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Aug. 1st, 2004 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
e_clareInside the remaining big plastic tubs: all of my graduation cards and some grad gifts; one drawing I really liked and a painting I really didn't; all of my senior year papers and notes (couldn't bring myself to toss out the AP English notes) and marching/concert band programs and announcements, including charts and sheet music; all of my college acceptance letters (including welcome letters from the English dept. and the interfaith sanctuary at MHC); and my prompt books from junior and senior years, complete with notes signed, "Gigs--thanks for not yelling at me. Had a blast!" Hee.
In other news, the summer issue of the MHC Alumnae Quarterly is sure to spark debate among alums (and maybe even current students, if they manage to get their hands on it). The cover story (written by my most excellent, very cool, former boss) is about the same-sex marriage debate as seen through the eyes of alumnae. The article does an excellent job of presenting multiple sides of the issue, although I think it's more pro-marriage than many people will like.
The real issue to watch out for will be the fall Quarterly, the "letters" section of which is going to have to be twice the normal length. I wish I were going to be in the office then, just so I could see all of the responses. I'd expect them to be about 50/50, for and against, with a possible majority leaning towards support--except that response to the announcement of the LGBT alumnae group (which appeared in the winter 2004 issue) generated many surprisingly negative letters. Full text at the Quarterly website; excerpts that shocked me the most below.
"I really wonder if [founder] Mary Lyon would be at all pleased with this development. And further, I would expect that Mary Brigham (a distant relative elected as the first president of Mount Holyoke before her untimely death) would have been quite as upset as I am. The alumnae have many reasons to be loyal to, and proud of, Mount Holyoke College. This is not one of them." --Seattle, WA '40
"...this is what’s wrong with Mount Holyoke.... I met a young MHC alumna last summer who stayed at Mount Holyoke long enough to graduate despite the lesbian presence. It’s embarrassing to have to defend a college which survived for 150 or so years without a gay network. It is sacrilegious to have Mary Lyon’s name used in that way."--Media, PA '52
"What Lyon's Pride members do or think in their private lives is their privilege. But to be an official group, approved and accepted as part of Mount Holyoke College is unacceptable.
[...] Recently our granddaughter asked where she should go to college, and said she found Mount Holyoke beautiful. I shall tell her it is no longer beautiful. The purpose of our founder, Mary Lyon is violated. The wonderful guidances of our former president, Mary Woolley, are desecrated.
I am no longer proud of my college. It has removed the firm foundation upon which it stood. It has undermined the truths that are eternal."--Westchester, NY '52
There were a couple of letters in support of the organization, too--I was just surprised by the vehemence of some of these writers. Bear in mind, this was a fairly minor piece--maybe half a page. The response to a five-page feature should be very interesting.
At any rate, the summer Quarterly is brilliant, and made me miss school more than I'd thought possible. I want to grow up and be a cute little old alumna at Reunion!
In other news, the summer issue of the MHC Alumnae Quarterly is sure to spark debate among alums (and maybe even current students, if they manage to get their hands on it). The cover story (written by my most excellent, very cool, former boss) is about the same-sex marriage debate as seen through the eyes of alumnae. The article does an excellent job of presenting multiple sides of the issue, although I think it's more pro-marriage than many people will like.
The real issue to watch out for will be the fall Quarterly, the "letters" section of which is going to have to be twice the normal length. I wish I were going to be in the office then, just so I could see all of the responses. I'd expect them to be about 50/50, for and against, with a possible majority leaning towards support--except that response to the announcement of the LGBT alumnae group (which appeared in the winter 2004 issue) generated many surprisingly negative letters. Full text at the Quarterly website; excerpts that shocked me the most below.
"I really wonder if [founder] Mary Lyon would be at all pleased with this development. And further, I would expect that Mary Brigham (a distant relative elected as the first president of Mount Holyoke before her untimely death) would have been quite as upset as I am. The alumnae have many reasons to be loyal to, and proud of, Mount Holyoke College. This is not one of them." --Seattle, WA '40
"...this is what’s wrong with Mount Holyoke.... I met a young MHC alumna last summer who stayed at Mount Holyoke long enough to graduate despite the lesbian presence. It’s embarrassing to have to defend a college which survived for 150 or so years without a gay network. It is sacrilegious to have Mary Lyon’s name used in that way."--Media, PA '52
"What Lyon's Pride members do or think in their private lives is their privilege. But to be an official group, approved and accepted as part of Mount Holyoke College is unacceptable.
[...] Recently our granddaughter asked where she should go to college, and said she found Mount Holyoke beautiful. I shall tell her it is no longer beautiful. The purpose of our founder, Mary Lyon is violated. The wonderful guidances of our former president, Mary Woolley, are desecrated.
I am no longer proud of my college. It has removed the firm foundation upon which it stood. It has undermined the truths that are eternal."--Westchester, NY '52
There were a couple of letters in support of the organization, too--I was just surprised by the vehemence of some of these writers. Bear in mind, this was a fairly minor piece--maybe half a page. The response to a five-page feature should be very interesting.
At any rate, the summer Quarterly is brilliant, and made me miss school more than I'd thought possible. I want to grow up and be a cute little old alumna at Reunion!
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Date: 2004-08-02 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 01:49 pm (UTC)