Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future

One hundred and fifty years ago, Wellesley College opened its doors to 314 students eager to learn in a world that did not yet expect them to learn, let alone lead. Five years later, 59 graduates gathered in the drawing room of College Hall to form the Alumnae Association—planting the seeds of a community now over 35,000 strong. From the beginning, Wellesley alumnae understood that education was not only a gift, but a responsibility, and the true power of a Wellesley education would be magnified through the community they built: a network of women committed to one another, to future generations, and to the world.

That vision has carried us across a century and a half—through triumphs and trials, across continents and causes, always bound by the promise of Non Ministrari sed Ministrare. We have been innovators, advocates, leaders, and groundbreakers. We have opened doors and held them open. We have built networks of mentorship and friendship that endure across decades.

As we celebrate Wellesley’s 150th anniversary, we find ourselves at a rare moment of convergence. We are entering a new era of “Wellesley in the world” as the College aims to amplify its mission and visibility at the same time the WCAA has merged with the College. These milestones remind us that our strength lies in unity and invite us to embrace both nostalgia and innovation: to honor our history while daring to shape what comes next. Our 150th is more than an anniversary; it is an inflection point, a chance to transform memory into momentum and heritage into hope, and to envision a future worthy of generations to come. In this convergence, we affirm the power of Wellesley and celebrate our enduring belief in the transformative importance of a women’s education.

The world has asked something different of every generation of Wellesley alums. For our earliest graduates, courage to claim their place. For others, persistence to keep the doors open. For today’s young alumnae—who have come of age in uncertain times—the world demands resilience, creativity, and vision. And for all of us, together, the charge is clear: to shape the next 150 years with the same boldness that defined the first.

What will that future look like? It will look like a College and a community that lead not by following the expected path, but by forging a new one. It will look like women supporting women, and lifting the world with them. It will look like generations linked not just by shared memories, but by shared purpose.

The story of Wellesley has always been one of transformation—of individuals and of the world they touch. That story is not finished. It is being written, line by line, by each of us. As we step into Wellesley’s next chapter, may we do so with courage, conviction, and joy. Or, in the words of Nora Ephron ’62 to the class of 1996, still true for us all today: “What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess.” And because we write this story together, we are, and will always be, Wellesley in the world.