Welcome to Family Weekend 2011!

When you first arrive on campus, please register at the locations and times noted below. At registration, we will provide you with a folder that includes program updates, a campus map, and your name badge. The name badge will serve as your entry pass to all events listed in the program below, unless otherwise noted.

Your name badge also allows you access to Mills athletic facilities. Please bring appropriate clothing and equipment if you wish to take advantage of our swimming pool, fitness center, tennis courts, or fitness trail.

The official hospitality room for Family Weekend guests is located at the Tea Shop in Rothwell Center on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and at Café Suzie in Rothwell Center on Saturday. Simply show the staff your name badge to enjoy complimentary coffee, selected beverages, and snacks. The Hospitality Center will be open on Thursday from 7:00 am–10:00 pm, Friday from 7:00 am–5:00 pm, Saturday from 9:00 am–1:00 pm, and Sunday from 11:00 am–5:00 pm.

Meal tickets for Founders Commons are available for purchase with cash at the door; no advance reservations are necessary.

The program below is subject to change. For the latest information on Inauguration events, please visit www.mills.edu/inauguration.

Day Two: Friday, September 23

Bird Walk with Biology Professor John Harris
7:30 am–8:30 am
Meeting location TBC

Join John Harris, professor of biology, for an hour of bird watching while exploring the beautiful Mills campus on foot. How many species will you spot? This tour is open to all; a name badge is not required.

Family Weekend Registration
8:00 am–4:30 pm
College Events Office, Sage Hall 129

Breakfast with the Deans
8:30 am–9:30 am
Cowell Building, Conference Room 113

Join Dean of Undergraduate Admission Giulietta Aquino and Dean of Student Life and Vice Provost Joi Lewis at an informal continental breakfast and learn more about the support students receive at Mills.

Installation/Convocation Ceremony
9:45 am–12:00 pm
Holmgren Meadow

In 2011 we combine our annual start of the academic year—Convocation—with the installation of our 13th president. Join members of the Mills community, delegates from colleges across the country, and distinguished visitors in celebrating time-honored academic traditions as Alecia A. DeCoudreaux assumes her position as president of Mills.

Community Lunch
12:00 pm–1:30 pm
President’s Meadow

Enjoy a festive lunch with President DeCoudreaux, students, faculty, staff, alumnae/i, Trustees, distinguished visitors, friends of the College, and fellow Family Weekend guests.

Mobilizing Change: Educating a New Generation of Women Leaders
Panel Discussion
2:00 pm–3:30 pm
Littlefield Concert Hall

As women surpass men in the attainment of undergraduate and graduate degrees and become more than 50 percent of today’s workforce, are we finally poised to break the glass ceiling and achieve equality in position and pay? Attend a fascinating discussion on these critical trends and what impact they have on women and society as a whole moderated by award-winning journalist and KGO radio business reporter Lynn Jimenez.

Mills College vs. University of Dallas Soccer Match and Ice Cream Social
3:00 pm–5:30 pm
Soccer Field (next to Walter Haas Pavilion)

Cheer for our Mills student-athletes as they take on the University of Dallas. Meet the athletes and coaches during our refreshing half-time ice cream social.

Botanic Garden Tour and Workshop
4:00 pm–5:00 pm
Botanic Garden

Home to more than 500 different species of plants, the garden serves as a learning resource for Mills students as well as a supplier for extremely local food. Gaia House, located in the Botanic Garden, is a green building that provides a link between lab, garden, fieldwork, and the community. After the tour, Botanic Garden Coordinator Christina McWhorter will lead a workshop on composting, a simple, easy way that we can give back to the environment.

Jane’s Stroll
4:00 pm–5:30 pm
Reinhardt Alumnae House

Join Jane Cudlip King ’42 as she conducts an easy walking tour around campus, complete with stories from the past and present.

Residence Hall Open Houses
4:00 pm–5:30 pm
Ethel Moore, Mary Morse, Orchard-Meadow, and Warren Olney Residence Halls

Come visit Ethel Moore, Mary Morse, Orchard-Meadow, and Warren Olney Residence Halls. Whether you lived here in the past and want to reminisce or are curious to see where today’s residents live, you’ll enjoy seeing the charming Mediterranean-style buildings and inviting rooms and common areas.

Lokey Graduate School of Business Building Tour
5:00 pm–5:30 pm
Meeting location TBC

View the gold-certified LEED building housing the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business on this tour led by Karen Fiene, campus architect. The 28,500-square-foot, environmentally friendly facility includes sustainable features such as a spectacular green roof with drought-tolerant plants, an evaporative cooling system, and a specially designed rainwater collection system.

Mills College Art Museum Tour
5:00 pm–4:30 pm
Meeting location TBC

Join this tour of the art museum’s thought-provoking fall exhibition. Frances Stark: the whole of all the parts as well as the parts of all the parts explores the space between text, drawing, PowerPoint, musical score, film, random video chats, animation, installation, and live performance.

Music Building Tour
5:30 pm–6:00 pm
Meeting location TBC

Explore our historic Music Building on this tour led by Karen Fiene, campus architect. The Music Building includes the beautifully renovated Littlefield Concert Hall, which is adorned with multi-colored frescoes and murals that have been restored to their original vibrancy and modern acoustic panels for enhanced sound quality.

No Host Dinner
5:00 pm–7:00 pm
Founders Commons

Founders offers an extensive choice of menu options. Purchase meal tickets at the door; no advance reservations are necessary. Mills students may use the meal plan or Mills Points.

Family-style Supper
6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Orchard Meadow Dining Hall

Please note there is an extra charge of $25.00 per person to attend this dinner. If your Mills student is attending, s/he may use the meal plan or Mills Points; standard dinner rates apply.

Darius Milhaud Concert
8:00 pm–10:00 pm
Littlefield Concert Hall

Enjoy our annual concert featuring works by famed composer and former Mills faculty member Darius Milhaud in our beautifully restored Littlefield Concert Hall. The evening’s program, Milhaud and Messiaen: Singing of Heaven and Earth, will feature works by Milhaud and fellow French composer Olivier Messiaen performed by members of the Music Department.

Mills After Dark Party
8:00 pm–10:00 pm
Reinhardt Alumnae House

Round out your evening with tasty hors d’oeuvres and beverages, live music, and a chance to talk with Mills alumnae/i at the charming Reinhardt Alumnae House.