Reunion

Friday, October 2, 2009

Please check in at Reinhardt Alumnae House for registration. Event locations will be provided at check-in.

7:00 am–8:00 am
Bird-watching walk
Join John Harris, professor of biology, for an hour of bird watching on foot. How many species will you spot?

8:00 am–9:00 am
Registration and full breakfast
Reinhardt Alumnae House

9:30 am–10:00 am
Robe up for Convocation
Alumnae participating in Convocation will meet at Reinhardt Alumnae House to robe up before proceeding to the ceremony. Alumnae will be grouped by class year in the procession and will sit together during Convocation. If possible, please bring your own regalia. We will have a limited number of gowns, caps, and hoods for alumnae to borrow.

10:15 am–11:45 am
Convocation
Mark the beginning of the 2009–10 academic year with speaker Stephanie Mills '69, who emerged as an ecological activist with her 1969 Mills College Commencement address, "The Future is a Cruel Hoax." In it, she boldly pledged to refrain from having children as a way to take a stand against overpopulation. The theme of taking personal responsibility for life on Earth remains central to Mills' work and writing, which includes the books Tough Little Beauties, Epicurean Simplicity, and In Service of the Wild.

Mills lives by the creed of bioregionalism, a term she admits is "clumsy but a good conversation-starter." Bioregionalism means harmonizing with the natural systems of the locations where we live by making choices that enhance our local ecology, economy, and culture—a necessary step to preserving the systems of Earth as a whole. Today's concept of environmental sustainability owes much to Mills and other bioregionalists.

Stephanie Mills is featured in the documentary film EARTH DAYS and is working on a biography of peace activist and community economics pioneer Robert Swann. She is also active in promoting a local alternative currency system is her community in an effort to encourage local trade while lessening the impacts of global commerce.

12:00 noon–1:00 pm
Mills Repertory Dance Company sneak preview
Yukie Fujimoto, artistic director of the Mills Repertory Dance Company, will lead an open rehearsal of two pieces that will be presented during the company’s fall season.

12:00 noon–1:15 pm
Curb Your "Carb-ons" Lunch
Don't worry—this isn't about dieting. It's about sustainability, a priority at Mills. Packaging, processing, and transporting food all take unnecessary energy, so join us for a "greenbag" lunch, which avoids all these steps by taking advantage of local farmers' bountiful fare.

12:45 pm–1:15 pm
Tour of Lake Aliso
See the results of recent restoration work at Lake Aliso during a tour led by Brian Harrington, environmental planner in Mills’ Campus Facilities Department.

1:30 pm–2:30 pm
Eucalyptus Tree Planting Ceremony
Celebrate the planting of the first of 90 young Eucalyptus saligna along Kapiolani Road from the new building for the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business to the Cowell Building. Also called Sydney blue gum eucalyptus, this species has a crescent-shaped leaf, white bark, and the distinctive scent we associate with the Mills campus.

2:00 pm–2:30 pm
Building opening celebration at the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business
President Janet L. Holmgren will speak about the importance for the future of Mills College of the 28,500-square-foot state-of-the-art green building that houses the Lokey Graduate School of Business.

2:30 pm–3:30 pm
Panel discussion on sustainability at Mills
Botanic Garden Coordinator Christina McWhorter, Environmental Planner Brian Harrington, and Sustainability Center Manager Britta Bullard will discuss current and future programs that promote sustainability on campus.

3:00 pm–3:30 pm
Tour of the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business
Opened at the start of fall semester, the building that houses the Lokey Graduate School of Business features dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows, a living green roof, and the latest in educational technology. See it first-hand during a tour with Vice President for Operations Renee Jadushlever. Another tour will begin at 4:00 pm.

3:00 pm–4:00 pm
Tour of Mills College Art Museum
Carlota Caulfield, professor of Spanish and Spanish American studies at Mills, will lead a tour of the photography exhibition Cuba: Beauty and Decay. Caulfied wrote the text for the exhibition of Mills College Trustee Vivian Stephenson's photographs; both women are Havana natives.

3:30 pm–4:30 pm
Presentation on the history of chocolate
Professor of History Bert Gordon will take alumnae on a tasty journey through history, complete with chocolate samples. This event is organized in collaboration with the Educational Outreach Committee of the AAMC.

3:45 pm–4:25 pm
Tour of the Botanic Garden and Sustainability Center
Learn how the Botanic Garden and new Sustainability Center are helping Mills to advance its goal of becoming a sustainable campus. The tour is led by Botanic Garden Coordinator Christina McWhorter and Sustainability Center Manager Britta Bullard.

4:00 pm–4:30 pm
Tour of the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business
See description of 3:00 pm tour; the 4:00 pm tour will be conducted by Campus Architect Karen Fiene.

4:00 pm–4:30 pm
Alumnae Online Resources Workshop
Learn about information resources available through the Mills website and email newsletter, how Mills alumnae are interacting through Facebook and LinkedIn, and about plans for new online resources to help alumnae connect with each other and the College. The workshop will be presented by members of the College's alumnae communications team: Dawn Cunningham ’85, Angelique Felgentreff ’90, and Sarah Nash ’92.

4:30 pm–6:00 pm
President's Garden Reception
Join other alumnae, current students, their parents, faculty members, and President Janet L. Holmgren at an informal garden reception.

6:30 pm–8:30 pm
International Dinner Buffet
Feast on delicious foods from around the world as you make new friends and catch up with former classmates. Alumnae from all class years and their spouses or partners and guests are welcome to enjoy an enticing array of international treats in honor of the many Mills alumnae who make their homes in countries all around the world.

8:00 pm–10:00 pm
Darius Milhaud Concert
Enjoy a program of 20th-century works in the recently renovated Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall. Milhaud's powerful, rhythmic La Mort d'un Tyran (1932) about the death of a cruel and capricious emperor, will open the concert. This piece was first performed just months after Hitler assumed power in Germany. Mills students will perform in the chorus and on percussion.

A rare performance of Milhaud's Second Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion (1961) will feature pianists Robert Schwartz and Kristen Pankonin as well as a percussion ensemble featuring William Winant and Mills students.

Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat (1918), based on a Russian tale about a soldier who sells his violin to the devil for a book that predicts the economy, will close the concert. Stravinsky visited Darius and Madeleine Milhaud in their Faculty Village home in 1944 and lectured to students in the concert hall. Madame Milhaud performed the role of narrator in a 1967 performance of L'Histoire du Soldat.

Winant and Pankonin are music instructors at Mills. Nicole Paiement, artistic director of Ensemble Parallèle and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music New Music Ensemble, will conduct.

previous day Reunion events | next day Reunion events