CapitolAccomplishment

U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand ’84

THE BULLETIN OF EMMA WILLARD SCHOOL ■ WINTER 2007THE BULLETIN OF EMMA WILLARD SCHOOL ■ WINTER 2007

EMMAEMMA

2 View from Mt. Ida3 Panorama4 Around Emma 8 Tribute9 Sports Round-up32 Class Notes/In Memoriam74 From the AAC75 Alumnae Connections76 Asian Tour78 In the Archives80 Images of Emma

Contents W i n t e r 2 0 0 7ContentsDEPartments

10 Capitol Accomplishment14 Habot Forming20 Serving and Shaping24 The Emma Willard IDEA28 Revels 2006

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Features

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by Trudy E. Hall, Head of School

Whether we agree or not that the youth ofAmerica are unprepared to compete in the globaleconomy, we know that each day a plethora oftask forces and foundations are jumping into thefray with dire predictions, recommendations, andmandates. I believe that American high schoolsmust reinvent themselves. Our students need tofully understand the power of technology; theyneed to understand the importance of beingfluent in more than one language; they need todevelop a global perspective. As we look to thefuture of American education, I am energized bythe significant discourse, inside Emma Willardand out, over what reinvention means forcurriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.

No Child Left Behind, with its focus oncompetency, addresses the bare minimum butneglects the unfortunate reality that Americanstudents are falling behind. The AdvancedPlacement® curriculum is unwieldy, but whatmight take its place? Can we rectify theeducational disparity between “the haves and thehave nots” and the socioeconomic reverberationssuch disparity creates? Can we improve a collegeselection process that is skewed by marketing,driven by economic agendas, and often leavescollege-bound students and their parentsbewildered, beleaguered, and bereft?

Most people searching for solutions to thetroublesome educational crises of our times woulddo well to look back to how the innovators ofAmerican academia resolved similar dilemmas. AtEmma Willard, we are fortunate that our mentoris one of the greatest pioneers in Americaneducation.

This is the now familiar story. In early 19thcentury a doctor from Middlebury, Vermont,happily shared his extensive library with hisyoung bride. Prevented from attending classes atthe prestigious Middlebury College because of hergender, and hungry for additional intellectualstimulation, an idea took shape in this energeticscholar’s mind: what might the world look like if

women received the same education as men? Weknow what happened to that bold idea. In fitsand starts, and against considerable opposition, itproduced nothing short of an educationalrevolution.

Because our nation is in need of anothereducational revolution, I find myself thinkingoften about Emma Hart Willard—a womanwhose persistence created unimaginedpossibilities—and the innovative, entrepreneurialways in which she forged her vision. Sherecognized a social problem of immenseproportion. She thought deeply about soundsolutions. She shared her vision with all whomight be intrigued and supportive. She created avenue in which her novel approach might bemodeled. She invited others to see this model’ssuccess in action. She continuously soughtstrategies to increase the sphere of her owninfluence and the influence of her experiment—the Troy Female Seminary.

What would Emma see in 2007 if she werelooking at how her school is addressing the issuesof this day and time? Our list is substantive, andincludes:

■ application of technology in smart, useful waysto enhance the relational aspect of learning andensure girls are technologically literate

■ launch of a global perspectives initiative thatpermits our students to understandinternational women’s issues

■ introduction of a student-designed, student-ledcommunity service program that encouragesexperiential learning

■ addition of Chinese to our language offerings

■ a mathematics curriculum that teaches throughthe use of collaborative problem-solving

■ emphasis on writing as a communication skillthat will never go out of vogue

■ introduction of a new seminar program thatpromotes emotional intelligence

If Emma were with us today, I believe shewould give us high marks, but I also think shewould challenge us to do more in creating thebest ways of educating girls and to share thatknowledge with the media, public officials, andother educational institutions. I think she wouldexpect us to provide solid evidence of the successof our methodology through nationallyunderstood measures. I know she wouldencourage us to continue to be bold and good,innovative and traditional, daring and smart.

In this moment, when the chaos and clamorof the educational debate roar with much chatterbut result in little action, Emma Willard School istaking a stand. We will continue to create thepilot programs that strike the elusive balancebetween core knowledge, essential analyticalabilities, and superb communication skills. Wewill share these gems with those in a position tocarry the seeds far and wide. To the girls of theworld, we say, come here to learn and we willsend you out with new power as women ofsophisticated intelligence who know what itmeans to be citizens in a global economy.

Like Emma herself, we have no intention ofwringing our hands about what can’t be fixed intoday’s world. Instead, using our mentor’s model,we see the uncertainty of our times clearly, we areresponding boldly, and we will do a better job ofexpanding our sphere of influence.

To all who care about education today, weinvite you to explore, debate, create, and provethe educational models that are right for ourtime. Then help us stand as an example to otherswho may lack our imagination and verve.

I believe this is what Emma would do. ■

What Would Emma Do?

2 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

—Trudy Hall can be reached at thall@emmawillard.org

Around Panorama

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 3

They arrived at almost the same time I did.It was moving-in day in September 2003 and Ihad just started working at Emma Willard acouple of weeks before. We had planned a storyfor the fall issue of EMMA on “The FreshmanExperience”—a look at how students cope withtheir first year in boarding school, so I visitedthe dorms and observed as students carriedtheir belongings into their rooms, bid tearfulfarewells to parents and siblings, and attendedtheir first class meeting. Along the way, Isnapped the top photo—Dana Deaton ’07,Martha O’Neill ’07, and Ashley Coletti ’07,with proctor Trina Akins ’04—which appearedwith the article.

Today, Dana, Martha, and Ashley areaccomplished seniors who exemplify the EmmaWillard experience. All have served as peereducators; and Martha, a boarder, and Ashley, aday student, are proctors. Dana spent herjunior year abroad in Spain. In June, they willgraduate and leave the place they’ve calledhome for nearly four years. I recently showedthem the 2003 photo and asked them to reflecton how they’ve changed since September 2003.

Dana: “I think I’m a lot more aware of theworld around me. I’ve learned a lot from thepeople I go to school with. It’s been a great

place to grow up, just for the friends we’vemade and the opportunities we’ve had. Evenduring the year I spent abroad, I still felt soconnected to Emma Willard.”

Martha: “I thought I knew everything then,but the diversity here at Emma has reallychanged my outlook. I’ve loved it, but it’sbittersweet to leave. All the diehards feel like,after four years, you’re ready to move on, tomake new friends, and to have new experiences.But it’s sad to say goodbye.”

Ashley: “I’ve grown up a lot since thatpicture was taken, but Emma itself has grownas much as we have, with the new constructionand with classes that are getting to be morediverse. The school seems to be offering a lotmore opportunities.”

When the Class of 2007 departs, it will besomething of a milestone for me, having seen afull cycle of scared 14-year-olds grow intoconfident, accomplished women. I think inSeptember I’ll again visit the dorms onOpening Day and talk to some of the incomingfreshmen. This time, when I take their pictures,I’ll be able to say, “Don’t worry. You won’tbelieve who you are about to become.” ■

– STEVEN RICCI

“It’s been a great place to

grow up.” – DANA DEATON ’07

Left: Dana Deaton,Martha O’Neill, andAshley Coletti withproctor Trina Akins ’04 inSeptember 2003.

Below: The trio inFebruary 2007PHOTOS BY STEVEN RICCI

The Senior Experience

EMMAWINTER 2007 ■ VOL. 65, NO. 1

EMMA, the Bulletin of Emma WillardSchool, is published by theCommunications Office three times eachyear for the alumnae, parents,grandparents, and friends of EmmaWillard School. The mission of EMMA is tocapture the school’s remarkable history,values, and culture through accurate andobjective coverage that adheres to thehighest journalistic and literary standards.

STEVEN RICCIManager of Publications and MediaRelationsEditorsricci@emmawillard.org

SUSAN H. GEARYWeb and Production ManagerClass Notes Editorsgeary@emmawillard.org

CHERYL ACKNERClass Notes Coordinatorcackner@emmawillard.org

Design by Kristina Almquist Design

TRUDY E. HALLHead of School

TRUDY J. HANMERAssociate Head of School

MARGARET A. FUSCODirector of Strategic Communications

LARRY LICHTENSTEINDirector of Advancement

LINDA PASSARETTI ’84Director of Alumnae Relations and AnnualGiving

Please forward address changes to:

Emma Willard School285 Pawling Ave.Troy NY 12180(518) 833-1787alumnae@emmawillard.org or visitwww.emmawillard.org/alumnae.

—Steven Ricci can be reached at sricci@emmawillard.org

CORRECTION:The cover photo of the Fall 2006edition of EMMA was taken byBilly Howard. Our apologies for

the omission.

Gossip, innuendo, and romantic intrigue ravaged EmmaWillard in November as the school’s finest thespians staged astellar production of the 18th-century British comedy, The Schoolfor Scandal. When two brothers—one with genuine affection andthe other with avarice aforethought—compete for the attentionsof a comely young ward of a middle-aged and wealthy bachelor,Lady Sneerwell and her entourage of scandalmongers wreak havocon the entire affair.

FROM WAR TO LAWAsja Zujo ’98 was 13 years old when the

Bosnian War erupted in her native Sarajevo. Asthe city endured an almost daily barrage ofshelling, education became a secondary concernto survival.

“My family was lucky and no one was hurt,”Zujo recalled during a recent visit to her almamater. But soon after the war broke out, she said,the school systems deteriorated; many teachersfled and classes became irregular. Through theefforts of Carol Craft Schaefer ’60 and herhusband, Barry, Zujo learned that Emma Willardwas accepting students in an effort to helpBosnians affected by the war, so she applied for ascholarship.

“I had never heard of Emma Willard,” shesaid, “but once I did, I was very set on goingthere. I didn’t know what to expect. There are noboarding schools or all-girls schools in Bosnia.”

Schaefer is the founder of Connecticut Friendsof Bosnia and for many years has been activelyinvolved in helping implement projects in Bosnia,including rebuilding homes for families who weredriven from their communities in the waves ofethnic cleansing that swept the country, andvisiting the region to identify families most inneed. The Schaefers served as Zujo’s host familywhen she arrived in September 1995 to begin hersophomore year at Emma Willard and have sincehelped finance her education. Asja was joined bya fellow Bosnian student, Mirela Jusupovic ’96,and was followed at Emma by her sister, SonjaZujo ’02.

During her days as an Emma Willard student,Asja excelled in drama and language and sheespecially remembers Françoise Chadabe’s Frenchclass. “The people who I met were so helpful and

made me feel at home,” she said. “I got a greateducation because I didn’t even feel the transitionwhen I went away to college.”

After majoring in theater and French atMount Holyoke College, she attended law schoolat Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska,graduating in May 2006. At Creighton shecultivated an interest in international law andtook a year off in 2004 to intern for the UnitedNations International Criminal Tribunal for theFormer Yugoslavia in The Hague, where she aideda legal team that was prosecuting accused warcriminals. During her internship, she attended thewar crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic, theembattled president of Serbia and Yugoslavia whodied before his trial concluded.

In July 2006, Zujo passed the New York StateBar and was admitted at a ceremony in Albany inJanuary 2007. She plans to continue her work ininternational law and human rights and is

currently working as a legal assistant andresearcher for a Bosnian lawyer in Sarajevo in thedefense of accused war criminals. She also dividesher time between her family in Bosnia and herhost families—the Schaefers, and PatriciaTrudeau, of Loudonville, New York.

“I am very proud of Asja,” Schaefer said in arecent e-mail to Emma Willard. “It was great thatEmma gave her the opportunity to start hereducation in this country.”

“When I came to the states I didn’t think Iwould end up in international law and humanrights, but now it seems like a naturalprogression,” Zujo said. “I can see how importantit is to bring justice to that area. It’s a complicatedsituation, and there is still a lot of ethnic tensionand a lot of corruption, unfortunately. The trialsare going to help with reconciliation. It’s just onestep; there’s a long way to go.”

Around EMMA

Asja Zujo ’98 (second from right) was congratulated by Emma Willard teachers DawnStuart Weinraub (left) and Françoise Chadabe (right), and her host parent PatriciaTrudeau, on the day of her swearing in as an attorney before the New York State BarAssociation in Albany.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Caroline Gregg ’10 (center) and Lauren Siciliano ’09(right) swap some scandalous gossip as Robyn Smigel ’08listens in the background during the fall production ofThe School for Scandal.PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

4 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

School for Scandal

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 5

PassionPodium

Through the fall and winter, Emma Willard washonored to welcome several outstanding guest speakers.

In December, Farah Ahmedi was the guest of honor forthe school’s 175th Anniversary Speakers Series. WhenAhmedi was seven years old, on her way to school in hernative Afghanistan, she stepped on a land mine. Theexplosion, which resulted in amputation of one leg andsevere damage to the other, required two years ofhospitalization in Germany. She returned to her family inAfghanistan only to see her father and sisters killed by arocket and her brothers flee to avoid the Taliban. Ahmediand her mother fled the country and spent four years in aPakistan refugee camp before they were able to emigrate tothe United States. Today, Ahmedi is an accomplishedcollege student and the author of a best-selling book abouther experiences—The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl onthe Other Side of the Sky (Simon Spotlight Entertainment,2005)—as well as an advocate for the abolition of landmines.

In January, award-winning poet Chase Twichell visitedcampus for a day of classroom sessions and workshops.Her books of poetry include Dog Language (CopperCanyon Press, 2005), The Snow Watcher (George Braziller,1998), and The Ghost of Eden (George Braziller, 1998).She has won awards from the Artists Foundation (Boston),the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters, and fellowshipsfrom the Guggenheim Foundation and the NationalEndowment for the Arts. During her visit, Twichell alsomet with members of the English Department andattended a reception in her honor.

Photojournalist and environmental advocate StephenDonaldson inspired and informed students and facultymembers in January with an electrifying address about theadverse impact that unchecked population growth,increased use of fossil fuels, and diminishing fresh watersupplies will have on the sustainability of life. Using dozensof photos he has taken during his world travels as abackdrop for his presentation, he also offered the audiencesimple steps they can take to help reverse the growingthreat to our environment. Donaldson was a guest speakerfor the Serving and Shaping Her World Speakers Series, an ongoing series of lectures by experts in various fields.

Editor’s note: To listen to these and other speakers atEmma Willard, visit www.emmawillard.org/news/listen_up.php.

Major construction on the school’s new frontentry loop has beenfinished ahead ofschedule.PHOTO BY IAN SMITH

Workers secure nettingaround the gargoyles onthe Alumnae Chapel.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Farah Ahmedi Chase Twichell Stephen Donaldson

PHO

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ICC

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TOWER CAPSPassersby may have noticed that many of the campus’s loftiest structures have donned

protective headgear. Emma Willard recently commissioned a masonry audit to assess thecondition of its magnificent stone edifices. Heavy-duty netting and some scaffolding havebeen placed on Sage Tower, the Alumnae Chapel clock tower, the tower at the Laundrybuilding, and on Kellas Hall’s tower as well. The netting will ensure safety as crews work toinspect and repair masonry on the buildings. [Editor’s note: Be sure to read thespring/summer issue of EMMA for a complete description of this important newmaintenance project.] In other construction developments, work crews completedconstruction of the new front entry loop along Pawling Avenue ahead of schedule this fall.For continued updates on construction projects at Emma Willard, visitwww.emmawillard.org/campus/construction/index.php.

AT T

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Around EMMA

Students and faculty line up to see the fascinating exhibit, BodyWorlds 2, at the Boston Museum of Science.

Computer Programming students visited the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology in February.

OUT&ABOUT

Emma students and teachers took full advantage of opportunities tolearn from the outside world during the current school year.

The entire student body and faculty visited the Boston Museum ofScience in November to see Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds 2, thecontroversial exhibit that uses a technique called “plastination” to preserveactual human body parts for the teaching of anatomical science. Studentstoured the exhibit with their advisor groups and talked to Emma Willardscience teachers who were stationed throughout the museum to answerquestions.

Through a generous donation by Joe Vellano P ’01, studentsdiscovered the thrill of professional opera in New York City on a one-daytrip to the Metropolitan to see Puccini’s Tosca and Madama Butterfly thisNovember. Andrea Gruber, who played Tosca, talked to students after theshow about how she got into opera and answered their questions aboutthe production. Vellano (an opera enthusiast and saxophonist) has madeit possible for a second excursion in April to see a different version ofMadame Butterfly and Verdi’s La Traviata.

Science instructors Rob Buckley and LeahRiley escorted a group of students from theirrocket science class to the Kennedy Space Centerin Cape Canaveral, Florida, in December.During the day, the group visited the center,looked at rockets, and viewed films about thehistory of NASA, the International SpaceStation, and the moon. They also met and had aclass with astronaut John Herrington, who wentto the space station some years ago. The grouphad hoped to witness the launch of the spaceshuttle Discovery, which was delayed because ofbad weather.

In February, members of the ComputerScience Department and students in EmmaWillard’s Computer Programming course visitedthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thegroup sat in on MIT classes, toured the school,and visited some Emma Willard alumnae.

Through a generous donation from Joe Vellano P’01 (left) a largegroup of students, accompanied by faculty members Dawn StuartWeinraub and Linda Maier, visited the Metropolitan Opera in NewYork City this fall.

From left, Hildy Schott ’08, Ashley Coletti ’07, Ainsley Harris ’07, AliceNewton ’07, Kelsey Saulnier ’07, and science instructor Leah Riley metastronaut John Herrington during the Rocket Science class trip toCape Canaveral.

6 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 7

Around EMMA MATHEMATICALPERFECTION

Dance Assembly

In January, math instructor Bob Nielsenannounced that six Emma Willard studentsattained perfect scores on tests given by theNew York Mathematics League, whichresulted in a perfect school score of 30 points(the sum of the top five scores). According toNielsen, this is something Emma Willard hadnot achieved in the nine years the school hasbeen participating in the program.

Back row (from left): Bob Nielsen, Hye-Lim ’08, Anna ’09, Lily ’08; front row(from left): Ellie ’07, Ji Mi ’08 , SunJoo ’07PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Alyssa Rinaldi ’08 and MiroCassetta ’07 perform a balletnumber during the FebruaryDance Assembly.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

8 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

In December 2006, the entire Emma Willardcommunity mourned the passing of one of itsstaunchest supporters and dearest friends, DonaldV. Buttenheim, who passed away at the age of 91at Kimball Farms Retirement Community inLenox, Massachusetts, following a brief illness.The community was doubly saddened to learn ofthe passing of his wife of 66 years, Kathleen (Kay)Buttenheim, only weeks later.

Born in Hastings, New York, in 1915,Buttenheim was a graduate of the Taft School inWatertown, Connecticut, and a 1937 summa cumlaude graduate of Williams College. He workedfor 40 years in the family business, ButtenheimPublishing Corp., a publisher of magazines andreference books. He was also publisher and partowner of Contractors and Engineers magazine,which covered highway and heavy construction inthe U.S.

Throughout his life, Buttenheim was deeplycommitted to education. In Mount Kisco, NewYork, he launched an effort to centralize six areaschool districts and became the first president ofthe Bedford Central School District Board ofEducation. He served two terms as president ofthe New York State Citizens Committee forPublic Schools and was a delegate to PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower’s White HouseConference on Education. He was a chartermember of the Trustee Committee of theNational Association of Independent Schools andactive in the Independent School ChairmenAssociation. He also served 10 years as a trustee ofthe Council for Religion in Independent Schools,now the Council for Spiritual and EthicalEducation.

Although he was a tireless advocate of Taftand Williams, he was an equally ardent supporterof Emma Willard, the school from which hissister, Martha Buttenheim, graduated in 1929.He and Kay sent three daughters—DeborahBrumell ’64, Judith Stevens ’68, and NancyButtenheim ’70—to Emma Willard, where heserved the school as a parent trustee, an honorarytrustee, and a trustee for 14 years, including termsas first vice president and as president from 1974

to 1977. A combination of gifts raised under hisstewardship resulted in the Donald V.Buttenheim Scholarships, annual awards made tostudents who demonstrate positive participationand effective leadership. He also contributedgenerously his financial and leadership abilities tonumerous school fund-raising efforts.

In May 1998, Mr. Buttenheim was named thefirst recipient of the John Willard Award. Namedfor Emma Hart Willard’s son, the award is givenby the Board of Trustees to individuals whocontinue his legacy of protecting and nurturingthe spirit and stability of Emma Willard Schoolwith pride and devotion. The citation presentedto him states: “You have helped to navigate theEmma Willard community through unsettledtimes, lending the strength of your dignity, yourhumor, your clear thinking, and your strong senseof values, not only to solve difficult problems, butalso to help us all move forward in oureducational task with vision and dedication. You

have demonstrated your unfailing faith in thequality of an Emma Willard education and itssuccess in preparing young women for positiveroles in our society by providing educationalopportunities for other students. The scholarshipprograms that you have established andsupport… attest to your deep belief in theimportance of contributing to the creation of abetter world for everyone, a world where positivehuman and spiritual values serve as the core oflearning and of life.”

“Throughout my tenure, and that of headsbefore me, Don served as the best sort ofconscience,” recalls Head of School Trudy Hall.“A prolific note writer, he filled my mailboxweekly with urgings, articles, suggestions, andcommendations; he gently prodded me to thinkabout all the right questions in all the right ways.I sorely miss his ample doses of wisdom and goodcheer.” ■

Around tribute

to a Trusted Friend

Don Buttenheim with daughter Deborah Brumell ’64EMMA WILLARD ARCHIVAL PHOTO

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 9

GETTING READY FOR SPRING IN THE FROZEN WINTER

In late February and early March, Emma Willard’s spring sports teams needto start training for the upcoming season. That can be a challenging taskwhen the Hudson River is sealed by inches of ice, the playing fields are stillburied under a foot of snow, and temperatures are struggling to getabove the freezing mark. So coaches and players improvise by traininginside the Mott Gymnasium until more a clement climate prevails. Above,members of the crew team train on machines.

HOOP SCOOP

In December, Sarah Hutcherson’09 was named Athlete of the

Week by ESPN Radio and the TroyRecord for her outstandingperformance in the varsity

basketball team’s first threegames of the season. During thatperiod—in which the Jesters won

all three games—Sarah scored atotal of 38 points and grabbed 36

rebounds, according to HeadCoach Angela Miklavcic (left),

who presented Sarah with theaward. The Jesters, reigning

Central Hudson Valley Leaguechamps, took a 16-3 record into

the first round of sectional play inFebruary, but were defeated by

Schuylerville 44-36. PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

At left, Libby Schultz ’08 eyes arebound.PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

Sports ROUND-up

ALL-STAR JESTERSThe following students were recognized at the

2006–07 Fall Athletic Awards in November fortheir exceptional athletic efforts andaccomplishments.

Cross Country■ Alexandra Fradkin ’07: Most Improved■ Helen Rowe ’09: Coaches’ Award

Varsity Field Hockey■ Hye Ji Yang ’08: Most Improved■ Hye-Lim Shin ’08: Coach’s Award 2006

JV Field Hockey■ Mattison Moran ’10: Most Improved■ Sun Young Doh ’08: Coaches’ Award

Varsity Tennis■ Laura Hendrickson ’07: Coaches’ Award■ Nawal Mays ’07: Coaches’ Award

Varsity Soccer■ Samantha DeSantis ’07: Most Improved■ Elizabeth Martin ’07: Coach’s Award

JV Soccer■ Julia Hutson ’09: Most Improved■ Annie Mitchell ’09: Coaches’ Award

Varsity Volleyball■ Crystal Painter ’09: Coaches’ Award■ Leto Karatsolis-Chanikian ’08: Coaches’ Award

Varsity Swimming■ Anna Mantero ’09: Most Improved■ Morgan Smits ’09: Coach’s Award

AcAc

Kirsten Gillibrand's official congressional portrait

From Mount Ida to Capitol Hill: KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND ’84 BECOMES EMMA’SFIRST ALUMNA ELECTED TO U.S. CONGRESS

CapitolCapitol

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 11

The nation’s 110th Congress opened inJanuary with a first: the election of Nancy Pelosias the country’s first female Speaker of the Houseof Representatives. The Congress also provided a

first for Emma Willard School: the first alumnato become a member.

In 2006, Kirsten Gillibrand ’84—a Hudson,New York, resident who had never held a politicaloffice—waged a dogged, high-profile campaignfor the state’s 20th Congressional District, a seatheld for eight years by Republican John E.Sweeney. The rambling 200-mile district,encompassing all or parts of nine counties fromthe southern Catskills to the northernAdirondacks, is sprinkled with wilderness areas,rural towns, several medium-sized cities, applefarms, and a small but growing number of high-tech industries. With Republicans outnumberingDemocrats nearly two to one, the district hasvoted decidedly conservative through much of itshistory—three of the four representatives whoserved between 1985 and 2006 were Republicans,and George W. Bush won comfortably here inboth of his presidential elections. In his prior fourelections (two in New York’s 22nd District),Sweeney faced scant opposition and won bysizeable margins.

When she officially announced her candidacyin January 2006, Gillibrand seemed more like aneophyte testing the political waters than a viablecandidate with any chance of turning a deeply redseat into a blue one. However, the politicaltemper of the district, the state, and the countrywas approaching a tipping point. As theundercurrent of change buoyed Gillibrand’sprospects, a different image of the candidateemerged: that of a polished, informed, and savvycompetitor who knew exactly what she wanted,who had carefully studied the political roadmap,and who had put the necessary machinery inplace.

“There were many factors that converged toour benefit,” Gillibrand said. “We had a nationalmood that was anti-incumbent and we had alocal mood where people didn’t feel that things inour communities, or around the state and acrossthe country, were moving in the right direction.There was enough desire for change.”

DEFYING EVERY EXPECTATION

By spring, the nation had taken notice. As aMay 15, 2006, article in The New York Timesnoted: “…with Congressional elections just six

months away, Mr. Sweeney finds himself in thepolitical battle of his life, as he faces his firstsignificant electoral challenge since taking officein 1998, from a political novice who has not only

turned out to be a surprisingly strong campaignerand fund-raiser but who also has assembled aseasoned campaign team closely tied to thevaunted Clinton operation.”

Indeed, as her poll numbers improved so didsupport from the Democratic CongressionalCampaign Committee, which began funnelingmore money into the campaigns of candidates inhotly contested races. She won prizedendorsements from Democratic stalwarts likeformer President Bill Clinton, Senator HilaryClinton, and former New York State AttorneyGeneral Eliot Spitzer (who would win a landslidegubernatorial victory on Election Day). In thefirst quarter of her campaign, Gillibrand raisedmore money than the previous three Democraticcandidates had raised during their entirecampaigns and the record-breaking pacecontinued through November.

In addition to support from influentialveterans’ groups and powerful teachers’ unions,Gillibrand received the endorsement of the 2.5 million-member state AFL-CIO labor unionin August. According to the Post-Star of GlensFalls, New York, the endorsement marked thefirst time in at least 30 years that the labororganization, which includes dozens of areaunions, endorsed a Democrat in the localcongressional district. Previously, the organizationhad either endorsed a Republican or remainedneutral.

As the election neared, Gillibrand received achorus of media endorsements, many of whichread like this one from Metroland, anindependent arts/news weekly in the CapitalDistrict: “Kirsten Gillibrand has defied ourexpectations. We are not used to candidates withthe kind of thoughtful, precise positions onimportant issues like the war in Iraq and thehealth-care crisis that Gillibrand has. She is acandidate any district would be lucky to have… .We heartily endorse Kirsten Gillibrand becauseshe is a candidate of intelligence and ideas whounderstands the consequences of both her ownand of her country’s actions.”

On November 7, voters handed Gillibrand a 6percent margin of victory and a ticket toWashington, D.C.

Reflecting on the victory, Gillibrand reiteratedthe mantra she had articulated throughout thecampaign: that voters made a decision not

because of party labels or television commercials,but from a deep need to change course.

“The election was not about political parties,”she said. “It was not about Democrats,

Republicans, or independents; it was aboutchange and new leadership for our country.”

POISE, PREPARATION,POSITIONING

Gillibrand may have stunned the pundits whoviewed her as a greenhorn with little chance ofbeating such daunting political odds, but hermeticulous preparation, determined tenacity, and

unflappable poise were qualities she had beenpolishing even before she came to Emma Willard.In fact, she had been planning for the momentsince she was 10 years old.

The Albany native’s passion for politics wasinspired by her grandmother, Polly Noonan, thefounder of the Albany Democratic Women’sClub. As a 20-year-old secretary for the statelegislature, without the benefit of highereducation, Noonan craved a voice for women ingovernment and worked resolutely to get it,Gillibrand says. Her efforts not only gave womena more potent influence in government, they alsostrengthened the local Democratic party andsupported the community.

“They knew every family that needed a turkeyat Thanksgiving, and every family whose childrenneeded new shoes,” Gillibrand said. “Politics backthen was part social service, and they wereproviders.”

Over the years, Noonan became a majorparticipant in Albany politics and instilled in hergranddaughter the importance of getting involved

complishmentcomplishment

B Y S T E V E N R I C C I

“We had a national mood that wasanti-incumbent and we had a localmood where people didn’t feel thatthings in our communities, oraround the state and across thecountry, were moving in the rightdirection. There was enough desirefor change.”

12 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

at the grassroots level. Together, they stuffedenvelopes and went door-to-door canvassingvotes, with Kirsten sometimes wearing T-shirtsadvertising the candidate her grandmother wasstumping for.

“That’s what I grew up watching her do,”Gillibrand said. “It certainly made an impressionon me that what you do with your time doesmatter, and what you do with your voice doesmatter.”

As an Emma Willard diehard, Gillibrand tookfull advantage of the opportunities offered to her.She excelled in science, math, and languages;played JV soccer and captained the tennis team;sold advertising for the Clock; and as a juniorbecame head of the weekend activities committee,an unusual position for a day student as thecommittee primarily serves the boarding

community. But the position provided anopportunity to develop organizational andmanagement abilities, and to hone her listeningskills, tools she would later use to forge a politicalcareer.

Her most cherished Emma Willardexperiences, though, included the opportunity tomeet students from around the country and theworld, and to pursue foreign studies. She visitedFrance as a freshman, Spain and northern Africaas a sophomore, and Russia as a junior.

“I saw an extraordinary amount of the worldand learned so much about culture and historyoutside of the classroom,” she said. “It really gaveme the ability to strive to do anything I wanted todo.”

The confidence and leadership abilities shecultivated at Emma Willard served her well as anAsian studies major at Dartmouth, where, shesaid, the traditionally male-dominated academicand social culture required women to bemarkedly assertive and self-assured. She learned toread and speak Chinese and spent seven monthsstudying in China, Taiwan, and Tibet. During hertravels through northern India as part of a seniorfellowship on the history of the Tibetan-Chineseconflict, she interviewed the Dalai Lama and anumber of Tibetan refugees for her researchpaper.

After graduating magna cum laude fromDartmouth, she attended UCLA School of Lawand had a senior internship in Vienna at the

United Nations Crime Prevention Branch,studying the ways in which different legal systemsaddress violence against women and families.

Throughout her academic career sheentertained a desire for public service, but alsorecognized that working first in the legal arenawould best serve her long-range ambitions.

“I always aspired to do public service in mycareer,” she said, “but I also knew that it wouldtake time to be prepared do that. I believe that,for many women, it’s important to develop all theskills they’ll need to be successful in the arena

“We ran a grassroots campaign andtook my message, and what I wasoffering, and who I was as a person,directly to the people and families ofour district. And they made achoice.”

Emma Alumnae inOffice

Although Kirsten Gillibrand is the first EmmaWillard graduate to serve in the U.S. Congress,the school’s alumnae have a long history ofserving in public office. Those who have heldelected office recently include:

• Kathryn Hendrickson ’75: In November,Hendrickson won the race for commonwealthattorney in Kentucky’s 19th Judicial District,the first woman to serve in that position in thehistory of the district. Hendrickson also teachescourses in juvenile delinquency and law atMaysville Community & Technical College.

• Virginia Hinrichs McMichael ’74: InNovember 2005, McMichael was reelected to asecond six-year term on the East WhitelandTownship Board of Supervisors in ChesterCounty, Pennsylvania. During her tenure,McMichael championed the enactment of adevelopment moratorium so the townshipcould revise its comprehensive plan.

• Dorothy H. Wilken ’53: In 2004 Wilkenretired from her position as clerk of the CircuitCourt in Palm Beach County, Florida after along and distinguished career in public service,including a term as the first woman mayor inthe City of Boca Raton, Florida. Otherpositions she held include Palm Beach CountyCommissioner, founder of the Palm BeachCounty Criminal Justice Commission, andmember of the Governor’s Crime Commission.

• Sue Wierengo ’49: Wierengo is the CityCommissioner At Large of Muskegon,Michigan. In addition to her duties on thecommission, she is the founding director ofHospice of Muskegon, the first executivedirector of the Michigan HospiceOrganization, and the director of LeadershipMuskegon.

• Mary Price “Pricey” Taylor Harrison ’76: Aretired communications attorney, Harrisonrecently won a second term as a representativein the North Carolina General Assembly forDistrict 57. An experienced political activist,Harrison introduced during her first term anumber of bills designed to protect theenvironment and conserve renewable energysources.

PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 13

they want to be in. What my analysis brought meto was that I needed to learn good advocacy skillsfirst, and achieve a level of experience that wouldallow me to bring a lot to the table when I didchoose to serve the public.”

Her legal career included positions as a lawclerk for U.S. Court of Appeals Justice RogerMiner, senior associate at the law firm of Davis,Polk & Wardwell, and special counsel to AndrewCuomo, former secretary of the U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development under theClinton administration—an association thatlasted only seven months but would provide avaluable backdrop to her future plans.

Speaking with Cuomo after an event where hegave a speech about the importance of publicservice, she told him of her lifelong desire to workin the field. He invited her to send her resume tohis office, and after an interview the followingweek, she was hired as special counsel.

“I was up for partner (at my law firm) in sixmonths, so it was a significant time for me to befocused on law,” she said. “But my real heart wasin public service.”

Cuomo, she said, gave her “enormousamounts of responsibility” during her tenure atHUD, including work on labor initiatives, wageand safety regulations, and oversight of theAmerican Private Investment Companies Act, apiece of legislation designed to combine venturecapital and public funding for infrastructureinvestments in low-income areas. Although thelegislation ultimately failed to pass Congress, shegained extensive experience working with theteam that drafted the legislation and lobbied forits passage and observed the legislative processfirst-hand.

Although the position ended with theconclusion of the Clinton administration’s term,the public service bug had bitten, and Gillibrandspent the next five years doing homework. Sheattended the Women’s Campaign School at YaleUniversity; the Women’s Campaign Forumtraining program in Washington, D.C.; and theEleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, a trainingprogram for women Democrats seeking politicaloffice. These programs, she said, taught her muchabout the extensive preparation required of asuccessful campaign, including strategic fund-raising techniques, policy development, andcrafting clear, resonant, and easily understoodmessages. In 2003, she founded the Women’sLeadership Forum Network, an under-40 versionof the Women’s Leadership Forum—a D.C.organization she joined 10 years ago that works toget women involved in politics on a nationallevel. The network, she said, enlisted 1,500members during the last presidential campaign,and trained hundreds of the recruits in publicspeaking and media relations skills. Additionally,she volunteered to work for Bill Clinton’s 1996presidential campaign Cuomo’s 2002 New YorkState gubernatorial campaign, and Hilary

Clinton’s 2000 campaign for Senate. In the lastpresidential election cycle, she helped raisehundreds of thousands of dollars for Democraticcandidates.

In 2001, she returned to the law as a partnerin the Manhattan firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner.After marrying her husband, Jonathan, a lobbyistand financial consultant, they moved upstate,where she worked in the firm’s Albany office andbegan crafting the message that would send her toWashington, taking a leave in March to beginworking on the campaign full-time.

Despite an almost constant uphill battle, shesaid, she was never intimidated by the magnitudeof her task.

“The reason why it’s so rare for a challenger tobeat an incumbent is because it’s so hard to getthat message out,” she said. “It was an enormouscommitment of time and effort for me and mywhole family. It takes going door to door in everycommunity, holding open forums on health care,agriculture, the war, veterans issues. We dideverything. We ran a grassroots campaign andtook my message, and what I was offering, andwho I was as a person, directly to the people andfamilies of our district. And they made a choice.”

Throughout the trying campaign, Gillibrandsaid, she relied heavily on the ideals she learnedon Mount Ida and would take to Capitol Hill.

“The core values of Emma Willard—ofteaching young women to have the confidence tolead, to have honesty and integrity in all they do,to be knowledgeable of themselves, to besomeone who will give back to her owncommunity—are the core values I brought withme, not only to undergraduate and law schoolbut also throughout my career.”

GETTING BUSY EARLY

After her swearing in ceremony in January,Gillibrand wasted no time in delivering on herpromises to her largely Republican district. Oncein Congress, she joined the House AgriculturalCommittee and the prestigious Armed ServicesCommittee, for which she serves on theTerrorism, Unconventional Threats, andCapabilities subcommittee and the Army and AirForce Programs subcommittee. In the samemonth, she instituted in the 20th district a seriesof public forums she calls “Congress at YourCorner,” a town hall effort to solicit feedbackfrom constituents on a variety of topics.

Among the issues she wants to tackle in herfirst term are energy independence, astrengthened agricultural policy, improvedtreatment and benefits for members of the armedservices and veterans, and stricter ethicalstandards for the nation’s elected leaders. But firstand foremost will be the issue currently at theforefront of American politics, and the decisivefactor in her election: the war in Iraq.

“A new direction for Iraq means having a realplan for success,” she said, “having a plan forredeployment of our troops out of Iraq over thenext year, using our leverage and reconstructioncontracts more effectively to bring the partiestogether, making sure we use our oil revenues tobring the Sunnis and the Kurds to the table,making sure we use our presence duringredeployment as leverage over the Shias. There’s alot to be done to help the parties there reach apolitical solution.”

In early February, she issued a statementopposing President Bush’s proposed budget,specifically addressing military spending for theongoing war: “The amounts being requested forIraq and defense are extraordinary sums. We mustfully fund our national defense, but we cannotafford to simply accept the President’s requestwithout providing the requisite oversight andaccountability our constitution requires.”

Less than two weeks later, she joined vocalHouse opposition to the president’s plan for anincrease of 20,000 troops in Iraq, speaking fromthe House floor for the first time in support of H.Con. Res 63.

“At no point has anyone from theadministration been able to articulate to me,clearly, that this is a strategy that will effectivelyundermine terrorism, promote lasting stability,and be successful in redeploying our troops,” shesaid during the speech. “What is so clear to somany of our military advisors, former and currentmilitary generals, the majority of this body, andthe American public at large, does not seem to beshared by this administration: that the answers tosustaining peace in Iraq lie in political,diplomatic, and economic solutions, not militaryones.”

As she refines her congressional agenda andeven begins planning for a 2008 reelection bid,Gillibrand said, she is honored and privileged tobe in Congress at a time when women areproviding more political influence than at anytime in the nation’s history.

“It’s a wonderful era for women, and I hopewomen are inspired by the leadership we haveright now,” she said. “I’m hopeful that there arehundreds of 10-year-old girls out there who arelooking at Speaker Pelosi and saying, ‘I couldsome day be speaker of the House’ and looking atSenator Clinton and saying, ’I could be presidentsome day.’”

Inspiring the next generation of womenleaders, she said, is the greatest gift she and hercolleagues can give America.

“To inspire young women to not only believethat they can serve but to be honored to serve,”she said. “To not only give them the confidenceto do it, but also the will to do it. Those are thetwo things that are necessary. Once a woman hasthe confidence and the will, she will get there.And I will help her.” ■

Can character be taught?Can a complete education be fully realized

within the academic curriculum?These questions have received thorough and

thoughtful exploration at Emma Willard, as thenation’s private and public schools also beginwrestling with them.

As well they should, according to NationalAssociation of Independent Schools PresidentPatrick F. Bassett. “There is a need to articulatebetter the character curriculum of each school,”he said. “In the long wash of time, it is the skillsand values we learn that count, the ‘content ofone’s character’ more so than the content of thecurriculum.”

Emma Willard’s Dean of Curriculum andPrograms Lisa Schmitt agrees, wondering aloud,“How do you get parents to understand thatthat’s what they’re spending their money on?”

A closer look at the school’s Serving andShaping Her World programs should help.Implemented in fall 2006, the Emma WillardSeminar Program and the Elizabeth Cady StantonService Program, together with the Serving andShaping Speakers Series, constitute what might becalled the “second curriculum” or “charactercurriculum” or even, Schmitt says smiling, “thesofter side of the Emma Willard education.” Butthere is nothing soft about its purposes or long-term implications. “I think of this as being part ofa whole education,” Schmitt said.

The new programs have been developed toensure that EW graduates go forth into theircomplex world with a strong sense of personalvalues, a willingness to take initiative, leadershipskills, and the ability to communicate well andthrive as members of their communities at alllevels.

“We want them to know the power of theirown voices, to be able to have deep conversations,and know their voices will be heard,” Schmittsaid.

The Seminar Program has been designed tofoster exactly that kind of open conversation. Therequired weekly class meets in small groups of 10to 12 girls, and each grade level has its ownschedule, intents, and purposes. The freshman

program focuses on making the transition into anew community, understanding its culture andexpectations, and gaining the skills needed tomake the most of school resources, such as thelibrary and information technology. Sophomore

14 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

In the Dietel Library the Race for a Cause service group, which organizes benefit races to helpvarious charities, meets to discuss strategy for their next event. PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Curricular initiativesprepare students to

serve and shapetheir worlds

B Y K AT H R Y N G A L L I E N

EMMA WILLARD SEMINAR PROGRAM

“The students are marvelous. They’re enthusiastic about the opportunity to havevery candid conversations about things that matter.”

-PAM SKRIPAK ’80, SEMINAR PROGRAM DIRECTOR

HabitForming

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 15

EMMA WILLARD’SMISSION

STATEMENT

Honoring its founder’s vision,Emma Willard School proudlyfosters in each young woman alove of learning, the habits of anintellectual life, and the character,moral strength, and qualities ofleadership to serve and shape herworld.

In Young Hwang a memberof the service group,Student Organization forAnimal Respect, cares foran abandoned cat at theMohawk & Hudson RiverHumane Society inMenands, New York. PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

year’s health curriculum includes frank discussionabout sexuality, and emotional as well as physicalhealth. Juniors explore the road ahead—collegeand beyond—with exercises helping them “shutout the noise of expectation and hear their ownauthentic voices,” as Seminar Director PamSkripak ’80 puts it. Senior year, the programshifts to a speaker series offering practical adviceand words of wisdom on everything frombusiness etiquette to financial literacy.

Skripak explains that the pedagogy centers on“circle sharing” and draws on the four intentionsoutlined by Rachael Kessler in The Soul of

Education: Helping Students Find Connection,Compassion and Character at School—speakingfrom the heart, listening from the heart, speakingspontaneously, and being lean of expression.

“It’s not a therapy session,” Skripak notes.“No one person dominates. It’s not aboutventing. It’s about deeply understanding yourselfand others.” Each class has a clearly articulatedsubject, goal, and structure.

When the sophomores tackle gender roles, forexample, the class begins with each studentstating something she did over the weekend that aboy probably wouldn’t have done. The teacherthen elicits quick definitions of gender, genderidentity, and gender roles and asks girls how theterms differ. One of the class’s activities hasstudents indicate how strongly they agree ordisagree with several statements by standing atcorrespondingly marked colored dots on the floor.Statements include: A guy who cries easily is weak.Boys are more interested in math and science thangirls. Women are more concerned about appearancesthan men. If I have children, I’d like my first childto be a son. Discussion and more activities follow,and the class ends with each student expressingsomething she loves about being female.

The “authentic moments of personal sharing”can be profound, Skripak said, and lead to a“deeper, more meaningful sense of connection to

each other, their community, themselves.”Students complete feedback cards after each classthat help the director and her colleagues—each ofwhom received special training to lead theclasses—review and improve the program. Theadministrative responsibilities are great, but forSkripak the reward is “being in the class with thegirls. The students are marvelous. They’reenthusiastic about the opportunity to have verycandid conversations about things that matter.”

16 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

Pam Skripak ’80 (left of flip chart) and Polly Kimberly (right of flip chart) lead a group of juniors in aseminar program aimed at establishing ground rules for self-expression within the class’s meetings.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Director of Service Stacey Dodd (left) workswith her team of “ubers,” the students whocoordinate the community service program.From left: Maura Farrell ’08, Laurie Massry ’07,Philicia Tan ’07, Jenna Portelli ’10, AlexisSteinberg ’07, and Victoria Wong ’07 PHOTO BY

STEVEN RICCI

Caroline Malave ’10 tries on a sign that shemade as part of her work with the ForeignCulture Educators group. PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 17

Community service is not new at EmmaWillard; for many years student/teacher teamsvisited key locations in the Capital District, andalso on the Emma Willard campus, twice a yearto perform volunteer service. This year, for thefirst time, the program places teams of from threeto 15 girls in 45 different service projects both onand off campus, to work through an 80-minuteclass period every week. Students themselvespropose the projects, and a large project fair isheld in the spring for students to study and picktheir favorites, and another in the fall for newstudents. Even more unusual, the students alsorun the program, with an “uber” leadership teamof service coordinators who oversee the progressof the various teams.

“The students have taken on a heftyresponsibility,” said Service Program DirectorStacey Dodd, “and they are rising to the occasion.They are learning how to manage things and howto manage people.”

The student leadership team solicited ideas,did research, and culled the list of proposedprojects. Each needed to have “enough work andenough need,” Dodd said, to involve studentsweekly in a group activity that serves EW or thecommunity beyond. Each project has one ormore student leaders and faculty/staff advisors,and Dodd notes that the communityorganizations served receive orientation packets“so they understand what we are trying toaccomplish.”

Projects range from the Emma Now campusnews service and Emma Green campusconservation to hospital and hospice volunteering,Africa Aid, and a bilingual literacy program at alocal school. The organizations get good workersand, says Dodd, the students “get newexperiences, interact with people unlikethemselves, serve people in need, take initiative,develop skills, and learn responsibility.”

Those running the Fair Trade Store, forexample, did all their own research, visiting co-ops and fair trade vendors, then began sellinggoods such as coffee, chocolate, and sweaters atschool events. For the Troy Empty Bowls project,students began by volunteering at the annualhunger awareness and fundraising event inOctober. “We washed many bowls that day,” saystheir advisor Nicole Hapeman, a resident faculty

By ExampleTo complement its curriculum, Emma Willard

School offers students regular opportunities to

come together as a community and learn directly

from speakers whose interests and

accomplishments bring the school’s core values to

life. The Serving and Shaping Her World Speakers

Series is the newest addition to the speakers and

visiting artists series. Speakers in this assembly

program explicitly address global, women’s, artistic,

ethical, health, and scientific perspectives.

Classroom and advisee group pre- and post-

assembly discussions help students assess and

integrate the topics and consider what broadening

their perspectives will bring to their lives as

students and citizens of the world. Recent speakers

have included filmmaker and Afghanistan expert

David Edwards, author and survivor of war-torn

Afghanistan Farah Ahmedi, and photojournalist

and environmentalist Stephen Donaldson. You can

listen to these and other speakers at

www.emmawillard.org/news/listenup.php.

PHOTOS BY STEVEN RICCI

Juniors in the Emma Willard Seminar Program participate in an identity exercise in whichthey draw symbols to represent themselves. PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

“The students have taken on a heftyresponsibility, and they are rising tothe occasion. They are learning howto manage things and how tomanage people.”

-STACEY DODD, SERVICE PROGRAM DIRECTOR

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON SERVICE PROGRAM

“One of the most important parts about high school is developing habits for later life.”

-ALEXIS STEINBERG ’07

(continued on page 19)

18 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

The Delicate Dance:Spirituality and Education

Above: Personalized ceramic pieces in theOne Thousand Singing Souls project werecreated as part of Emma Willard’s InnerJourney spirituality program.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

It’s a problem many independent secularschools face, especially in these times of sensitivityto religion: how do we recognize the distinctiveand diverse spiritual needs of our studentswithout enforcing a specific religious curriculum?According to Assistant Head of School Eric Niles,it’s an issue Emma Willard has wrestled with for along time but particularly as the school began toreexamine its curriculum in recent years.

“We had recognized a need and we werelooking for a balance,” Niles said of the InnerJourney Task Force, an amalgam of parents,trustees, alumnae, and faculty of various religiousbackgrounds who began meeting in 2002 toexplore the feasibility of incorporating a spiritualelement into Emma Willard’s educationalexperience. “We were looking for a middleground where we could honor the ability ofindividuals to be spiritual in a safe place withoutforcing it upon them, and educating our studentsabout world religions regardless of whether theypractice any of them.”

The task force’s findings were complementedby a 2006 spirituality audit by educationalconsultant Peter Cobb, the former director ofCouncil on Spiritual and Ethical Education,

which found that there was no appetite in theEmma Willard community for any mandatoryreligious instruction other than as an optionalprogram.

“Students want to explore their spirituality, orchoose not to, without stepping on anyone else’stoes,” Niles said.

The work of the task force was recharged bythe 2004 arrival of Heidi Dwyer, a house parentand computer science instructor who is currentlyan instructor in the Emma Willard SeminarProgram. Dwyer received her bachelor’s degree inreligious studies at St. Lawrence University, andduring her graduate studies in education there sheworked with the university’s chaplain to design aprogram that would promote belief explorationand spiritual understanding in a diverse context.The eight-week course they created, based on asimilar one within the Unitarian UniversalistAssociation, was called B.Y.O.B.—Build YourOwn Beliefs—and is ongoing at St. Lawrence.

“The creative idea was about something I sawlacking in our community as an undergrad,”Dwyer said. “Because I had to seek out ways tofulfill that need on my own, I thought it wouldbe interesting to offer a way for people to enhance

understanding across different traditions; to createa dialogue and learn each other’s languagewithout offending.”

Even during her job interview at EmmaWillard, Dwyer said, she recognized that theschool was struggling with the same issues shehad worked to resolve at St. Lawrence. “I couldtell that it was a place where they had a desire tounderstand spirituality better and to do it in anonthreatening way,” she said. “It’s a delicatedance in any environment to bring up spiritualityand religion. My stance is not about pushing anyagenda but offering a space for students toexplore who they are, who they are becoming,who their peers are, and who they are becoming,and that’s a shared process.”

Dwyer worked with cofacilitators, scienceinstructor Joseph Tamer and houseparent GemmaHalfi, to implement the 10-week Inner Journeyprogram, which is open only to Emma Willard’sjuniors and seniors. Each week of the programcovers a specific topic related to the exploration ofpersonal spirituality. They include “Looking Back(and Forward) on the Self,” “Unraveling HumanNature,” “The Influence of Society and Culture,”“Connecting to Our Surroundings,”

“Contemplating Something Greater,” “GrowingThrough Conflict and Crisis,” “Rising to Life’sChallenges,” and “‘Peacing’ it Together.” Eachsession builds on the last but can also function asa separate component if a student doesn’t have aparticularly strong feeling about a specific topic.

Meeting for 90 minutes once each week, theprogram is not conducted in a traditionalinstructive classroom setting, but rather throughopen discussions and activities intended to guidestudents along a path of creative investigation.Emphasis, Dwyer said, is placed on expressionthrough activities like journaling, collage,conversation, and silent reflection.

“It’s about the students learning to implementtheir own practices,” she said. “Depending on thesession topic, we talk about how to defineyourself within a group, understanding the self inrelation to a shared vocabulary, how we defineterms like religion, spirituality, creed, self, andsacred. Each session is designed so that, at theend, the girls ask themselves, ‘What do I believeabout this topic?’ and they write it down andkeep it.”

Extreme sensitivity is given to respecting eachstudent’s beliefs, or lack of them, Dwyer said.“The students definitely recognize the need to notinvade; they really don’t want to offend,” she said.“It’s something we need to model for our studentsas they grow to become leaders.”

At Inner Journey’s final session, “Credo andClosure,” students generate a personal creed thatexpresses their statement of beliefs, which isshared with the rest of the group. The creed,Dwyer said, is a benchmark that allows studentsto establish what their feelings and beliefs are at

this stage in their lives, and generates a lastingrecord to which they can compare future beliefsas they grow, change, and evolve.

This semester, Inner Journey’s final sessionincluded a new ceremonial aspect devised byDwyer and houseparent and ceramics instructorNicole Hapeman. As a ceramics artist, Hapemanhas launched a project of her own called OneThousand Singing Souls, in which she creates(through the Japanese raku process) individualizedpieces symbolizing spiritual renewal. The projecttook shape in collaboration with Inner Journey’sclosing ceremony, in which Hapeman created theraw ceramic pieces and then turned them over tostudents to add their own glazing and decoration.Additionally, the students were asked to insertinto the pieces a written record or their ownfundamental beliefs as well as a record of somenegative aspects of their lives they wished to getrid of—bad memories, self-doubts, fears, orsecrets. The completed pieces were then fired in akiln, where the intense heat would forge anindividualized piece reflecting the student’s inner-most beliefs while burning away the negativitythey wished to purge. The end effect, Hapemansays, is a transformation in which the intentionsbehind the words become a part of each student’spiece, and in which negative feelings aresymbolically carried away in the same manner.

The process, Dwyer said, “gives actual physicalform to positives and negatives: those things youwant to keep and hold dear, and those things youwant to let go of.”

“Ceramics artists have a long tradition ofconnecting their work to spirit,” Hapeman said.“The metaphor of the fire is very

transformational, and the idea that you can build,and destroy, and rebuild your work over and overagain is something people live through every day.I felt like Inner Journey was almost seamlesslyconnected to this idea and I created these pieceswith Inner Journey in mind.”

Hapeman intends to continue making thepieces until she has 1,000 of the “singing souls”and is currently working on a Web site that willdocument each of the firings and feature photosof the participants and their pieces.

“The firing is done as a ceremony; it’sritualistic,” she said. “It’s about living throughwhat you’re dealt. You are subjected to the forcesof change in your life, and the fire is that force ofchange for the piece. You put into it everythingthat you can, and you do the best you can, thenyou have to put it in the kiln and hope that itcomes out the way you want it to. It doesn’talways; it might break. It’s a little risky, which alladds up to what we live through every day.Despite all of the intensity of the experiences thatwe live through, more often than not, thingscome out very beautifully. That’s the InnerJourney idea: you put into your life everythingthat you can, give it your best effort, and in theend, you have to live with that.”

-STEVEN RICCI

Editor’s note: To watch a video of the OneThousand Singing Souls kiln project and hear moreabout Inner Journey, visit www.emmawillard.org/news/lookhere.php.

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 19

member who also teaches ceramics. “Since then,we have been making bowls to donate to nextyear’s event.” The team also sold ceramic items atthe holiday craft sale, raising more than $200 forlocal food pantries.

Mary Leigh Roohan ’09 is co-leader, withGrace Pitman ’09, of the 14-member Children’sTheater group, leading third and sixth graders atthe Ark Community Charter School in activitiessuch as play-writing and improvisation. Handlingthe sometimes chaotic classroom has beenchallenging, says Roohan. “We’ve learned tomonitor our patience, to not just freak out whenit’s stressful and kids aren’t listening and we haveto keep explaining things over and over.” But it isfun and rewarding “to help the kids be morecomfortable sharing in front of a group,” she says,adding that “I’ve learned to be calmer, better atplanning, and more flexible.”

Although Roohan may not be completely soldon community service being a required part ofthe curriculum—“I’d be happy to go out and docommunity service on my own,” she says—shealso admits that it would be hard to find anorganized opportunity like the children’s theaterproject.

But Alexis Steinberg ’07 is a believer. “As everyEmma Willard student knows, life can beextremely hectic,” she says, noting that she wasn’table to make time for community service before.Now, she says, “I’m glad that it’s required and thatI have such a large part in it; otherwise I’m notsure it would be a part of my life.”

Steinberg was one of four students on theteam that developed the community serviceprogram, and this year she is student head of theprogram. “When the implementation team wasformed last year, I was just one in a group,” shesays. “Now I’m a leader and I have to act like aleader.” In doing so, she says, “I have learned anenormous number of things, the two mostimportant being how to take control and how tolet other people take control.”

“In the beginning,” says Steinberg, “I wasworried that students would resent therequirement; but as far as I can see, most havebegun to take a sincere interest.”

Bassett says the EW requirement is “absolutelya good idea,” noting that “many schools alreadyhave the same requirement. As Aristotle indicated,you develop ethics by practicing ethics—likewisea commitment to community service.”

“Hopefully, the students enjoy communityservice and see the importance of it and willcontinue to be involved in their communities,”says Steinberg. After all, she said, “One of themost important parts about high school isdeveloping habits for later life.” ■

–Kathryn Gallien is a freelance writer fromSaratoga Springs and a regular contributor toEMMA.

“In the long wash of time, it is theskills and values we learn thatcount, the ‘content of one’s character’more so than the content of thecurriculum.”

-PATRICK F. BASSETT, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

(continued from page 17)

20 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

SPEAKINGMARGARET BAUMAN ’56 HAS DEVOTED HER LIFE TO UNDERSTANDING AUTISM

B Y PAT T I D I B O N A

“They come to LADDERSexpressly to work with Dr.Bauman. Autism has received a lot of media attention latelyand that’s good; it’s almostsexy to say you work in thefield now. Yet, this woman hasbeen doing it forever. MargaretBauman just gets it.”

-KAY MURRAY, RN

FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 21

On a chilly December day just beforeChristmas the gray skies over Wellesley,Massachusetts, are threatening rain; yet, inside thecramped waiting room of one medical office, theatmosphere is warm and comforting. Bright redbookcases line the walls and a geometric bordermeets the ceiling. A low green table supporting atrain track dominates the room’s center and achild-sized kitchen and green plastic mountainstand across the floor. Behind the window of anadjoining room, a cheerful crew of men andwomen chat helpfully into headsets while greetingarriving patients, who can choose from asmattering of tattered magazines and children’sbooks. This aging waiting area could be part ofany pediatric office in Massachusetts; but it soonbecomes clear that LADDERS (Learning andDevelopmental Disabilities Evaluation andRehabilitation Services), an affiliate ofMassachusetts General Hospital for Children andSpaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, is not anordinary medical office.

A boy holding a sparkly holiday ornament andwearing a lopsided grin walks into the waitingroom. “What a busy day we had today,” thetherapist accompanying him tells his mom. “Weworked on pushing and pulling. He was a goodlistener and had great attention.”

Another little boy wheels his walkerdeterminedly into the room. He’s sporting tinyround eyeglasses and has a breathing tube in histhroat. He moves purposefully from coloring withmarkers to fiddling with the train set tomaneuvering a toy car down the green mountain.“Seat belts buckled. Seat belts buckled,” he

repeats over and over as his mom agrees andretrieves the wayward car. A therapist strolls inand claims his attention, “Hey buddy, are youready for me?” she asks. “Let’s scoot down to myoffice. Look, there’s Dr. B!”

Dr. B is Margaret Lang Bauman ’56, MD, thefounder and director of LADDERS, amultidisciplinary clinic providing evaluation andtreatment of children, adolescents, and adultswith developmental disabilities, and with aparticular expertise in autism spectrum disorders.Bauman started the clinic more than 25 years agoand has seen it grow dramatically as autism, onceconsidered rare, has become a familiar diagnosis.

A distinguished pediatric neurologist andresearch investigator, she pioneered the biologicalstudy of autism and continues to develop andseek new advances in clinical treatment. Inaddition to her full-time work at LADDERS,Bauman also runs the nationally known AutismResearch Foundation, devoted to autism brainresearch; the Autism Research Consortium, a“think tank” of worldwide experts; and therecently created Autism Treatment Network, aconsortium of five U.S. medical centers dedicatedto evaluating medical conditions present inautism and devising treatment guidelines. She isassociate professor of neurology at HarvardUniversity Medical School, adjunct associateprofessor of anatomy and neurobiology at BostonUniversity School of Medicine, and associatepediatrician and assistant neurologist atMassachusetts General Hospital.

While she built her medicalcareer, she and her husband,

Roger Bauman, MD, former associate chief ofradiology at Massachusetts General Hospital,raised three children: David, now a St. Louislawyer; Karen, a scientist at the St. Louis Zoo;and Margot, a doctoral student in Washington,D.C. The Baumans were married for 37 years,until Roger’s death in 2005. During his finaldays, the couple found comfort in their medicalconnection and expertise.

“Roger created the prototypes for the use ofcomputers in radiology,” she said. “He wasinstrumental in developing the technology thatallowed radiographic studies to become availableto doctors in emergency and operating rooms andintensive care. His physicians used this on-sitetechnology to explain Roger’s condition to hischildren.”

QUEST FOR A SMART BLAZER

Despite Bauman’s affinity for science andaccomplishments in medicine, working in thesefields was not always her most ardent desire.

“I was horrible at math, and science was myworst subject,” she said.

A native of West Haven, Connecticut,Bauman attended Emma Willard as a boarder herjunior and senior years. “I had polio when I wasfour and had a few residual problems,” she said.“My parents sent me to a small girls’ day schoolin New Haven. As a teenager, I became bored andcomplained all the time, particularly about the

less-than-attractive uniforms. There was anotherschool nearby that had smart blazers

and I thought I’d like to go there.”She was shocked to learn that

Dr. Bauman examines a patient at theLADDERS clinic in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

PHOTOS BY GARY GOODMAN

22 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

her parents—her father was a rubber chemistwith Armstrong Industries and her mother asocial worker—had applied to Emma Willard andthat she had been accepted and received ascholarship. “I still remember driving up to thosebig iron gates the first time and seeing theimposing Gothic-style buildings,” she said. “Itwas a big adjustment, but it ended up being avery positive experience.”

Bauman was accepted at Smith College inNorthampton, Massachusetts, and consulted her“wonderful” science teacher at Emma Willard,Dr. Frederick Viaux. Although science wasrequired at Smith, she intended to study art.Viaux suggested that she take a science in herfreshman year to get it out of the way.

“Chemistry was a nightmare!” she said. “Bythe end of sophomore year, I still hadn’t picked amajor so I chose pre-med by default. Soon I wastaking three tough science labs. I’m a big visuallearner, and I really enjoyed biology.”

As college graduation drew near, Baumanagain found herself wondering what would comenext, a question that was answered when shebecame one of six of Smith’s 600 graduates to beaccepted to medical school in 1960. She choseanother all-female school, the Medical College ofPennsylvania. Again, the scholarship student wasindecisive about her area of concentration.

“No way would I become a pediatrician; that’swhat all lady docs were then,” she said.“Dermatology made me itch. I’m not a greatlistener, so cardiology was out, and ob/gyn, well,one weekend rotation with a midnight call wasenough for me.”

Bauman completed her internship in internalmedicine at the University of Maryland Hospitalin Baltimore and met Erland Nelson, MD, thechief of neurology.

“He turned my life around,” she said. “I wasfascinated with neurology but the adult side wasnot my cup of tea. My parents were aging andadult disorders, such as stroke, with their higherincidence of death, hit too close to home.Pediatric neurology was just being developed as amedical field. Working with kids, to me, wasmore hopeful. I was able to impact lives in thelong-term and see real progress.”

She completed a pediatric residency at JohnsHopkins Hospital in 1968 and a fellowship inneurology at the University of Maryland Hospitalin 1969. She completed a fellowship in childneurology in 1971 at Massachusetts GeneralHospital in Boston.

While at Johns Hopkins, she met and marriedRoger, then a radiologist at the United StatesPublic Health Service Hospital in Baltimore.They moved to Boston to work at MassachusettsGeneral and in 1970 had their first child.

“The Harvard system was very patriarchal

back then,” said Bauman, who hid her pregnancyunder large lab coats and took just two weeks ofmaternity leave. “Women doctors weren’tsupposed to marry, let alone have kids. I was toldthat I didn’t need to earn money because myhusband did, and I couldn’t really be seriousabout my career because I was a mother. Therewas little support for working parents. I realizedquickly that I was on my own.”

Fortunately, the Baumans arranged in-homechildcare through a wonderful woman who stayedwith them for 17 years and two more children.“She became another grandparent to our kids,”Bauman said.

Bauman settled into a job as a pediatricneurologist at Massachusetts General, treatingchildren with developmental disabilities andseizures.

A CHALLENGE PRESENTS ITSELF

After about 10 years she was burned out andyearning for a new challenge, so she called herfriend, Thomas L. Kemper, MD. The two hadpublished a paper together in 1982 and havesince written The Neurobiology of Autism, thesecond edition of which was published in 2006by Johns Hopkins University Press. (Bauman alsohas authored more than 75 scientificpublications.)

“I asked him: ‘Can I hang out in your laband, by the way, do you have an autism case?’”

Kemper did, and the team began their first ofmany collaborations. They compared sections of awhole postmortem autistic brain with thoseobtained from an identically processed age- andsex-matched control sample. “There were obviousdifferences,” said Bauman. The team identifiedneuro-anatomical abnormalities in the limbicsystem, the area controlling memory, learning,emotion, and behavior. “The nerve cells wereone-third smaller and packed in tighter, allowingus to conclude that the limbic system’sdevelopment was curtailed early on. There was nobrain damage, just an immature system. Wediscovered that a group of Purkinje cells in thecerebellum were reduced 90 percent, causing aripple effect in other parts of the brain. Whateverhappened to these cells occurred before 28 weeksgestation.”

These observations confirmed the biologicalbasis for autism and vindicated parents of autisticchildren. For many years, psychologists hadblamed autism on “refrigerator parents,” cold,unresponsive parents who failed to nurture theirchildren adequately.

“Much of the scientific community believesthat whatever appears to cause autism has itsonset before birth,” Bauman said.

In the six decades since autism was identified,the disease has remained a mystery. There has

been a tenfold spike in numbers over the past 20years—one in every 166 children is nowdiagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and1.5 million Americans today are living withvarying degrees of autism. The lifelong disorder isfour times more common in boys than girls andis more prevalent than Down syndrome andchildhood cancer. Autism affects individuals inthe areas of social interaction and communicationwith a medley of symptoms, including poor eyecontact, insistence on sameness, sensitivity tosound and touch, and repetitive behaviors.

Bauman’s clinical experience with patients andher biological research have shown theimportance of early intervention. LADDERS iscurrently conducting an NIH-funded researchstudy to increase the understanding of earlyidentification, genetics, and autism.

“We are evaluating younger siblings of autisticchildren, ages 6 to 36 months. We’ve learned thatapproximately 7 to 8 percent of second childrenwill be autistic and 25 percent of third siblings.Of 100 babies in our study, 18 percent haveautism and a significant 50 percent have somekind of developmental delay,” Bauman said.“Often, such kids don’t receive treatment untilafter their third birthdays and kids withAsperger’s, on the higher-functioning end ofautism, may be overlooked well into elementaryschool.”

RUNG BY RUNG

LADDERS began in 1981 in the basement ofYouville Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.“We later expanded into new headquarters underthe for-profit Braintree Hospital RehabilitationNetwork but felt financially squeezed by managedcare costs,” Bauman said. In 1997, the programcaught the eye of Alan Ezekowitz, MD, chief ofpediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital forChildren.

“It was wonderful taking LADDERS backinto a non-profit environment wherephilanthropic support is possible, and to combineit with an academic medical center whereteaching the next generation of caregivers andresearchers is an ongoing process,” Bauman said.

Patient visits that stood at about 1,000 in1997 today have swelled to 4,000 annually formedical care and therapy. Under Bauman’sleadership, LADDERS offers a multidisciplinaryteam approach with top experts in the fields ofneurology, psychiatry, psychopharmacokinetics,gastroenterology, genetics, nursing, social work,physical therapy, occupational therapy, speechtherapy, developmental pediatrics, behavioralpsychology, and neuropsychology. Childrenreceive a thorough diagnostic evaluation followedby a treatment plan and assistance identifyingresources in the community.

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 23

“All physicians, therapists, and educatorsinvolved in the child’s care communicate andlearn from one another,” Bauman said.“LADDERS also trains parents and teaches themto advocate for their children.”

Though autism is a complicated disorderrequiring a huge commitment medically,educationally, therapeutically, and socially,LADDERS has never been a big money-maker,according to Katherine Murray, RN, aLADDERS research study nurse and parent of a28-year-old son with autism.

“Our staff is the best of the best, yet they areunderpaid,” Murray said. “They come toLADDERS expressly to work with Dr. Bauman.Autism has received a lot of media attention latelyand that’s good; it’s almost sexy to say you workin the field now. Yet, this woman has been doingit forever. Margaret Bauman just gets it.”

Murray comes by her admiration not only as amedical colleague, but also as a parent in need.She says Bauman’s care of her son, Doug, set himon a path for a highly productive life. Her eyesbrim with tears as she remembers a long agoconversation with Bauman.

“She asked me, ‘What do you want for yourson?’ My answer was simple: ‘I want him to behappy and have friends. Doug spent his fifthbirthday hiding in a hall closet,’” she said. “Todayhe works at the Burlington Marriott Hotel andhas been associate of the month twice.”

Bauman and her LADDERS staff directedMurray to the best schools for Doug and taughtthe family techniques for coping at home. Severalyears later, Doug suffered a grand mal seizure andMurray returned to LADDERS.

“I became involved with Friends ofLADDERS, the organization’s parent networkingand fundraising group, and eventually joined itsboard of directors,” Murray said. “When aresearch nurse position at LADDERS cameup, I was thrilled to take it.” Murraycoordinates the world-renowned “CurrentTrends in Autism” annual conferencesponsored by LADDERS. Now in its 12thyear, the conference presents the most up-to-date, scientifically sound information in thefield of autism for parents and professionals.

Friends of LADDERS is integral to the futureof the LADDERS program, Bauman said.

“As a clinical practice devoted to medicallycomplex children, we are chronically losingmoney because of poor insurancereimbursements,” she said. “A new patient visit isextremely time-intensive and we are never totallyreimbursed for our services. Visits require reviewsof voluminous patient records, lengthy clinicalevaluations, Q-and-A’s with parents, and timespent helping families find community resources.We draw from the entire New England area, NewYork, New Jersey, and elsewhere in the U.S.,Canada, and abroad. We also write letters ofsupport to schools and insurance companies andprovide ongoing follow-up care. Research dollarsare limited so philanthropy is absolutelynecessary.”

BUILDING A DREAM

Friends of LADDERS recently kicked off an$11 million capital campaign to build a world-class autism research and treatment center.

“My long-term dream for LADDERS is asingle site where we will not only combineservices, but also pursue clinical research and basicscience research,” said Bauman. “The scientistneeds to learn from the clinician and vice versa.”

LADDERS’ dual devotion—to research andclinical treatment as well as the ability to see thechild first and autism second—is nowhere moreevident than in Bauman’s insistence that everypatient receive an overall health assessment.Children with autism may have illnesses similar tothose affecting typically developing children, butthey often go untreated. These include seizures,sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal disorders.

“We’ve got a group of nonverbal kids whocan’t say, ‘My stomach hurts,’ or ‘My head

hurts’,” Bauman said. Many primary care doctorsare uncomfortable treating children who can’tcommunicate their symptoms and are prone tooutbursts. True pain from a medical ailment maybe misinterpreted as an autistic behavior. “We’rejust saying these kids are kids, too, and theydeserve good medical care,” she said.

LADDERS serves as the flagship and modelfor the Autism Treatment Network (ATN), analliance of hospitals, physicians, and the CureAutism Now Foundation, dedicated to improvingmedical treatment for autistic patients. ATN willevaluate therapies, pool data, and createguidelines.

“We can’t have parents chasing down the latesttreatment,” said Peter Bell of Cure Autism Now.“We need to understand what works.”

Tim Buie, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist atMassachusetts General Hospital for Children andLADDERS, and a founding member of the ATNGI research group, believes a GI history andwork-up should be part of every autistic person’smedical assessment.

“Recently, I saw a young boy who hit his headrhythmically,” Bauman said. “Dr. Buie ordered anendoscopy and colonoscopy and found that theboy had colitis which, once treated, stopped thebehavior. I’ve seen children with sleepingproblems that resolved after an ear, nose, andthroat visit, and kids with incontinence who’vebeen found to have spastic bladders. One patientwrithed and twisted her body because, as welearned, she had Sandifer syndrome, a conditioncausing esophagus ulcers. Many medicalconditions are treatable, and effective diagnosisand intervention can improve an autistic child’sdaytime behavior, his attention and ability tolearn, and his overall quality of life.”

Despite her overflowing professional plate,Bauman finds time to relax. Kay Murraysmiles and says with admiration. “Dr. Bleaves her house at 5 a.m. She drives to thelocal ice rink and figure skates before comingto work.”

And, in true Bauman fashion, Murraysaid, the accomplished physician, scientist,and patient advocate is “really an incrediblygood skater.” ■

— Patti DiBona is a freelance writer fromBraintree, Massachusetts.

The Facts AboutAutism

■ Autism is the fastest growing disability in theUnited States.

■ Autism is more common than Down syndromeand childhood cancer.

■ A child is diagnosed with autism every 21 minutes.■ Autism affects one in every 166 children and

appears four times more in boys than girls.■ Autism affects at lease one million Americans and

costs the country more than $90 billion annually.■ Autism is a life-long disorder.

– SOURCE: Learning and Developmental DisabilitiesEvaluation and Rehabilitation Services; forLADDERS program information, visitwww.ladders.org or call (781) 449-6074.

24 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

The Emma Willard

Empower a girl, transform the world

E M M A W I L L A R D S C H O O L C A M P A I G N

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 25

On Friday, February 23—Emma Hart Willard’s 220thbirthday and the 100th anniversary of Margaret OliviaSlocum Sage’s gift to establish the Mount Ida campus—administrators, trustees, faculty, and special guests gatheredin Kiggins Hall for a momentous announcement: theofficial launch of The Emma Willard Idea.

The five-year campaign aims to raise $75 million tosupport four priorities:

■ Endowment for Scholarships ($20 million): To attract aneven greater and more diverse range of motivated andtalented students.

■ Endowment for Faculty Excellence ($20 million): Toassure that there is no better academic community inwhich our faculty can do their impressive work.

■ Endowment for Unrestricted Purposes ($25 million): Topermit Emma Willard the flexibility it will need to moveforward with an exceptional array of programs and acampus fit for the 21st century.

■ Support of Annual Fund Giving ($10 million): Tostrengthen giving by expanding the number and size ofgifts made to the Annual Fund.

The campaign’s theme, “Empower a Girl, Transform theWorld,” articulates its overarching objective, to continuemeeting the school’s mission of providing students withunparalleled opportunities to prepare to serve and shapetheir world.

Commitments to the campaign, due to conclude in2009, already total more than $46 million.

“From now through 2009, we are bringing the mostambitious campaign in our history to our alumnae,parents, and friends,” Head of School Trudy Hall saidabout the campaign. “Our goal is to increase EmmaWillard’s endowment and current funding so that we canpursue every possible avenue for educating girls powerfullyfor the world they will inherit.”

For more information about The Emma Willard Idea,please visit our Web site at www.emmawillard.org/giving/campaign/index.php or contact Larry Lichtenstein,director of advancement, at (518) 833-1779, or by e-mailat llichtenstein@emmawillard.org. Be sure to follow thecampaign’s progress in future issues of EMMA. ■

A Bold IdeaImagined Anew

EMMA WILLARD OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES $75 MILLION CAMPAIGN

Head of School Trudy Hall, Board of Trustees ChairMariana Stroock Leighton ’55, Alumnae AssociationCouncil President Erin Crotty ’84, and co-chairs of thecampaign’s Executive Committee Diane WynneMercer ’61 and Nancy Alexander P’05, ’08, toast theofficial launch of The Emma Willard Idea.PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

26 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

Diane WynneMercer ’61 Executive Committee Co-chair

“Emma Hart Willard firmly believedthat women should not only beeducated but also be, and I quote,“of the greatest possible use tothemselves and others.” From thestart, she instilled in her studentsthe importance of taking action,inspiring generations of EmmaWillard graduates to spreadMadame Willard’s vision to serveand shape their world throughoutthe United States.”

Mariana Stroock Leighton ’55Chair of the Board of Trustees

“February 23, is Emma HartWillard’s birthday, her 220th,to be exact. This is anoteworthy day, not only forus, but also in the history ofeducation. As if our founder’sbirthday were not causeenough for celebration, todayis also a remarkableanniversary. Precisely 100years ago—on February 23,1907—Margaret OliviaSlocum Sage, Class of 1847,presented the trustees ofEmma Willard School with the$1 million necessary to buildour Mount Ida campus. Howmuch more significance canone date have?”Mariana Stroock Leighton ’55

PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

Diane Wynne Mercer ’61PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

Mariana Stroock Leighton ’55and Director of AdvancementLarry Lichtenstein enjoy dinnerat the launch of The EmmaWillard Idea.PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 27

Trudy Hall Head of School

“In every instance when the bold idea is imagined anew in stunningand visionary ways, it has happened because we got it right: wepartnered the genius of gifted educators with the generosity ofvisionary philanthropists to make a vision real. One of the reasonswhy it feels so right to launch our campaign for the third centurytonight, with faculty and staff and trustees, is that in this moment—our third founding if you will—we are doing just that again. It istime to make public our commitment to the bold idea as weunderstand it today. Join me in declaring that if you empower a girl,you will—we will—transform the world. Emma certainly believedthat and we, like those who celebrated 100 years ago tonight, arecalled to carry forward the genius of our founder with thisdeclaration.”Head of School Trudy HallPHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Nancy Alexander P’05, ’08 Executive Committee Co-chair

“Women’s philanthropy is now cominginto its own with role models like MadameWillard, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, andthe women who have followed in theirfootsteps. With financial means andautonomy, women are discovering thepower of philanthropy to effect change …finding themselves willing to be more thancharitable, to be change-making activists,to help the world become as it should befor all.”

Wendy Pestel Lehmann’64, vice chair of theBoard of Trustees, DebraSpiro-Allen, director ofvocal music, and CharlieJohnson share a laugh. PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

Faculty Emeritus Russell Locke lights thecandles on the cake to celebrate Emma HartWillard’s 220th birthday. PHOTO BY STEVEN RICCI

Nancy Alexander P’05, ’08PHOTO BY MARK VAN WORMER

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A ll that is certain is, indeed, surprise. The great folk were notdisappointed this year as the Class of 2007 staged a spectacularperformance for the 91st annual celebration of Revels. Unique visitors tothe Manor House this year included an acrobatic jester on trapeze andNordic traveler who journeyed all the way from Iceland.

Photos by Mark Van Wormer and Steven Ricci

PHOTOS BY MARK VAN WORMER AND STEVEN RICCI

The Class of 2007 staged a magnificent rendition of Revels in December, featuring time-honoredfavorites as well as some new characters, including a wandering Viking from the Nordic north and ajester with masterful trapeze skills.

Opposite page: (top, l. to r.) house wine steward Dana Deaton and bearer of the plum pudding DaileyTurner; (middle, l. to r.) candle page SunJoo Park, monks Kelsey Saulnier, Jasmine Wallas, and Maria

DiSanto-Rose, jester Laura Hendrickson; (bottom, l. to r.) servants Angela Lockwood-Westfall,Dailey Turner, Miro Cassetta, Kathryn Dennett, Alexis Steinberg, and Dana Deaton as Tom.

This page: (top left) acrobatic jester Elizabeth Woodham; (above right, l. to r.) bell ringersPhilicia Tan, Alice Huang, Jessica Tseng, Natawan Sittipolkul, and Victoria

Wong; (below left, l. to r.) dancers in Sabra's Court, Nastajjia Krementz, ClaireFeinberg, Erisu Jo, and Kristina Maldonado; devil Haley Campbell.

30

This page: (above) Lord of the Manor Naffie Sawaneh andLady of the Manor Victoria Lee lead their court and guests

from the Great Hall; (middle, l. to r.) jesterBrennan Miller, devil Martha O'Neill,Viking Valgerdur Thoroddsdottir, St.

George Vanessa Coletto; (below, left) lord Lauren Vegter and lady Lee

Valigorsky; (below, right) marshal Jasmine Wallas.

Opposite page:(top) the marshals

ready for the SwordDance; (below, l. to r.)

herald KaterynaKozyryts'ka, lady Aisha

Simmons, and chamberlain Hannah Morris.

31

Emma on the EdgeBy Erin Crotty ’84

From the AAC

In this issue’s “The View from Mount Ida,”Trudy Hall conveys the ways in which today’sEmma Willard takes a stand to bring order to asomewhat chaotic educational system and topresent a program that meets the educationalneeds of students in today’s world. What EmmaWillard would see were she here today is surelyimpressive.

What strikes me is not only how EmmaWillard is successfully rethinking its program tokeep pace with cultural, technological, and globaladvances, but how Emma Willard has always metthe needs of the times.

In my era, the early 1980s, I remember Mr.Nelson teaching what had to have been the firstcomputer class in the history of Emma Willard.Wending our way through the rabbit warren ofthe library basement, we would sit in windowlessrooms staring at Radio Shack Tandy computerswhile keying in the most elementary commandsof the BASIC language. What a novelty it was tomake a phrase repeat over and over, and spit outon a tiny dot-matrix wheel on silver computertape. It seems laughable now in the age of iPods,

Blackberries, Powerbooks, Vista, and all of thetechnological advances and innovations that havetaken place in the past 25 years, but at the time itwas cutting edge. We were the first Emmageneration to learn about personal computers.Some of us were sent off to college with Epson’snewest offerings and floppy drives. (Do youremember having two floppy disks, one that heldyour program and the other to save your data?)We bridged the gap between the IBM Selectrictypewriter and the PC. Those of us who learnedthe fundamentals of computers at Emma Willardwere well equipped and not intimidated by newtechnology; we were prepared in the best ways atthat moment in time.

Today’s students revel in opportunities to trynew things. Emma Willard boasts a strongPracticum program exposing its students to lifebeyond “ye grey walls” in veterinary offices,nonprofits, research labs, and many other venues.In my time, it was called independent study andwas begun in the 1970s when Emma Willardadded a new dimension to its curriculum. Thecorrelated curriculum, as wonderful as it was,

gave way to a much looser set of requirements.However, we quickly realized that freedom ofchoice meant both exploration and responsibility.

I’ve spent my professional career synthesizingostensibly disparate scientific, technological, andsocial information into a format thatdemonstrates linkages and uncovers systems thatthen allows for appropriate decision-making bygovernment and corporate leaders. What hasalways struck me as one of the most valuableattributes of an Emma education is the seeminglyinnate ability of its graduates to feel comfortableand succeed in the face of this type of complexity.I think it is because of Emma’s openness to ebb,flow, weave, bob, and bend to meet the needs ofits students, challenge them, and adequatelyprepare them for the world beyond.

My experience with “What would Emma do?”is a snapshot in time. What was yours? How doyou remember Emma Willard as a pioneer? Shealways has been and always will be, and I’d beinterested to hear your story. You can reach me atalumnae@emmawillard.org. Enjoy the final strainsof winter as we prepare to welcome spring. ■

74 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

Stephanie Gertz ’86works in the Slocum Hallcomputer lab circa 1985,in a photo that appearedin the winter 1986bulletin. The photo’scaption boasted that,thanks to the new lab,“there is one computerfor every four students atEmma Willard.”EMMA WILLARD ARCHIVAL PHOTO

“Those of us who learned thefundamentals of computers at Emma

Willard were well equipped and notintimidated by new technology; wewere prepared in the best ways at

that moment in time.”

—Erin Crotty ’84 is president of the Alumnae Association Council.

Alumnae CONNECTIONS

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 75

Washington, DC

New York, NYNOVEMBER 14, 2006

(l. to r.): Young alumnae Tess Marstaller ’05, Jamila Best ’06, andFae Jencks ’06 catch up at the Mount Ida Evening event with theEasterlings.

(l. to r.): Emma Cheuse ’94, Marcia Easterling, and Suzanne Grinnan ’83

Middlebury, VTOCTOBER 8, 2006Parents and alumnae joined Trudy Hanmer for brunchat the Middlebury Inn to learn about Emma HartWillard’s years in Middlebury, VT.

(l. to r.): Ruth Partridge ’35, Laurie Stavrand P’02, Associate HeadTrudy Hanmer, Jean McGowan Marshall ’37, Ruth Harvie ’45,P’68, GP’10, and Mags Caney Conant ’67

(l. to r.): Helen Pettit ’61, Jane Dorgeloh Muranyi ’61, Ruth OppenheimLegon ’53, and Newell Chair of the Humanities Jack Easterling enjoyedgood music and good conversation at the Festival Chamber Musicconcert at Merkin Hall.

The freshest sushi in the world is found in Tokyo The Star Ferry is a common sight inVictoria Bay, Hong Kong.

Linda Passaretti ’84 and Associate Head of School TrudyHanmer enjoyed a tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace hosted byseveral of our wonderful Korean parents.

SEOUL, KOREAA colorful changing of the guards ceremony at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, Korea

76 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

Tour

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 77

HONG KONGCurrent parents Joe Cheong and Annie Tam (Samantha’08) enjoyed meeting alumna Cecelia Tse Ying ’54 andvisiting with Trudy Hanmer and Linda Passaretti at theHong Kong Club, November 4.

Stephani Cho ’99, Jenny Ahn ’02, and Seung Eun Lee’02 toast Emma Willard at the Seoul alumnae andparent reception at the COEX Intercontinental Hotel,November 1.

Emma Willard alumnae, parents, and friends gathered at the RenaissanceGinza Tobu, Tokyo, for an update on life at EW from Associate Head of SchoolTrudy Hanmer November 9.

TOKYO, JAPANHiroko Tetsuko Minato ’73, Linda Passaretti ’84, andKatsuki Izawa Tanaka ’83 catch up at the EmmaWillard alumnae and parent reception in Tokyo,November 9.

Gargoyles guard a temple in Taipei.

TAIPEI, TAIWANAlumnae, parents, and friendsenjoyed a reception and remarksby Trudy Hanmer, associate headof school, at the Grand FormosaRegent in Taipei, November 7.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

Our Korean fathers beam with Emma pride

Although the years have faded the memory ofJustine Olive Johnstone, Class of 1914, a recentacquisition by the school has reopened the curtainon the life of this extraordinary alumna. Througha recent eBay purchase, the archives obtained ascrapbook that once belonged to PriscillaChahoon, Class of 1918. Although Chahoon’sscrapbook provides an astonishing journal of theevents that occurred between 1913 and 1918, asubstantial portion is filled with news clippingsabout Johnstone’s career as a star of Broadway andsilent films.

Like Chahoon, Johnstone’s fellow studentswere dazzled by the girl they nicknamed “Ju-Jo.”According to her 1914 Gargoyle: “Her air had ameaning, her movements a grace,” and she was

active not only in the Dramatic Club andSenior Play, but also as an “Athletic Editor ofGargoyle, member of the Basketball team,Glee Club, Operetta, and Choir.” Johnstone’scharms attracted attention beyond MountIda, and she apparently began modeling whileshe was still an Emma Willard student, a factthat did little to charm her principal. In aMay 28, 1913, letter to a Mr. Ralph Ranlet,Miss Eliza Kellas wrote: “We have beengrieved and annoyed by the numerouspictures of Justine appearing in all sorts ofpapers and magazines, advertising articles ofevery description. I have closed my eyes andears to everything in my effort to helpJustine.”

Despite Miss Kellas’s displeasure,Johnstone graduated and soon gained renownas a chorus girl in Ziegfeld’s Follies in 1915and 1916. She also appeared in severalBroadway musicals from 1914 to 1918. Areview of “Over the Top” in the New YorkWorld said, “There is scarcely a scene…thatshe does not monopolize.” A 1918 newsbulletin about one of her performances raved,“Never in Broadway’s history has a beautiful girlcaused such a furore [sic] or held the throne solong.” Another article cites a 1916 beauty contestin which Johnstone won $5,000 and defeated20,000 other contestants.

In 1919 Johnstone married noted filmproducer Walter Wanger and diversified heracting career by branching into the burgeoning

silent film industry, appearing in numerous filmsfrom 1920 to 1925. The couple moved toLondon in 1921, where Johnstone appeared inseveral films and stage productions. She was alsoan accomplished writer, penning a column onbeauty tips for London’s Daily Sketch in 1923.Returning to New York in 1926, she appeared onstage again that year in a production of “HushMoney”—and at that point the entertainmentcareer of Justine Johnstone ended abruptly.

An article in American Weekly magazine (June30, 1946) offers some insight into her decision toretire from show business. Titled “The Girls WhoGlorified Ziegfeld,” it states, “after her success inthe Follies, where she was noted for her aloofnessand her almost arrogant manners, Justine went to

Hollywood, to brief movie stardom and tomarriage with Walter Wanger… When he andJustine were first married, they were seenoccasionally at Hollywood parties. As a hostess,lovely Justine Johnstone Wanger was gracious andcharming; as a guest she was much sought after,

but she always gave me the feeling that she didn’tcare much. She seemed to be thinking aboutsomething else most of the time.”

What she may have been thinking about was adesire to shed her ingénue image for a moresubstantial career. When Walter Wanger becameill in 1927, Justine formed a friendship with hisdoctor, Samuel Hirshfeld. At his urging sheenrolled in some science courses at ColumbiaUniversity, where her work so impressed the headof the science department, Dr. Thomas Hyman,that he and Hirshfeld hired Johnstone as anassistant. The triad’s numerous researchexperiments led to an innovative cure for syphilisthat was hailed by the New York Academy ofMedicine as “one of the greatest steps” in the

history of treating thedisease. The team alsorevolutionized themodern intravenousdrip, revealing thedangers of “speedshock,” which occurred

when intravenous drugs were introducedinto the bloodstream too rapidly. Johnstonecontinued her research and studies atColumbia, breaking new ground intreatments for the victims of electric shock,and the use of cryogenic therapy to destroycancer cells.

The Wangers returned to Hollywood in1933 and were divorced in 1938.According to the American Weekly article,she was working as an assistant in a LosAngeles laboratory and studying to be aresearch chemist when she met and marrieda young doctor and “vanished from theHollywood scene.” A 1941 article aboutJohnstone in Independent Woman magazinestated that: “Today, at 46, she is white-haired, serene, and happy.”

Few other details about Johnstone’s lifeare known. A single communication from abulletin reporter indicates that she had twosons, Justin and Oliver Wanger. Thisremarkable Emma woman, who went fromthe footlights of Broadway to the annals of

medical history, died in Southern California in1982, seemingly as unsung in her later years asshe was celebrated in her early years. ■

Editor’s note: Information for this column wasgathered from archival publications and Internetresearch. If you have any information about JustineJohnstone, please contact archivist Nancy Iannucciat niannucci@emmawillard.org.

In the archives

By Nancy Iannucci

78 E m m a W i l l a r d S c h o o l

From Entertainer to Innovator

Justine Johnstone’s 1914 Gargoyle photoEMMA WILLARD ARCHIVAL PHOTO

W i n t e r 2 0 0 7 79

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