Florida. She was a music teacher and organist in Tacoma, Washington, before relocating to Sarasota, where she enjoyed attending the opera, symphony, and arts events. She is survived by three children and eight grandchildren.

Myrtle“Pat”PadgettRabe,MA’48, May 21, in Tucson. She served with the US Army in Europe during World War II, taught music and sixth grade in the Phoenix public schools, and had season tickets to the opera and symphony. She is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

BarbaraBeckerBehel’49, April 26, in Scottsdale, Arizona. A resident and community volunteer in Saratoga, California, for many years, she enjoyed golf and tennis. Survivors include three children and six grandchildren.

InMemoriam

FA L L 2 0 1 4 21FA L L 2 0 1 4 21

BeverleyHineBurnett’50, February 18, in Issaquah, Washington.

SallyPierceHokanson’50, April 15, in Tacoma, Washington. A gifted gardener and voracious reader, she was associate editor of the society page of the Tacoma New Tribune and an enthusiastic supporter of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is survived by her husband, Fred; a daughter; and a granddaughter.

DianeRawlingsUmipeg’51, July 15, 2013, in Federal Way, Washington.

VioletGenovaliBoody’52, May 2, in Moraga, California. An Oakland native, she is survived by her son, Michael; her daughter, Robin Boody Galguera, MA ’89, MFA ’91; and three grandchildren.

LowellVyeJensen’53, September 19, 2013, in Seattle.

PatriciaSieffWennerholm’53, April 14, in Greensboro, Georgia. She volunteered for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Center for the Puppetry Arts. She is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

CaroleFisherChantal’55, March 18, 2013, in Magalia, California. She taught piano and harp, and was an active member of the United Methodist Church of Paradise, Eastern Star, and University Women. She is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.

SallyWeinstockFabian’55, July 23, 2013, in San Marcos, California.

JaneQuilterKennedy’60, March 30, in San Francisco. The child of a navy admiral, she traveled widely and spent each summer in Italy. She taught English at Galileo High School, served on the board of KQED television, supported the San Francisco Symphony, and was a dedicated swimmer and progressive activist. Survivors include a daughter and three grandchildren.

SallyKetteringEtterbeek’63, May 29, in Lincoln, California.

CarlosVilla,MFA’63, March 23, 2013, in San Francisco. A respected artist and activist, he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute since 1969. His work incorporated unusual materials in a variety of formats to explore minority histories and identity politics; he also initiated ambitious exhibition programs promoting women and artists of color. He is survived by his wife, Mary Valledor; a daughter; and a stepson.

KatherineConleeAtwood’64, May 24, in Ashland, Oregon. She was the author of ten published works, often illustrated with her own drawings, documenting the cultural history of southern Oregon. She was honored by the Historic Preservation League of Oregon and the Southern Oregon Historical Society for her lifelong contributions to the field of historic preservation. She is survived by her husband, David, and several nieces and nephews.

JanetMajerGilpatrick’64, April 20, in Spokane, Washington. She was the top Spokane aide to the late Rep. Thomas Foley, who became Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1990; an outspoken advocate for feminism and the women’s movement; and one of the initial organizers of Spokane’s Rape Crisis Network. She is survived by two daughters and three granddaughters.

MaryAnnHunterMcEachern’71, May 6, in Altadena, California. She had a long career in fundraising for educational institutions.

LoriRupertDuncan’73, May 14, in Berkeley, California. A graduate of the UC Hastings College of Law, in retirement she enjoyed travel, antiquing, reading, and the arts. She is survived by two daughters and six grandchildren.

Received March 1–May 31, 2014

AnnisAiyarby her husband, Venkatram Aiyar

JeanneAurel-Schneider’51,P’74, by Pamela Moore Bondelie ’51

LauraBalas,MA’92, by Helen Hovdesven

MarilynCarlsonBaldwin’55 by Mary Johnson Basye ’51, P ’81

TimannaBennett’02 by Marcia Randall ’02

DaveBrubeck’46 by Jeannine Sova Jones ’57

NorthBurn by his daughter, Killara Burn ’73

MartinButler,P’86,’90,GP’94, by his daughter, Bernadette Butler ’86

VirgilCalonico by his daughter, Adrianne Calonico Rose ’74

CarolBarkstromCarney’53 by Susan Wendel Black ’53, Janet Carney, Virginia Dobbins Chappelle ’53, Barbara McAloney, Mary Carver Weaver ’53

SydneyNicollChristensen’64 by Elizabeth Able Major ’64

MaryLouStueckCunningham’51 by Pamela Moore Bondelie ’51

MarthaDayley’07 by Sarah Tannehill ’07

Evelyn“Peg”Deane’41 by Elaine Bowe Johnson ’62

PaulDesmond by Jeannine Sova Jones ’57

WendyEngebretson’62 by William Beadie

DonaldFiene by his daughter, Karen Fiene

MaryFlaith,P’80,MBA’03, by Heather Summers ’80

KayFraserGilliland’50 by Laura Cernohlavek ’84

DenisonGlass’83 by Lisa Gleaton ’85

BarbaraJamison’80,MFA’88, April 7, in El Cerrito, California. She had an extensive career as a journalist, most often chronicling Latin America’s rough political and social evolution, and also worked as a liter-ary translator and court interpreter. She published a book of short stories and was an advocate for the rights of mental health patients. Survivors include a daughter and two brothers.

ChristopherMaher,MFA’83, May 25, in West Hollywood, California. A graduate of Yale University, he worked as a translator in a San Francisco hotel before relocating to Los Angeles, where he was active in the arts. Survivors include three siblings and many nieces and nephews.

JaimeWynn’00, June 13, in San Francisco. She spent many years at Precita Eyes, a mural center in San Francisco, and her inspiring murals can be found throughout the Bay Area, as well as in Israel and St. Petersburg. She also led the artists fellowship at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York. She is survived by her parents, Richard Wynn and Sandra Cohen-Wynn, a brother, and a sister.

SpousesandFamilyOresteBevilacqua, husband of Anne Hopper Bevilacqua ’77, April 9, in Oakland, California.

GiftsinMemoryof

22 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

ClarenceBuyerColeman, father of Barbara Coleman Fray ’68 and Elinor Coleman ’71, April 23, in Oakland, California.

PamelaCoplin, daughter of Barbara Johnson Lewis ’56, May 16, in Leander, Texas.

ArthurCroci, husband of Pamela Cady Croci ’74, August 16, 2013, in Naples, Florida.

MaryJaneHoweFlaith, mother of Rachel A. Flaith ’80, MBA ’06, in December, in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

JamesHowlett, husband of Diane Sanders Howlett ’67, June 7, in Oakland, California.

KatherineJefferson, daughter of Elizabeth M. Elston ’57, January 6, in Portland, Oregon.

EdwardKoeppe, husband of Karen Freye Koeppe ’75, April 19, in Beverly Hills, California.

RaymondW.Lavin, husband of Nina Barwell Lavin ’57, December 27, 2013, in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

JohnMacDonald, father of Susanne MacDonald ’89, August 1, 2013, in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

FrederickMarch, father of Jennifer March Soloway, MFA ’05, March 28, 2013, in Woodland, California.

EvanPaulMandeson, twin brother of Trouble Gouch Mandeson ’03, May 4, in Palo Alto, California.

MollyMcClellandBloomfield, sister of Sue McClelland ’56, November 24, 2013, in Portland, Oregon.

JamesPeltier, husband of Margie Robertson Peltier ’47, February 4, in Coronado, California.

JosephRorke, father of Shawn Rorke-Davis ’70, June 4, 2013, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

MarjorieScott, mother of Jane A. Y. Scott ’78, February 10, in Mill Valley, California.

DonaldR.Spagel, husband of Bette Krause Spagel ’63, April 10, in Oakland, California.

NormanTiber, husband of Anne G. Tiber ’58, March 28, in Los Osos, California.

CharlesWarren, father of Marielle Warren ’94, October 31, 2013, in Enfield, New Hampshire.

MargaretHarris by her daughter, Kathleen Harris Kelly ’66

JeanLoganHenderson’34 by Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34

Katherine“Kate”Jefferson by her mother, Elizabeth Elston ’57

MeenakshiJemboonath by her son, Venkatram Aiyar

JaneQuilterKennedy’60 by Darla Evans Bastoni ’60

MaryAnnChildersKinkead’63 by Barbara Goldblatt Becker ’63, Bette Krause Spagel ’63, P ’79

CharlesLarsen by Elizabeth Terhune ’90

EdwardLeFevour,P’90, by Leslie Woodhouse ’90

MaryAnn“Hunter”MacEachern’71 by Nancy York ’71

JennyMakofsky’91 by Lisa Bach ’90

LindaRooneyMarkstein’61 by Denise Libarle McCarthy ’61

MarilynMary by Susan Magnus, MFA ’92

LydiaJareckiMcCain by her daughter, Elizabeth Jarecki Chilcott ’63

ViolaMcGregor by her great-granddaughter, Dametra Williams ’10

JoyceKellyMcKay’43 by Helen Metz Lore ’43

AntonioMoreno by his daughter-in-law, Arlene Quiogue ’91

AnnaMurch by Sally Mayock Hartley ’48, Maryellen Cattani Herringer, Sandra Lenoski ’14, Leah Levy, Susan Magnus, MFA ’92, Jody Pinto, Marion Ross ’44, Josephine Torring

ElizabethShepherdMurray’33 by Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34

VirginiaGertmenianNahigian’32 by Anne Eagleton

MaryHenslerNeiswonger’64 by Elizabeth Able Major ’64

Alison“Dee”NollerOwens’58 by her husband, Jarvis Owens

HughandMaryPolson by their daughter, Sharon Polson Harris ’64

ElizabethPope’58 by Elaine Bowe Johnson ’62, Christine Robb ’67

NanSeniorRobinson’52 by Geraldine Clark ’52

EleanorDerbyRoss’41 by her niece, Jill Derby

AgnesRykken by Terry Hove ’76

AnneSherrill by Elizabeth Terhune ’90

RodneySkjonsby by his daughter, Kristen Skjonsby ’11

CecileBakerSmith,MA’60, by her husband, Jesse Smith

DonaldSpagel,P’79, husband of Bette Krause Spagel ’63, by Marion Lamson Thomas ’63

ElizabethStevensEinfeld’74 by Holly Hayes ’74

AnnaStriblingTaylor’34 by Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34

HelenWallThompson’26 by Nancy Thompson Price ’61

MaeLouiseFordTown’34 by Elizabeth Bryant Miles ’34

EvelynRossUrrere,P’75, by Nancy Fardelius Fees ’71

MargarieteMontagueWheeler’60 by Kathryn Mallett Chadwick ’60

P=parent; For information about making a tribute gift, contact 510.430.2097 or donors@mills.edu.

FA L L 2 0 1 4 23

24 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY24 M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY

Acion heroes

FI F T E E N A L U M N A E V O L U N T E E R S took action with a day of service at the Alameda County Food Bank on June 14, sort-

ing and boxing fresh produce and non-perishable food. One in six Alameda County residents are served by the food bank, and volunteers are a vital part of the effort to help those in need. “My husband and I like to volunteer for local organizations whose work we sup-port,” said Cristina Campbell ’70. “I was impressed at the scale of the operation, and it was fun to chat with fellow volunteers, who were all folks I’d never met before. There was a sense of accomplishment at the end of our shift. We bagged up many heads of cabbage!”

A few weeks earlier, a hardy group of Mills folks gathered early on a Saturday to help staff at the Oakland Zoo with a large landscaping project. Outfitted for a few hours of manual labor, they dug and weeded, with the added perk of spending the rest of the day enjoying the zoo.

“It was really memorable to come together with other alumnae and students to represent Mills in giv-ing back to our community,” says Sannie Yue, MA ’11, pictured at left with her daughter, Esther. “Seeing the results of our work was so gratifying.” Adds Esther: “Mom was really working it. You should see how she used the shovel to scoop the mulch!”

To learn about future service events or to suggest an opportunity—either in the Bay Area or in a location with an active Mills alumnae club—contact the Office of Alumnae Relations, alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123.

This fabulous silk scarf, designed exclusively for the Alumnae Association of Mills College by Professor Emerita Hung Liu, is available for purchase in two sizes. By the artist’s request, this is a limited edition item; these scarves will be printed once and never again.

36” square: $95.00 42” square: $150.00

These prices include tax. For delivery within the US, please add a $5.00 shipping fee (for one or two scarves). Shipment outside the US may incur a higher charge.

To purchase, please send payments to:AAMC 5000 MacArthur Blvd., MB #86 Oakland, CA 94613

For more information, please contact Lesli MacNeil, lmacneil@mills.edu or 510.430.2110.

DeckyourselfwiththeHall!

Limitededitionscarf,designedbyProfessorEmeritaHungLiu

Undiscovered Italy: Apulia April 28–May 6, 2015 This enchanting region of sunny southern Italy boasts picture-postcard views, unique architecture, and savory traditional foods. The trip includes informative Alumni Campus Abroad educational programs.

Trans-Atlantic Cruise May 4 – 16, 2015Cruise in style from New York to London on a classic journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy onboard activities and port calls in Canada, Ireland, and England.

China and the Yangtze River May 18–June 1, 2015 The famed Terra Cotta Warriors, the bustling cities of Beijing and Shanghai, and a three-night cruise along the fabled Yangtze River highlight this comprehensive journey.

Jewels of Antiquity: from Venice to Nice May 19–June 4, 2015 Explore the landmark treasures of Italy, Croatia, Greece, and the French Riviera on this 13-night cruise enriched with a lecture series by noted scholars.

See the AAMC travel website at aamc.mills.edu for full itineraries of these and other upcoming trips. For reservations or additional information, call the Alumnae Association of Mills College at 510.430.2110 or email aamc@mills.edu.

ALUMNAE TRAVEL 2015

Fromtop:BeijingSummerPalace,

TerraCottaArmy,LondonTower

Bridge

Address service requested

Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, CA, and at additional mailing office(s)

Mills QuarterlyMills College 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613-1301

510.430.3312 quarterly@mills.edu www.mills.edu

An authors’ panel in celebration of the 135th anniversary of the Alumnae Association of Mills College

(re)Creating Womanhood:

Clockwisefromtop:LalitaTademy,photobyChrisHardy;YiyunLi,photobyRandiLynnBeach;AncheeMin;SusanVreeland

Sunday, October 12, Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College Reception, 2:00 pm Panel, 3:30 pm, with a book signing to follow

In a conversation facilitated by Ajuan Mance, professor of English at Mills College, four bestselling authors discuss the female char-acters in their novels and the ways their works reimagine, redefine, and reinterpret the very notions of what womanhood is.

Panelists include Lalita Tademy: Cane River, Red River, and Citizen’s Creek Yiyun Li: Kinder Than Solitude and The Vagrants Anchee Min: Red Azalea, The Last Empress, and The Cooked Seed Susan Vreeland: Lisette’s List, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, and many others

 Admission, including champagne reception with the authors/$135 Panel only/$35  Students/$18Advance tickets available online at BrownPaperTickets.com or at Reinhardt Alumnae House. Payments at the door must be paid by cash or check (payable to AAMC).

For more information, contact 510.430.2110 or aamc@mills.edu.

Presented by the AAMC Board of GovernorsFounded in 1879, the AAMC is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We are an inclusive community that promotes the interests of Mills alumnae by electing representatives to the Mills College Board of Trustees, linking students and alumnae, co-sponsoring events with the College, helping plan Reunion, offering travel programs, and celebrating the many achievements of Mills alumnae.

AjuanMance