 |
News & MusingsWhile coming together as Women of ’72 largely around sharing our history – from student years to our life journeys since – we’re not done yet! One might even say the best is yet to come. More to discover, new ways of living – viewed through the lens of retirement or simply the insights of our advancing years. This section is a space for sharing more recent happenings in our lives, for all to celebrate. We also welcome “community news” featuring those treasured occasions when we are able to come together in person. As well as “waxing philosophical” about any of the above! You can directly post news and observations below – or feel free to send to your editor to post for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our 53rd . . . an extraordinary off-year reunion, celebrating us through Daryl’s award for service to Princeton Daryl English – 8/1/25
Delighted to report on our 53rd reunion, and the award for service to Princeton I received from the Alumni Council meeting on May 23 – truly a highlight of my life, and in so many ways, a gift from all of you. I am forever grateful and in your debt for sharing so generously your stories about our student years (and lives thereafter), which are what most intrigued the selection committee. The spotlight throughout this reunion was above all on the Women of ’72 and our unique role in Princeton’s history I note for the record that ’72 classmates and friends occupying several rows right in front of the podium in Alexander Hall’s Richardson Auditorium made for an exceptionally “lively” award ceremony. Their locomotive in my honor is a moment I will never forget! I had a story to tell – about us as well as our extraordinary Class of ’72 – so I took a bit longer than the allotted 90 second. Emotional comments afterwards from several women from the ‘70s and ‘80s told me it hit the mark. Our 53rd served up plenty of other entertainment as well for those able to attend: Mary Baldwin, Mary Darby, Diana Foster, Helene Fromm, Barbara Julius, Chris Loomis and Judith White. The Saturday morning christening of the new Class of ’72 rowing boat orchestrated by Diana Foster (see April 15 post below) is featured prominently in the website home page News & Announcements and linked Reunion 2025 photo album. And with gusty winds propelling our now traditional P-:Rade walk behind the Women of ’72 banner, cheers along the entire route seemed even more boisterous than ever! I’m happy to share additional photos of my own in the new album listed in the side-bar menu, and linked below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Spotlight on Diana Foster. . .driving force behind new “Class of 1972” rowing shell Daryl English – 4/15/25 A highlight of our 53rd Reunion will be the christening of a new pair/double rowing shell honoring the Class of 1972 and endowed by ’72 rowers, the culmination of a yearlong campaign initiated and propelled by Diana. The new boat is also intended as a tribute to Tom Jones, Diana’s husband and our classmate, whose dedication and outreach to fellow rowers endowed a series of rowing shells, the first of which launched at our 25th reunion. The new endowment supports Tom's wish to continue supporting Princeton rowing well into the future. Of special note, our own Mary Wadsworth Darby, coxswain on Princeton’s first women’s crew, contributed to endowing the new boat. Scheduled for 9:30 AM that morning, the christening will be the center of a host of races and festivities at the Lake Carnegie boathouse on Saturday, May 24. Check the ’72 Rowers page for full details, including any schedule updates.
Czech Republic 2023—another indelible gift from Helena! Hard to imagine surpassing the magic of Helena’s first ’72 grand tour of her native country in 2018, but she did it again! Even a year later, the fortunate 36 classmates who traveled with Helena to Czech Republic in 2023 leap at any excuse to reminisce. High praise indeed for Helena’s imaginative planning, impressive good cheer in tending to travelers’ every need, and ever-present joyful spirit! There were six Women of ’72 on the trip – Mary Baldwin, Helene Fromm, Janet Howard, and Chris Van Horne, along with Helena and myself – setting a class trip record, for sure. The Czech Mates: Women of ’72 photo album in the Class Trip/Event section of the website spotlights our adventures together and alongside many other '72-and-friends companions during our travels with Helena. Along with many other albums housing many hundreds of photos, you will also find there a highly entertaining trip report co-authored by Rod McNealy and Bob Wright documenting our 11 days of explorations in most inviting detail, along with the annotated chronology in Bob’s photo album. [ Editor Note: Special thanks to web photo-guru Bob W for his invaluable help (and endless patience!) posting our women’s photo album.]
Nonprofit led by Sherry Leiwant Scores Major Congressional Wins for Pregnant Workers Sherry shares exciting news from A Better Balance (ABB), the nonprofit she co-founded and serves as co-president. With the close of the outgoing Congress in December, a 10-year initiative of ABB has culminated in a landmark victory or behalf of pregnant and nursing women and their families. The omnibus spending package passed by Congress includes the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which ensures pregnant women the right to pregnancy-related workplace accommodations that they need, as well as time off for any pregnancy-related medical care, without fear of job loss. Additionally, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act ensures fair treatment after giving birth, including the right to break time and space to express milk. A Better Balance is a national nonprofit legal advocacy organization that uses the power of the law to advance justice for workers, so they can care for themselves and their loved ones without jeopardizing their economic security. See ABB’s Resources Article—PWFA FAQs for more information about what passage of PWFA and PUMP means to working women and their families.
Reproductive Justice Action Team forged in the aftermath of SCOTUS reversal of Roe v. Wade When news of the leaked draft of the then-pending Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade (penned by classmate Samuel Alito) broke just five days after Susan Squier joined our Women of ’72 network in May 2022, Susan promptly provided a voice for Women of ’72 expressing outrage and profound concerns. The letter she penned was signed by many of us, soon after gaining additional signers and support among ’72 men and ’73 women. It quickly went viral in mainstream media, including Susan’s press interviews, and building in part on connections facilitated by Alice Kelikian. All the letter signers are members of the ongoing action team – now called ’72 Friends for Reproductive Justice – that formed in the following months to centralize and share information and strategies for addressing the impacts of the final SCOTUS decision. Although this initiative lacked the unanimity to make it a formal Women of ’72 project, it grew out of outreach involving a majority of our members and has been sustained by substantial effort and passion. As such, it is part of our history, and this belated post by your editor is intended to archive it for that purpose. Classmates who are not already on the action team e-list are welcome to subscribe by contacting Susan Squier.
Lewis Center’s ALL HER POWER Film Featuring Two of Our Pioneers Vera Marcus and Helena Novakova are featured in two of eight performance pieces created by the Lewis Arts Center to celebrate 50 years of coeducation at Princeton. A two-hour film version of ALL HER POWER, which premiered in December 2020, replaced the April 2020 live premiere canceled by the pandemic and can be viewed on the Lewis Center for the Arts website. You can also view below an abridged version featuring Vera and Helena. The theater project was a special collaborative project between students, artist alumnae and the first generation of women who studied at Princeton. Eight creative teams were tasked with selecting and interviewing a few women from the early years of coeducation whose lives before, during and after Princeton felt personally compelling and exemplary in terms of that unique time in Princeton's history. Two of those teams reached out to Vera and Helena. Vera Marcus' theater roots at Princeton attracted the attention of project artists Kay-Megan Washington ’88, Eliana Cohen-Orth ’21 and Magdalena Poost ’22, who spent two days talking with Vera in her office and home in Benicia, California. Much of that talk focused on an award-winning theater program Vera developed following graduation with the intention "to come back and give back" to her native Birmingham, Alabama. Performing over three years to sell-out audiences, Vera's Black Flame and Black Fire programs engaged the talents of 50-60 youngsters and teens living in a Birmingham housing project. And, working without staff, she did it all herself – from writing scripts and making costumes to marketing and grant-writing. Helena Novakova also hosted her Lewis Center team for two days at her home in Miami, sharing stories prompted by mementos and artifacts decorating her home from her myriad travels and work around the world. Interviewers Gwynn MacDonald ’87, Patricia Chen ’20 and Rosamond van Wingerden '20 seemed especially taken with a poem written by her grandmother and displayed on a wall, Helena noted, as a possible focus for their theater piece. Helena's story also on this page was posted two years ago after she shared many details of her adventurous life with lucky '72 travelers on the class trip she led to her native Czech Republic.
Chris Loomis Elected President of Princeton Club of New York
At its December 9, 2020 Annual Meeting, PCNY welcomed Chris Loomis as its new president. The Club membership vote approving her nomination by the Board of Governors also makes Chris the first woman to hold that office – marking yet another achievement for the pioneer women of our class! Chris takes the reins as the Club faces historic challenges, with its facilities closed to members and guests since March 2020 because of COVID-19 and New York City restrictions. She praises her board governors for being very proactive and creative while meeting weekly to address the Club's needs. Under her leadership, the Club is currently surveying its membership to inform post-pandemic planning. Survey questions focus in part on lifestyle changes and, especially for those who may not be returning to their New York offices, anticipated future plans for using the Club. Survey results will help Chris and the board reconfigure the Club to make it responsive to changing member needs. She notes that while PCNY's door remained closed, it is offering members amenities at affiliated clubs offering reduced services. Chris has been affiliated with PCNY since her 2008 return from Russia, where she was SVP at the US Russia Investment Fund and on the Executive Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow, among other roles. She was invited to join the Board of Governors by Skip Rankin, himself a past president and board governor at that time, who continues to serve as a board advisor. As program committee chair for more than 10 years, Chris was instrumental in showcasing extraordinary professors from Princeton as well as prestigious New York universities. Those programs of course include the annual Class of '72 dinners that have entertained and inspired so many of us over the years! POSTSCRIPT: Sadly, as we know, the Princeton Club of NY did not survive the extended pandemic shutdown. Chris continued to serve with all her legendary grace and calm competence throughout those many final months of challenges and uncertainty. We are, as ever, proud of her!
Jackie Ariail Publishes New Fiction Congratulations to Jackie on publication of her short story, "First Date," in the Winter 2021 Issue of Persimmon Tree, "An Online Magazine of the Arts for Women Over Sixty." Jackie says in her author's statement, "I'm in the process of turning a loose and gangly draft of a novel into a collection of stories. In “First Date,” I expanded and deepened a scene in which Sam takes Fay, his nephew’s fiancée, out to lunch. Over the course of that meal, Fay sees the startling difference between the man she’s about to marry and the one who sits across the table from her." (Editor's note: I personally have read it several times over and promise you're in for a treat.)
Press Spotlight on Lizz Plater-Zyberk
50 Years of women's sports at Princeton began with Helena Novakova October 17, 2020, Princeton celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first intercollegiate women’s athletic competition for Princeton and our classmate, Helena Novakova was one-half of the winning team. In a wonderful, make-shift, thrown together way, two incredible athletes, Helena and Margie Gengler Smith ’73, eager to compete, entered an Eastern Intercollegiate women’s tennis tournament in New Paltz, NY as Princeton’s team. They stepped onto a tennis court to play on behalf of a University that was in the early, early stages of sponsoring women’s athletics: Princeton had an Assistant Athletic Director for Women, but no facilities, no coaches, no teams, and no uniforms when Helena and Margie knocked on an office door and asked, “Hey, can we compete for Princeton?” This podcast tells it all—and there is a heckuva backstory for our courageous classmate, too. Princeton Athletics' TigerBlog also reported on this major milestone in its October 16 post. Helena's backstory is prominently featured there as well. (Scroll down to click on Older Posts.) And in case you missed it earlier, you can also can also scroll down to read Helena's story on this page. Doug's comment: Congrats Helena. I used to sit on the top of the hill above the tennis courts on the way the boathouse and wish I could hit a tennis ball like that. Still wish I could. Helena's reply: Thank you, Doug! You are too nice to say such nice things. Thinking back now, it surprises me that I had the nerve to go to that first tournament in New Paltz with Margie after almost 2 years of not playing!? - It was all good fun and fond memories remain forever!
Reflections on 50 Years of Undergraduate Women at Princeton I am writing to share my contribution to one of the projects commemorating the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Princeton. My "reflections" are included in an exhibit at Frist Campus Center, which opened in October and continues through Reunions. I was randomly asked to provide a 250-word glimpse of what life was like for me as an undergraduate that could be shared and help educate others about the history of undergraduate women at Princeton. I have been told that two other classmates were also invited to participate, but I wasn't given names. If you happen to be one of those others, it would be great if you could post your reflections here as well. The exhibit was also featured in the October 23 issue of PAW Magazine. Out of my 250 words, the editors lifted and printed on page 8 my bit of humor about the swimming pool. REFLECTIONS ON BEING A FIRST As a transfer student in 1970, being a “first” often meant being the only woman in a group. The English Department, with fifteen women of 115 junior majors, gamely tried to have at least two women in each precept of its large classes. Still I was the only woman in the 30-person Literary Theory class where, when minutes late, I was gently but invariably greeted with “Good morning, Miss White.” My exchanges were less formal with Princeton’s first and only woman English professor, Ann Douglas Wood. Princeton facilities in 1970 were not intended for us. The one women’s room in McCosh required a trip outside to enter the basement. I helped liberate the department chair’s centrally located restroom for “co-ed” use. At the pool, I had to remember “women’s hours.” Other hours were for men, who swam naked. I was well aware that my ’72 classmates were the last men who had come to Princeton expecting it to be all male. Most were welcoming, but visiting alumni freely shared their objections to the travesty of our admission. I most warmly recall the “older” women on campus who offered their support. Women’s dean Halcy Bohen was a ready advocate. Prominent feminists came to speak. Women “in town” hosted gatherings. Our being at Princeton constituted their victory too. Indeed, I realized early on that I owed being a “first” to more than my successful application. My debt was to the women and men who had prepared the way for all of us. |
|
