Features

  • 2023 Alumnae Achievement Awards

    Fall 2023

    Feature Story

    This year’s recipients of Wellesley’s highest honor are Vanessa Ruiz ’72, Faith Vilas ’73, and Cecilia Conrad ’76.

  • A Big Idea

    Fall 2023

    Feature Story

    We asked faculty and researchers at the College how they’d solve a problem related to their field, if time and money weren’t constraints.

  • An illustration shows a woman opening a window shaped like an open book.

    So You Want to Write a Book

    Fall 2023

    Feature Story

    Wellesley reached out to a range of alums in publishing—from author Jasmine Guillory ’97 to agents, editors, and a bookseller—for their thoughts about the industry today and advice for getting an idea out of the notebook and into the hands of readers.

Also in this Issue

  • Kristin Butcher ’86, Marshall I. Goldman Professor of Economics in the classroom

    How to Make an Economist

    Fall 2023

    Window on Wellesley

    “Women who enroll at Wellesley are about 7 percentage points more likely to major in economics, and that’s [almost] double the chances of majoring in economics at other institutions where non-enrollees went,” says Patrick McEwan, Professor of Economics and Luella LaMer Slaner professor in Latin American Studies. The question is why.

  • An architectural drawing shows what the new cafe in Clapp Library. might look like.

    College Road

    Fall 2023

    Window on Wellesley

    Reports From Around Campus

  • A photo portrait of Provost Andy Shennan

    Shennan to Step Down as Provost in 2024

    Fall 2023

    Window on Wellesley

    In a letter to the Wellesley community, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College Andrew Shennan announced that he will step down from the position he has held for 20 years. In that capacity, he has overseen all academic programs as well as library and technology services and budgetary and strategic planning. His term will conclude on June 30, 2024.

  • A photo portrait of T. Peaches Valdez, dean of admission and financial aid

    Focused on Diversity

    Fall 2023

    Window on Wellesley

    In June, the Supreme Court issued its ruling on affirmative action in college admissions, significantly limiting how colleges can consider race during the selection process. T. Peaches Valdes, dean of admission and financial aid, discusses how the College is adapting to the new landscape the ruling created while maintaining its commitment to diversity.

  • Students climb a rope structure during a trust exercise.

    Climbing Together

    Fall 2023

    Window on Wellesley

    As part of the College’s new three-day immersive Civic Action Lab in August, 30 sophomores traveled to Thompson Island in Boston Harbor and participated in team building exercises.

  • Paula Johnson

    Our Commitment to Strengthening Democracy

    Fall 2023

    From the President

    Colleges and universities across the country are reasserting the civic purpose of higher education, and Wellesley is proudly among them

  • Members of WAAD, Wellesley Alumnae of African Descent, at a gathering.

    Significant Connections

    Fall 2023

    WCAA

    The Alumnae Association’s Shared Identity Groups, aka SIGs, founded and led by alumnae volunteers, have been offering engagement opportunities for over a decade.

  • A photo of Laura Wood Cantopher '84 and Kathryn Harvey Mackintosh '93.

    Bringing the WCAA and the College Together

    Fall 2023

    WCAA

    The WCAA board recently proposed a change to its structure and its relationship to the College. The goal of the proposed change is to further harness the power and influence of Wellesley alumnae—on our alma mater and in the world.

  • The cover of This is So Swkward depicts a container of stick deodorant.

    Pages & Playlists

    Fall 2023

    New Works

    Recent publications by Wellesley authors

  • The cover of In The Shadow of Quetzacoatl by Merilee Grindle shows a portrait of anthropologist Zlia Nuttall and several pre-Columbian symbols.

    In Brief

    Fall 2023

    New Works

    Thumbnail reviews of new publications from the Wellesley community.

  • The cover of Beyond This Harbor: Adventurous Tales of te Heart by Rose Burgunder Styron '50 depcits and abstract sea and shoreline.

    What a Life!

    Fall 2023

    New Works

    Rose Burgunder Styron ’50 recounts a glamorous and adventurous life as a poet, activist, mother, and wife in her delightful memoir, Beyond This Harbor.

  • Letters to the Editor

    Fall 2023

    Letters to the Editor

    Many Ways To Make a Difference I was thrilled to read about the new “Ministrations” column for Wellesley magazine. I have felt many times over the years that my career and family choices aren’t the...

  • From the Editor

    Fall 2023

    From the Editor

    You won’t be shocked to learn that I’m an enthusiastic reader. This means that in my family’s small house, we’ve had to get creative with book storage.

  • Mila Cuda ’22

    Poetry for All

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: Profile

    Though she had a considerable background in poetry by age 18, Mila Cuda ’22 initially resisted the urge to major in English. A spoken word poet at home in L.A., she thought studying creative writing would be too obvious a path—but she kept finding herself in English classes.

  • Amy Yee ’96

    A Dialogue with Tibet

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: Profile

    It started with a hug from the Dalai Lama. In 2008, Amy Yee ’96 was working in Delhi as a Financial Times correspondent when she was sent to Dharamshala—the Himalayan town that is home to the Tibetan government in exile—to report on protests in Tibet.

  • Lisa Barnes ’89

    Alzheimer’s in the Black Community

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: Profile

    An interest in memory and the brain led Lisa Barnes ’89 to neuropsychology, and when she landed a faculty position at Rush University in Chicago, her hometown, she began working with a study focused on Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Polly Keller Vanasse ’73  with Gaining Ground farm manager Anna Kelchlin

    Ministrations

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: Profile

    Polly Keller Vanasse ’73 volunteers for Gaining Ground, a Concord, Mass., nonprofit that for more than 25 years has grown organic vegetables and fruit with the help of thousands of community volunteers. Gaining Ground donates 100% of its fresh food to meal programs and food pantries.

  • Alumnae Memorials

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: In Memoriam

    Tributes to Wellesley alumnae by family and friends

  • Jeanne Olson Darlington M.A. ’72

    Jeanne Olson Darlington

    Fall 2023

    Class Notes: In Memoriam

    Jeanne Olson Darlington M.A. ’72, former instructor in science laboratory in the chemistry department, died on July 27 at the age of 99.

  • A photo of an antique sedan.

    50 Years On

    Fall 2023

    Endnote

    At her 50th reunion, an alumna remembers what it was like to be part of the largest cohort of Black students ever admitted to Wellesley.