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ESSENCEEditor-In-Chief Headlines Black History Month | |
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Laura A. Tavares and Julie H. Levison, both members of the class of 1998, have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships. These prestigious scholarships, established in 1904 by the estate of Cecil Rhodes, give American college students the opportunity to attend Oxford University in England. The program was not opened to women until 1976; Levison and Tavares become the sixth and seventh Wellesley women to be named Rhodes Scholars since then.
Levison, a history major who plans to become a doctor, will study the history of medicine, particularly social responses to modern epidemics. Since arriving at Wellesley, she has received a First Year Academic Distinction, earned a summer fellowship to study tumor immunology at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, and co-authored an anthology of women's travel journals, Magic Sites: Women Travelers to the Americas. She has served as a student board member of the Wellesley Center for Research on Women and was a student representative to the College's Board of Trustees. She has also run the Boston Marathon. A resident of Bryn Mawr, Penn., Levison graduated in 1994 from Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, Penn.
Tavares, a religion major, plans to undertake an in-depth study of
Christian history and theology, part of her long-term goal of
pursuing a Ph.D. in religion and becoming a college professor. A Phi
Beta Kappa who received a First Year Academic Distinction, she spent
the spring of 1997 at the School for International Training in Quito,
Ecuador, where she conducted independent fieldwork on indigenous
religious rituals and taught English in a local school. She is a
student representative to the Board of Trustees and current Literary
Chair of the Zeta Alpha Literary Society on campus. A resident of
East Falmouth, Mass., she is a 1994 graduate of Falmouth Academy.
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To: Wellesley College Community
From: Diana Chapman Walsh
Subject: Search Advisory Committee for the Dean of Students
Date: December 10, 1997
I am pleased to announce the formation of the Search Advisory Committee to assist me in the identification of candidates for Dean of Students. My thanks to those who took the time to nominate themselves and others; I appreciated your interest and your offer of help. The committee will comprise:
I'm especially grateful to members of the committee for their willingness to devote time and energy to what will be an important search.
As my memo of last month explained, the Search Advisory Committee will work with the executive search firm of Educational Management Network to identify a small number of final candidates who will visit the campus and meet with groups of students, faculty, and staff. We anticipate that this phase of the process will occur in March, 1998, and you will hear from the committee as that date approaches. In the meantime, if you have questions about the search process, please direct them to Pat Byrne in the President's Office.
All members of the community are encouraged to submit nominations for the Dean of Students position. Please send them to Pat Byrne.
My gratitude again to those who have agreed to serve, and to those
who submitted nominations.
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Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief of ESSENCE magazine, will speak to students on "The Essence of the Black Woman" as part of Wellesley's observance of Black History Month. Her speech will take place on Sunday, February 22, at 5 p.m. in Jewett Auditorium.
As a single mother and actress in the late 1960s, Taylor founded a company to make cosmetics for African-American women. Her expertise in that area won her several writing assignments on beauty for ESSENCE when it launched in 1970. She was named Beauty Editor in 1971, and the year after that was put in charge of fashion as well.
Since becoming Editor-in-Chief of ESSENCE in 1981, Taylor has expanded the magazine's readership and led the staff to win numerous awards. She was elected vice president of Essence Communications, Inc., in 1986 and appointed senior vice president in 1993. Well known for her motivational editorials in each issue of ESSENCE, Taylor is the author of two collections of inspirational essays, In The Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor and Lessons In Living.
Taylor's speech is co-sponsored by Harambee House, the Equal Opportunity Office, the Department of Religious and Spiritual Life, and Zeta Alpha. "This event is open to the community, and we want her to talk to the entire campus community, because this is the event we're really putting our energy into," said Rachel Beverly, director of Harambee House. "We're really pleased that these other groups see this as being as important as we do."
As part of Black History Month, students will also have a chance to explore life after graduation with a panel of African-American women professionals on Wednesday, February 11, at 7 p.m. in Harambee House. The panelists will each discuss their college experiences and post-graduation career paths before taking questions from the audience.
Also planned is a screening of "Once Upon a Time When We Were
Colored," a lovingly detailed film depicting Black life in the 1950s
South, on Sunday, February 8, at 3 p.m. in Collins Cinema.
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Wellesley's 1997 fall athletic season was a series of
successes led by the volleyball team, which claimed the school's
first NCAA New England Regional title. The volleyball and field
hockey teams also defended their NEW 8 Championships for the third
straight year. Four Wellesley athletes were named Regional
All-Americans, and four were named NEW 8 Players of the Year.
The volleyball team ended its 1997 season as NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Quarterfinalists after spending most of the season ranked first in New England. Advancing as one of the Elite Eight teams in the nation, Wellesley was one of four sites selected to host a quarterfinal match. Six-time defending champion Washington University defeated Wellesley 3-1 in a hard-fought match before 426 fans at the Keohane Sports Center.
The volleyball team wrapped up its season with a record 36 wins and 2 losses, including a third straight NEW 8 Championship and a second straight Seven Sisters Championship. Wellesley also placed first at the MIT Invitational, Wellesley Invitational, and Hall of Fame Invitational.
Sophomore Allison Schnitzer was named NEW 8 Player of the Year, NEWVA All-New England, AVCA Regional All-American, and AVCA National All-American (2nd Team), Seven Sisters Tournament MVP and Hall of Fame Tournament MVP. Senior Sheila Resari and Laura Fink were selected NEWVA Senior All-Stars, while Resari also received an All-New England 2nd Team selection. Junior Katie Antypas and sophomore Tiffany Fehr were also selected AVCA Regional All-Americans, with Antypas receiving a NEWVA All-New England 2nd Team selection. Head Coach Dorothy Webb was voted NEW 8 Coach of the Year for the third time and NEWVA New England Coach of the Year.
Wellesley field hockey finished out its 1997 season with an impressive record of14-5 overall, 9-1 NEW 8. Senior Alix Wandesforde-Smith, named NEW 8 Player of the Year, became Wellesley's all-time goal and scoring leader and broke the school record for most goals scored in a conference game with four goals in the NEW 8 Championship game. Wandesforde-Smith was also selected to the NFHCA National All-American 2nd Team, 1st Team Regional All-American, Seven Sisters All-Tournament Team, and NFHCA Senior All-Star Team. Junior Jacy Edelman was also named Regional All-American and was selected NEW 8 All-Conference, as was teammate Leslie Bagay. Four student-athletes were named Academic All-American. Head Coach Sue Landau was selected NEW 8 Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
The soccer team finished second overall in the ECAC Championship, NEW 8 Championship, and Seven Sisters Tournament, ending the season with a 16-6 overall record, including a No. 6 seed in the ECAC Tournament. Katie Knudsen was named NEW 8 Player of the Year and became Wellesley's all-time scoring, goals, and assists leader as a junior this fall. Knudsen was also named NEWISA All-New England 2nd Team. Sophomore defender Sarah Hilgenberg was selected NEWISA All-New England 1st Team and NEW 8 All-Conference. Junior goalkeeper Molly Hellerman was also named NEWISA All-New England 2nd Team and NEW 8 All-Conference. First year Courtenay Browne was selected NEW 8 All-Conference and Seven Sisters All-Tournament, while junior Danielle Scully was also named Seven Sisters All-Tournament.
The cross country team captured its second consecutive Seven Sisters Championship title this year, but was unable to extend its four-year NEW 8 Championship reign, finishing second to Smith College. Smith edged out Wellesley by 11 points even though sophomore Aimee Vasse won the NEW 8 Championship as an individual. Vasse's 17:53 finish at the NEW 8 Championship earned her NEW 8 Cross Country Runner of the Year honors. Senior Susie Monk's top 10 NEW 8 finish earned her NEW 8 All-Conference honors.
The tennis team completed its fall season with a 6-3 overall record, including a 3rd place NEW 8 standing. Three players were named to the 1997 NEW 8 All-Conference Team: Anne Freden, Susan McNabb, and Malini Sekhar.
The crew team hosted the 1997 Seven Sisters Crew Regatta on the
Charles River on November 1, placing second in overall points.
Wellesley's novice team captured 1st place in all three novice
events. Maggie Brokaw and Elisa Stead were named to the Seven Sisters
All-Tournament Team. Wellesley also competed in the Head of the
Charles Regatta this year, placing 33rd of 64 teams in varsity eights
and 39th of 66 teams in club fours.
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In a record-breaking display of generosity, more faculty and staff members than ever before contributed to this year's Charitable Campaign, raising the most money ever collected in the history of the annual fundraiser.
Campaign Committee Chair Lindy Williamson of the English Department reports that 463 employees ã 39% of all faculty and staff ã participated this year, raising an impressive $85,925 for Community Works, Oxfam America, Rosie's Place and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay.
Members of the Wellesley College community have raised money for
charitable organizations for more than 30 years. This year's
Charitable Campaign ran from November 4 to December 5.
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The W.M. Keck Foundation has granted Wellesley $500,000 to support the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium, a collaboration among the astronomy and physics/astronomy departments at eight private liberal arts institutions: Wellesley, Colgate University, Haverford College, Middlebury College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.
Although the grant money is allocated among all members of the consortium, it's distributed through Wellesley, and Associate Professor of Astronomy Priscilla Benson has led the project since its inception in 1990. The grant, which will be spread out over the next three years, will fund a number of collaborative activities: student/faculty symposia, a summer student exchange, faculty exchange trips, publication of papers written by faculty and students, and the salary of a part-time technician.
The Consortium has given the small astronomy departments at all eight participating schools many of the advantages of larger research departments without forcing them to give up the benefits of small class size and personal attention. Students and faculty at Wellesley now have access to the most up-to-date astronomical software and instruments, the same used at most major observatories. The telescope at Whitin Observatory has been retrofitted and upgraded, for example, and the department has new computer workstations and a CCD camera.
This is the fifth grant made to the Consortium by the Keck
Foundation. The Consortium began in January 1990 with a grant of
$75,000. The second grant of $550,000, made in December 1991,
included matching funds for a grant from the national Science
Foundation Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Program. The
Keck Foundation made two further grants of $230,000 in December 1993
, and $300,000 in December 1995.
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"MEMORY: Luba Art and the Making of History," one of the largest and most important exhibitions of African art ever to appear in the Boston area, will be on view at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center from February 5 through June 7, 1998. Organized by The Museum for African Art in New York City, this critically acclaimed exhibition of exceptionally beautiful artworks explores for the first time in an American museum exhibition the intricate and fascinating culture of the Luba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). More than 80 important and beautiful objects are included in the show.
Since it opened in New York City in February 1996, MEMORY has received enormous popular and critical praise. The New York Times described it as "everything an exhibition ought to be. Visually riveting and built on a theme as philosophically complex as it is poetic, it has the pace and pull of an unfolding epic... MEMORY... brings to vivid life an art that is both a wonder of formal invention... and a sovereign vehicle for profound ideas."
MEMORY will include standing figures, staffs of office, ceremonial
weapons, masks, divining tools and amulets as well as fine examples
of lukasas, or Luba "memory boards," all of which the Luba used as
elaborate visual symbols to record their cultural memories,
histories, traditions, and royal lineages. The show and its
accompanying catalogue are the culmination of a decade of intense and
path-breaking research and study by its curator, Dr. Mary Nooter
Roberts. In learning to understand the lukasa and its uses, along
with the other memory arts of the Luba, visitors to the exhibition
will gain insight not only into an important African culture, but the
role memory and history play in all human societies.
A rich and intricate culture
The Luba are a central African people who live in what is now the Shaba province of southeastern Congo (formerly Zaire). Archaeologists trace their cultural origins to the 7th century in the vast savannahs, rolling hills, and scrub forests of the region. Over the centuries, the Luba developed long-distance trade, learned to smelt iron, and exploited the natural resources of the river. By the 17th century, Luba society had evolved into a kingdom with an elaborate and refined court culture, intricate rituals, and a brilliant body of oral history, court poetry, and visual arts.
Luba influence extended from the Luba Heartland, an area between the Lomani and Lualaba Rivers, over a wide area of other peoples and cultural groups, creating a sphere of influence that Belgian colonists misleadingly described as an "empire." The glorious royal regalia and rituals that surrounded the Heartland king deeply impressed other local leaders, who were eager to attach themselves to the Luba and share in their rich culture.
European exploitation of the Congo region starting in the nineteenth century, annexation of the country by Belgium in 1908, and the post-colonial troubles of Zaire caused the Luba kingdoms to decline. Yet much of the Luba royal culture survives to this day. The extraordinary refinement of Luba figurative art helped make it among the first forms of African art to be appreciated by Western collectors and artists and much of it has been preserved in museums and private collections.
The works in MEMORY, from collections in Africa, the United States, and Europe, were lent by such institutions as the Seattle Art Museum; the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany; the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania; and the University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Part of the exhibition explores the changes in the meaning of
these objects now that they are largely in the treasuries of western
museums and private collectors, rather than in those of Luba-related
chiefs. Today, the exhibition organizers explain, these objects
reflect the histories of their new owners, demonstrating, like other
Luba arts, that memory is not a passive repository of the mind, but
social process itself, one that proves that history is always in the
making.
Intricate system of creating and recording history
At the peak of Luba influence, 13 Luba kings reigned over a wide area of Central Africa with the support of dignitaries and client chiefs who shared in their rituals and regalia. A secret association known as Mbudye preserved and celebrated the principles of Luba kingship, which were based on lineages traced to the founding ancestors.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Mbudye members created rituals and invented devices that assisted the Luba in remembering their history. With the help of the lukasa or memory board, Mbudye historians were trained to relate family lineages and the key events in the royal family's history.
At the heart of both Luba culture and the exhibition, the lukasa
is a small carved wooden panel richly encrusted with iron pins and
beads. The patterns of the lukasa can be "read" by Mbudye
interpreters as the coded history of the Luba kings. The
interpretation of lukasas varies according to the circumstances
prevailing at the time of the reading, so the past, in Luba culture,
is not fixed but changes and evolves over time. Although the Luba did
not have a conventional writing system, their system of visual
symbols also converts everyday objects, clothing, art objects, even
the human body into historic records.
A special role for women
Beauty, for the Luba, is not innate but is created over time. The female body, for example, is a kind of canvas which is perfected through art. Complex coiffures and elaborate patterns of body scarifications are signs of beauty and civilization and also encode a woman's place both in Luba society and in Luba history. These symbols are recorded as well in Luba sculpted figures of women such as those included in MEMORY.
Women in Luba society also played special roles as ambassadors,
priestesses, and political advisors. In Luba culture, only the bodies
of women (not men) were considered strong enough to contain and
protect the powerful spirits and sacred knowledge of the Luba kings.
After his death, each Luba king was reincarnated as a "Mwadi"ã
a woman who inherited his residence, titles, and symbols.
Symbols of history and power
In Luba memory devices, kings are represented by anvil-shaped iron pins that symbolize the royal association with the technology of iron making, once a closely guarded secret. Luba kings are "forged" in a special ritual at their enthronement. Luba royal emblems of power include such iron and steel objects as axes, knives, spears, bells, bows and arrows, and iron hammer anvils. Decorative patterns on staffs, figures, textiles, and other objects also are symbolic allusions to royal power and Luba history. Beautiful in their own right, such objects are also potent symbols and rich records of the past.
The presentation of history in Luba society is always a political act, and the symbols of memory are interpreted differently depending on the context of their interpretation. MEMORY points out that, to the Luba, history is not fixed and permanent, but is organic and grows and changes over time. As Holland Cotter wrote in his New York Times review, "the Luba approach to history, after all, resembles our own, with its hierarchies and inequities, its dynamic play of truth and experience, and its effort to carve something noble and permanent from the flux of time. Some of the results embodied in Luba art ã as in our ownã are puzzling and contradictory. Many have a breadth and harmony that makes for delight. And it is delight that rules, from start to finish, in this memorable show."
The exhibition was organized by The Museum for African Art, New York, and curated by Dr. Mary Nooter Roberts. Support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Council for the Humanities. The exhibition at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center is supported in part by the E. Franklin Robbins Charitable Trust, the Alice Gertrude Spink Art Fund, and the Wellesley College Friends of Art.
Special programs for this exhibition include a residency with Dr.
Mary Nooter Roberts on February 10 -12 and a series of Open
Classes.
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A new publication on campus is working to dispel the stereotype that Asians and Asian Americans are passive and silent.
GenerAsians, born last spring, is the brainchild of Asian Student Union members Thuy Le '98, Jina Sohn '99, Michelle Cheuk '00, and others who wanted to inform the entire Wellesley community about Asian and Asian-American issues. In its first issue, GenerAsians published articles about Wellesley campus issues, such as the struggle for Asian American Studies and Wellesley students' responses to an offensive magazine cover by The National Review, as well as creative works by students. In its two further issues since then, the magazine has covered everything from Wellesley's Asian organizations and Asian films to controversial issues such as the Stone-Davis Hawaiian Party and the Asian Studies Ad-hoc.
Cheuk, the editor-in-chief, says future issues will feature "interviews with leaders and role models in other organizations and fields here at Wellesley, including those in the lesbigay community, athletics, religious groups, publications, professors, alumnae, and the many other fields our Asian sisters are pursuing." Other stories slated for publication include Asians and Asian-Americans outside of Wellesley who are prominent in politics, business, sports, and community service.
The magazine encourages participation from non-Asian students who
are interested in Asian and Asian American issues and cultures.
GenerAsians may eventually become an intercollegiate
publication. "This magazine is for everyone to read and for everyone
to help create," said Cheuk, who welcomes questions, comments and
ideas by e-mail at
mcheuk@wellesley.edu.
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On July 4, 1997, my newly adopted daughter, Lucy Mariana, left Romania and came home to her new home in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Friends ask me, "What was it like when you first held her in your arms?"
I say, almost wondering aloud to myself, "It felt so normal." At last, everything was in place: the child was there to be touched, to play with, to love.
The very strange, anxious part of
adopting had been the months leading up to that moment. When I look
at the photo of myself and the several other adoptive parents sitting
side by side on a couch at the orphanage, waiting while our children
were (in a ceremony both practical and ritual) being divested of
their orphanage clothing and dressed in the clothes we, their new
parents, had brought, I can see how nervous and exhausted we all
looked, how we huddled together there, hands hugging our knees,
sitting hunched over, our faces strained up a little to give pinched
smiles at the camera.
The strangest thing about the adoption process is that for all that time you are thinking about the child, you are looking at the pictures you have of the child one hundred times a day, you are gathering clothes and furniture for the child, but you don't have the child with you, in your womb. You know your child is alive, is somewhere out in the world, but not with you. The oddest moments: on the trip to Romania wheeling an empty stroller-so weirdly lightweight compared to the satisfying heaviness of a stroller with a child in it-through the airports of Boston, Zurich, and Bucharest. My sister, who accompanied me on the trip, kept telling people who looked askance at the vacant stroller that we had checked the baby by mistake. But the empty stroller is emblematic of all the life you have built up for the child without the child being there.
My adoption went very quickly. I started the actual process in early January 1997, and by the end of June, I had Lucy with me. The adoption went quickly, I think, for two reasons. First, I had been thinking over the adoption for several years and had become very sure of my decision. I saw, among my friends who had adopted, that the adoption process could be slowed down when they got a little scared, but every time I became nervous because it was going so fast (and my social worker, the indomitable Martha Lamb, was wonderfully focused on getting me for some child), I realized that I had already thought out that problem and kept going. Second, at that moment with my agency (The Alliance for Children, Inc.) it seemed to me (and maybe I was mistaken) that Romanian children were available for a quick adoption.
I was open to whatever child I would be eligible to adopt; given that I was single and in my mid-40s the options were not limitless. I had thought about adopting from China, because a couple of my friends had done so. At the agency's information meeting, a couple who had adopted brought their little boy to the meeting and talked about going to Romania and how they ended up with this boy. I suddenly thought, Romania, why not? I started coming up with all these reasons why Romania would be perfect: Romanian is a Romance language and I speak French, another Romance language. My niece's grandmother was Romanian. And so on. Soon I realized that the child was the important thing. After you have chosen, you start to see why it makes such good sense, but that's after the fact. The child is what is important-a child from anywhere.
Of course, the minute I told my parents and my friends I was adopting from Romania, horror stories-the ones from television and those people had "heard from someone"-about children adopted from Romania were not very delicately flung at me. Yet I had seen that little boy and his parents at the meeting, I had met children from Romania and from all over the world at a picnic organized by my adoption agency, and I knew I had seen a side to adoption that was not all horror. I think the most useful thing to remember when adopting is to take what others say to you with a grain of salt, or rather, a large pinch of compassion. People (close friends, family, and strangers) will say the most amazing things: "Can't you have your own?" or "Don't you worry the child won't bond to you and then what will you do?" My sister confided to me, while we were in Bucharest, that my mother had studied the photos of Lucy from the orphanage and said, "Don't you think one leg is shorter than the other?" In Bucharest, with Lucy nicely weighing down that stroller, I could laugh out loud. And so what if one leg had turned out to be shorter than the other? She was my Lucy. (What if Lucy was my biological child and one leg was shorter than the other? It can happen in the U.S., you know.) You come to realize that family and friends care about you and worry that you are getting into deep trouble; they don't read very much about adoption, so they really don't know what they are talking about, which weirdly gives more life to their grim fears.
Yes, the children are marked by their time in the orphanage in both difficult and wonderful ways. Lucy, at 14 months, could not crawl. Within five days, though, she was on her hands and knees throwing a toy and then chasing it down. Now crawling is a thing of the past-she careens through the apartment chasing Dinah, the cat. She was slightly anemic, but then so am I. Yet the orphanage gave Lucy two great gifts. They kept her alive. And they played with her: As we drove away from the orphanage, the driver turned on the radio and loud pop music blared out. Lucy pulled herself up on my lap (no car seats in Romania) and began to waggle her bottom and shake her head back and forth. She was dancing! Laughing! I loved, and still love, that orphanage staff.
Lucy is now almost 18 months. She walks, laughs, loves music (we have to sing "Baa baa, black sheep" a thousand times a day), and likes hanging out with her friends at the Wellesley Community Children's Center three times a week. A month and a half after we came back from Romania, I took her to the Floating Hospital at New England Medical Center to be screened by a group of doctors and developmental therapists who screen many internationally adopted children. She had some "mild" developmental delays, but they were pretty sure she would catch up. (And if they thought she needed help, there is help: Massachusetts runs a program called Early Intervention that helps children catch up to their peers by the time they reach the early grades in school.) Her health seems excellent, which only confirmed what my very good pediatrician, Dr. Joan Lebel at Harvard Pilgrim, Wellesley Center, had said. From the first she loved to eat-in Bucharest, we ate out and ate very well; Lucy was eating risotto with black squid ink and capers as well as infant oatmeal. And she sleeps from seven to seven-straight through, I'm not kidding.
Again, from the moment I had her in my arms, everything was
normal, right. I brag about her like everyone brags about their
child: I have a lovely child, whose first word in English was cat
(the cat was almost as big as Lucy when we got home, so she figured
rather prominently on Lucy's horizon), which pleased me to no end. I
have a child with fantastic golden brown curly hair springing from
her head. So on and so on. All very normal: as Tolstoy said in his
novel Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike."
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