#MeToo

I read with great interest the summer ’18 issue, as the “The #MeToo Reckoning” really caught my eye. I appreciated the article and the piece from President Johnson, “Ending Harassment in the Academy.” Not only do I work in the field that helps companies with this issue, but also I have my own #MeToo experience that occurred in my junior year of college.

I was a psychobiology major at Wellesley and decided to expand my horizons and attend one of the schools on the Twelve College Exchange program. One night during that year, I had to meet my professor in the science lab to work on my project, and he quite unexpectedly sexually assaulted me. Much like other victims whose attacker holds power over them, as Linda Williams reported in the article, I said nothing, did nothing, and kept it inside.

It wasn’t until I returned to Wellesley my senior year and took a class in women’s studies that I got a chance to write a paper about my experience and enjoy the cathartic relief that provided. I later learned he was fired for sexually harassing students. However, I was always regretful that I missed a chance to stop further attacks.

We are at a pivotal moment now in history that women have a stronger voice and will be believed. I encourage my fellow sisters to take it. I am so proud that I have raised a teenage daughter who has been trained by the YWCA to be a teen advocate to educate teens about what constitutes a healthy relationship.

Genevieve Needham Roberts ’87, Glen Allen, Va.

Financial Complexity

As a former member of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees Investment and Finance committees, I am very cognizant of the complexity of the College’s financial reporting and planning. I just wanted to send a thank you and congratulatory note for such a good article about Wellesley’s financial status and future financial goals (“Building for the Future,” summer ’18). I cannot recall the last time we laid out both our assets and challenges to the alumnae and the broad College community. Well done!

Alicia Cooney ’74, Boston

Wellesley Joy

I loved the editor’s letter in the summer ’18 issue (“From the Editor”). I’m a former executive director of the Alumnae Association, and golf-cart conversations were also my favorite reunion times. The passenger who stands out to me rode my golf cart on a day opposite to the one Alice Hummer wrote about.

It was a soggy, cold June afternoon. An older alum in a poncho flagged me down. She was clutching a disposable camera. She wanted to take a photo of her class tree. I asked her where it was, and she said, “Well, I think it is along the lake, sort of near the tennis courts.” We set off, and I was not at all confident that we would find it. As we drove, she told me that she was sure this would be her last visit to campus, and she wanted to take a picture of herself with her class tree.

I was then a woman with a mission. We cruised up and down the area where she thought the tree was, and eventually we found it. Wrapped in her rain gear, wind howling, and sheets of rain coming down, she posed with a huge smile next to the tree and we did a full photo shoot. That was her Wellesley joy—and mine, too.

Alison Greer ’87, Owings Mills, Md.

Purrs Courtesy of Wellesley

Thank you for writing about our beloved Wellesley Wags and Whiskers Facebook group (“The Heart of a Pet,” summer ’18). Reading posts and sharing pictures in the group is a highlight of my day. I adopted a cat that Yuki Nakayama ’08 posted about that was destined to be euthanized. Xena and I have had 18 months together because of Yuki and Wellesley Wags and Whiskers.

Melissa Bogen ’84, Greenwood Lake, N.Y.