Since I announced that I was stepping down as editor, there have been emails, cards, and calls from all over the globe with a deluge of affection and gratitude for the magazine. All of this has left me feeling quite blessed for 24 years in such a supportive worldwide community.
Photo by Richard Howard
A few years ago, in those once and future times when we could gather on campus for joyful, raucous reunion parades, I drove a golf cart through the phalanx of alums lining both sides of College Road. My passenger and I—both part of the Alumnae Association board of directors—were at the head of the parade with the board, leading the antique cars. Progress was a little slow as the group stopped to cheer each class, and as a result, the most extraordinary thing happened. All along the way, alums festooned in purple, red, yellow, or green broke out of their lines and ran over for a hug or to chat for a few minutes. Alums who had appeared in the magazine whom I had gotten to know via email. People who had been key volunteers for the WCAA. Folks I had met at large Wellesley events, or women I had known as students. It was like driving through an enormous outpouring of affection, and it made me realize why our most senior alums just revel in leading the parade in the jaunty old cars. By the time we reached Alumnae Hall, I was thinking, “This is what it means to put down roots in a community and stay there for a long time.”
I’ve had the same feeling in the last few weeks, since I announced that I was stepping down as editor and leaving the College to work in the museum world, a longtime interest of mine. There have been emails, cards, and calls from all over the globe with a deluge of affection and gratitude for what the magazine has been over the decades. All of this has left me feeling quite blessed for 24 years in such a supportive worldwide community.
Some of the blessings I’m most grateful for:
In all the very touching notes and emails of the last few weeks, a number of you have paid this Mount Holyoke alum what I consider the supreme compliment: “You may be leaving, but you’re one of us.” Thank you. That means a great deal. If that is indeed the case, I’ll plan to turn up for future parades, wearing a little bit of purple, red, yellow, and green over my whites (because where else am I going to wear all these white outfits that I own after 24 years?). I hope you’ll continue to come over for a hug or a chat to update me on your lives.
Alice Hummer stepped down as editor of Wellesley magazine on April 2. She is shown above in the 2018 reunion parade with Desiree Urquhart CE/DS ’99, then a WCAA board member (at left). With Alice’s departure, Lisa Scanlon Mogolov ’99 became interim editor.