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She Roars 2018!Ten Women of '72 Add Their Voices to SHE ROARS
The event by its very scale was a historic undertaking for the university. And representing the Women of '72, we were acknowledged and feted for our historic role as pioneers in its transformation from all-male (which most of the attendees could barely imagine) to coed. Along with alumnae from '70, '71 and '73, we were asked to stand for recognition at the conclusion of Nancy Weiss Malkiel's talk on her scholarly treatise, Keep the Damned Women Out. One favorite vignette was a comment overhead by Judith as we filed out from that presentation. On arriving at Jadwin for that talk, and finding a ridiculous seating configuration of maybe 100 uninterrupted seats on each side flanking a single aisle at center, we simply created another aisle on one side by removing one seat from each row and handing them fire-brigade style to the back, for easier access by all. What Judith heard was (roughly): " No surprise those were '72 women who fixed that problem…" The conference agenda was enormous in scope. We did our best to sample the dozens of inspiring cameos of alumnae achievement, along with break-out sessions focused on practical resources to help others channel more effectively their own strengths and passions—not to mention myriad performances and exhibits. Most importantly, we Women of '72 stayed in touch by text and phone to meet up as often as possible at convocation events under the tent at Poe Field (safe to say, the largest any of us had ever seen!) and at Jadwin. In short, our mini-reunion was ongoing, and we had a blast! An "intimate" conversationFriday night's "conversation" with Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor '76 and Elena Kagan '81 was a highlight for all of us. Following a distressingly divisive week on the national front, on the very eve of the Senate's confirmation of the Court's newest justice, it was an extraordinary privilege to hear our fellow alumnae speak with such grace and humanity about the Court, the personal experience and perspectives they bring to its service, and the impartiality upon which its credibility as arbiter for the people depends. Where do we go from here?As our three days together neared an end, many seemed to share a desire to view the conference not just as an end in itself, but as a platform on which to continue building – somehow. Judith helped articulate that desire by collaborating with a small group in drafting a statement presented at the Saturday luncheon conversation featuring president emerita Shirley Tilghman (and others). Georgia Nugent '73, a former provost of Princeton and president emerita of Kenyon College – who also served on the board of HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) during Judith's 13-year tenure as its president—read this statement, which was approved by acclamation: More than 3,000 women are gathered here today. We are deeply grateful to the University for bringing us together. Although we are all Princeton alumnae, we are diverse in age, background, race and ethnicity, geographical origin, sexual orientation, ability, political affiliation, and in the paths our lives have taken. But we are united in our advocacy, particularly at this moment in our national life, for the importance of women’s voices being heard, respected and acted upon. ‘She Roars’ is an apt title for our gathering. We want to affirm the energy and power of women speaking together and on each other’s behalf, recognizing – as Nancy Malkiel said yesterday, and as the experience of this University has dramatically shown – that what benefits women benefits everyone.
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With glee and gratitude, ten of our classmates joined more than 3,000 alumnae attending the She Roars conference October 4-6 celebrating Princeton women. From left to right above: Helena Novakova, Chris Loomis, Barbara Julius, Helene Fromm, Daryl English, Mary Darby, Judith White, Claudio Tesoro, Sherry Leiwant, and Holly Lovejoy. Dotty Kemper couldn't be with us, but her daughter, Ellie, was keynote speaker for the event's closing gala.