When you arrive on campus, please register at the locations and times noted below. At registration, we will give you a folder that includes program updates, a campus map, and a name badge that will serve as your entry pass to all events listed in the program, including the welcome lunch and President's Garden Reception on Friday and the ice cream social during the soccer match on Saturday.

You may also want to arrive a day early and join Mills students in their classrooms and dine in Founders Commons or the Tea Shop. For a schedule of Thursday classes, visit Mills Hall, Office of Admission, Room 222. Meal tickets for Founders are available for purchase with cash at the door; no advance reservations are necessary.

Café Suzie, located in the Rothwell College Center, is the official hospitality room for Family Weekend guests. Simply show the staff your name badge for complimentary coffee or selected beverages and snacks. Your name badge also is your pass to access 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 program below is subject to change.

Day One: Friday, October 2, 2009

Bird Walk with Biology Professor John Harris
7:00 am–8:00 am
Location TBA
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?

No-Host Breakfast
7:30 am–9:00 am
Founders Commons/Tea Shop*
*The Tea Shop serves breakfast until 11:30 am.

Registration
8:30 am–4:30 pm
Mills Hall, Office of Admission, Room 222

Open Classes
9:00 am–10:00 am
Discover what it’s like to be a student at Mills and experience our engaging faculty. A schedule of classes is available at registration in Mills Hall, Office of Admission, Room 222. Note: 10:00 am and 11:00 am classes are canceled for Convocation.

Convocation
10:15 am–12:00 pm
Littlefield Concert Hall
Celebrate the start of the academic year with the Mills community and keynote speaker Stephanie Mills '69, whose leadership as an ecological activist and author began with her nationally acclaimed 1969 Commencement address at Mills.

Family Weekend Welcome Lunch
12:30 pm–1:30 pm
Warren Olney Residence Hall Dining Room
The Office of Admission and the Division of Student Life staff invite you to experience one of our historic residential dining halls for a welcome lunch. Seating is limited, so please register early.

Eucalyptus Tree Planting Ceremony
1:30 pm–2:00 pm
Kapiolani Road near Richards Road
The sight and scent of eucalyptus trees have been part of the Mills experience since they were introduced to the campus more than a century ago. Celebrate the planting of new Eucalyptus saligna trees along Kapiolani Road.

Presentation on Sustainability at Mills
2:30 pm–3:30 pm
Location TBA
Christina McWhorter, Botanic Garden coordinator, discusses current and upcoming programs that strengthen the College's commitment to sustainable practices on campus.

Presentation on the History of Chocolate
3:30 pm–4:30 pm
Location TBA
Bert Gordon, professor of history, will take you on a tasty journey through the discovery and evolution of chocolate, complete with delicious samples.

President’s Garden Reception
4:30 pm–6:00 pm
President’s House Garden
Join President Janet L. Holmgren and members of the Mills community at an informal garden reception.

No-Host Dinner
5:00 pm–7:00 pm
Founders Commons/Tea Shop

Mills Cyclones vs. Menlo College Volleyball Match
7:00 pm
Haas Pavilion Gymnasium

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 recently renovated Littlefield Concert Hall. The evening’s program will include Milhaud's La mort d'un tyran (1932), Second Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussions (1961), and Stravinsky's L'histoire du soldat (1918). Milhaud brought Stravinsky to Mills as a guest lecturer in 1944. Nicole Paiement, artistic director of Ensemble Parallèle and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, will conduct.

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Day Two: Saturday, October 3, 2009

Registration
8:30 am–10:30 am
Café Suzie

Landscape Heritage Walking Tour of Mills College
9:00 am-10:00 am
Location TBA
Bert Gordon, professor of history, conducts a tour celebrating the distinctive architecture and landscape that helped Mills win one of the 13 Campus Heritage Grants from the Getty Foundation in 2006.

Swim-a-Mile Charity Fundraiser
10:00 am–5:00 pm
Trefethen Aquatic Center
Cheer on the Mills swim team and members of the Mills community, or participate yourself, in this fundraiser for the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland. If you would like to swim, register in advance at www.wcrc.org.

State of the College
10:00 am–11:30 am
Littlefield Concert Hall
Mills College President Janet L. Holmgren will provide an update on academic programs and student life at Mills College over the past year as well as sharing her vision for the future. Alumnae Association of Mills College President Anita Aragon Bowers '63 will fill you in on the latest activities of the AAMC.

No-Host Brunch
10:30 pm–1:30 pm
Founders Commons

Mills Cyclones vs. Holy Names University Soccer Match and Ice Cream Social
1:00 pm–3:00 pm
Hellman Field next to Haas Pavilion
Cheer on our Mills student-athletes and enjoy an ice cream social during halftime.

Screening of Earth Days
1:30 pm–3:30 pm
Littlefield Concert Hall
Join members of the Mills community for a screening of Earth Days, a feature-length documentary exploring the development of the modern environmental movement. Featuring Stephanie Mills '69, Earth Days chronicles four decades of eco-activism through the eyes of nine very different witnesses to history.

Financial Planning Workshop
3:30 pm–5:00 pm
Location TBA
Begin constructing a plan to meet your short- and long-term financial goals with advice from experts Lauriann Delay, senior vice president at Morgan Stanley, and estate planning attorney John L. McDonnell Jr.

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

Mills Cyclones vs. William Jessup University Volleyball Match
7:00 pm
Haas Pavilion Gymnasium

Special Tours
Learn how the Mills campus is evolving and growing as we continue to provide students with an environment dedicated to academic excellence. Times and locations for these tours will be provided at registration.

Explore the newly renovated Littlefield Concert Hall, which includes multi-colored frescoes and murals that have been restored to their original vibrancy and new acoustic panels for enhanced sound quality.

Be one of the first to view the new environmentally sustainable, 28,500-square-foot building housing the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business. The green 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.

Enjoy a docent-led tour of the Mills College Art Museum, which boasts the largest permanent collection of any liberal arts college on the West Coast. The art museum focuses on the creative work of women as artists and curators, offering a diverse range of exhibitions and artist lectures throughout the year.

See how the Mills College Botanic Garden makes sustainability a reality through water conservation, composting, natural design, and other green principles and practices. Members of the Mills community create and maintain this lovely garden, which includes California native plants, succulent plants, ferns, and exotic species that are also used by some students in their academic studies.

Registration Information

Accommodations & Transportation

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