70TH REUNION PAGE
REMEMBER WHEN WE LOOKED LIKE THIS?
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SOME FACTS...PLUS OR MINUS A FEW!
In September, 1951, when we entered Mount Holyoke, the Class of 1955 numbered 321. Their biggest class so far.
In 1955 271 of us graduated. Lots got married over the years and had to leave as I'm sure you all remember. Currently at the end of 2024, 98 of us remain.
Now, so far, 27 of us (that’s almost 30%!) plan to attend our 70th reunion, May 23-25, 2025. We're reaching out to contact everyone to hear their plans.
Friday 12:00 - 1:30 P.M. Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 President's State of the College
4:00 - 5:00 Book Program on Emily Dickinson: Riddles &
Definitions by Chris Benfry
5:00 - 6:00 Social Hour including our Honoraries
6:00 - 7:00 Dinner including our Honoraries
7:00 - 8:00 Russia Then and Now 1955-2025 What's Next?
With Edwina Cruise
Saturday 7:00 - 7:45 Breakfast
8:30 Gathering to start the Parade
10:00 - 12.00 Alum Association Annual Meeting
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:30 - 2:30 Uncommon Graduates - Generation Apart with
Eleanor Townsley and the Class of 2005
3:00-4:30 Campus Bus Tour and Class Photo
5:00 - 6:00 Social Hour including our Honoraries
6:00 - 7:30 Dinner including our Honoraries
7:30 -8:30 Current Events Program by Vinnie Ferraro
Sunday 7:30 - 8:30 Breakfast
8:30 - 9:00 Class Meeting
9:30 - 10:30 Class of 1955 Memorial Service
Short Reunion Bios
(Alphabetical by undergraduate name)
Diane Alexanian Jalelian lives in Arlington MA. Political Science Porter, N. Mandelle, Abbey, N. Mandelle
MC Bachmann Churchill lives in West Palm Beach, FL. History Porter, N. Rocky, Wilder, Pearsons
Sallie Barr Palmer and Peter have lived in the same home for 30 years in Largo, FL. , Brigham, Abbey, Brigham, Safford
Jane Barth lives in her own home in Collegeville, PA. Physics Porter, then 3 years in Lakeside where she was close to the Physics Lab!
Alice Czyz lives in her one home in Suffield, CT just 1 mile from the home in which she lived while growing up. Psychology Brigham, the Rockies for 2 years, Pearsons
Ellie Graham Claus lives in a CCRC in S. Yarmouth ,MA. Physiology-Sociology Porter, Mead, N. Rocky Ellie spent her last year at Hartford Hospital Nursing.
Joan Haskell Vicinus lives in a CCRC in Exeter, NH. Economics/Sociology Porter, Mead, Lakeside, Porter
Sylvia Johnson Lucas lives in her own home on a golf course in Kensington, CT. Physiology/Zoology Pearson’s Annex, 2 years in Lakeside, N. Rocky
Mary Lou Judd Carpenter lives in suburban Minneapolis in a CCRC, a national Fellowship Community. Political Science Pearsons, Mountain View, Pearsons, S. Mandelle.
Dee Lamb Barstow lives in The Marshes on Skidaway (a CCRC) in Savannah, GA. History Pearsons, Mead, Safford, N. Rocky
Pam Moody Harkins lives in a senior living facility in Exeter, NH, Pearsons, Abbey (left after her sophomore year)
Barbara Mulvehill Gray lives with her husband in a CCRC in Cleveland, O. Psychology Porter, Lakeside, Wilder, Pearsons
Sue Nutter Keller lives in a CCRC in New Providence, NJ and spends summers in her own home in Southport, ME. Math Pearsons, S. Rocky, Brigham, Porter
Nancy Nutting Lane lives at Edgehill, a CCRC in Stamford, CT. Art History Brigham, N. Rocky, Safford, Pearsons
Win Pettus Losa lives in a CCRC in Peabody, MA English Brigham, French House, Abbey, Woodbridge
Nancy Schuster Hanson lives in her own home in Savannah, GA. Economics/Sociology Pearsons, N. Mandelle, Wilder, Porter
Barbara Suchman Kasman lives in the home she has been in since 1962, in Chestnut Hill, MA. English Porter, S. Mandelle, S. Rocky, Mead
Tommy Tomlinson Edmondson lives in her own apartment which is attached to her daughter’s home in Holliston, MA. Zoology Brigham, ?,?, Safford
Judy Vernon lives with her husband Ed in an Over-55 facility in Township of Washington, NJ Political Science Brigham, S. Rocky, Mandelle, Abbey
Debbie Walsh Kennedy lives in Newton, PA in an assisted living facility near one of her daughters. French Safford, ?, Paris!, ?
Jan Williams Libby lives in her own home in Providence, RI Political Science Pearsons, Mead, Abbey, Porter
Wink Winkel Ripley lives with her husband, Mills, in their own home in Mount Kisco, NY. They spend summers in their home in Harwich on the Cape. Chemistry Safford, Mead, Wilder, S, Mandelle
Well now we look like this
and it's many years later!
Not all bad considering...
WIN PETUS LOSA, ANN TOMLINSON EDMONDSON, DEBBIE WALSH KENNEDY,
JAN WILLIAMS LIBBY, NANCY SCHUSTER HANSON, BARBARA MULVEHILL GRAY,
MARY LOU JUDD CARPENTER, JANE BARTH, NANCY NUTTING LANE,
MARY CAREY BACHMANN CHURCHILL, MAC CROFT OSBORNE, SYLVIA JOHNSON LUCAS,
JUDY VERNON, SUSAN NUTTER KELLER, DIANA ALEXANIAN JALELIAN,
JOAN WINKEL RIPLEY, SUE ECKERT SMITH
PROGRAM FOR OUR 70th
AND WE'RE OFF!!!
My Wonderful Mount Holyoke friend, Danielle Germain, from the Class of 1993 arrived to drive Nancy, MC and me up to Reunion
We were greeted by the signs she had affixed to the car on both sides!!!
Was this special or what????
There was our sphinx, and under it,
"We're too old to learn new tricks but the old ones work just fine!"
Upon Entering Willits, we were greeted by Student Ambassadors,
and Kate Sanwicki from the Alum Office, who took are of our every need.
All in all, 18 of us managed to make it to Mt Holyoke for our 70th Reunion, to be housed in Willets-Hallowell Hall with canes, walkers, medications, good legs and not so good, hearts intact for the time being, and yup, pretty mentally sharp. Daughters were also helpful. And it was a memorable affair so worth the effort! Eight decades of classes attended reunion from classes 2025 to 1951. The latter had four stalwarts attending for their 75th. For us, it was great to see classmates, to laugh, reminisce and jog so many hazy memories from 75 years ago.
Threats of fierce rain and wind never materialized, the Parade from Mary Wooley Hall to Mary Lyons grave went off without a hitch, filled with wildly cheering 2025 grads and all other classes and spectators who waved and shouted words of praise for our class as we rode in golf carts with signs and yellow scarves and straw hats over our whites. Singing the alma mater at the grave brought goose bumps and tears to many of us. Yes, Mt Holyoke we pay thee devotion in the fervor of youth that is strong. So from East and West, the hardy souls gathered.
They were: Sylvia Johnson Lucas; Pam Moody Harkins; Sue Nutter Keller; Jane Barth; Mary Lou Judd Carpenter; MC Bachmann Churchill; Ann/Tommy Tomlinson Edmondson; Barbara Mulvihill Gray; Nancy Schuster Hanson; Diana Alexanian Jalelian; Deborah Walsh Kennedy; Nancy Nutting Lane; Jan Libby Williams; Win Pettus Losa; Mary Anne/Mac Croft Osborne; Joan/Wink Ripley; Sue Eckert Smith; Judy Vernon.
In a weekend packed with activities, two events stand out: President Danielle Holley’s State of the College and our own Joan Winkel Ripley’s Class of 1955 History at the MHC Annual Meeting, which brought the entire Chapin Hall to its feet in rousing appreciation. Here’s her opening quote.
“We know you are looking at the class of 1955 and seeing very mature ladies, mostly in tennis shoes. However, we are looking at each other and seeing the shining faces of our freshman pals of 74 years ago; back to a time when freshman dorms were flourishing. Back to a time when we knew all our classmates, and sister classes were very important. Back to a time when we were called Miss and we called our teachers Mr. or Miss and when the thought of calling them by their first name would have brought on cardiac arrest.” See attached for full history.
Danielle Holley is a tour de force, not only as our college president, but also as a renowned legal scholar who has argued before the Supreme Court. In the Trump administration’s war on “elite” colleges, MHC has not escaped, already losing $4Million in research on gender issues because “they have no benefits to society.” The good news: donations are up in all categories as trustees and all donors rise to meet the challenge. Taxes on endowments will likely rise substantially.
Currently, it is full speed ahead with MHC Forward with three initiatives:
1.Academic excellence. 31 new full-time teachers have already been hired with more to come.
Academic excellence. 31 new full-time teachers have already been hired with more to come.2.Student Experience. Sophomore Institute, more support for Lyons Sport teams, more career building blocks.
Student Experience. Sophomore Institute, more support for Lyons Sport teams, more career building blocks.3.Campus Renewal. Yes, finally all residence halls are being upgraded starting with Meade and the Rockies. College has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2037 and the geothermal system replacing the electric grid is already in progress. A tour of the college campus later refreshed our memories of the buildings we once knew so well.
Campus Renewal. Yes, finally all residence halls are being upgraded starting with Meade and the Rockies. College has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2037 and the geothermal system replacing the electric grid is already in progress. A tour of the college campus later refreshed our memories of the buildings we once knew so well.Mt Holyoke was “forged in dissent 187 years ago,” President Holley affirmed to rousing applause. “We cannot run away from our mission. We will be a beacon of light, here long after this or any administration is gone.”
President Holley meets monthly with the presidents of other six (Radcliffe does not exist) sister colleges to converse on many subjects, including the possibility of being subpoenaed to testify before Congress. International students are 25% of MHC student enrollment and DEI is embedded in the college’s history, she noted.
What can we do? The fundraising motto is “Don’t Give In. Give.” The Alumnae Fund is vital to the college’s budget. You have until June 30 to give again this year. Also, contact your legislators.
In the annual giving department, the Class of 1955 has no equal, as you all know. Once again, we scored the big honors at the Annual Meeting. We won:
•The Sphnix Award for the highest total participation in giving at 85% to all funds during the five-year reunion cycle,
The Sphnix Award for the highest total participation in giving at 85% to all funds during the five-year reunion cycle,•The Griffin Award for the reunion class with the highest percentage, 94%, of Laurel Chain Society members.
The Griffin Award for the reunion class with the highest percentage, 94%, of Laurel Chain Society members. •Sue Nutter Keller received a Loyalty Award for demonstrating exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and the College.
Sue Nutter Keller received a Loyalty Award for demonstrating exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and the College.If you want to appreciate how really outstanding we are, you might be surprised to learn that the average class percentage is 27% and that MHC is one of the top 10 in all colleges.
Gratitude to Wink for leading us these many years. She pioneered our website, our zoom meetings, and embodies our spirit, the cohesive force that has made us, in the words of many at the college, “a unique class.” Thank you!
Class of 1955/2005 Uncommon Graduates: Generations Apart Panel. We put our Honorary Class Professors to work, particularly Sociology Professor Eleanor Townsley, who created a session updating the “living History” study done 20 years ago highlighting the 50- year differences between our class and the class of 2005. Judy Vernon, MC Bachmann and Joan Ripley represented our class.
As we introduced ourselves to the audience, the four panelists from the class of 2005 then introduced themselves, followed by, what else? their pronouns. She/her; She/they. Oh boy. If there is one big difference between our two classes, it is the evolution of sexual identity as the defining status of individuality. Two panelists, each married with children, identified as she/her; the other two said she/they, raising unasked questions without answers. We tried not to look confused!
We were quizzed on our political shift, how and why many of us switched from solid Republicans in 1955 to Democrats now; how we followed the many rules in college, and how women in 1955 were expected to marry and have families and live happily ever after; and how we managed to have careers and interests despite those pressures. For the 2005ers, the expectations to have both families and serious careers are “exhausting.” The life-balance ratio is a major preoccupation for them.
Evenings were not just for socializing. Professor Emeritus and Class Honorary Edwina Cruse gave us a look inside Russia where she said, thanks to State-controlled media, many Russians think that Ukraine invaded Russia.
Associate Professor of Anthropology Sabra Thorner, a protégé of Eleanor Townsley, outlined her research data project on unearthing the ancestry of an indigenous tribe in Australia. Class Honoraries Vinnie Ferraro and Sonya Stevens in Paris could not attend but sent heartfelt video greetings. The great news! Danielle Holley is our new Class of 1955 Honorary, and Wink moved fast to sign her up first!
Back to School. If you are an Emily Dickinson fan, you would have been able to answer the charming riddles posed by Chris Benfey, Professor Emeritus of Literature and also an Honorary of our class. We were entertained, enlightened and pretty clueless.
Last and certainly not least, Wink led our Class Meeting, thanking her team for their help during the year: Vice President Nancy Lane, Sylvia Lucas, Class Agent Sue Keller, Treasurer Jane Barth, Class Agents at Large Joan Leonard and MC Churchill; newshounds Pam Harkins, Ann Edmondson, Dee Barstow and Joan Leonard. Special thanks went to Danielle Germaine, MHC ‘93 who assisted Wink throughout the entire reunion, before, during and after.
Diana Alexanian Jalelian’s daughter, Cerise, a Holyoke grad, took some great pics that will be on this website.
Wink was, as usual, very astute in her remarks to those present. She closed by quoting from our 1955 commencement address from Chief Justice Earl Warren.
“Of all the responsibilities you must assume, and there will be many, I know of no one that will be more arduous than that of fulfilling your responsibilities of citizenship, because of all the known forms of government, a democracy is the most difficult to achieve, to practice, and to preserve. As a matter of fact, it is not so much a form of government as it is the spirit of the people. Its form is easily counterfeited, but its spirit either lives or dies according to existing standards of civic intelligence and social morality.” How timely is that?
If you are reading this, you are one of the lucky ones-- still alive. A memorial service was held in Abbey for the 91 classmates who have died since the last reunion 10 years ago. I could not attend, but Wink reported the following;
“It was a wake-up call. The service was the one that Juli Shea and Anne Buttrick had written for our 60th reunion which was very comforting. Win Pettus Losa and Sylvia Johnson Lucas, who substituted for Juli, who couldn’t attend at the last minute, led the service.
All of us had the same experience which we discussed at the end of the service. As each name was read, we were all surprised that each of us visualized the classmate named before our eyes. It was a very moving time. We will have it on the web site, and you will be able to see if you underwent this too.”
MC Bachmann Churchill
Class of 1955, 70th Reunion Report
May 23-25, 2025
by Mary Carey Bachmann Churchill
Just to put things in perspective, when we graduated back in 1955 the Class that was celebrating its 70th Reunion was the Class of 1885! These women had been born during the Civil War!’ Think about that!
Unfortunately, no one was back for their 70th. I’m not sure anyone was still alive in the Class of 1885 as The Class Notes stopped at 1889. 1885 was the year The Statue of Liberty arrived in N Y C Harbor. Chester B. Arthur was President of the United States and Elizabeth Blanchard was President of Mount Holyoke. Little did she know that one day she’d be cooking all day long.
Setting the Scene
1955 Class History
We know you are looking at the class of 1955 and seeing very mature ladies, mostly in tennis shoes. However, we are looking at each other and seeing the shining faces of our freshman pals of 74 years ago; back to a time when freshman dorms were flourishing, when we knew all our classmates, and sister classes were very important. Back to a time when we were called Miss and we called our teachers Mr. or Miss and when the thought of calling them by their first name would have brought on cardiac arrest.
Make no mistake, we were girls, not women, and we dated boys, not men; men were our fathers. Tuition, room and board cost $1650 and our starting salaries after graduation were in the $2000 range…for a year…not a week.
Diversity was not an issue. It didn’t exist. Neither did keys nor key cards. Of course, each dorm had a student who “sat bells” to guard the chambers against any male anytime. Sitting bells and doing the dishes were required jobs and were assigned each month.
Our days seemed to be filled with song, especially the big sisters song, which we burst into at every occasion.
Each dorm had it’s own dining room, which was the center of our home away from home. Great conversations at every meal were a highlight of the day.
We had to wear skirts for dinner and stockings and heels on Wed. and Sundays. Our linen napkins were stored in named slots by the entrance to the dining room, and sometimes there was a bonus sample of free cigarettes in there too. Horrifying to think of now. Unfortunately, most everyone smoked and those that didn’t inhaled enough secondary smoke in the smokers during marathon bridge games to last them a lifetime. How so many of us are still alive is rather miraculous.
We preferred our communication face to face, rather than on face book, and we still do. Snail mail was an important part of our lives, and the one telephone per floor of each dorm did double duty.
The college bought its first TV the end of our junior year. It was snowy black and white, and was huge. Well, the cabinet was huge, but the screen was a mere 8 inches diagonally. We had 3 stations and the programming stopped at 9:00 pm. As our sign says, “high tech for us was a slide rule.” We used a card catalog in the library and fountain pens that required ink.
We were introduced to temp doubles, which we were told, were temporary, the CI and all its calories, and were victims of the greatest academic hoax in history, if you will, …posture pictures.
We went on blind dates and learned our Greek alphabet from fraternity pins. We had rules upon rules which we mostly didn’t question, and a judicial board that ruled over us if we strayed even a little. Our parents received copies of our grades each semester.
We remember our years at Mount Holyoke as a turning point in our lives. Mount Holyoke gave us confidence to do our best and instilled upon us a love of learning that is still with us today.
Most importantly it gave us lifelong friendships that are visible right here in Chapin Hall. It gave us wonderful memories to reflect on as we grow old.
I remember the first snow my Freshman year. A bunch of us were walking to the gym, and it was just getting dark. The campus looked so beautiful; it was a winter wonderland. We were singing “sleigh bells ring, are you listening…” and we were so happy to be with our new friends at this wonderful place. One of us said, “This is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives…and I have.”
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Earl Warren Commencement Address
In his Commencement address, in words, and manner moving because of their sincere simplicity, Justice Warren had this to say of the graduates’ responsibility:
“Tomorrow you must share responsibility for whatever happens because when you leave these halls, you become full partners in the affairs of your nation and the world. It is an exciting and rewarding business if carried with enthusiasm and understanding. I commend it to you as your greatest hope of security for the homes you make and in which the greatest desires of your hearts will be centered.
“Of all the responsibilities you must assume, and there will be many, I know of none that will be more arduous than that of fulfilling your responsibilities of citizenship, because of all the known forms of government, a democracy is the most difficult to achieve, to practice, and to preserve. As a matter of fact, it is not so much a form of government as it is the spirit of the people. Its form is easily counterfeited, but its spirit either lives or dies according to existing standards of civic intelligence and social morality…
Time for the P-Rade
Our President, Danielle Holley, becomes a member of the
Class of 1955!
We were Number 1!
Dear Wink,
It was wonderful to see you this weekend. I am very honored to be a member of the great Class of 1955. Thank you to you and the entire class for this recognition. My "diploma" is displayed with pride in the library at the President's House, and I am honored to wear my new yellow sphinx scarf. Many thanks, again, and congratulations on your reunion!
Warmly,
Danielle
Our Program With 2005 Continuing Our Seminar Day
from our 50th Reunion
Look at Beautiful Alexis 20 years later, now the
Mother of 2 Beautiful Children and doing just what
she said she wanted to do. Heading a Non-Profit!
Wink, MC and Judy being put to the test!
Eleanor reunited with her students of 20 years ago. Inga next to Alexis now has three children and is active in volunteer work. On the far right is a Clinical Psychologist.
The Program was recorded and we should be able to see it very soon. Stay tuned!
Click here to see all of our 70th reunion pictures:
