Letters to the Editor

Wellesley welcomes short letters (300 words maximum) relating to articles or items that have appeared in recent issues of the magazine. Send your remarks to the Editor, Wellesley magazine, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA 02481-8203, email your comments to magazine@wellesley.edu, or submit a letter via the magazine’s website, magazine.wellesley.edu.

Voices Across the Political Spectrum?

Having just read the article on the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center for Citizenship, Leadership, and Democracy in the summer 2024 issue of Wellesley magazine (“Citizenship in Action”), I have a couple of questions. First, the article states the framework of the center includes the commitment “to the tol-erance of disagreement and dissent.” My question is whether this applies to people to the right on the political spectrum, those Clinton described as “deplorables,” and how many of those voices are being heard in the center. My second question regards the definition of “democracy” being promoted by the HRC Center: Does that mean majority rule? Or does it mean majority rule with protections for the minority, as in the Constitution and Bill of Rights? Many pro-gressives in today’s environment think it means the former, with no protection for the property of the minority, whose wealth they presume to grab. Which definition will the HRC promote?

Susan Winokur ’74 Seattle

A Leader for Women and National Development

I am delighted by your full reporting of the Center for Research on Women’s many important contri-butions to child care, girls’ education, and, more recently, women in Africa (“On the Frontlines of Feminism,” fall 2024). I would like to recall that the center began its international outreach in 1975, when it hosted the first international academic conference on the impact of national develop-ment on women. This resulted in a special issue of Signs, a prominent feminist journal, and a book entitled Women and National Development that critiqued how national development plans ignored the needs and contributions of women.

Carolyn Elliott ’59 ( founding director of the Center for Research on Women) Burlington, Vt

Wise Counsel

I am so glad to see Wellesley recognize men who have strengthened our institution, and of course who continue to do so (“In Memoriam, Nelson Darling,” fall 2024). As a mother of two boys, I see how valuable it is to show them a path to be strong men by being advocates for women. Thank you, Nelson Darling, for living such a life.

Christin Hokenstad ’94 Walchwil, Switzerland

I remember Nelson Darling’s wise counsel dur-ing my tenure as chief justice in 1969–70 during an unprecedented challenge by a student accused of cheating during an art history exam. I was a molecular biology major in the midst of writing an honors thesis, headed off to Harvard Medical School, and completely out of my depth. The stu-dent, a sophomore, enabled by Wellesley’s new student constitution, hired a lawyer to represent her in what turned into a circus of a hearing attended by much of the sophomore class. I will be forever grateful to Mr. Darling for his patient explication of the legal issues raised during the case. Nelson Darling’s service to Wellesley College will not be forgotten.

Martha Macdonald ’70 Metairie, La.