News

Mount Holyoke alum Jen Gieseking, an academic feminist, examines lesbian identity in public places.

A quote from the story: "My work is inspired by a life that often blurs gender and sexuality, as well as geography and psychology. I studied geography in college, which happened to be a women's college, Mount Holyoke College. Even then I was keen on understanding how the physical and social campus sustained and produced a sense of community that so many students and alumnae extolled. In other words, how and why does space matter? How are we produced by and how do we produce space?"

Read the story on Salon: http://www.salon.com/2012/08/25/the_academic_feminist_salpar/singleton/

Connie Converse x1946 was outspoken, brave and wildly independent. It surprised no one when Connie matriculated at her mother and grandmother's alma mater, Mount Holyoke. But nobody could believe it when she dropped out. She moved to Greenwich Village and poured herself into her music. She had some brief fame, including a chance to play a few tunes on Walter Cronkite's "CBS Morning Show" in 1954. But she never made it big. In the summer of 1974, just before her 50th birthday, she left some letters for her family and friends, packed up her car and drove away. It was the last time anyone in her family ever saw or heard from her. In 2010, the last surviving member of her family, her brother, spoke about her to The Awl, a New York City-based website. He never knew her to have a suitor, and he doesn't know if she was a lesbian, although it's something he's consider more and more as time has passed.

Topcuoglu lives in London with her wife and three-year old son. She is a member of Mount Holyoke College’s LGBT alumnae group called Lyon’s Pride. “We have an annual fund for students whose education has been interrupted because they came out to their parents,” she said, “and now we are expanding the scope by funding a new internship vehicle for students who want to pursue an unpaid internship to give back to the LGBT community.”

Read full article here: http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2012/06/06/voice-of-experience-lale-topcuoglu-portfolio-manager-managing-director-co-head-of-global-investment-grade-portfolio-management-goldman-sachs-asset-management/

Stories of Transgender People and LGBT Elders Sought

Read the rest of the article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/flair/2012/apr/29/tdflair01-filmmaker-sonali-gulati-explores-layers--ar-1869237/

Danielle Steinmann is the Alumnae Association’s new sr. director of programs and reunion. Danielle is a Wellesley alumna who brings a wealth of experience in teaching, program development in the art and museum fields, and volunteer management - including serving as a volunteer and board member herself. She is a warm, extroverted, highly energetic and creative person who will provide a good complement to our staff. She lived in New York City for many years, and has spent much of the last decade living in the Berkshires so she has a blend of both major metropolis and small town/rural community experience. Over the years, Danielle has been involved in the development and implementation of numerous programs ranging in size from intimate to large, gala events.

Danielle started with the Alumnae Association on April 10, and will be responsible for overseeing all of the programming staff, including Maya D’Costa, Joni Haas Zubi, Alaina Donohue, Luisa Tavares, and Danielle Lund. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Danielle with questions or concerns. She can be reached at dsteinma@mtholyoke.edu or 413-538-2652.

President Lynn Pasquerella announced today that Diane Anci, the College's Dean of Admission for the past 14 years, will become Mount Holyoke's new Vice President for Enrollment. 

Five College Certificate in Queer and Sexuality Studies Now Available to Students at Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire Colleges

Spearheaded by the UMass Stonewall Center and Five College faculty, this new certificate enables students at Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire Colleges
who are taking courses in queer and sexuality studies to have this coursework recognized (we hope to have the certificate available to Amherst
College students beginning this summer and to UMass students in the next school year).  For requirements, go to
www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/queerstudies.  For Fall 2012 courses that will count toward the certificate, go to http://www.umass.edu/stonewall/courses. 

For more information, contact Stonewall Center Director Genny Beemyn: genny@stuaf.umass.edu

Bessy Reyna (class of 1970 and Lyon's Pride member) is a versatile poet born in Cuba and raised in Panama, whose deeply personal work reaches readers in both Spanish and English. Learn about her approach to the written and spoken word, and how she'd influenced the dynamic poetry scene in Connecticut.

Watch the episode here: http://www.cptv2.org/allthingsct/spotlight-arts/poet-besse-reyna