Agnes Scott Alumnae Magazine [2000-2001]

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in 2011 with funding from

LYRASIS IVIembers and Sloan Foundation

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Agnes Scott

ALUAMNAE MAGAZINE

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GUEST COLUMN

President Bullock applauds the Collec)efor making the experience

oj visiting China and other countries a regular part oj the curriculum.

Eighteen Agnes Scott students led by Professors
Ayse Garden and Harry Wistrand arrived in
Bci|ing during a momentous week, one that will
shape the future of Chma and of U.S-Chma rela-
tions for years to come. While they lived and
studied at Peking University, the United States House of
Representatives voted, by an unexpectedly wide margin, to
approve Normal Permanent Trading Relations (NPTR) for
China, thus assuring a burgeoning American economic pres-
ence in China under the World Trade Agreement.

During the same week, the inauguration of Taiwan's first
opposition partv' president, Chen Shui-bian, reminded
Chinese and the world of the contrast between democratic
Taiwan and socialist China and the complex role of the
United States between them The elusive fs.im Jong 11, presi-
dent of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, made his
first visit out of North Korea since the early 1980s to seek
advice from the Chinese leadership concerning the upcoming
first-ever summit with the president of South Korea

TTie president of India, K.R. Narayanan, was also in Beijing
that week making his first state visit to China, signaling a con-
tinuing thaw in relations between Asia's two giants, India and
China, which combined include almost 40 percent of the
world's population Topping a week of extraordinary diplo-
matic activity, the Chinese announced the upcoming visit of
Vladimir Putin, Russia's new president, amid signs that Russia
and China would concur in strong opposition to U.S. plans to
build a missile defense system.

Make no mistake about it. China is a great power, and the
world in which Agnes Scott graduates will lead requires a
"ground-truth " knowledge of Chinese
culture, Chinese politics and Chinese
people In developing a course of
study and an intense study tour.
Professors Garden and Wistrand not
only understood this, but, as psychol-
ogist and biologist respectively, also
appreciate the critical role that sci-
ence and scientists will play m rela-

tions between China and America. Most of the students were
science majors, and all had completed a specially designed
course that included attention to China's culture, history, sci-
ence and politics. The itinerary focused on the environtnent,
psychology, medicine and public health and the role of
women within Chinese society In each of three cities
Beijing, Xi an and Shanghai, the Agnes Scott delegation was
hosted by a leading university, which included extensive
interaction between Agnes Scott and Chinese students.

I joined them at Peking University for a lecture on the
women's movement and at Peking Union Medical College for
a day of briefing on public health, traditional medicine and
women's reproductive health It was hot and the lectures were
Chinese style two hours in length. When the floor finally
was open for discussion, I wondered whether anyone was
awake and attentive. 1 need not have worried: hands shot up,
and question after question tumbled out. The specific queries
illustrated to me just how well our students had prepared for
this visit Their Chinese professors time and again comment-
ed on the 'sincerity" of the Agnes Scott group, which is their
highest praise.

For the United States, the most important visitors to
Beijing during the third week of May were the Agnes Scott
students. We will depend upon them and others of their gen-
eration to have a nuanced understanding of the complexity of
China and to guide public understanding of the inevitable ups
and downs in Sino-U.S relations. As the following pages
reveal, visiting China, or any foreign countr>', is a transform-
ing experience. That such sophisticated, in-depth inter-
national experiences are led by Agnes
Scott faculty to Africa, Europe and
Latin America as well as Asia and
have become a standard part of
the College's curriculum makes
me vers' proud.

Mary Brown Bullock '66

CONTENTS

Agnes Scott College Alumnae Magazine
Fall 2000, Volume 77, Number i

DEPARTMENTS

Beijing & Beyond

Story and Photos by Chris

Tiegreen

A study trip to China cjives

Agnes Scott students an

awareness oj China, likely

to he one of the list

century's most

strategic and

powerfu

nations.

The Greening
of China?

By Mary Brown Bullock '66
In Yunnan, conservationists despite
great challenges are leading China's
struggle to save her fragile environment.

A Sense of Place

From folding ironing hoards to "do-ahlc" mner-ciiy
housing plans, four ASC alumnae separated hy time
and geography share a common vision of providing
appealing places for pilgrims on their journeys through life.

Becoming Real

By Dolly Purvis '89
Photography by Sue Clites and
Gary Meek

Agnes Scott alumna and prize-
winning playwright measures her
success by helping students recognize
their own moments of transformation.

Giviri" Akimna

COVER: Rooftops in "the Forbidden
City," iiome to emperors of the Ming
and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1911,
recall China's vast history and rich
culture. This Beijing attraction, now
known as Gugong Museum, is situat-
ed adjacent to Tiananmen Square
and was one of many sites visited on
ASC's Global Awareness trip to China
in May. chris tiegreen photo

Editor: Jennifer Bryon Owen

Contributing Editor: Chris

Tieyreen
Designers: Everett Hullum,
Matthew Hullum

Copyright 2000, Agnes Scott College
Publisheci for alumnae and friends three
times a year by the Office of Commu-
nications, Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
.Annex 141 E College Avenue, .Atlanta;
Decatur, CA 30030, (-104) 471-6301
Postmaster: Send address changes to
Office of Development, Agnes Scott
College, 141 E- College Ave ,
Atlanta/Dccatur, CA 30030 The
content of the magazme reflects the
t opinions of the writers and not the
viewpoint of the College, its trustees or
administration

e-mail: publications@agnesscott edu
Web site: ww^^'.agnesscott.edu

ON CAMPUS

Meet the first Agnes Scott All- American, the new
alumnae relations director and the class oj 2000.

NEW
INDUCTEE
INTO "HALL
OF FIRSTS"

Selinda Ceyer 01 is one
of the nicest people you
woLild ever like to meet
except on a tennis court.
When she steps out to play,
the blithe, soft-spoken
Ceyer transforms into a
fierce competitor intent on
winning and winning big.
With little patience for
matches that go three sets,
a "double bagel" (6-0, 6-0)
is her goal with every
stroke of her racquet.

Such determination and
skill created a spot for
Ceyer in ASC's "hall of
firsts." First ASC student to
compete on the national
level in any sport. First
Agnes Scott All-American.
First Scottic to play in an

NCAA
Division
III title
match,
Ceyer made
Agnes Scott his-
tory this spring
when she posted
a !7- 1 regular sea-
son singles record on her
way to the NCAA Division

women's tennis tourna-
ment.

A woman of tme inter-
national perspective, Ceyer
is from Istanbul, Turkey,
and was raised in Switzer-
land. She is fluent in Tur-
kish, English, French and
Cerman and conversant in
Spanish and Russian.
And, if people still spoke
Latin, she could join in the
conversation. Ceyer's par-
ents wanted her to partici-
pate in a sport so she began
playing tennis at about age
7 and also competed in soc-
cer, field hockey, basketball
and marbles.

Throughout this season,
she served as an ambassador
for Agnes Scott, especially
at the NCAA tournament.
"People were asking what ...
who ... where is Agnes
Scott?" Ceyer says, "it was
good for Agnes Scott to be
there finally and to get

some attention of other
schools."

Mental toughness is
Ceyer's trademark both on
and off the court. "She loves
the pressure of a big
match," says her coach,
Constantine Ananiadis.
"She thrives under that."

In her rwo big matches
this season her regular
season meeting with the
No. 1 player in the South
(University of the South)
and her second round win
at nationals to earn All-
America status she punc-
tuated the meetings by serv-
ing exclamation-point aces
to take the match.
^. "1 had no question that
1 could win," notes
Ceyer 'I always
set high goals to
boost my own confidence,
to push myself."

Ceyer, a music major
and studio art minor, is a
regular on the College's
honor lists. In fact, her
grade point average helped
Agnes Scott's tennis team
qualify for Academic All-
America honors this year
During what came to be
known as the "Selinda-rella"
season, she took 22 credit
hours. When not engaged
in her regular studies at

Agnes Scott, she was at
Emory University studying
Russian to improve her per-
formance of music from
that canon This summer,
she continued her study of
Russian at Middlebury
College (Vt.). F^er goal is
to perform in musical the-
atre or jazz or to teach.

Ceyer credits athletics
with aiding her academic
success. "Athletics boosts
your discipline and self-

confidence and
^^ allows you to be very
^^jj^ social. You have to

have ver\' good
I organizatio n and remain
on schedule." ^^^r
At Custavus Adolphus
College, host of the NCAA
national tournament, Ceyer
ran through her opponents
like she was thumbing
through a guide to the

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE fall !<

ON CAMPUS

GARY MEEK PHOTOS

ASC's tennis coach Constantine Ananiadis and Geyer relish their victory in
"bringing home the wood" during a party for Geyer at ASC. The City of De-
catur issued a proclamation naming that day, May 25, "Belinda Geyer Day."

i,

nation's most selective col-
leges. In the first round,
she took out the No. 1
seed, Lizzie Yasser of
Trinity University (Texas).
Then, it was on to Emily
Warburg of Emory Univer-
sity, Jennifer Crombie of
the College of Nevi^ Jersey
and hometown favorite
Megan Donley of Gustavus
Adolphus (in the semi-
finals). She won all of these
matches in two sets.

Next was Jamie Cohen,
a semi-finalist in last year's
tournament, of Amherst
College. Unfortunately,
Geyer's streak came to an
end, but she finished as
NCAA runner-up, no small
feat from an unranked,
unknown player

Geyer had attained, in
addition to All-America

honors, a No 2 national
ranking, the No. 1 ranking
in the South, the highest
ranking among women's
college players and had
everyone buzzing about
Agnes Scott and its athlet-
ics program. Most impor-
tant, she "brought home
the wood," the trophy pro-
claiming her among the
NCAAs finest Division ill
tennis players.

"Selinda showed great
courage at the NCAA tour-
nament," says Agnes Scott
Director of Athletics A.
Page Remillard. "Agnes
Scott is very proud of her
achievement, and she has
done her part to let every-
one know that Agnes Scott
sports are gaining signifi-
cant ground in the realm of
college athletics."

Ananiadis, in his first
year at Agnes Scott, beams
when speaking of his pro-
tege. "Selinda is one of the
most gifted athletes I have
ever worked with. She has
eveiy shot in the book,
she's got great 'court sense.'
She is a highly competitive
individual and that, along
with her perfectionist atti-
tude about life, drives her
on and off the court."

Geyer also finds time to
serve as president of
CHIMO, Agnes Scott's
international student organ-
ization. "She is a complete
person," Ananiadis notes.
"A great role model for all
Agnes Scott student-
athletes and a true scholar"

As for next season,
Geyer hopes Cohen is on
the other side of tourna-
ment bracket, so she will
meet her again in the finals.
"I'm really looking forward
to that."

Dolly Purvis '89

A WORLD

CLASS

HOUSEHOLD

Before 9 o'clock one
morning, while a
houseguest was in the
kitchen preparing a
Mexican dessert, Marilyn
Hammond '68 said good-
bye to husband Dean as he

headed to Washington,
DC, on a business trip,
and she sent two German
guests on their journey to
Mexico.

Hammond then made
her way to her own jcjb at
Agnes Scott College. It was
a typical morning in this
global household.

Such a lifestyle made
joining the staff of a college
dedicated to "the world for
women" a natural progres-
sion for Agnes Scott's new
director of alumnae
relations.

The story continues.
The Hammonds' adult son,
Andy, a biologist, repopu-
lated the empty nest when
he returned to Adanta to
work on malaria at the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).

"We hope he doesn't
bring the malaria home,"
says Hammond. "They
work mostly on healthy
mosquitoes, trying to iden-
tify them genetically so that
researchers know what
they're working on when
doing their experiments."
Andy's buddy, also named
Andy, is seeking his fortune
in Atlanta, and he lives with
the Hammonds.

"In between times, we
have another CDC friend
from Guatemala who lives
with us when she is work-
ing in the U.S., which is for

ON CAMPUS

a month at a time three to
four times a year Andy has
a German friend who stays
with us when she is in the
United States. A good
friend from the Netherlands
who Is in real estate invest-
ment uses our house when
he's working In this coun-
try," continues Hammond
"As long as they are not all
there at the same time,
we're line."

For a woman who
enjoyed time alone when
the nest first emptied and
her husband traveled fre-
quently "I'm really quite
good company" today's
lifestyle requires flexibility,
which she says is a
byproduct of havmg such

a household.

"I'm not the mom I'm
the roommate and friend
and, likewise, they are my
friends, " says Hammond.
"We are a group of adults
who come and go and who
enjoy each other's compa-
ny. I take great pleasure in
the fact that I never know
who will gather In the
evening. And, the first ones
there usually put the dinner
together"

A married daughter who
is a physician's assistant
working in cardiothoracic
surgery at Lenox Hill Hos-
pital in Manhattan rounds
out the immediate family,
Hammond enjoys talking
shop with her son-in-law

whose work serves clients
getting into e-business
because she worked in data-
base and interactive market-
ing before joining the
Agnes Scott staff in May.

She was attracted to the
College professionally by a
lot of things at a lot of dif-
ferent levels. For one whose
household resembles a
global village, the diversity
of students on the campus
was a major attraction to
working at ASC, according
to Hammond.

"Also, this Is a chance to
use my marketing back-
ground in a way I hadn't
quite ever applied it before.
I think I'm a good strategist,
and I think there's an inter-

est in lookmg at the whole
strategy of Agnes Scott and
its relationship-building
with alumnae and how we
can do a meaningful job of
that "

On the personal side,
developing friendships with
women her career has
been spent working largely
with men was an added
benefit.

Because she had lost
touch with the College
when she moved back to
Atlanta 10 years ago,
Hammond did what she
calls "exploring around the
edges ' "1 wondered if a
small liberal arts college for
women had found a way to
stay relevant in today's

Recent dinner guests at Hammond's home hall from Germany, Portugat, the United Kingdom, Mexico City and New Jersey with one person from Atlanta.
Immediately behind Hammond is her son and the chef, Andy, and to her right is her husband. Dean.

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE f.ill looo

'0;CAMPUS

world," she explains. "By
getting involved as the fund
chair for my class and in
some other things like that,
I came back on campus and
realized just how wonderful
and contemporary this
place is. The whole 'world
for women' idea, Mary
Bullock's leadership, the
professionalism of the
staff all those things said
this is a place to which 1
could be very committed.
in marketing terms, Agnes
Scott is a product 1 really
believe in."

Her efforts for the
Alumnae Association will
continue to fall into three
primary areas: life-long
learning, life-long friend-
ships and life-long service
to the College. "Service to
the College is very well
developed and we want to
continue that. But, we want
to look for more ways that
the College can be of serv-
ice to the alumnae so that
there is a meaningful, con-
temporary relationship
between alumnae and
Agnes Scott."

It's this job at Agnes
Scott that gets Hammond
up and going every morn-
ing. "I'm having so much
fun working here that I lit-
erally wake up raring to
go." She's just not ever sure
whom she'll run into as she
heads out the door to work.
Jamifer Bryon Owm

Ninety-five percent of Agnes Scott's 207 graduating seniors provided the following information
by graduation day.

Focused Exclusively on Full-time Employment: 51 percent

Of this group, 38 percent were employed at the time of graduation and 45 percent had
received at least one full-time job offer by graduation.

Of those employed at the time of graduation, 11 percent believe that their job was a
direct result of on-campus interviewing or resume referral.

Five percent of those employed completed an internship with that employer before
graduation.

The average salary is $32,000 a year.

Focused Exclusively on Graduate School: 27 percent

Acceptances reported by 100 percent of those applying.

Some of the schools to which ASC graduates were accepted are: University of Pitts-
burgh; Princeton Theological Seminary; Emory University; University of Warwick, UK;
Washington University; Sarah Lawrence; Stanford and Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School.

ASC Year Five Bound Graduates

Sixteen percent reported enrollment in ASC Year Five.

None of the Above by Personal Cfioice

Six percent are engaged in such things as raising children, traveling abroad or tal<ing
time off.

General Information

While at ASC, 40 percent of the class participated in an international study program
or international internship.

While at ASC, 61 percent participated in an internship.

Of all interns, 82 percent obtained their internship through the Office of Career
Planning.

Career planning services were utilized by 78 percent during the senior year.

Graduate School Acceptance Rates

Graduate school acceptance rate is 85 percent with 30 percent of the class applying to a
graduate program(s) before graduation. (These figures include students who were not
focused solely upon graduate school.)

Medical school acceptance rate is 80 percent with 10 percent of the class applying to
medical school(s) before graduation.

Law school acceptance rate is 75 percent with 8 percent of the class applying to law
school(s) before graduation.

ON CAMPUS

^^

1 . '' /

^

%i

BEIJING & BEYOND

A study trip to China lands Agnes Scott
students in a strategic spotjor the 2 1st century.

Story and Photography by Chris Tiegreen

On an old tennis court at Peking University at 6:30 a.m.,
Ar^0nda Thompson 'oi leaped high in the air with as proper
a ballet move as one can muster in bulky tennis shoes, and it
dawned on me: "This is what this trip is about. "
It was a spontaneous cultural exchange, the kind that will be remembered
vividly by its participants far longer than many oj those on the itinerary. Three
Peking University [PKU] students, all men, had been gently coerced by a jew
interested Agnes Scott studenirto teach tai chi at 6:30 each morning. The entire
ASC group had spent one evening listening to an animated lecture on the role oj
tai chi in Chinese culture and watching a demonstration by several well-trained
PKU students. Some wanted to learn more; hence the early lessons.

During a break in the instruction, one oj the PKU students demonstrated a
jew impossible moves involving long and very high acrobatic jumps. Amanda
returned thejavor by demonstrating ballet leaps, which her Chinese instructor-
turned-novice tentatively attempted. Each learned jrom the other

BEIIINC AND BEYOND

The moment seemed to repre-
sent the intent of the entire week
in Beijing. Eighteen stu-
dents led by
biology pro-
essor Harry
Wistrand and
psschology
professor
Ayse
Garden '66

"Vast amounts of bicycles
drive in and out among
moving vehicles. There are
no yield signs, stop signs,
nothing. I was terrified even
to cross the street!"

-Elizabeth Patton '02

and
had begun a
three-week Global
Awareness tour of
the People's
Republic of
Ghina in this
capital city of
12 million in
May. After a stay
on the PKU cam-
pus, the tour
would continue to
Xi'an, southwest of
Beijing, then to Shanghai and Hong Kong.
It was a multi-faceted trip that included
research, cultural exploration, dialogue with
Ghinese faculty and students, and visits to
famous landmarks as well as encounters with
three familiar faces President Mary Brown
Bullock '66 in Beijing, Assistant Professor of
Political Science Feng Xu near Shanghai,
and Wallace M. Alston Professor of Bible
and Religion Dennis McGann in Hong
Kong who were all coincidentally in Ghina
for professional reasons. The students had
prepared in the class-

"The people here
are all so polite and
willing to please."

Lauren Sealey '02

room at Agnes Scott
for at least a semester,
learning language,
history, culture, poli-
tics and more. Now the classroom was an
old tennis court, a campus, a city, a countrv'.
"You can't put into words what it's like to

While the city is most often spelled "Beijing" in
western newspapers and literature, the university's
name is most often spelled "Peking" in its own
romanized printed signs and literature Both
spellings are transliterations of the same Chinese
name. ALUMNAE MAGAZINE will adhere to the most
common transliteration for each Beiiing lor the
city and Peking lor the university.

study a place for so long and then be able to
touch it," Amanda would later say, putting
into words very well the purpose of the
Global Awareness program.

Later that morning, the conversation on
the van returned to "the tai chi guys"
"They were so showing off," said Adrienne
Manasco '01.

"Definitely, " agreed the others, thereby
affirming the transparency of all males in the
company of women, regardless of cultural
background. Not that this audience wasn t
duly impressed. "Gan you believe how high
he jumped'' "

Upon arrival in any Asian city. Western
eyes are drawn especially to those
things likearchitecture and dress that
seem so different, yet are casual and even
mundane to the host cul-
ture. As the group rode
the van from the airport to
the campus, remarks
focused on the plethora of
bicycles and pushcarts that
mingle with the motorized
traffic on Beijing's busy streets,- the toddler-
wear conveniently silt for diaper-less young
pedestrians, the simple, barred storefronts
that stand out to Westerners precisely
because they are nondescript, and the variety
of goods sold on the street

The first meal drew similar observations.

"What kind of meat Is that? "

"I'm glad I learned how to use chop-
sticks."

Twelve dishes at one table can you
believe the variety?"

"I couldn't have
ever realized
how it was until
I got here."

Anna Bone '02

ACNES SCOTT COLUICE FM 2000

"It made me realize how
one-sided my views were
before I came tiere and
ttiat there is still so much
to learn."

Carmen Bolivar '03

Just days later,
the same scenes
were less remark-
able. The traffic
was a transporta-
tion issue to con-
sider, not a

curiosity to observe. The variety of those 12
dishes within each meal became the monoto-
ny of the same 12 dishes at each meal. The
group was settling into the culture, some-
times even comfortably. China was becoming
pleasantly familiar.

On the first day of sightseeing, Amy,
the PKU representative who skillfully
guided us throughout the week, took
us to the Great Wall, (Upon our arrival at the
airport. Amy had introduced herself using her
real name, but promptly to our relief told
us to call her Amy. "This is much easier for
you," she said.) From
where the van unloaded
in the valley, the wall

mit, where the panorama presumably lay.
Harry made it there too, proving himself more
fit than the average biology professor The
rest of us could claim jetlag as an excuse.
Most of the other

"I learned that I
l<now nothing."

Eve Smith '01

attractions Summer

Palaces (old and new).

Forbidden City,

Tiananmen Square,

etc. were also toured expeditiously. "This

just provides you with a brief overview," Ayse

and Harry had explained to the students.

The group would only be in Beijing a week

before leaving for Xi'an, where they would

have a little more time to absorb and reflect

upon their surroundings.

t;

"This being my first time out of the
country, I am just amazed at how dif-
ferent everything is. I feel so lucky to
live where I do. I am fascinated watch-
ing everything go on around me."

-Carla McAlister '02

wended its way in two
directions. One way
appeared moderately
steep, the other over-
whelming. The moder-
ately steep way had no

tourists on it. We assumed it was closed. That
left us the overwhelming side. The climb up
offered breathtaking views. That side also may
have provided the sprawling, winding
panoramic vista seen on postcards, but most
of us will never know. Only two students,
Loren Harmeling '00 and Amanda, made it in
the allotted time to the top of the first sum-

he efficient sightseeing allowed more
time for the academic purpose of the
trip. Students spent substantial time on
the PKU campus reflecting on the fields of
focus for the trip the envi-
ronment and psychology as
they listened to three days of
lectures. Faculty from PKU
and Peking Union Medical
College and other speakers
gave in-depth presentations
on the history of China, the
environment, women in
China, public health and traditional Chinese
medicine. Similar learning experiences would
follow in Xi'an, Shanghai and Hong Kong
education in China, panda conservation,
China's one-child policy and solid waste man-
agement, among other lecture topics.

Contrary to American stereotypes of
Chinese seclusion and secrecy, speakers

THE
GLOBAL
AWARENESS
PROGRAM

Each year, the College
conducts Global
Awareness programs,
which are designed to help
students develop a better
understanding of their own
cultural values as well as
an appreciation for the
physical and cultural diver-
sity of the world; and
Global Connections pro-
grams, which provide an
opportunity for students to
enrich their classroom
learning with study-tour
experiences. In May and
June this year, the College's
Global Connections pro-
gram took 14 students with
Spanish professor Michael
Schlig and his wife to
Spain; and eight students
traveled with math profes-
sor Robert Leslie and politi-
cal science professor Juan
Allende to Nicaragua. Past
travel experiences have
included Mexico, Japan,
Ghana, Ireland, Jordan,
France, Israel, Greece and
India.

BEIJING AND BEYOND

*At the Great WBU.a
Chinese man and a
woman wanted to
take a picture with
several of us. They
wanted to know how
high we had
cUmbed,andlthink
they were happy
thatweAmericiuis
had taken an inter-
esiin ciiyir wall"
Melanie Wright 'oo

ami

^YOND

PARTICIPANTS

Ayse Garden '66,

professor of psychology
Harry Wistrand,

professor of biology
Carmen Bolivar '03
Anna Bone '02
Yvette Diallo '02
Elizabeth Eldridge '01
Nooshin Farhidvash '00
Loren Harmeling'oo
Brigitte Hogan '00
Einsley-Marie lanowski '00
Adrienne Manasco '01
Carla McAlister '02
Bethanie Lauren Myers '01
Elizabeth Patton '02
Lauren Sealey '02
Eve Smith '01
Amanda Thompson '01
Tracy White '01
Mendi Winstead '00
Melanie Wright '00

The sign appeared to be a political statement to Tiananmen Square guards but was really a message saying, "Well
done, Selinda. Congratulations," in Turkish and English to fellow student (and native Turk) Selinda Geyer, who was
competing in the NCAA Division III women's tennis tournament while the ASC contingent was in China.

seemed surprisingly honest in front of this
group of foreigners about the issues facing
their country. And students demonstrated
their preparation for the trip with probing,
incisive questions, noting both the similari-
ties and the differences with which China
and the United States approach their inter-
nal issues and their relationship with each
other.

Three weeks outside of one's own cul-
ture can be a shock, there's still no
place like home. But it helps that travel
in the 21st century is radically different from
even two decades ago Distance is no longer
much of a factor in communication. Parents
who bade their daughters
farewell for three weeks
at the Atlanta airport

dents added journal-like reflections. Parents
and friends in the IJ,S, often saw images of
students' activities before the students them
selves could view them on the Internet. A
cyber cafe near the

campus allowed
students to corre
spond by e-mail
with their wired
relatives The
cliche about the

ACNES SCOTT

saw them
return daily
through the
College's Web
site Harry
posted digital
pictures often
and the stu-

"It was surprising to see
the streets. It maizes me
feel guilty and spoiled
because 1 live a very lav-
ish life by comparison."
-Elizabeth Eldridge '01

shrinking world is a cliche because it is true.
As Lauren Myers '01 posted, "It's nice to know
that the people we care about can be with us
to see these incredible things, in a way."

In many ways, Beijing seems quite western-
ized. There is no shortage of McDonald's
and Kentucky Fried Chicken The televi-
sions in the Shao Yuan guest house at PKU
transmit a number of cable channels, one of
which is remarkably like MTV.

If the group needed a reminder that we
were not in America, however, it came the
morning ol our visit to Tiananmen Square.
Wc had planned a group photo in front of
the huge portrait of Mao Tse-tung at the
entrance to the Forbidden City. This photo
went off without a hitch But the students
also wanted to congratulate via the Web site

Continued on page 14

GRACE IN CHINA

An Agnes Scott alumna finds a new career /

chronicling her cousin's 40 years in China.

i-if^*<.-

-^ ^-j

rC*-^-

I

I
I

sia influences
Wk many Americans,

'^^ \ directly and by
association, as
Eleanor McCallie
Soper'68 will attest. After
one successful career. Cooper
began an entirely new one as
an author when she felt com-
pelled to write Grace in China,
the story of her cousin, Grace
Divine Liu, who lived in
China 40 years during tumul-
tuous times.

Grace Divine Liu did not
attend Agnes Scott, but
many of Cooper's aunts are
graduates. "I'm the ninth,"
Cooper says with a laugh.
The school's emphasis on
writing and women's lives

strongly influenced her. "I
gained a love of history and
became fascinated with
Asia." After graduating.
Cooper moved to Japan for
two years and taught
English at Kinjo Gakuin
University in Nagoya.

On her way to Japan,
Cooper stopped in San
Francisco to meet relatives,
and another journey began
this one into publishing.
"My aunt there told me
about Grace Divine, who
had lived in China when no
Westerners were there. I
eventually interviewed
Grace and became very
involved. I even moved in
to take care of her in

Berkeley, Calif.,
for the last year
of her life.

"Grace's
knowledge of
western literature,
history and art
gave her an
understanding of
what was happen-
ing in China. She grasped
what happens universally, in
revolutionary cultures. She
understood it, even when it
was traumatic and chaotic.
Her knowledge and attitude
helped her survive."

Cooper's cousin went to
the Orient because she mar-
ried a Chinese man, Liu Fu-
Chi, a hydraulic engineer.
They settled in Tientsin in
1934, and over the years,
raised three children through
nvasions, civil war, political
upheaval, floods, famine and
poverty.

Even as her American
family feared she had
become too sympathetic
toward China, Red Guards

3

William for alleged counter-
revolutionary activities. Liu
returned to America in 1 974
in poor health, but strong of
mind.

"Her perspective was
unique. She saw things a dif-
ferent way from most
Westerners, and that per-
spective is important for us
to see. Her experiences
changed me. Seeing what
she went through and how
she lived with courage gave
me the courage to write
about it."

After Liu's death at age
79, Cooper delved even fur-
ther into her cousin's life,
with the help of her co-
author, Liu's son William.
The two of them pored over
countless letters, documents,
notes and interviews. Still,
Cooper says the book would
not have been possible with-
out modern technology.
William Liu lives in
Vancouver, and Cooper lives
in Chattanooga, Tenn. "I
don't think we could have
worked on this project
together, before, but with
e-mail, we were in touch

several times a day,

instead of once every
two weeks."

Bobbie Christmas

13

BEIJING AND BEYOND

Continued from page 12

their tellow student Selinda
Ceyer, who was in
Minnesota as Agnes
Scott's first athlete to
compete in a national
tournament. She had
made it to the

"Lotus root, fried sweet bananas,
Peking ducl<, watermelon,
innumerable 'mystery' dishes,
doughy, sticky fruit-filled sweets,
lavender tea so many more
tastes than in an American meal."

Brigitte Hogan '00

finals, and the students had spelled out their
best wishes to Selinda, one letter per sheet
of paper.

As they held up their sign, this photogra-
pher clicked off a few shots and turned away
for a moment to seek a different angle. A
uniform was in my path to the better angle
and had no intention of moving. He said

"I will remember
the warmth of the
students that we
met and the won-
derful welcome
we received."
-Lauren Myers '01

something in Mandarin
My vast vocabular>'
consisted of "Coke" and
"thank you," neither of
which seemed appro-
priate. 1 pointed to
Amy.

Amy and the guard
exchanged a few unintelligible words. Then
she turned to me. "He wants your films."

Which film, I wondered. Each of my

cameras had one roll in it. 1 could part
with those, albeit reluctantly. The other
40-plus already-exposed rolls from the

entire week in Beijing hung in a bag over
my shoulder. Did he want those as well? All
of the photos from the trip?

One way to buy time in China, apparent-
ly, is to freeze in speechless stupor This
astute response prompted Amy and the
guard to step a few feet away to hash things
out. Ayse offered him the sheets of paper
with the message on it. Amy explained the
nature of the message. I covertly handed my
bag of film to Loren, the nearest student.

"Ihis experience has definffeiy
been a culture shock."

-Yvette Diallo '02

14

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Ml 1000

"I learned what it
means to be in a
political place.
There are soldiers
everywhere and
the smallest action
can be taken as
having political
meaning."

Amanda Thompson 'oi

"This is yours and it has anything btit film in
it, OK?" She nodded.

After a few excruciating minutes, the
guard agreed that our display did not consti-
tute a protest and had nothing to do with
Tibet, charges of nuclear espi-
onage or the US, House's
vote on the China trade bill
that would take place later
that day. Amy walked back
toward us. "It's OK, it's OK."

It was time for me to go to the
airport and for the students to
explore Tiananmen Square and the
Forbidden City without the nui-
sance of a tag-along photographer.
I found a taxi and headed toward
the airport, even looking out the
back window once just to make
sure no one was tracking me and
my subversive film.

No, we were not in America
But we had spent a week in a

fascinating culture seeing fascinating sights.
For the students, this week was, in more
ways than one, just the beginning of their
exploration of Beijing and beyond.

For more information on the Global Awareness
trip to China, including photos and journal
entries from Xi'an, Shanghai and Hong Kong (as
well as Beijing), visit the Agnes Scott Web
site at www.agnesscott.edu/china.

16

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE fiill jooo

HONORING A LEGACY

: As an American growing up in China, Sophie Montgomery Crane Uo
delighted in the riches oj two cultures, something she still cherishes.

Growing up as the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries to China, Sophie
Montgomery Crane '40 delighted in the cultural differences between her native
land and her adopted one. "I was very interested in their festivals," she recalls
Her family celebrated both the traditional Christian holidays, such as Easter
and Christmas, and also enjoyed the Chinese holidays, such as the lantern
festival for the Chinese New Year.

'The Chinese people made paper lanterns in all shapes: rabbits, birds,
dogs, butterflies and chickens. They put candles in the lanterns at night and
carried them through the streets," she adds.

Crane left China in 1936 to attend Agnes Scott, yet her fascination with
the country continued. China was closed to tourism for many years, but
Crane returned three times in the 1980s, once even with her siblings. She
and her surgeon husband also served as missionaries in Korea from 1947 to
1969.

Crane is the 2000 recipient of ASC's Alumnae Association Award for
Service to the Community.

As a result of her immersion in Asian culture and Presbyterian ministry, she spent 1 3
years researching and writing A Legacy Rememberid: A Century of Medical Missions, a book that
follows the medical missions of the Southern Presbyterian Church from 188! to 1983.
She visited nine countries and interviewed dozens of people. "1 gathered a great deal of
oral history on Africa, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Bangladesh and other countries."

Naturally, medicine took big leaps in 100 years. 'There's no comparison between med
icine now and what it was like when the medical missionaries started in 1881. By 1983,
they were doing dramatic things getting rid of parasites, curing smallpox, conquering
.leprosy."

Missionaries helped bring about some of those changes, too. "In China, missionary
hospitals were involved with finding a cure for kala-azar, a parasitic disease rampant
before World War II."

Medicine modified as well as governments. "China has gone through enormous
changes," Crane says. "I look back on my childhood with amazement, because
for me it was a happy, secure time, yet it was and is a very chaotic situation politically,
and missionaries and others lived through hard times. We did have to leave on short
notice once, but for the most part I felt quite secure."

Although Crane emphasizes that she is not an authority on women in China
today, she knows women there have become more autonomous and more educated
than they were. "In some cases, you see women being quite independent, but 1
suspect the old culture is still there. It's a patriarchy,- no question about that."

Someone once told Crane that her life in China was rather Victorian. She doesn't dis-
agree but adds, "I considered it a privilege to grow up in China." Bobbie Christmas

GARY MEEK PHOTO

Under the watchful eye of
Charlie Brown, Sophie
Montgomery Crane 'zjo (left)
receives the Outstanding
Alumnae Award from Dorothy
Reeves 'Z(9, then president of
the ASC Alumnae Association,
during Alumnae Weekend 2000.

17

BEIJING AND BEYOND

THE GREENING
OF CHINA?

After spending time with the
College's student delegation
in Beijing, President Bullock
visited conservation sites
in Yunnan with her son,
Graham, who works jor The
Nature Conservancy. The
following essay is her obser-
vations about a place that,
even with great challenges,
leads (he counliy ii\ a strui]-
gle to save the environment.

Two thousand miles from dusty,
polluted, traftic-clogged Beijing,
urban Chinese tourists climb to a
high Alpine meadow in the north-
western corner of Yunnan Province, sand-
wiched between Tibet and Burma. Throwing
aside traditional Han reserve, they mingle
with Tibetan, Yi and Naxi minorities don-
ning colorful native costumes for the inevit-
able photo opportunity. The fragile "Mar-
riage-Love-Suicide" Alpine meadow on the
slopes of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is
itself off limits, surrounded by a plank walk-
way that minimizes human impact. Discrete
signs in English and Chinese both educate
and remind; "There is only one earth,- pro-
tect our environment.'

Surprised? Yes, the focus on the environ-

ment in Yunnan Province suggests that there
may yet be hope for the greening of China.

Last year, the international fair, "Expo
'99 Man and Nature Marching into the
21st Century" was hosted by Kunming,
Yunnan's capital city. It attracted tens of
thousands of Chinese, Southeast Asian,
American and European tourists. The scale
and design of the fairgrounds remind one of
Epcot Center, but with a more noble pur-
pose: international environmental protec-
tion. All of China's provinces and more than
30 foreign countries sponsored imaginative
displays depicting their natural historv' and
unique flora and fauna. Many historic
Chinese gardens, with their unique blend of
natural stone, rustic pavilions and native
trees, were replicated, while Hong Kong
contributed a high-tech modernistic urban-
scape.

Yunnan's focus on the environment is eas-
ily understandable. The sixth largest
Chinese province, it has almost 40 million
people and half of all of China's plant and
animal species are represented here. It is by
far the biologically richest province in
China. Forty percent of China's medicinal
plants are endemic to this region, and it is
the home of the majority of China's endan-
gered plant and animal species. More than
500 species of rhododendron and azaleas
can be found here, the epicenter of rhodo-
dendron evolution. Camellias also originated
here. Lush tropical rainforests in the south
and old-growth mixed temperate forests in
the north constitute Chinas richest forest
regions. The province has already demarcat-
ed a number of zones for conservation and
protection, and is seeking international assis-
tance in doing more.

China's growing regional, if not national,
awareness of environmental issues comes
none too soon. Although numerous national
and provincial level environmental regula-
tions have been promulgated since the early
1980s, enforcement and implementation
have been problematic. Soft coal is the pri-
mary fuel for home and industry, and indus-
trial wastewater, chemical and human fertil-
izers still flow freely into most rivers and
lakes. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines
and aphrodisiacs are often derived from
endangered plants and animals, including
the tigers and rhinoceros. Large urban cen-
ters China has 40-plus cities with more
than 1 million people are plagued by
growing air pollution, and water contamina-
tion remains a serious national problem. The

18

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE F,ill ji

international community is concerned that
the massive Three Gorges Dam on the
Yangtze River, already well under way, will
result in yet unforeseen extensive environ-
mental damage.

In recent years Chinese scientists, politi-
cians and the press have given considerable
attention to environmental concerns. The
National People's Congress, traditionally a
rubber-stamp body, has frequent debates on
environmental issues. The massive floods of
1998 were the most recent wake-up call to
local and national leaders. Thousands of
deaths and devastated agricultural land
brought heightened awareness of the
destruction that can be caused when moun-
tains are logged indiscriminately.

Much of the concern about logging
focused on northwest Yunnan, which
includes the headwaters of four major Asian
rivers the Yangtze, Irriwaddy, Mekong and
Salween. For this reason, the issue of defor-
estation is particularly acute. It does appear
that the two-year ban on logging is begin-
ning to make a difference. In 1995 observers
on the high road near the Tibetan border
from Lijiang to Chungdian reported numer-
ous logging trucks, while in May 2000 none
were seen. Yet, the cultural and economic
challenges to such a ban are numerous. This
is one of China's poorest regions, and home
to 15 minority groups with their traditions
of using the land. Tibetan homes are made
entirely of wood. Heating and cooking are
traditionally supplied by firewood. New
modes of construction and energy sources,
such as biogas, will be required if Yunnan's
forests are to be replenished and protected.
American non-governmental organizations
such as the Ford Foundation, the World
Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy
have been working with Yunnan scientists
and governmental organizations to address
these issues and to develop stronger conser-
vation plans.

The challenge for all domestic and inter-
national environmentalists working in China
is to continue improving living standards for
China's 1.3 billion people while at the same
time developing a plan to protect its extraor-
dinarily rich culture and environment.

The complexity of this task is well-illus-
trated on the "Marriage-Love-Suicide"
Alpine meadow. Hundreds of years ago this
meadow, at an altitude of 9,000 feet, was
only visited when Naxi lovers who were
being forced into traditional marriages
escaped for a few days of happiness, and

then, group suicide. Today an Italian-made
ski lift transports tourists by the hundreds to
this once sacred site. Horses are available for
the more adventurous. Many new efforts at
environmental protection are quite visible
here, and, unlike many Chinese tourist sites,
little trash is seen. But visibly and publicly
adorning the heads of the Tibetan and Naxi
guides and dancers who make their living
entertaining the tourists are the whole pelts
of the endangered Red Panda, recently pur-
chased at a furrier in nearby Lijiang.

In China, as throughout the world, it will
take extensive popular education as well as
the enforcement of national and local envi-
ronmental policies to "protect and save our
environment." Notwithstanding the cultural,
political, economic and scientific challenges,
the progress that is being made in China's
Yunnan Province should encourage us all.

Pelts of the endangered Red
Panda adorn the heads of
those who entertain tourists to
China's Yunnan Province.
Far Ltrr: Mary Brown Bullock
and son, Graham, use the more
traditional transportation to
reach Yunnan's "Marrlage-
Love-Sulclde" Alpine meadow.

Jl

SENSE

/ i

e )

n \i

20

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Mi Jooo

)F PLACE

jSff

Agnes Scott graduates
combine architectural
acumen iinth the
woman's touch to create
just the right space.

This is the story of four
Agnes Scott women
separated by time,
interests and geography who
have worked throughout their
careers to create comfortable
spaces for thousands of people.
Folding ironing boards, atten-
tion to the height of library
shelves, resting-places for the
terminally ill and "do-able"
plans for inner cities are signs
of the their common vision.
While their work as architects
is as varied as the women
themselves, a single theme,
"hospes" (the Latin word which
is root to "hospitality," "hos-
pice" and "hospital"), flows
through the designs of these
creatives who strive to provide
appealing places for pilgrims
on their journeys through life.

>ii

By Dolly Purvis '89

Left: lla Burdette '81, AIA, leans
against one of Hospice LaGrange's
extra-wide doors, wliich she
designed so tliat liospital beds
can be moved easily into the
adjacent garden outside.

21

A SENSE OF PUCE

CHRIS TIEGBEEN PHOTOS

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yp

Ai^^l

H

111

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E

p9|

Creator oj Comjortable Homes

Helen Davis Hatch Crigftt) is
the managing architect and
architect of record for the
College's new campus center
and renovated and expanded
McCain Library, viev^ed above
from the south and in the cam-
pus center model below right.

Agnes Scott's tradition of educating
notable architects dates back to the
early part of the 20th century. Leila
Ross NX'ilburn, one of Atlanta's best known
architects, was a master at producing "pat-
tern books" and designs for urban apartment
buildings. She is the only woman of the era
known to choose pattern, or plan, books as
her method of practice Her specialty was
bungalow homes, and many of her creations
still survive in Atlanta and Decatur She
updated her style as the market demanded,
designing ranch-style homes in the latter
part of her career, for example. Among her
trademarks were the little things that made
life easier, such as built-in cupboards and
folding ironing boards.

Born in Macon, Ca., in 1885, Wilburn
moved with her family to Atlanta and
attended Agnes Scott Institute from 1902 to
1904. She received private lessons in archi-

Born to Be an Architect

tectural drawing and was an apprentice as a
draftsperson with Atlanta architect B.R.
Padgett. With no formal training in the pro-
fession, she opened her own architectural
office in 1909.

According to a profile prepared by the
Georgia Institute of Technology's School of
Architecture, Wilburn was the 29th architect
registered among 188 when the state of
Georgia required licensing for architectural
practice in 1920, she was one of two women
registered as architects in Atlanta.

Wilburn published her first book of mail
order plans, "Southern Homes and Bunga-
lows," in 1914. In 1922, she followed with
"Brick and Colonial Homes. " Three more
pattern books came later: "Ideal Homes"
(1925), "New Homes of Quality" (1930) and
"Small Low-Cost Homes" (1935). As her
career took off, Wilburn called herself a "sci-
entific designer of artistic bungalows."

Architecture runs in the blood of Helen
Davis Hatch "65. ""Actually, I had no
choice," she says. Hatch is principal in
charge of business development and is
involved in strategic planning with Thomp-
son, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates of
Atlanta. She is the managing architect and
architect of record for the Colleges new cam-
pus center and renovated and expanded
McCain LibraPi'.

Her mother is the first registered woman
architect in Alabama (and she continues to
practice), her father was an architect and
both brothers are architects. "When I was a

little girl, my father always took me to sites
with him. When our family took trips, we
went to construction sites."'

Hatch, a math major at Agnes Scott,
became a teacher after graduating. However,
after a few years she realized architecture was
her destiny.

When she graduated with a masters from
Harvard School of Design in 1973, she
dreamed of plying her trade at .Agnes Scott
"Agnes Scott is a wonderful campus with a
remarkable architectural vocabulary already
in place," Hatch notes. ""I've realized an
incredible goal "

22

ACNES SCOTT COLI.EGE Fall :a

GARY MEEK PHOTO

Creating hospitality spaces, such as a
campus center, is not new to Hatch, who is
best known for her work with convention
centers and hotels, including phase one of
the Georgia World Congress Center.

A member of the American Institute of
Architects (AIA), Hatch believes she and her
female colleagues working on the project
bring sensitivities unique to women
architects.

"1 think it is easier for us to relate to the
students and their needs. I know many
things about the library will have to be dif-
ferent, such as making sure the height of the

A SENSE OF PLACE

^5:-S'5-.

11 .,C:-\

Stacks are user- friendly, because women
tend to be shorter than men. One thing
that will remain the same, however, is striv-
ing for the 'bhssful joy of learning,' as the
quote says in an arch in the library's front
room '

Her personal experience with the library
has come in handy also because she remem-
bers very well the carrel in which she used
to study.

Even as a new architect m the mid-'70s.
Hatch, like Wilburn, was a forerunner
among women in her profession, "Architec-
ture is wonderful profession for a woman,"
Hatch notes, "We bring new perspective to

buildings, but when I went into it, less than
2 percent of architects were women "
A lot has changed since then. The
American Institute of Architects reports that
women constitute the most rapidly growing
segment of AIA membership since 1990.
Before the late 1960s, more than 100 years
after its formation, the AIA could count only
a "handful of women and minority archi-
tects" as members. A recent AIA survey
reports an increase from 10 percent in 1996
to 1 3 percent this year in the number of
licensed women architects employed at U.S.
firms, and that of all principals/partners at
firms, 12 percent are women.

"Invisible" Care^verjor the Dying

SHERRI BROWN PHOTO

Housing with a purpose" is the way lla
Burdette '8 1 , AIA, describes her work
with Perkins and Will (formerly Nix,
Mann and Associates), a national firm based in
Atlanta with offices in such cities as Chicago,
New York and Los Angeles. She focuses on
supportive housing: hospices, retirement
homes, assisted living facilities and other
multi-family dwellings.

An Agnes Scott trustee and Georgia's first
woman Rhodes Scholar, Burdette's interest in
architecture blossomed as a sophomore,
when she participated in the Office of Career
Planning's shadow program, spending time
with Dave Johnson of the firm that later
hired her. She has completed scores of proj-
ects during her career, including Hope Lodge
for cancer patients on the Emory University
campus.

However, the project nearest and dearest
to her heart is Hospice LaCrange, near her
hometown, Hogansville, Ca. A winner of
national awards, including the AIA Design
for Aging Citation, Hospice LaCrange is "a
unique place. Hospice programs themselves
are very special, primarily because the staff is
incredibly beloved by the community. They
are among the best clients I've ever had. I'm
very proud of my (native) community."

As un-institutional as a building can be.
Hospice LaCrange is about finishing life,
according to Burdette. Many of the people
who will experience life's end there are
retired, west Georgia mill workers or farmers,
like many of the people with whom Burdette

24

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE fall 3oi

grew up. Hospice LaCrange is her chance to
give something back to the community that
reared her "When you work at home, you
really put yourself on the hne," says
Burdette, But folks in LaCrange were so
Impressed with her work that they invited
her back to build a retirement home across
the street from the hospice.

Burdette's work on hospices draws on her
liberal arts education at Agnes Scott that
included courses in medieval and Renais-
sance history and literature even though
she was a math major

"Hospices have been built for centuries in
Europe. They are part of a tradition of hous-
ing and care for travelers, orphans, the poor,
the infirm, all those perilous straights geo-
graphical, physical, economic, spiritual.
Hospices aren't simply places to dispense
one-way charity, they're centered on the
blessings of giving and receiving, both sides
of the exchange."

Burdette appreciates the joys of re-
inventmg a building "program" that dates
back to the Middle Ages, to the Crusades
and beyond. "America has been building
hospices since about 1980. Until then, we
relied on home care programs. Hospices are
places where people can come close togeth-
er with their family and friends and pets to
finish up their living. For medieval man, life
was a pilgrimage and death was another

Helper of the Inner City

Revitalizing disadvantaged, inner city
spaces is a passion for Jill Owens '89.
She received her M.Arch. from
Washington University in St. Louis, but last-
ed about six months with an architecture firm.
After a stint working in redevelopment in St.
Louis and Memphis, Owens found her calling
with a small consulting firm. Development
Concepts, in Indianapolis.

"1 feel like I'm a cheerleader for central
city redevelopment," Owens says. "There are
many development opportunities. 1 have a
campaign mentality. Distressed areas can be
very complicated. I enjoy working with
neighborhoods and giving them hope again."

One example of her work is the re-cre-
ation of downtown Durham, N.C. "There
were many divisions in the community. As a
result of the plan, people came on board and

place along the journey. Hospices were a
place to rest along the way."

Her goal in designing hospices is to be as
unintrusive and accommodating as possible
so that the building does what the occupant
can no longer manage for her/himself. For
those who are losing their sight, she provides
well-lit rooms. For those who are hearing
impaired, she works on quiet spaces. The
buildings are designed so that people do not
have to walk very far to get to their appoint-
ed destinations. For those who must take a
breather, there are window seats with com-
pelling views strategically located along short
corridors. "The building invisibly makes up
for the losses they are experiencing so they
can focus on activities they enjoy, not those
they find difficult," says Burdette.

The dream of every architect, says
Burdette, is to make a building that funda-
mentally contributes to the life inside it, a
building whose design actually shapes and
enables its program. "Hospice LaCrange has
been one of my dreams."

"Magic" is the word she chooses to use
when discussing the process of pLitting up a
new structure. "You've known the building
from the time it was sketched on napkin. It's
an odd feeling to go into a building you've
not seen physically before and know what's
behind every corner and every door because
I you put it there."

.llL 1

realized they were not at odds with each
other,- the project is big enough so that
everyone can take a piece and have owner-
ship."

Creating a "sense of place " is chief among
Owens' concerns. Currently, she is working
on plans to redevelop a historic army base
outside Indianapolis. The project involves a
mix of office and residential space as well as
a town center, one of the trends in communi-
ty revitalization, according to Owens.

In addition to her responsibilities as plan-
ner and architect, Owens is often called on
to be a team builder, training clients to
implement plans and working to empower
neighborhood residents. "We work with
neighborhood residents to help them find a
greater sense of responsibility for their
neighborhood as well as a stronger voice."

Lh irtl I,

i:r

DESIGNING
WOMEN

; A student may combine
three years of liberal arts
studies at Agnes Scott

[ College with four years of

specialized work in archi-
tecture at Washington
University in St. Louis for
a combined undergradu-
ate/graduate program.
Upon completing the

three years at ASC and
the first year of architec-
ture, the student receives
the bachelor of arts
degree from Agnes Scott.
She then continues in the
graduate program in
architecture at Washing-
ton University for three
years to receive a mas-
ter's degree in architec-
ture. By taking advantage
of this cooperative pro-
gram, the student can
complete both degrees in
seven years.

25

A SENSE OF PLACE

BECOMING REAL

The College's
prile-winning
playwright
measures her
success by
helping students
recognize their
own moments oj
transformation.

By Dolly Purvis '89

Photography by

Sue elites and Gary Meek

She writes plays and wins awards for
them. But tor Marsha Norman '69,
her greatest thrill is teachmg young
playwrights. Since 1993, she has co-
chaired the playwrights program of
the luilliard School, and from time to time
she returns to the place that grounded her in
her craft to share wit and wisdom,

Norman is no stranger to Agnes Scott.
She is scheduled to be a speaker at the
College's 2001 Writers' Festival, she delivered
the Commencement address in 1988 and
again this spring, weaving the transformations
thread mto her own iourney and admonitions.

"When Did You First Know You Were
Joan of Arc?" was the day's lesson for the year
2000 graduates. After relating a few of her
own experiences at Agnes Scott, Norman
said, "...something important did happen to
me here. And something has, 1 suspect, hap-
pened to you. Because you've been talking
about transformation."

For loan of Arc, as it was for Agnes Scott's
latest graduates, the moment of transforma-
tion, according to Norman, was much more
subtle than most people realize.
"When did Joan of Arc really become a saint?"
Norman asks. "What is the real moment of
transformation, and how do you know you've
had one, and what do you do about it^

"When did Joan morph, cross the line,
become a saint? When the Pope said so? No,
no. She was already a saint by then, that's
what made him think of calling her one. Was
it when they lit the fire!' Certainly not. They
lit the fire because that's what we do to saints,-
we torture them.

"No. I'm sure the real moment of transfor-
mation was some very quiet moment, some
moment only Joan was aware of, some
moment when loan herself realized that
things were different now, that she had
changed. Joan saw it, saw her greatness, her
sainthood out of the corner of her eye, and
knew it was not just an option, not just an

idea, but an identity. In that moment of trans-
formation, Joan saw the truth at the center of
her known world, and nothing was ever the
same. But it wasn't the tmth itself that trans-
formed Joan, truth is everywhere. It was see-
ing It. And admitting to herself what she had
seen."

Normans own career changes have been
equally as subtle. She realized the transforma-
tion, however, when she understood that she
was a writer because she believed herself to
be one, not because other people said so.
Norman has been a moving force in
American drama for many years. Her work
examines some of the most difficult life and
death questions with which everyone wrestles
from time to time.

Calling her plays "house guests,"
Norman says, "People come. You don't
know how long they are going to be
here or whether you are going to be glad
they came or upset that they came. You have
no idea when they are going to leave "

Some ideas stay for a month and are never
thought of again. Some of the ideas, on the
other hand, she wishes would go home soon-
er. "You don't know what it's going to mean
for you. You don't know it it's just going to
cause trouble and heartache. Theoretically,
you could have some of these people come,
and it could be the end of your career, "
Norman laments.

She knows how to introduce these people
to the director who will ultimately put them
on stage for all to see The right directors,
according to Norman, must understand the
characters the same wav the playwright does
and must find their physical life. "That very
much can feel like a parenting experience,"
she says. "Here are the two of you looking
out for this play, and there can be the poten-
tial for disaster, even with someone you've
worked with previously. Just because someone
has directed one of your plays doesn't mean

26

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE f.ill looo

r^,- ^

^

^mn

n\

he or she can direct them all."

Not all collaborations work as well as
others, and the best ones are those that are
good for both the writer and director, the
ones when, after its all said and done, the
writer and director still speak to each other,
Norman adds.

Some ideas stay
for a month and
are never thought
of again. Some of
the ideas, on the
other hand, she
wishes would go
home sooner.

Evidently, she and the directors still speak.
In 1983, Norman won the Pulitzer Prize for
her play, 'hkiI'I Alol/jer. The play also won four
Tony nominations, the Dramatists Guild's
prestigious Hull-Warriner Award and the
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. A feature film,
starring Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek, with
a screenplay by Norman, was released in
August 1986. Hii/I'l Mo(l)fr has been translated
into 2.3 languages and has been performed
around the world.

She also received a Tony Award and
Drama Desk Award for her Broadway musical
adaptation of Tfce Secret Garden. Her first play.
Getting Old, received the John Cassner Play-
writing Medallion, the Newsday-Oppen-
heimer Award and a special citation from the
American Theatre Critics Association. Loi'iiii;
Drttiifl Booiif had its premiere at the 1992
Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival,
and Triiify f^liif premiered in the 1995 Humana
Festival and had its off-Broadway premiere at
Manhattan Class Company last season. The
New York Timei called Trtuiy Bhie a "beautiful"
work and a "vivid and stirring reminder of just
what a fine observer of the interior life she is."

Her most recent effort, the teleplay for The
Audrey Hephum Story, which premiered on
ABC, received rave reviews from coast to
coast.

Although her plays are well known, as a
writer she is protected from the gaze of the-
atre goers She can walk her dog without
people knowing they are passing a Pulitzer

winner She is able to rear her children with-
out continual tabloid scrutiny. "1 get enough
recognition to feel like I haven't disap-
peared," she adds, "but the privacy is great. "

Privacy, however, is not a luxur\' Norman
affords other people. "For a writer it's good
to be an observer, to be unseen, to watch
what's going on " she notes "I'm always tak-
ing a reading of who's here and what they're
thinking and what's going on with them.
Kind of like a radar sweep, I know thats on
all the time "

Such observation is necessary. "I really feel
like it's my work to see who is on earth with
me. I don't think you can write without this
sense of observation, without taking real
pleasure, because otherwise, you're just mak-
ing things up "

In her role as teacher, Norman not only
loves having an effect on young writers,
she also feels that she is paying back and
honoring the people who had the same effect
on her. "Some of them were here at Agnes
Scott people who have taken the time to
give me their wisdom and encouragement,
and 1 couldn't have done it without them, i
now understand that every young writer
needs a champion "

The late philosophy professor emerita
Merle Walker was Norman's champion at
Agnes Scott. "My experience with Merle
Walker was one of the life-changing experi-
ences for me I had a background in how to
think, how to approach problems, how to
organize my mind and how to know where
the taith of a situation is . I knew when I got
those As from her that it really counted.

'This is where I got what I operate out of
in terms of my education. Dr [William]
Calder, Merle Walker, Ben Kline these are
the people who made a huge difference in
my life. Roberta Winter was the speech
teacher and a tvrant, but I know that my
ability to stand up there and do what I did
today is [what] I learned from her, " recalls
Norman

Norman also attributes Agnes Scott tor
the seeds of her musical theatre life. As
accompanist to the College's dance group,
she learned the entire Broadway canon, pro-
viding show tune mtisic for the dancers as
they rehearsed. She was also a regular pianist
in the Hub and during Black Cat week.

For Norman's commencement address, go to
http://www.agnesscott.edu/norman/

28

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE F..II looo

LIFESTYLE

Designer of gardens, awakening artist and a museum interpretive planner.

GARDEN
DESIGNER

Virginia RocJ^well '79

Virginia Rockwell
'79 resides in a
gentle world sur-
rounded by nature, new life
and a special calling. That
calling was awakened in a
political science class taught
by former Agnes Scott pro-
fessor David Orr, a leader
in environmental issues. But
time passed before
Rockwell could answer.

Rockwell is among those
talented individuals who
squeeze several lifetimes
into one. After graduating
from Agnes Scott, she
earned an M.B.A. from
Columbia University in
New York. The successful
marketing and advertising
career that followed includ-
ed a stint with Coca-Cola.
During this time gardening
was an antidote to corpo-
rate stress.

In 1993, Rockwell
stepped off the corporate
ladder and landed in
Scotland. An extended
retreat at The Findhorn
Foundation became her
hands-in-the-dirt appren-
ticeship in organic garden-
ing. Findhorn rekindled

Rockwell's fascination with
sustainability, the interest
sparked by Orr "Dr. Orr is
the type of inspiring, mind-
expanding professor that
Agnes Scott attracts," says
Rockwell.

She followed her
renewed interest to the
Royal Botanic Garden at
Kew, London. Studying
with John Brookes, she
earned a Garden Design
Certificate. In 1995, she
was designated a Master
Gardener, and in 1999 was
inducted into the Virginia
Society of Landscape
Designers. Rockwell's liberal
arts education prepared her
for this latest career incar-
nation. "Landscape design

integrates many disciplines
and you must understand all
of them."

In 1995, Rockwell set-
tled in a rural area of the
Virginia Piedmont where
she met and married Robert
Bradford, a catde farmer
and building contractor In
spring 1996, she opened
The Gentle Gardener, a
retail garden center and
landscape design firm
(www.gendegardener.com).
F^er slogan, "For a garden
as pleasing to nature as to
the eye," underscores
Rockwell's commitment to
biodiversity and sustain-
ability. These practices
aided survival of her plant
inventory during last

summer's drought.

In true Rockwellian fash-
ion, she embraced the chal-
lenge, winning a blue rib-
bon for a garden display of
drought-resistant plants.
The Orange County Fair in
Montpelier, Va., was the
venue for Rockwell's prize
her third blue ribbon in a
row When not designing
award-winning gardens, she
teaches a series of land-
scape design workshops
geared toward sustainabili-
ty. Her latest creation,
daughter Stella Rockwell
Bradford, was born the first
day of spring, March 20,
2000.

A guiding principle of
The Gentle Gardener is,
"Call forth body, mind and
spirit to walk in beauty."
Virginia Rockwell's path is
guided by her passion for
creating beauty and her
quest for knowledge. "You
could say I'm a propo-
nent of life-

LIFESTYLE

SLEEPING

ARTIST

AWAKENS

Fran Patterson
Huffaker '57

Fran Patterson
Hutfaker '57
embraced her 1989
move to Japan as a learning
opportunity, and the expe-
rience has become a sooth-
ing force in her life. Both
she and her husband,
James, were trained as
chemists, and his job of
building a technical center
in Osaka took them to
Japan,

"I didn't know a soul, but
determined to absorb as
much Japanese culture as
possible," recalls Huffaker
Joining organizations
proved Huffaker's entree
into Japanese society.

Japanese/American Women
of the Kansai GAWK),
composed mostly of
Japanese women, became
her lifeline. "I think they
found Americans amusing,"
notes Huffaker, JAWK,
however, revealed a Japan
few tourists saw, and it was
on one of their day trips
that Huffaker met artists
talented enough to earn
the esteemed title of
"Living Treasures."

The Land of the Rising
Sun awakened the sleeping
artist in Huffaker. She had
enjoyed painting in the
early '60s, but took a 15-
year hiatus to teach chem-
istry. She took just one
painting class, sumi-e (ink
painting), during her five
years in Japan, but her
overseas sojourn influenced
the work she has created
since She speaks with

admiration for Japanese
simplicity. 'They make do
with veiy little. Less is
more in their art."
It was a year after

returnmg stateside before
Huffaker picked up the
baish again. "I was terrified
and wouldn't let anyone see
my work. I had to relearn
techniques and make mis-
takes "

As she gained confi-
dence, her mistakes were
replaced by works of art.
Her depiction of Japanese
kite fighting won second
place in a regional show
this year. In 1999, her
watercolor 'Jrish Sunrise"
earned Best in Show at the
Kingsport (Tenn.) Art
Guild, and other paintings
have earned honorable
mentions in various
exhibits. Huffaker's work
appears locally and in pri-
vate collections from
Boston to Florida. Despite
accolades, she paints strictly
for herself. "It's my tranquil-
izer. 1 enjoy beauty and
want to express joy."
Huffaker is one of three
in her family to attend
Agnes Scott her daugh-
' ter and grandmother are
also akimnae. "Agnes
Scott gave me self-confi-
dence " That confidence
has seen her
through the
challenges of
^0^k pursuing a
^^K career in a
^^^^ niale-domi-
^^^^^ nated field.

her master's in biochem-
istry from East Tennessee
State LIniversity while rear-
ing children, and entering
and winning art shows
after a long season away
from painting.

Nrtiicy Morf/iiiiii

ATRIP
TO THE
MUSEUM

Samantha Wood '93

Step into the swamp
sub at the Okefe-
nokee Swamp
Visitor's Center and Wild-
life Refuge, and you 11 be in
a world created by
Samantha Wood '93. You
may see other examples of
her handiwork at museums
around the country. As an
interpretative planner with
Malone, Inc , in Atlanta,
Wood prepares museum
displays for public viewing.

"In the project I'm cur-
rently working on at the
Okefenokee Swamp, visi-
tors enter a sutimarine-like
container that simulates
underwater swamp life
with light and sound treat-
ments, " explains Wood.
They shine light through
a porthole to reveal crea-
tures that live underwater.
Visitors open 'discovers'
drawers' to view plant and

Ice Fitti jooo

LIFESTYLE

animal specimens."

After graduating from
Agnes Scott with a B.A. in
English and creative writ-
ing, Wood earned her
master's in arts education/
museum studies at the
University of South
Carolina.

"Graduate school was
much easier for me because
Agnes Scott professors
had demanded such high
quality," says Wood.
"Many of my colleagues
struggled in graduate
school, because their
undergraduate experience
had not prepared them for
hard work,"

The job with Malone
offered Wood an opportu-
nity to develop educational
exhibits for many different
types of museums.

Permanent exhibits
make up the majority of
herwork. Recent clients
include the Museum of
Mobile and the Heritage
Center in Meridian, Miss.

She helps museums
determine what content to
present and the best way
of presenting it. "Our goal
is to impact the greatest
number of visitors. When
they leave the exhibit, they
should have a sense that
they really experienced
something. Especially ful-
filling are the times when
lifelong residents view a

history exhibit and leave
saying, '1 never knew that
about my hometown.' "
Seeing ideas become
reality is the best part of
Wood's job. After months
of discussing plans, choos-
ing content and writing
label text, the real excite-
ment is watching visitors
read what she's written or
interact with something
she's designed. But keeping
her customers happy is

Wood's biggest challenge.
"Usually, our clients spend
years raising money. They
have a Utopian vision of the
perfect museum. We are the
'reality police' who inform
them how much the things
they want really cost!"

Wood compares exhibit
planning to preparing for a
stage show performance.
"Writers develop the story,
designers create the back-
ground and then we have

opening day. The only dif-
ference is, our show never
closes."

The logistics of planning
and coordinating an exhibit
from start to finish may
seem a daunting task, but
for Wood, it's all in a day's
work. "And, 1 have the con-
fidence that if 1 made it
through Agnes Scott, I can
accomplish anything."

Nancy Moreland

AN

HONORABLE

CALLING

Krista Lankford '88

Integrity is the corner-
stone of the endeavors of
Krista Lankford '88. It
has to be her work can
determine the outcome of a
medical crisis. In her role as
medical director American
Red Cross Blood SeiA^ices,
Southern Region, Lankford
calls upon values she devel-
oped at Agnes Scott. This
personal honor code guides
her through life-or-death
situations on a daily basis.
Lankford's career might
seem an unlikely one, given
her eaHy aspirations. She
had wanted to teach English
and trained in the field of
education before switching
her major to biology. "I was
always interested in science

31

LIFESTYLE

and Agnes Scott's science
department had a very
stimulating group o( profes-
sors To this day, I have
maintained contact with
Hairy Wistrand," says
Lanklord.

After graduating with a
B.A. in biology, Lankford
spent the next year prepar-
ing for medical school. She
attended classes at George
Washington University and
worked as a research assis-
tant at [:mory.

Lankford then entered
Emory School of Medicme.
By 1994, she had earned
her M.D., and an intern-
ship at Chicago Rush
Medical Center followed.
She then returned to
Emoiy and completed a
residency in transfusion
medicine.

Blood safety and avail-
ability issues kindled
Lankford's interest in blood
banking. It was a field that
allowed pursuit of her dual
loves research and patient
interaction In 1999, she
spent a year as assistant
medical director of the
Grady Hospital Blood
Bank. She was appointed to
the Red Cross position this
past summer How did

a liberal arts background
prepare Lankford for the
demands of medicine? "A
broad-based education con-
tributes to work and life.

32

r,AOV MEEK PHOTO

"Knowing we provide a life-giving element is very gratifying," Krista Lankford of American Red Cross Blood Services.

Many of my Red Cross
duties are administrative
and managerial, 1 use things
I learned in math and soci-
ology classes. However,
being good with people is
the most important element
you can bring to medicine.
You must relate to patients
in terms they are comfort-
able with. A broad-based
background helps," she
says.

Lankford especially val-
ues her experience as an
Agnes Scott Honor Court
President "Honor Court
was a great training ground
because it emphasized per-
sonal responsibility. In my
work, people's lives depend
on my follow-through and
accountability," Lankford
explains. These qualities are
often tested. '"Only 5 per-
cent of Americans donate
blood, so we"re always deal-

ing with a shortage The
hardest part of my job is
closing emergency rooms
because there's not enough
blood available. If donations
grew by |ust 5 percent, we"d
have an adequate supply."'

If constant challenges are
part of Lankford's stock and
trade, so are rewards.
Recently, Red Cross staff
delivered a special blood
product to a critically ill
infant in time to save his
life. On another occasion,
Lankford met a Buckhead
shooting victim whose life
was spared through Red
Cross efforts. "At the time
of the shooting, she needed
100 pints of blood Her
family are now active Red
Cross volunteers," Lankford
says, adding, "'Knowing we
provide a life-giving ele-
ment is very gratifying.""

Gratifying and demand-

ing. Lankford's Red Cross
territory encompasses all of
Georgia, portions of Ala-
bama, Northeast Florida,
and South Carolina. She is
still on call at Grady and
Emory and takes time to
teach medical students.
Lankford approaches her
myriad responsibilities with
enthusiasm.

'The Red Cross CEO
and COO are proof that
women can and do succeed
at high levels of business,"
she says.

Lankford also credits
Agnes Scott with guiding
women toward careers tra-
ditionally dominated by
men. "Science and technol-
ogy have really blossomed
at Agnes Scott The college
has focused on excellence
in those areas."

NiWiy AlorfLiiiJ

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Full looo

EXCERPTS

POLITICAL
& SOCIAL
ACTIVIST

Everybody's Grandmother
& Nobody's Fool: Frances
Freeborn Pauley and the
Struggle for Social Justice

by Kathryn L Nasstrom
(Cornell University Press,
2000)

The political activist
life of Frances
Freeborn Pauley '27
spans 50 years, beginning
witfi fier endeavor to estab-
lish a free health
clinic in DeKalb
County, Ga., and
culminating with
her efforts on
behalf of people
with AIDS.

Throughout al
these years, she
fought discrimination
and .prejudice, seeking
to ensure the rights and
dignity of every human
being.

A champion of civil
rights and racial justice
and an advocate for the
poor and disenfranchised,
she was a fearless activist, a
"doer" She earned a reputa-
tion for always being pre-
pared with the facts when-
ever she attended a meeting
or confronted a legislator
and for being a superb
strategist who worked the

system for the benefit of
the less fortunate.

In 1984, the Agnes
Scott College Alumnae
Association recognized
Pauley with its Award for
Service to the Community.
This year, as Pauley turns
95, Cornell University
Press released a book about
her. Everybody's Grandmoiher &
Nobody's Fool, Frances Freeboni
Pauley and the Struggle for
Social Justice.

The book's title is a
description bestowed

on Pauley years ago by
Julian Bond, now chair of
the National Association
for the Advancement of
Colored People. In the
foreword, he says, "Our
paths intersected in the
early 1960s, and she was

everywhere there was racial
conflict then, but when her
name is mentioned today, 1
think of her in one place
the second-floor hallways
of the Ceorgia State
Capitol, outside one of the
legislative chambers, calm-
ly buttonholing legislators
one by one, explaining
how a proposed amend-
ment to the budget or the
budget itself would wreak
havoc on Georgia's
defenseless poor When 1
arrived there in 1966, she
had been haunting those
halls for a quarter of a cen-
tury. Everyone knew Mrs.
Pauley.

Through rich oral his-
tory, Pauley recounts her
life's story in her own
words. This book also
contains autobiograph-
ical material
and the
author's
intro-
duction
and
com-
ments
on
Pauley's
life.
Pauley moved
with her family from Ohio
to Decatur when she was a
small child. She credits her
parents for instilling the
values that continue to
guide her life. When it

came time for Frances to
attend college, her mother
was ill so Pauley enrolled
at Agnes Scott College.
Although she was a math
major, her true love was
drama.

In the book, she says, "1
majored in math, and 1
think the teacher that
meant the most to me was
Miss Gaylord, who was a
math teacher, an absolutely
excellent teacher 1 always
admired her so much. 1 was
also interested in drama,
but they didn't have a
major in drama. Still, 1 took
all the drama they had and
playwriting. We put on our
own plays, and 1 directed,
acted, and wrote. 1 got to
know Miss Good in the
Department of Spoken
English real well because 1
took all the speech classes.
She had a fit when 1 went
into civil rights work. She
called me up, tried to dis-
suade me. She thought 1
was just throwing my life
away. But, overall, Agnes
Scott certainly taught me
to be a serious student, a
very serious citizen, that
life is real, life is earnest.
That was the attitude of
the faculty as a whole.

"Miss Nan Stephens was
the playwriting teacher. 1
liked her the best, and 1
learned a lot from her that
1 have been grateful for It

33

EXCERPTS

ought to be a required sub-
ject for everyone to take
drama, to have to play a
role, be somebody else I
think it teaches you so
much about walking in
somebody else's shoes, and
gives you a lot of insight
into working with people
and much more sympathy
for any kind of person. It
also adds so much to the
enjoyment of your life,"

Pauley used her flair for
drama to achieve her polit-
ical and social goals. In the
book, she says, "I've always
said my dramatic training
served me in good stead,
I've used it more than any
other training that 1 got in
college "

In the tumultuous '50s
when Georgia public
schools were in danger of
being closed, Pauley and
other concerned women
from various civic groups
journeyed to the state capi-
tol with the intent of filling
the gallery and relaying
their concerns. They went
early to be sure of getting a
seat, wore hats and white
gloves and sneaked small
signs into the building by
hiding them under their
coats. These women
remained scrupulously
quiet, so much so that the
legislators noticed their
quietness. When one of the
senators said something

34

about public schools, all
the ladies held up their
signs saying "We Want
Public Schools." Everyone
downstairs turned and
looked again at these still
quiet women with their
signs.

On another occasion,
Pauley had women unfurl
signed petitions that had
been taped together as a
way to stress that great
numbers of people wanted
public schools.

Acutely aware of her
position in life, Pauley
earnestly has tried to live
daily in a way that matched
her commitments. For
example, she decided not
to support any organiza-
tion that was segregated,
which meant she and her
family resigned their coun-
try club membership. Such
a move placed a bit of a
burden on Pauley because
they lived across the street
from the country club and
frequently took guests
there for meals

Throughout this relating
of each of her experiences,
Pauley repeatedly states
that she was so fortunate to
be a part of this particular
activity, that she learned so
much by doing each one,
and that she wished she
could have done more.
This attitude seems to be
an integral part of her life.

Now retired in Atlanta,
Pauley laments that age
prevents her from keeping
the fast-paced life of
activism that so defined
most of her years.

Everybody's Grmnimother
and Nobody's Fool is being
used by Agnes Scott pro-
fessor Tina Pippin in her
first year seminar course,
Religion and Human
Rights in Atlanta, this fall.
The book's author, Kathryn
Nasstrom, is associate pro-
fessor of history at the
University of San Fran-
cisco.

Jmnijer Bryon Owen

APOCALYPTIC
BODIES

The Biblical End of the
World in Text and Images

(Routledge, 1999)

Agnes Scott Associate Professor
and Chair of Religious Studies
Tma Pippin, is the recipimt of the
first American Academy of
Religion E'xcellmce in TeaclmuJ
Award She unll receive the
award at the AAR annual meet-
ing in Nashville in November
FollowiniJ is a review of her latest
hook.

Tina Pippin's most
recent work on the
Apocalypse of lohn
(a.k.a., the book of

Revelation) continues to
demonstrate the same pas-
sion, integrity and cutting-
edge intellectual curiosity
that marked her earlier vol-
ume. Death and Desire. The
Rhetoric of Gmder 111 the
Apocalypse of John (West-
minster John Knox Press,
1992), and that she always
brings to the classroom.

The new volume.
Apocalyptic Bodies: The Biblical
End of the World in Text and
Image, combines four essays
previously published in
other books and journals
with four new essays and
20 black and white images.
While the focus remains on
John's Apocalypse, Apoca-
lyptic Bodies also includes
essays on the "little apoca-
lypse" in Mark 1 3, the
image of Jezebel (first
drawn in I Kings 16
through 11 Kings 9), and
the story of the tower of
Babel (Genesis I 1 ). Rather
than place these texts under
the objectifying and dis-
tancing lens of traditional
historical-critical modes of
interpretation. Pippin
employs a rich array of
disciplinary perspectives
and tools, including auto-
biography, post-modern lit-
erary and cultural theory,
feminism, gender and
sexual politics, and studies
of fantasy, pornography
and hoiTor.

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE fall jooo

The result is a strong
and provocative statement
of Pippin's perspective not
only on John's Apocalypse
and the other focus texts,
but on the (horrifying) gen-
erative power of apocalyp-
tic materials throughout
the Bible and western cul-
tural history to the very
present moment at the
turn of the millennium.

Following John J.
Collins, one of the ~

leading contemporary
interpreters of Jewish and
Christian apocalyptic text.
Pippin defines "apocalypse"
as texts "about the end of
the world but also any total
destruction, or any revela-
tion about 'any catastrophe
of such a scale that it seems
to put this world in jeop-
ardy.' " It is the "excess" in
such materials that bothers
Pippin, especially the vio-
lence associated with the
God of the Bible. In popu-
lar imagination, such apoc-
alyptic imagery are primari-
ly about fire and brimstone,
death and destruction.
Pippin wants to hold our
feet to the fire, so that we
can neither ignore or dis-
miss the dark side of these
texts, nor balance the bad
with the good. Where
some extol "the imaginative
richness" of apocalyptic lit-
erature, Pippin sees "a deity
gone wild, not on the side

'what remains
is the misogy-
ny and exclu-
sion by a power-
ful, wrathful
deity. In the
Apocalypse, the

of love but of hate
and vindictiveness, induc-
ing earthly terror to gird
the glory of heaven. The
real terror is that the tor-
ture never ceases; the tor-
tures of the abyss are end-
less. From the Apocalypse
through the next 2,000
years of Christianity, the
terrors of hell increase.
That is where the real
'imaginative richness' can
be found; in subsequent
apocalypses and journeys
of hell, God becomes 'more
and more dangerous.' "
Pippin argues that in John's
Apocalypse, "God is as
much a power of domina-
tion as any other power,
only this apocalyptic mani-
festo calls for total obedi-
ence." After all the
attempts to read the
Apocalypse at a safe dis-
tance or to redeem its mes-
sage have been exhausted.

It is evident from the
outset that most of these
essays were written prima-
rily with an audience in
mind within the guild of
Biblical scholars. They pre-
sume conversance especial-
ly with some branches of
post-modern literary and
cultural theory. Some of
the more accessible and
interesting portions of this
study are to be found
where Pippin talks of her
own experience growing up
in the South, visiting her
great uncle in KKK territo-
ry, working alongside

EXCERPTS

migrant farm workers in
the tobacco fields of east-
ern North Carolina, or tak-
ing her classes to visit
'Tribulation Trail" presenta-
tions at Halloween in fun-
damentalist churches in
Atlanta.

I've heard it said that
the mark of good teaching
is not in the answers trans-
mitted but the questions
raised. While not all read-
ers will find Pippins' per-
spectives congenial, these
essays nonetheless provoke
important theological and
cultural questions that we
dare not ignore. Does
apocalyptic world view
"represent a virus in the
theological body?" Is Cod
held to a different moral
standard than God's ene-
mies? "Is this an amoral
deity poised to mn amok
on the world?" What does
it mean to read apocalyptic
texts ethically? Is abuse,
domination, violence and
finally extermination the
bottom line for the God
worshiped by Jews and
Christians?

The questions Trna
Pippin raises in this book
are not merely theological
trivia, unlike many books
today on this subject, but
they take us to the dark
heart of western theological
imagination and culture.

Stivi Saimders

35

LETTERS

Dear Editor,-

Bravo! Greetings from
a loyal friend of The
College! Kudos for the
Spring/ Summer AlLIMNAE
Magazine! 1 was thoroughly
impressed with this latest
edition and cnioyed reading
it cover to cover Thank you
for keeping me on the mail-
ing list 1 always enjoy read-
ing the latest ASC scoop.
Best wishes for continued
success.

Holly M Raifoni
jormer employee

Dear Editor,-

After scanning the article
on Equity and Justice, 1 find
1 "cannot NOT" respond.

First, 1 would qtiestion
the premise that we as a
nation have prospered by
"exploiting" other countries.
Id like to know when and
how, unless it's because their
most productive citizens left
to come to America.

Our country has not
always been prosperous
The early Americans had a
life as difficult, il not more
difficult, than citizens in
third world nations today.
Only because our economic
system enabled people to
rise above their circum-
stances have so many people
cnioyed a decent standard
of living

Not only their descen-
dants, but the entire world
has benefited from their sac-
rifices. The climate of
opportunity, freedom, and
yes, even capitalism, has
enabled our nation to feed
the world, defend the world,
clean up the world, finance
the world, etc Demoting
America to a third world
nation would not help other

36

nations Quite the contrary

In like manner, how
would It help anyone for
Agnes Scott to divest itself
of its endowment and
become a fifth-rate college
or become extinct? What
influence would
it have then?
Some peo-
ple believe
that American
business helps
the local econ-
omy and raises
the standard of
living by giving
jobs to people in
other countries.
(Our unions

complain about losing the
jobs to overseas.)

1 also question the state-
ment that the other nations
are worried about their debt
to us. The average citizen
elsewhere doesn't know
about It or care about it
because it doesn't affect
them. Although the "debt"
exists, no one, especially
their leaders, and certainly
not ours (if they are realis-
tic), expects the debt to be

repaid. So why is a year of
"Jubilee" necessary? (Inci-
dentally, this is a perfect
example of taking Biblical
"truth" out of context, but
that is another subject. ) We
are the ones who worry

about a national
debt, because we
are the ones who
pay exorbitant

THE 1 taxes. The more

BUSINESS L 1

OF 1 successful one is,

the more you

are penalized,

EqUTTY I and the more

you are made

to feel guilty.

Apparently, the

worst crime in America is

being successhil.

Frances V Puckett '52

JackiO}wille, Fla

Dear Editor,-

The latest alumnae maga-
zine with Its articles on
Ashley Seaman and Callie
Curington was a big hit with
Presbyterian alumnae in the
Charlotte area. 1 thought
you would like to know. I
got more calls about that
magazine than 1 have about

anything from Agnes Scott
since 1 left in '97. it was
wonderful to see pieces that
generate such enthusiasm
from alumnae.

Congratulations are in
order for the PR staff.

Paige M.McRighi' 68

former ASC chnphmi

Charlotte, N.C.

Dear Editor,-

1 got your alumnae maga-
zine and read it immediate-
ly 1 thought you might be
interested to know that
Malie Bruton Heider '66
performed beautifully in a
local production of U'll at
the Trustus Theater here.

The other piece of infor-
mation you might be inter-
ested in was that in the arti-
cle about Patricia Collins
working at Callaway
Gardens, you either did not
know or forgot to mention
that Elizabeth Walton
Callaway '47 is one of the
owners of the gardens.

Thanks for an interesting
magazine.

Chriitma Y Parr MD^ '47
( olumhui S.C

CONTRIBUTORS

Mary Brown Bullock '66 is

president of Agnes Scott
College and grew up in Asia
as the daughter of mission-
ary parents.

Bobbie Christmas, owner
of Zebra Communications
in Atlanta, is a freelance
writer.

Nancy Moreland is a free-
lance writer based in
Woodstock, Ga., whose

work appears in trade and
mainstream publications and
on the Internet.

Jennifer Bryon Owen is the

Office of Communications'
director of creative services
at Agnes Scott College and
editor of the ACNES ScOTT
Alumnae Magazine.

Dolly Purvis '89, former
manager of news services in
the Office of Communi-

cations at Agnes Scott
College, is now editor of
The Champion, a DeKalb
County newspaper

I

Stan Saunders is associate
professor of New Testament
at Columbia Theological
Seminaiy in Decatur, Ca.

Chris Tiegreen is editor of
ALiiii Evcnli and contributing
editor to the AGNES ScOTT .

Alumnae Magazine,

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Full 3000

GIVING ALUMNAE

Galapagos Islands ignite a spark.

I am a biologist!" Jane Gaines Johnson '55 states emphati-
cally. It is such enthusiasm for this science that fash-
ioned her journey from being a biology major at Agnes
Scott College to being the donor of a biology research
award at the College.

She recently created the Jane Gaines Johnson
Collaborative Research Award, an endowed fund that will
provide support for research conducted jointly by faculty
and students in the biology department.

Between earning her master's in biology from Vanderbilt
University and taking a number of years off to rear her son
and daughter, Johnson worked in labs for the state of
Tennessee, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and Massachusetts General Hospital. When she returned to
the work force at age 50, it was to work for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers at the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant
in Washington, D.C., where Johnson rose from microbiolo-
gist to chief of the laboratory.

"I loved being back in the lab, doing the work, smelling
the smells," says Johnson. "This particular lab was not exact-
ly modern. It became my responsibility to assure that we
passed the Environmental Protection Agency inspection. 1
enjoyed the challenge."

Returning to the lab was a bit overwhelming at first, says
Johnson, because so much in the chemistry lab had
changed. "It was a challenge to learn to handle such things
as automatic titrators," says Johnson. "Not that much had

changed on the biology side. All I had to do was remember
and learn newer modifications of the tests i already knew
how to perform."

Two years after she returned to working in a lab, Johnson
had the opportunity to go to the Galapagos Islands on a trip
led by John Pilger, ASC professor of biology. "The
Galapagos Islands were a destination that had interested me
since 1 studied evolution at Agnes Scott, so we went," says
Johnson.

"It was a thrilling experience. After the first day's hike on
the first island we visited, I returned to the boat exhausted
but happy. My only thought was that we had seen it all.
What could we have in store for the remainder of this trip?
How wrong I was! The exciting developments continued to
unfold."

Now in retirement, Johnson and her husband, Ralph,
travel extensively, going at least once a year to African coun-
tries such as Tanzania and Kenya on photography safaris.
This year's trip is to Namibia.

But, it was the trip to the Galapagos Islands and the
respect she developed for Pilger and his work that ignited
Johnson's interest in the biology program at the College.

"When I found that, thanks to the stock market, 1 had
enough to share and to put to work for a good cause, I want-
ed to express my appreciation for what Agnes Scott had
done for me," says Johnson. "It was a 'no brainer.' "

Jmnijer Bryon Owm

37

GIVING ALUMNAE

Agnes Scott College

THE WORLD FOR WOMEN

141 East College Avenue
Atlanta/Decatur, GA 30030-3797

f rot)! the anticjuity oj ll)t ULi Siimmti PaltKC [abovi:) to the
social and scientijk incfiiiry oj kadincl universities, Agnes Scott
studatts explored China in depth on a Global Awareness tour
in May. Occurrintj at a critical time in U.S. -China relations,
the trip represents a ^rou'iiit/ awareness by ASC scholars oj
the importance oj Asia. For more on A^nes Scott and China,
see the (]uest column (inside front cover] and pages 6-i9.

PHOTOS AND STORY BY CHRIS TIEGREEN

ALUMNAE M A,.iiA Z I N E

c^'

5*

^^*

COTT

Winter 2001

It;

>afe*-

J^' h

TA

si!

I lijp
Hi:

^ iBiri

^*liP

S^v^ Frantiers For ASC

GUEST COLUMN

A^es Scott gave me a life of promise beyond my plan and flexibility to cope with an
unknown future-, now my plan is to give something hack. Uzanne Stephenson '84

In the movie Biick to the Future, Michael J. Fox's character finds
himself shuttled back in time to his parents' teen years. He
has the chance to alter outcomes positively, and he does. But,
he must get shuttled forward to his own life at a precise moment
in time or he will be stuck in the past forever Although carefully
planned steps go awry, he ultimately makes it back. 1 like nice,
neat plans that work.

For the past nine months or so, I've been involved as a volun-
teer with Bold Aspirations: The Campaign for Agnes Scott
College. Entering Agnes Scott in the fall of 1980 as a Return-to-
College (RTC) student, 1 had no idea that the College or philan-
thropy would play much of a role in my life. I was there I
thought as a stop on my way to medical school. 1 had a plan.
There was work to do and no time for new friendships or
involvement in the College community. With a toddler at home
and a second child due to arrive during the winter break, I
guarded my time. I would graduate in 1985 and start medical
school the next fall. 1 had a very neat plan.

Warp speed finds me in 2001 . My daughters are 23 and 20. I
work for a private foundation following 12 years serving as a
professional fund-raiser for two nonprofit organizations. No, I'm
not a doctor The College, too, has made some warp speed
changes and finds itself in new strategic directions. It's 2001, and
I've decided to make a significant gift to the College for the
Campaign.

What happened to my great plan?

My daughter arrived two weeks late: whole quarter
missed. Returning spring quarter, I stumbled, exhaust-
ed, into Mary Boney Sheats' required Bible class. In
that class, I met first-year student Meg Jenkins (now
Locke), who took me under her wing (after I con-
vinced her to quit calling me "m'am"). Meg was my
first Agnes Scott traditional age friend, 10 years
my junior So much for the "no time for friends"
part of the plan. The new plan survival had
taken over. I learned a lot about the Bible that
quarter, and 1 learned that Agnes Scott College
was going to challenge me in new ways.

While the phrase "critical thinking" was not
part of my lexicon much less intuitive

process I came to understand that it was expected of Agnes
Scott students. Over the next four years, 1 continued on with my
intentions toward medical school, but on an altered course.
1 became a French major, participated in Black Cat and spent
many hours in the dorms. My daughters were sighted periodi-
cally on campus. In great part because of my friendship with
Meg, I accelerated my studies and graduated with the class
of '84.

What does any of this have to do with my decision to make
a gift to the Campaign?

The future that is now my life has unfolded in ways that
would have been impossible without an undergraduate degree. I
could have earned a degree elsewhere,- but Agnes Scott is essen-
tially different from other institutions, and I have come to value
that difference. My Agnes Scott years gave me gifts that 1 carry
with me still: the ability to think critically,- the love of learning
as a life-long process,- an understanding of the

importance of community, friendship,
family and spiritual life. The
College's priorities are academic
excellence, a curriculum for the new
century, commitment to communi-
ty and opportunity for personal and
spiritual growth the very elements
that have come to shape my life,

often without my awareness.
Agnes Scott College
equipped me to take on
challenges regardless of
their fit in "my plan."

I want the College
to be able to offer to
others the many bene-
fits I've received. That's
why I'm compelled and
pleased to support
Bold Aspirations and to
give back to the future.
I encourage you to
do the same.

CONTENTS

A^nes Scott College Alumnae Magazine
Winter 2001, Volume 77, Number 2

4

Friends for a Lifetime

By Tish Young McCutchen 73
The endurincj frimdships begun on
campus continue to be one oj the most valuabh
benefits oj an Agnes Scott education.

Sweet Charity

By Celeste Pennington
Phenomenal changes occur as women
create a new climate and attitude about
what they can do with their money.

It All Adds Up

By Dolly Purvis '89

An alumna jinds out just what can

happen from "a very small beginning

n

A Rich History

By Lewis Thayne

Past campaigns reveal the determination of College leaders to

develop an educational institution of the highest equality.

New Answers to Old Questions

By Christopher De Pree

Dedication of the renovated and renewed Bradley Observatory

and Delafield Planetarium create excitement about new frontiers.

A Stellar View

By Jennifer Bryon Owen
Her love of Agnes Scott
College and of astronomy
fuels campaign leadership.

Ways to Give to ASC

From outright gifts of cash to charitable trusts, there are
many opportunities to contribute to tomorrow's ASC.

DEPARTMENTS

2

On Campus
21

Worldview
25

Lifestyle
28

Letters & Contributors
29

Giving Alumna

COVER: The renovated and renewed
Bradley Observatory opens new fron-
tiers of research and exploration for
ASC students. kieran Reynolds photo

Director of Communications:

Mary Ackerly

Editor: Jennifer Bryon Owen

Contributing Editor: Chris

Tiegreen
Designer: Everett Hullum
Intern: Victoria Stopp 01

Copyright 2001, Agnes Scott College.
Published for alumnae and friends three
times a year by the Office of Commu-
nications, Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
Annex, 141 E College Avenue, Atlanta/
Decatur, CA 30030.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
Office of Development, Agnes Scott
College, 141 E. College Ave., Atlanta/
Decatur, CA 30030 (404) 471-6472,
The content of the magazine reflects
the opinions of the writers and not the
viewpoint of the College, its trustees or
administration

e-mail; publications@agnesscott.edu
Web site: www.agnesscott.edu

ON CAMPUS

Opportunity kiwcks, Habitat, Sotto Voce

ONE THING
LEADS TO
ANOTHER

The promotional materi-
al from Warner Bros.
Pictures reads, "For nine
months prior to World War
II, in an act of mercy
unequalled anywhere else
before the war Britain con-
ducted an extraordinan,' res-
cue mission, openmg its
doors to more than 10,000
Jewish and other children
from Germany, Austria and
Czechoslovakia. These chil-
dren, or Khuier (sing. Knui),
as they came to be known,
were taken into foster

homes and hostels in
Britain, expecting eventual-
ly to be reunited with their
parents. The majority of
them never saw their fami-
lies again."

Cayce Callaway '84,
while pursuing talents and
interests honed at Agnes
Scott College, became one
of two associate producers
on Warner Bros ' documen-
tary film Into the Anns oj
Stnwijers: Stories oj the Kinder-
transport^ The film, released
last fall, tells the story of
the Kinder, lust prior to the
film's release in Atlanta,
Callaway returned to the
College and talked with the

Lessons learned at ASC helped prepare Cayce Callaway '84 for her role as
associate producer of the Holocaust film, Into the Arms of Strangers.

Holocaust class taught by
K.athy Kennedy, associate
professor of history and
department chair, about her

two-and-a-half-year
involvement with the film.
"It made me much more
aware of how we treat peo-

OUT IN THE COLD

cy rain and bitter cold offered several Agnes Scott
students first-hand experience of homelessness
during an especially cruel winter season. One
November night, members of the ASC Habitat for
Humanity chapter denied themselves warm beds for
the opportunity to huddle In cardboard boxes on the
porch of Rebeltah to bring attention to the problem
of homelessness. A few students were too ill to
sleep outside, but managed to tough out a night in
the hallways of their residence hall. The students
braved the elements throughout the night after
receiving sponsorship to offset the cost of a spring
breal( building project. Lucia SIzemore '65, director
of student/alumnae relations and adviser of the
College's Habitat chapter, described the second
annual campout as a success and urged anyone
interested In the fight against homelessness to con-
tact her at (404) 471-6061. - Victoria Stopp '01

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE rt'.nto jooi

ON CAMPUS

pie. 1 think we look at the
Holocaust as an extreme. It
was viewed as normal but
went awry, so I learned how
quickly things can go
wrong with what is 'nor-
mal.' We cannot tolerate
any kind of discrimination
because it can be uncon-
scionable," says Callaway.

"The film put a face on
the Holocaust, and it's
harder to dismiss, it made
me very aware."

According to the film's
producer, Deborah Oppen-
heimer, this project takes a
different path from many
Holocaust films because it
is not just about the Holo-
caust This film is about
love, loss, survival and
memory. It's about parents
and children. The pro-
ducer's mother was one of
the children.

Callaway attributes her
qualifications for her job in
film production to Agnes
Scott, where she majored in
theatre. 'Through theatre, I
learned to work as part of a
group, and I learned how to
move from the beginning
to the middle to the end of
a project."

After graduating, Calla-
way studied directing in
California but decided that
at 22 she didn't have
enough life experiences to
direct. She went to Los
Angeles to act, but that

wasn't satisfying. When her
marriage ended, she started
taking pictures. "The break-
up of my marriage taught
me to see in a way I hadn't
before."

One thing led to anoth-
er, as they say, and Calla-
way enrolled in a literature
class through UCLA's ex-
tension program. This
desire for life-long learning
instilled at Agnes Scott
put her in a class with
another student who was
producing a documentary
on the Kindertransport.

"My work on the film
started with my just helping
out, and then Deborah real-
ized I could write another

thing I received from Agnes
Scott."

Callaway moved into the
role of head researcher and
photo researcher she
unearthed 2,700 archival
photographs. Her research
caused her to travel exten-
sively, following the Kinder-
transport route as well as
conducting intei^views. She
also served as creative con-
sultant and artistic director
for the companion book pub-
lished by Bloomsberry Press
m the LInited Kingdom.

At times the work was
depressing. Others who had
been involved in similar proj-
ects warned Callaway not to
watch too much footage at

one time, urging her to vary
the kind of work she did
each day.

"I remember reading one
person's letters from her
parents, and they were try-
ing to parent through those
letters, 1 felt as if I was
intruding m their lives."

Her involvement in the
film has led to a new ven-
ture for Callaway. "I'm
going back to Los Angeles
and start a program teach-
ing photography to chil-
dren. I've realized the
impact you can have on

children."

For more information on the
film, go to;
www.intothearmsofstrangers.com.

Jmnijer Bryon Owm

AROUND THE WORLD

Sotto Voce, directed by Lyn Schenbeck, enter-
tained College alumnae, friends, faculty, staff
and trustees last fall at the announcement of The
Campaign for Agnes Scott College. This group has
been invited to tour and perform in Bulgaria and

Romania next summer by Friendship Ambassadors,
a nonprofit group that works with state depart-
ments overseas to promote American culture. In
preparation, Sotto Voce members are learning the
music in Bulgarian and Romanian, studying the
languages and cultures as well as reading literature
on and from these countries.

ON CAMPUS

FRIENDS

FOR A LIFETIME

The enduring friendships begun at the College continue to be one
of the most valuable benefits of an Agnes Scott education.

By Tish Young McCutchen '73

One fall afternoon m 1934, a
young girl, just 16, was handed
by her father into a passenger
car of the Chesapeake & Ohio
train at Newport News, Va.
The train and the girl were bound for Rich-
mond, Va., where the train would head west,
and the young girl would change trains and
head south. For the train this was a regular
occurrence; for Elsie West, a life-changing
experience. She was leaving family and home
and heading into unknown territory: Decatur,
Ga , and Agnes Scott College.

The next morning, Joyce Roper also board-
ed a train, the Southern, in Spartanburg, S,C,
She, too, was leaving her family and home
and embarking on an adventure As had Elsie
West, Roper, too, wore a purple-and-white
ribbon to help drivers recognize her when she
arrived in Atlanta, She, too, was headed for
Decatur and Agnes Scott College.

These young women thought they were
beginning their education. What they didn't
know was that they were about to discover
the friend of a lifetime.

What is a friend?

For Joyce Roper McKey '38, 66 years into
her friendship with Elsie West Duval '38, the
answer is simple, "I trust Elsie,"

"I've got lots of friends, but Elsie is number
one. We've laughed and we've cried a lot
together I've been through two life-threaten-
ing illnesses, and every day my husband called
Elsie to tell her how I was.

"She wanted to come down, but he dis-
couraged that. But I must have known how
much she wanted to be with me, because my
husband tells me that in my not-so-Iucid

moments, I would talk to Elsie just as if she
were sitting in the room with me. In a way, I
think she was there with me. It's a very com-
forting thing to have a friend like that."

McKey and Duvall are the first to say they
are not at all alike. And that was as true when
they were 16 as it is now that they are in their
80s. "Oh, yes," says Duvall. 'Joyce was always
a 'joiner'. And she took college much more
seriously than I did. I was getting a degree to
please my parents, I never thought of their
making sacrifices to send me to Agnes Scott
I was the one making the sacrifice to go there!
I'll never forget the first time I heard Joyce
talking about getting a job after graduation to
repay her parents for the sacrifices they had
made. I said, 'A job?' I'd never given one
thought to working."

"Elsie never had any idea she was so pret-
ty," says McKey "She had narcolepsy, and she
had to work so hard to keep up with her stud-
ies because she would fall asleep. I think she
needed me a little bit. She put herself down. I
was challenged to make her feel good about
herself. And that made me feel better about
myself."

The two met when neighbors on the third
floor of Inman Hall their first year. By sopho-
more year, they were roommates and found-
ing members of the KLlSes (pronounced
"cusses"). "It stood for 'Kappa Up So Late',"
giggles Duvall. "We went to the 10-cent store
and got ID bracelets with KUS on them. We
thought we were really something."

After graduation McKey did get a job, at
the Davison-Paxon department store. Says
Duvall proudly, "She was a great success. She
was the first one to put on a fashion show at

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE Wimct 2001

the Cloister resort on the Georgia coast. Of
course, the main reason she wanted to do that
was because her fiance was playing golf
there." McKey and her husband have been
married for almost 60 years.

One reason Duvall's parents sent her to
Agnes Scott rather than one of the Seven
Sisters women's colleges was so she wouldn't
fall for a "Yankee." However, as soon as she
returned home after graduation, she promptly
met and fell in love with a Yankee who had
moved there to work. Duvall has lost two hus-
bands,- McKey has been to each funeral.

"As you get older, often that's when you
see your friends, at funerals or at the wed-
dings of your grandchildren," says Duvall.

Although living hundreds of miles apart,
geography hasn't kept these two distant. They
have taken several trips together, including
participating in Agnes Scott's Elderhostel
experiment in the mid-1980s. In the late
1950s, when their children were old enough
to leave at home and before Duvall's first hus-
band died, the couples met each spring in
North Carolina for a mini-reunion along with
several other Agnes Scott classmates.

What keeps them connected when they're
not together? "Writing letters," says Duvall
without hesitation. "Of course we talk on the
telephone now, but we never got in the habit
of long phone conversations. Besides, I have
always chronicled my life by writing down
whatever happens, when it happens. Every
time something happened to me, I'd write it
down and send carbon copies to my most inti-
mate friends. Now, when I can't remember
something, 1 can pull out my old accounts. I
told too much, in excruciating detail but it's
wonderful to have reminders of what hap-
pened long ago."

McKey says affectionately that she has
"Elsie files" at home. "Letters have kept us
close to each other," she agrees. "Our friend-
ship has developed into so much more since
college, and our letters have helped make it
so. We have a very special relationship."
These women felt so grateful to Agnes Scott
for bringing them together that when they
returned to campus one year for Alumnae
Weekend, they brought a plaque commemo-
rating their friendship that was installed in the
Alumnae Garden.

The friendship of Dot Holloran Addison
'43 and Swanna "Betty" Henderson
Cameron '43 began in 1939, when
they arrived as first-year students at Agnes
Scott and found themselves neighbors in

Inman Hall. However, their friendship became
something special in the dining room of
Rebekah Scott Hall, where on Wednesday
nights they would dine in long gowns with
invited faculty members. For Addison and
Cameron, Miss Emma Laney was both their
favorite guest and the symbol of the scrupu-
lous integrity of the Agnes Scott experience.
For her part, the venerated chair of the
English department was the catalyst that
brought the two young women together in a
friendship that has extended for decades and
embraced their husbands and families.

"Miss Laney understood us very well from
the beginning," says Cameron. "Dot was a
scholar,- 1 was a challenge."

"1 don't know how to explain why I liked
Swanna so much," says Addison. "She had
some quality 1 didn't have ... depth, maturity. I
was drawn to her by some lack in me."

Cameron has her own first impression of
Dot. "It's hard to describe how brilliant Dot
was."

These two friends commemorated their
friendship and also their respect and affection
for Emma Laney in 1989 by making a joint
gift to create the Emma May Laney Endow-
ment Fund, which provides funds to enhance
the College's writing program and enrich the
College's cultural life by bringing "lecturers,
scholars, and other distinguished visitors" to
campus for extended visits.

While Addison has lived in Atlanta and
Cameron in Wilmington, N.C., all of their
lives, they have held tightly to the connection
forged at ASC. "With Swanna, it's as if she is
moving along just where and when 1 am.
That's the genius of the relationship over
the years, the things I was doing and thinking
and reading, she was too," says Addison.

Their friendship has embraced their fami-
lies. In fact, when Addison and her husband,
Tom, lost their daughter Sara, Cameron hon-
ored Sara's memory by establishing the Sara
Burke Addison Fund at the College to be used
for professional development of the humani-
ties faculty.

Addison credits Agnes Scott for the lasting
friendships such as these. "Agnes Scott attracts
the kind of young women who are bound to
make lasting h-iendship. Something in them
reaches out to others."

Editor's NotE: After this article was written, Dot
Addison's husband passed away. Betty Cameron attend-
ed the funeral. Just a few weeks later, Addison was
present for the dedication of the Elizabeth Haiderson
Cameron Reading Terrace in McCain Library.

Far Left: For more than 6; years,
Joyce Roper McKey and Elsie West
Duval have been friends since
meeting as first-year students at
ASC in 1934. Their formal dress was
required for Wednesday night din-
ners during their years on campus.
Above: Dot Addison and Betty
Cameron became friends in 1939.
They VKere recently together for the
dedication of the Elizabeth Hender-
son Cameron Reading Terrace.

FRIENDS FOR A LIFETIME

SWEET

CHARITY

Phenomenal changes occur as women create a new
climate and attitude about what they do with their money.

By Celeste Pennington

In July 1995, news media around the
world picked up on an announcement
made by a university in the South. A
woman Oseola McCarty had given
to the University of Southern Missis-
sippi a $150,000 scholarship fund out of the
$280,000 savings accrued over her lifetime
of work as a laundress in Hattiesburg, Miss.
"It's not the ones that make the big money,
but the ones who know how to save that get
ahead," McCarty explained her simple phil-
anthropic strategy.

While McCarty's sweet charity was
acclaimed in the halls ol Harvard University
(with an honorary doctorate of humane let-
ters) and in the White House I with the
Presidential Citizen's Award), she was cir-
cumspect. "We are responsible for the way
we use our time on this earth, so I try to be
a good steward I start each day on my
knees, saying the Lord's Prayer Then I get
busy about my work 1 find that my lite and
work are increasing all the time I am
blessed beyond my hopes "

For those interested in trends, McCarty's
gift seems to signal a shift occurring in
American philanthropy from a predomi-
nantly male millionaires' club to more grass-
roots giving often led by women. "Terms
like new wealth, old wealth, wealth transfer
and e-giving arc all inadcc|uatc for describ-
ing and understanding the renaissance that
is taking place in philanthropy, " tielieves
Emmett Carson, CEO of the Minneapolis
Foundation, who spoke in a Share the
Wealth summit recently. Anyone can be a
philanthropist.

He echoed the unpretentious message of
the late Oseola McCarty: To make a life-
changing gift may require honest work and
thoughtful planning But one does not have

to be fantastically wealthy Or male.

It's an idea not lost on Anne Register
Jones '46 as she joins in Bold Aspirations:
The Campaign for Agnes Scott College.
"We haven't reached women in the way that
they should be reached concerning gifts for
the College.

"When I graduated, we could join the
Alumnae Association for $2, " she remem-
bers. "While that was a lot of money in
those days, I don't think 1 fully understood
the concept of giving. The alumnae who
have leadership roles today are excited that
this new campaign can effect a culture
change from modest giving to participation
in philanthropy. I think women have finally
come to the decision that It is time for us to
step up to the plate "

She acknowledges that women's reluc-
tance to give significant gifts in the past may
be tied to the fund-raiser's equal reluctance
to ask Recent research supports that. When
asked for a gift, the percentage of women
responding Is actually higher than that of
men. huifpendent Sector reveals that women
also give more generously. While women in
1996 earned only 75 cents for every dollar
earned by men, they gave 93 cents for every
dollar given by men.

"My theoiy is, you should give until you
feel It," says Margo Smith, director of devel-
opment for the Atlanta Womens Founda-
tion. "If $25 Is nothing, you need to give
more " The Atlanta Women's Foundation Is a
catalyst for change for women and girls, pri-
marily through raising ftmds and distributing
grants. One way the foundation encourages
young philanthropists is through their Des-
tiny Fund, to which a dozen or so women
members each commit to giving $500 a year
for five vears. Members advise how the

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE W.mi-r 2(Xl

"/ will not be remembered
jor philanthropy. But
together, we are philan-
thropists. My classmates
have been absolutely
astounding. We're really
excited. Our time at the
next reunion will be a
milestone. You may see us
screaminc) and hollering
and acting like teenagers'."

funds are used for causes that range from
domestic violence to rape prevention to teen
pregnancy. 'This is thinking strategically,"
says Smith 'This is thinking about giving as
an investment: What do I want my money
to do in this world to effect change?"

With a sustained, healthy economy and a
large transfer of wealth already beginning,

Smith says people are naturally thinking
about where to direct their resources
"People have made money. My hope is that
we realize that we can buy only so many
cars and second homes."

Anna DaVault Haley '51, of Greenville,
S.C., has seen the power of women thinking
strategically and pooling their resources

WOMEN POISED TO GIVE

THE GOOD NEWS

business owners/executives

Women outlive men by an

are active, generous philan-

average of seven years leav-

Q In 2000, 50 percent of this

thropists. More than 50 per-

ing 85-90 percent of them in

country's wealth transferred

cent give in excess of

chargeof family financial

into the hands of women.

$25,000 annually to charity;

affairs. -Kelly Bolton, Merrill

-Boston College Social

19 percent contribute

Lynch, 1999

Welfare Research Institute

$100,000 or more.

3 Amongtop women wealth

- National Foundation for

AND THE BAD NEWS

holders In 1995, the average

Women Business Owners,

net worth was $1.38 million,

April 2000

Less than 6 percent of

slightly higher than for men

:j By the close of this centu-

foundation and corporate

wealth holders. Women car-

ry, 90 women's funds had

funding goes specifically to

ried less debt.

been established, up from

women's and girl's programs.

-IRS Statistics of Income

the original 11 started in the

Atlanta Women's

Bulletin, Winter 1999-2000

1970s. Women's Funding

Foundation

In 1999, there were 9.1

Network, 1999

In charitable bequests,

million women-owned firms

At least $41 trillion will

men left nearly 40 percent of

with 28 million employees

pass from one generation to

their gifts to private founda-

generating $3.6 trillion in

the next by 2044. -Paul

tions-women bequeathed

sales. -National Foundation

Schervish and John Havens,

less than 25 percent to such

for Women Business Owners

Boston College Social Welfare

foundations. -IRS: Statistics

High net worth women

Research Institute

of Income Bulletin, 1999

when about 120 from her class launched a
five-year plan to raise $51,000 by their 50th
reunion as a "Vision Gift" inspired by the
inaugural address theme of President Mary
Brown Bullock '66. "We called it the 51
Club," Haley says with a gentle laugh. "Some
would be able to give $5.10 some could
give $5,100 or better

"As we speak now, we are at $151,000!"
reports Haley. (At press time, just after
Celebration Weekend, the figure was
$250,000.) "If you put dollars beside it, 1 will
not be remembered for philanthropy. But
together, we are philanthropists. My class-
mates have been absolutely astounding." To
give at that level and accomplish so much
more for the College has resulted in a flush
of pleasure for the Class of '5 1 . "We're really
excited. Our time together [at the next
reunion] will be a milestone," says quiet-spo-
ken Haley. "You may see us screaming and
hollering and acting like teenagers!"

While women's earning power is still less,
in many ways women are catching up with
men. Roughly two thirds of all jobs created
in the 1990s were filled by women. The
average income of women is increasing at a
greater pace than that of men, and the num-
ber of women in middle management now
totals 44 percent. Women-owned businesses
increased from 2.6 million in 1982 to 5.5
million in 1992. That year also marked a
change in how women were challenged to
give.

Instead of holding an auction or charity
ball to raise campaign funds for members of
the Democratic Party, a group of 1 20 pros-

1 ^

^^^

perous women and their friends were invited
to Denver to raise $1 million in a day. The
theme was "Serious women, serious issues,
serious money." Its organizers, who included
Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore, called it
"October Million Dollar Day."

It was also a record-breaking year for sup-
port of female political candidates who
received only $10 million less, total, than
males running in U.S. House and Senate
races. For her own campaign. Sen. Barbara
Boxer of California raised $10 million. Two
thirds of that money came from women.

The new female political contributors are
baby boomers. These women are the best-
educated generation of all time. Many have
enjoyed lucrative careers. They have had an
extraordinarily small number of children
and in the next decade they will be writing
an enormous number of wills. That translates
into a lot of dollars for philanthropy, pre-
dicts demographer Harold Hodgkinson.

In fact, in the next 20 years about $7 tril-
lion will pass into the hands of baby
boomers. Since women outlive men by seven
years, as many as 90 percent of women will
be solely responsible for their finances at
some point in their lives.

A challenge to give a substantial gift to
Agnes Scott College recently caught the
imagination of Anne Markette '84, senior
vice president and sales team leader, Private
Financial Advisers, Wachovia Bank in
Atlanta.

Markette, who majored in economics, is
pleased that her gift would be matched by
her employer She feels doubly good that

GIVING

SMART

Pooled funds and giving
circles are often grass-
roots organizations that
afford working women
the means to be involved
in major philanthropic
giving, notes Andrea
Kaminski, executive
director of the Women's
Philanthropy Institute in
Madison, Wis. Another
way is to examine and
sometimes alter one's
giving patterns.

"Women tend to
spread their giving
around $25 here and
$35 there. So often we
think that we cannot have
an impact, but we can."

To better understand
that potential, and to
bring focus to giving,
Kaminski suggests this
exercise;

At tax time, total the
amounts of your gifts for
that year (including all
those many smaller gifts)
and then multiply that
total by the number of
working/giving years.
'This will be an eye open-
er," she predicts.

Establish a philan-
thropic mission.

Measure each organi-
zation that requests funds
against what you wish to
accomplish with your giv-
ing.

Narrow future gifts to
what you consider three
important causes.

"When a woman looks
at it this way, she can
realize what an impact
she could have over a
lifetime of giving," says
Kaminski.

ler charity will honor her parents. Since she
las served on boards at the Woodruff Arts
Center and the Botanical Gardens and
chaired a junior League placement on the
board of Children's Health Care of Atlanta,
Markette is keenly aware of what alumnae
support ultimately means to the institution.
"If you ask a foundation or trust or com-
pany for money, their first question is: Tell
me what percentage of your alumnae give?'
If you stack us up against the other women's
colleges, we don't score very well. These
groups are not looking for the amount, but
the percentage of people who give. We all
get counted in the number. If we can't get
$ 1(1,000 because one alumna failed to give,
it becomes a high price to pay. Our alums
are just beginning to understand the magni-

de of that
"1 would say that 99 out of 100 graduates

ould say they were proud to go to this
school, but 1 don't think our percentage of
giving is a number they would be proud of. "

Adelia Thompson, assistant vice presi-
dent for development, agrees. "I've heard
Lewis Thayne, our vice president for institu-
tional advancement, say many times that

Agnes Scott College has all the pieces in
place to be the best liberal arts college in
the country save one important thing: We
seriously lag behind comparable schools in
financial support in dollars and percent-
ages from living, connected alumnae The
College has had some enormously generous
people in the past or we wouldn't be m the
endowment shape we are in. But our ability
to move forward relies on the alumnae who
will step forward now and make the differ-
ence. One goal of the Campaign is to grow
the College's support base through sus-
tained, generous giving by alumnae beyond
the Bold Aspirations campaign. '

With alumna President Bullock at the
helm, alumnae and development officers
alike are optimistic about the shift in alum-
nae giving. "That place is on fire, ' says
Jones. "When I walk across the [Woodruff]
Quadrangle, I see the new student center,
library and dining hall and students
everywhere. I'm reminded of the friendships
I forged, and how thankful I am that others
helped make possible my years at Agnes
Scott Now its time for me to pay back to
the future.' "

8 STRATEGIES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE GIVING

By Martha Taylor

spouse should have
equal say about which

7

causes you hold dear
TEACH the art of phi-

1

BEGIN your philanthro-

causes your contribu-

lanthropy to the next

py as early in life as

tions support and the

generation Instill in

possible. Even if you

amount given

your children, and the

can't give as much as

4

GIVE if you can

young people with

you'd like, your gifts

out of principal to the

whom you associate.

will add up and begin to

causes you are passion-

the values you treasure

form your legacy.

ate about. Think of

and your commitment

2

FIND your passion, and
focus your gifts, rather
than scattering them.
Think about two or

your philanthropy as
you would a child, your
investment in the
future of our world.

8

to support them.
HAVE FUN with your
philanthropy. Celebrate
your birthday with a

three areas or causes

5

CONSIDER, even if

philanthropic gift that

i

you want to support,
and make this your
philanthropic mission.

you don't have so much
money, the strength of
numbers. Organize with

you might not have
thought possible.
Surprise your friends by

Not only will your gifts
have more impact, but

others to provide a
pooled gift that can

giving in their name
or to a nonprofit of

you also will find your
giving more satisfying.

6

make a project possible.
LEVERAGE your giv-

their choice. The possi-
bilities are endless.

3

WORK for parity in

ing. Increase your

giving in your house-
hold. You and your

impact by challenging
others to support the

2000, Women's Pfiilantfiropy
Institute, Madison, Wis.

A RICH HISTORY

Campaigns from the past reveal the desire and determination of College
leaders to develop an educational institution of the highest order.

By Lewis Thayne

President Mary Brown Bullock '66
points out on occasion that Agnes
Scott's superb endowment was built
with gifts most of which were given
during the first half of the last centu-
ry. The early history of giving to Agnes Scott
is an interesting story in large part because our
current history continues this proud legacy.
In the first 75 years of the College's exis-
tence, there was rarely a period when the
school's leadership was not in "campaign
mode." This was a College where the word
"enterprising" and its cousin "entrepreneurial"
seemed to fit well.

Agnes Scott College's first fund-raising
campaign was the founding of the school
itself. In a city of 1,000 residents, from a
church with 300 families, one generation after
the devastating effects of war, Frank Henry
Gaines set forth the idea of a female seminary.
To raise the money, shares of stock (at $50
par value) were issued. Thirty-six people
bought a total of 107 shares. Among these
was George Washington Scott who purchased
40 shares.

Gifts Large and Small

From the beginning, private gift support has
enabled the College to realize its educa-
tional goals, and the College's fund-raising
success resulted from the combined support of
a wealthy few and a larger number of moder-
ate means.

It is important to note that these early
gifts, shares in the corporation, were seen and
spoken of as investments in the education of
youth and specifically of women. Many who
bought shares did not have children who
would attend. The investors were simply peo-
ple who believed in liberal education of high
quality. Among his goals for the school,
Gaines hoped that before he died the com-
bined assets of the College, both physical
plant and endowment, would reach
$1,000,000. He came close to realizing this

dream and passed his ambitions in this area to
his successor

In 1915, James Ross McCain arrived in
Decatur to take up his duties as registrar of
the College. By his own report, the registrar's
job was to increase the number of students at
the school and to raise money for endowment
and development. In 1923, McCain became
the second president of Agnes Scott, and his
presidency was built on the foundations of the
early work Gaines hired him to perform.

During McCain's tenure, the College con-
ducted three campaigns before the crash of
the stock market in 1929 and five after. All
were successful and the school reached an
enrollment of more
than 600 during the
McCain years. Every
fund-raising campaign
had a precise purpose
and an identifiable pat-
tern and plan. McCain
began with an appeal to
the General Educational
Board of New York, today
the Rockefeller Fund. He
then made the first gift to
the campaign. All employees
were always solicited for sup-
port. Trustees provided the
leadership and were a major
factor in the success of the fund
drive, as were their friends
among wealthy Atlanta citizens.

McCain then enlisted volun-
teers in all the counties of Georgia,
in all the counties in the South where there
was a Presbyterian church, focusing particular-
ly on the alumnae. It was an article of faith for
McCain that every family in the Southeastern
states benefited from the educational influence
of Agnes Scott College and therefore could be
solicited for support of the school.

When McCain wanted to make the case
for a fund-raising campaign in 1955, he need-

"Every dollar will
be used to nourish
the elements
of greatness in
Agnes Scott."

1948 campaign
case statement

Women's Colleges
with Phi Beta
Kappa Chapters

1. Agnes Scott

2. Randolph-Macon
Woman's College

3. Sweet Briar

4. Goucher

5. Wilson

6. Barnard

7. Vassar

8. Mt. Holyoke

9. Smith
10. Wheaton

Wellesley

Radcliff

Elmira

Wells

Rockford

Milwaukee-

Drower

11

A RICH HISTORY

Dear Wallace Alston:
Thank you for the
opportunity to take
any part you will per-
mit me in the cam-
paign to make your
great college great. As
you know, 1 have had a
growing affection for
you through the years.
My heart's with you.
Always yours,

Robert Frost

February lo, i960

On campus with President McCain Is
Robert Frost, the honorary chairman
of the Seventh-Fifth Anniversary
Campaign. Few colleges can boast a
poet laureate for their campaign
chair and few poet laureates would
attach their name to a college effort
they did not believe in strongly.

12

ed only two illustrations One showed the
location of private colleges for women east of
the Mississippi with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter
(see page 1 1) to indicate centers of academic
quality. Agnes Scott stood alone m the
Southeastern states. It is interesting to note
that several of these other colleges no longer
exist or have become coeducational. The sec-
ond chart showed the financial assets of the
top private women's colleges, where Agnes
Scott ranked just behind the so-called Seven
Sisters of the East.

These illustrations publicize a school of
significant accomplishment and with
high ambitions. McCain was inter-
ested in building a college with
the financial resources to
make it better than any in
the nation. He under-
stood deeply the con-
nection between finan
cial resources, cam-
paign fund raising
and academic excel-
lence

McCain con-
ceived of the
College's fund-raising
campaigns compre-
hensively. Although
their direct result was
financial support, the
indirect result was more
students. Fund-raising activ-
ity and publicizing the quality
of the College solidified its repu
tation among the synods of the
Presbyterian church, all of the counties in
Georgia and throughout the Southeast. TTie
campaigns made possible the building of facil-
ities that were not merely functional but also
ornamental and as beautiful as those of any
college in the country, a key principle with
McCain. Finally, the campaigns built an alum-
nae network and required a measurable out-
come of the educational enterprise in Decatur

Apart from the validation that establish-
ment of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter or of
Mortar Board conferred on the school,
McCain surveyed the personal and profes-
sional outcome of our graduates as reinforce-
ment of the case for supporting the College.
For example, he reported in 1955, during
Wallace Alston's presidency and McCain's
active retirement, that of our 10,000 gradu-
ates, two thirds had married, one third had
gone into educational work and 10 percent of
these had gone into business.

He reported 20,000 donors, cumulatively,
to all of the kind-raising campaigns so that he
could state proudly, "Agnes Scott has been
made possible by the sacrificial giving on the
part of people of very moderate means. " To
illustrate his point, he added later that even
with the bequest of Frances Winship Walters
in Coca-Cola stock valued then at $4.5 mil-
lion, only half was to come to the College
right away. The second half must be matched
"dollar for dollar" in order to come into the
College's portfolio. Thus, Mrs Walters' trans-
forming gift was meant to stimulate the

earnest and sacrificial giving of people
of moderate means over the next
nine years of the Seventy-
Fifth Anniversary
Campaign.

The Drive for
Greatness

In his Presiiietit's
Report of (957,
President Wallace
Alston noted that
of the 1,800 institu-
tions of higher edu-
cation in America,
only a very few had
achieved "greatness."
His report defines
what makes an institu-
tion truly great, chief
among them a faculty of
teacher-scholars and a high-
ly selective student body.
But when he wrote in his
annual report that 'we deeply desire, as an
educational community, to achieve greatness, "
he indicated that the imperative of greatness
led him to say, 'This [desire for greatness]
will mean dealing with the need for adequate
financial support on a continuous basis
through a development program that is realis-
tic, intelligently aggressive and integral to the
administrative structure of the College. To
secure the money to finance a first-class col-
lege is, then, imperative if Agnes Scott is to
deserve to be called a great College."

Almost 75 years into the history of Agnes
Scott, Alston reconfirmed the original vision
of a College with the highest ideals and, as a
counterpart, the always-present ambition to
achieve greatness by matching those ideals
with a vigorous fund-raising program.

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Wmlir jooi

NEW ANSWERS

TO OLD QUESTIONS

Words spoken at the dedication create excitement about new frontiers.

By Christopher De Free

Bradley Observatory
and the spaces in it
are at once old and
new. The familiar shape of
the old building is now com-
plemented by the octagonal
form of the new planetari-
um. The old pathway in
front of the observatory has
been enlarged and formal-
ized with the addition of a
new educational observing
plaza. And the shape of the
curved wall that once cra-
dled the old planetarium
has been reproduced in the
curved walls of the back
foyer. The dedication of
Agnes Scott College to
excellence in women's sci-
ence education is old. The
opportunities that this
observatory will now pro-
vide to women interested in
astronomy are altogether
new.

In this observatory, stu-
dents in collaboration with

13

NEW ANSWERS TO OLD QUESTIONS

CAROLINE lOE PHOTO

scientists from the Georgia Tech
Research Institute will be able to probe
the atmosphere monitoring pollutant
levels above Atlanta with a powerful
laser. They will be able to view a pris-
tine night sky, filled with 7,000 stars, as
seen from any location on Earth at any
time. Students will be able to guide
remote telescopes from a desktop com-
puter. They will be able to observe the
night sky with one of the largest tele-
scopes in the Southeast. And they will
be challenged, whether they are major-
ing in astronomy or history or philoso-
phy, to think creatively about our place
in the universe.

When this observatory was first
dedicated in 1950, there were no satel-
lites; humans had not walked on the
moon; the solar system was unex-
plored by robotic probes; and pulsars
had not yet been discovered. What
astronomical discoveries and mile-
stones will the next 50 years bring?
Human settlements on other planets?
The imaging of extrasolar planetary
surfaces? The discovery of life on
Europa, one of the moons of lupiter? Of
course, we cannot know. All we can be
sure of is that the next 50 years will
provide new answers to old questions.

As we begin a new era in Bradley
Observatory, it is my hope that this
building will continue to be a meeting
place for science, music and art, and to
be more than simply the sum of its
parts. I trust that what will make it
more is the daily interaction between
people between teacher and student,
artist and scientist, musician and
child that can take place here.

Words written by T.S. Eliot fit the
possibilities inherent in the Bradley
Observatory of today.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And l<now the place for the first time
For those new to Bradley
Observatory, this will be a place of
exploration. Those who have been here
before will, on returning, know this
place anew.

14

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE VCmitr 2C0I

BRADLEY
OBSERVATORY

A STELLAR
VIEW

Her love of Agnes Scott College and of
astronomy fuels campaign leadership.

By Jennifer Bryon Owen

Her family knows well the love JoAnn
"Joie" Delafield '58 possesses for the
world of astronomy because they are
frequently pulled out of bed at all hours of the
night to look at the sky's stellar offerings. She
has a telescope in their apartment in New
York City and another at their home in the
Adirondack Mountains.

"In the Adirondacks it's spectacular. I'm
often calling the whole family out when it's 20
below zero to watch something special," says
Delafield, who says she loves gadgets, any-
thing technical and all the sciences. "I'm a
technical person, but it's taken me 64 years to
realize that."

A decision to take one astronomy course at
The American Museum of Natural History in
New York City subsequently led to Delafield
taking all the astronomy courses they offered.
She learned how to use a telescope and what
to look for when doing so and also attended
monthly astronomy meetings at New York's
Hayden Planetarium.

"It just became a real hobby," says the co-
chair of The Campaign for Agnes Scott
College. "It's the literature I read all the time."

Delafield and her husband, Dennis, con-
tributed to New York City's new Rose Center
for Earth and Science, which houses the
Hayden Planetarium. The opportunity to con-
tribute to Agnes Scott's new planetarium was a
natural progression in their interest.

"In our family, Dennis and I have always
been open in communication about our chari-
table contributions. So, I had no concern in
expressing my desire to contribute to the plan-
etarium as a way to celebrate our 40th wed-
ding anniversary. Dennis thought about it and
decided to fund the entire project. He really
loves Agnes Scott."

She believes his attraction is based on what
Agnes Scott means to her, on his fondness for
many of her classmates and on his devotion to
the College's president and her vision for edu-
cating women for the 2 1st century. "Her lead-
ership speaks loud and clear to him."

Dennis and joie Delafield
In the planetarium with the
Zeiss projector.

15

A STELLAR VIEW

"If you believe in why
you are raising
money and for whom
you're raising it, then
it's very easy to go
out and find it. If you
have a good story to
tell, and you believe
in it, you can't fail."

joie Delafield

The Delafield family's gift to Agnes
Scott helped make possible the
new Delafield Planetarium, a part of
the renovated Bradley Observatory.

The Delafields discussed their donation
with their children because it is part of their
inheritance, and they were supportive
Instructions were given to the children that
the commitment should be fulfilled if any-
thing happened to Joie and Dennis before it
was completed.

The Delafield family and the Delafield
Fund of The New York Community Trust
awarded the College a $500,000 gift toward
the planetarium at the Bradley Observatory.
The 70-seat planetarium was opened during
November ceremonies marking the re-open-
ing of the renovated observatory and was
named in recognition of the extraordinary gift
by the Delafields. The Delafield Planetarium
houses a 10-meter AstroTek dome and a com-
puter-controlled projector built by Zeiss
Instruments, maker of the world's finest plane-
tarium projectors Only nine other sites in the
country and 23 In the world house such pro-
jectors.

"1 have been very interested in this plane-
tarium and the Bradley Observatory, " says
Delafield. 'This is one of Mary's [Bullock]
strengths. She quickly picks up on someone's
real interests, so she has always connected me
with the people at the observatory, always
made sure 1 saw what was going on there and
that 1 met Chris De Free (Bradley Observa-
tory director) when he came on board. He
is dynamic, as is the entire faculty in the

physics and astronomy department,"

At Agnes Scott, Delafield majored in
chemistry but says she specialized in sports.
'That's where I spent a lot of my time. When I
graduated, my mother asked why only the
athletic department was sorry to see me go!"

She has served as a College trustee and was
on the presidential search committee that
selected President Bullock and a dean search
committee. "It's been a marvelous experience
since day one when 1 came as a student. To be
part of it now is so exciting because in our
president we have someone who has the
vision to take Agnes Scott where it needs to
be. And that's what we're doing. What we've
accomplished in five years is the result of the
team that she has built and the manner in
which they all work together the faculty,
staff, students and alumnae"

Although she knew well the commitment
of time and energy that would be involved in
co-chairing a campaign such as the one the
College was about to undertake, Delafield's
love for the College and her excitement over
its future compelled her to take on the task.

This amateur astronomer brings extensive
volunteer and fund-raising experience to her
role as campaign co-chair she headed the
New York City YWCA's capital drive, which
raised $8 million and finds the task easy if
you love the cause.

"If you believe in why you are raising
money and for whom you're raising it, then it's
very easy to go out and find it. If you have a
good story to tell, and you believe in it, you
can't fail."

Frannie Graves '63, also a co-chair, works
with alumnae in Atlanta and Georgia, and
Delafield with those in the rest of the country.
"We are a wonderful team. We do things dif-
ferently. We give out the message In a differ-
ent manner, but It all comes from the same
base of loving the College and what the
College Is doing In building the number of
students, providing them with the facilities
and faculty that they need to be educated for
today's world, and all the while keeping true
to the mission of the College."

Delafield Is optimistic about raising the
money to meet the Campaign goal but fully
recognizes its challenges. "We'll raise It, but
we also want to raise the percentage of giving
to the Annual Fund. And I want to find the
next volunteer leadership for this College. "

She believes Agnes Scott has a wonderful
story to tell, and In telling it, she is applying
the same persistence she employs In sharing
her findings In the night sky.

16

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Wmler 2001

"My six years as College trustee has
been the most totally joyful job I've
ever had," concludes Lou Reaves.

IT ALL ADDS UP

An alumna finds out just what can happen from "a very small beginning."

By Dolly Purvis '89

Photography by Gary Meek

As long as there is a tower over Main, I
know there is something good in the
world," says Lou Reaves '54. She loves
the College and has spent her adult life culti-
vating a scholarship hind to enable other
students to participate in the Agnes Scott
experience.

"My time at Agnes Scott gave me a place to
learn who I am and gave me a place to meet
people and make friends," says Reaves 'There's
no way 1 can ever repay it,- it's something 1
have to pass on"

This desire coupled with another honor-
ing her mother developed into providing
vital assistance to numbers of Agnes Scott stu-
dents through the years. Reaves began donat-
ing to a student scholarship fund.

Caroline McKinney Clarke '27, Reaves'
mother, is known as the historian of Decatur,
Ga., and she loved the College as much as its
city. "Her philosophy was that if you have
something, you share it," says Reaves. "She
was a real giver who also knew how to
receive."

What Reaves did not know when she
decided to start her donations is that her gifts
to Agnes Scott for a scholarship would grow
into a signihcant fund from "a very small
beginning." Reaves' ultimate goal when she
began the fund so many years ago was to
reach $25,000, "which was a lot back then."
She has watched the fund grow beyond her
ability to give, and she credits this to the
College's stewardship.

'This was before 1 was able to give gifts of
stock," Reaves says. "It had multiplied far
beyond the money I had given. I had no idea
how much 1 would be able to add each year,"
Reaves says. "My additions were very small
amounts, but I'm still adding to it. All 1 know
is that when I'm dead and gone, it will contin-
ue to its limit."

Reaves characterizes herself as a "modest
giver" and says that she "did not have the kind

of cash" one typically associates with endow-
ing a scholarship. But she has persevered
throughout the years, adding what she can,
and now that her stocks have increased, she
reaps benefits from donating them (avoiding
capital gains taxes).

Each year. Reaves receives a letter telling
her how much the scholarship has grown,
and she attends the College's scholarship
dinners and meets each year's recipients.

"I have friendships with many of the stu-
dents, and we stay in touch," she says. "I
want each of them to know something about
my mother, and we often just talk about
them. 1 am impressed with each of them as
constructive members of the entire commu-
nity as well as students. It's been my pleasure
to get to know them."

The Results of Giving

A look at some of these scholarship stu-
dents provides evidence that Reaves'
investment is reaping generous rewards.

Sue Feese '84, a tax attorney with King
and Spalding in Atlanta, was in the hrst class
to receive honors scholarships and hers was
enough to pay for her entire education.

Without that scholarship, she says she
would not have attended Agnes Scott. After
majoring in physics and astronomy and eco-
nomics at Agnes Scott, she graduated from
Yale Law School in 1987.

Feese now, like Reaves, is a strong believ-
er in giving back to the College.

"1 hrmly believe in giving to Agnes Scott,"
says Feese. "I had a very quality experience,-
it was a highlight of my whole life. It com-
pletely prepared me academically for the
pressure at Yale and gave me deep friend-
ships and relationships with teachers. It car-
ries over into what I do now because 1 have
the ability to think analytically, to reason
clearly and to write well"

Feese's involvement also goes beyond the

17

IT ALL ADDS UP

Outside the new Alston Campus
Center, Holly Davis Dyer '97 and
Lou Reaves '54 renew; their
friendship, which grew out
of Reaves' donations to
scholarships at the College.

monetary. She gives speeches when called on
by the Office of Admission and serves on the
Annual Fund Alumnae Committee. She plans
to be active in the comprehensive campaign,
although she has not yet decided if her gift to
the campaign will be focused on a scholarship
or on supporting outdoor adventures at Agnes
Scott.

Holly Dyer Davis '97, assistant director of
admission at the College, not only had her
undergraduate financial burden eased because
of a scholarship, she also developed a friend-
ship with Reaves that continues.

"We were always paired up at scholarship
dinners, " says the music major. "If it were not
for my scholarship, 1 would not have been
able to attend Agnes Scott. I could go on for-
ever about what I received here. 1 got to study
abroad, I received a women's college educa-
tion, and I gained the confidence and became
the person I am today."

If Davis could say a single thing to Reaves
it would be "a huge thank you for the commit-
ment she has given to Agnes Scott so that
women like me can attend the College."

'Thank you is probably understated
because not only is Lou a true friend of the
College," says Davis, "she is also a true friend
of mine. 1 think of her a role model because I
know she is admired by so many people. She
is someone who is involved with her church,
someone who is dedicated to giving back to
the College and someone who makes a true
effort to keep in touch with friends."

Davis says she will probably choose to
contribute to a scholarship fund so that she
may help other students Imd what she has.

Getting To Know You

According to Reaves, getting to know the
scholarship students has helped her keep
in touch with the College as it has moved into
a new century. As a trustee of the College, she
has found this information invaluable.

"I've been out of campus life for a very long
time, and my perspective is still that of a stu-
dent in the '50s. I have spent six years as a
College trustee and it is the most totally joyful
job I've ever had I will be truly, truly sad
when 1 rotate off the Board, " Reaves says.

18

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE Wmta 2001

WAYS TO GIVE TO ASC

A gift to Agnes Scott College can he made in various ways. One or more
may he advantageous to you at a particular time in your lije. Consult
with your attorney or financial adviser as you make your plans, and
jeeljree to call ASC's Ojjice of Development at any time for information.

OUTRIGHT GIFTS

GIFTS OF CASH

Gifts of cash include checl<s (payable to Agnes
Scott College) and credit card gifts that can be
made through a secure Internet connection at
www.agnesscott.edu/campaign.

GIFTS OF SECURITIES

In most cases, an outright gift of appreciated
securities entitles you to an income tax chari-
table deduction for the fair market value of
the securities, and, in the case of securities
held for more than one year, the avoidance of
capital gains tax. Your broker can transfer
securities to Agnes Scott College. Gifts of mar-
ketable securities will be credited at fair mar-
ket value, equal to the average of the highest
and lowest price on the date of transfer to the
College.

CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS

You can often double your gift to Agnes Scott
College with matching funds provided by your
employer. Your company's personnel office
can tell you if your company offers a gift-
matching program. Gifts matching a donor's
pledge payment will receive full credit toward
fulfillment of a pledge, at the donor's request.

REAL ESTATE GIFTS

You can make a gift of certain types of real
estate allowing you to take a charitable

deduction for the full fair market value of the
property. You may contribute real property to
Agnes Scott College, including a personal or
recreational home, a farm, a commercial
building, undeveloped property, or a fraction-
al interest in property. In the case of a per-
sonal residence or vacation home, you or your
spouse may even reserve the right to occupy
it for life.

Agnes Scott also may accept gifts of tangible
personal property and will provide you with a
tax deduction for the appraised value of the
gift on the date the gift is made. For example,
you may receive a charitable deduction equal
to the asset's full value for works of art or
gifts of scientific equipment. Donors are
responsible for providing the College with a
current appraisal.

PLANNED OR LIFE
INCOME GIFTS

Agnes Scott offers several planned gift instru-
ments that allow you to make a gift to the
College and still receive income during your
lifetime or the lifetime of a spouse or desig-
nated beneficiary. Planned gifts will be credit-
ed at the fair market value of the contributed
assets.

CHARITABLE
GIFT ANNUITIES

You make an
irrevocable
gift of cash or
securities,
and the
College agrees
to pay you a
guaranteed
percentage of
the asset annu

ally for life. A gift annuity can also have more
than one income beneficiary.

POOLED
INCOME FUNDS

Your gift of cash or securities is invested by
the College along w/ith the gifts of others, and
the College will distribute income from the
pooled gift assets to participants based upon
performance of the fund.

CHARITABLE
REMAINDER TRUSTS

You contribute assets, such as securities, to
Agnes Scott, while retaining the income for
yourself or others for life. A remainder gift
permits you to take an income tax deduction
for a portion of the value of your gift. You will
receive Campaign credit for the fair market
value of the contributed assets.

GIFTS FROM ESTATES: You may include a
bequest to Agnes Scott in your estate plan. A
bequest may be made for a portion of an
estate, a percentage of an estate, or for a spe-
cific amount.

GIFT DESIGNATIONS

I ANNUAL FUND

Annual Fund gifts provide the College with
unrestricted support for faculty salaries,
teaching tools, scholarships, library
Ak resources, classroom equipment,
19^ campus maintenance and tech-
^^^^ nology needs. The Annual Fund
^^^ supports the College's annual
operating budget, providing crit-
ical yearly support for the
College's highest priorities.

FACILITIES

One of Agnes Scott's top priorities
is ensuring that our students have
state-of-the-art facilities to support
academic excellence. Like the endow-
ment itself, our campus buildings are vital,
permanent assets of the College. Current top
priorities include a new science building, a
new chapel, the Bradley Observatory and the
Delafield Planetarium, the McCain Library and
the Alston Campus Center.

ENDOWMENT

A gift of $25,000 or more can establish an
endowed fund at Agnes Scott College, provid-
ing long-term support for faculty resources,
educational programs or scholarships.
Endowed funds may be added to at any time
by the donor. By College policy, endowed
funds generate 4 percent in earnings for the
stated purpose of the fund. The following are
amounts necessary to endow certain priori-
ties of the College:

Full Professorship: $1.5 million
Associate/Assistant Professorship:

$750,000
Visiting Professorship: $500,000
Full Scholarship: $500,000
Full-tuition Scholarship: $250,000
Research or Departmental Program:

$100,000
Partial Scholarship: $25,000

EXPENDABLE PROGRAM FUNDS: On occasion
a donor may wish to make a one-time com-
mitment in support of such initiatives as fac-
ulty development, collaborative faculty/stu-
dent research, student travel, or departmental
or interdisciplinary programming. These funds
typically involve commitments at meaningful
levels that are designated and spent in their
entirety for the selected program.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Office of Development
141 E. College Ave.
Atlanta/Decatur, GA 30030-3797
(404) 471-6302 or (800) 868-8602
www.agnesscott.edu/campaign

20

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE WmiCT 200/

WORLD VIEW

Deirdre LaPin is guiding a revolution in corporate community development. By Chris Tiegreen

A NEW DAY FOR NIGERIA

In today's world, the private sector is the dominant engine oj growth, the prin-
cipal-owner of value and managerial resources. If the private sector does not
deliver economic growth and economic opportunity ecjuitahly and sustain-
ably around the world, then peace will remain fragile, and social justice a
distant dream. This is why I call today for a new partnership amongst gov-
ernments, the private sector, and the inteniational community.

Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, 1997

This is the first experiment of its kind in the world where a major MNC has
created a community development business. Deirdre LaPin '67

As a first year stu-
dent at ASC,
Deirdre LaPin '67
recalls sit-ins at
segregated restaurants and
marches through downtown
Atlanta with prominent civil
rights activists: Julian Bond,
Ralph Abernathy, sometimes

even Martin Luther King Jr.
And as she reflects on those
experiences, she notes that
the tolerance of ASCs
administration despite its
discomfort with civil disobe-
dience demonstrated
courage, discipline and com-
mitment to principle.

Years later, those values
permeate LaPin's work. She is
still somewhat of a social
activist principled, persist-
ent, and by no means
immune from controversy.
But the controversy is differ-
ent and the environment
more unlikely from the col-
lege campus of the late
1 960s. She works for a large
multinational corporation.

LaPin is corporate com-
munity development adviser
for Shell Petroleum Develop-
ment Company (SPDC) of
Nigeria, implementing Shell's
community development
programs in the Niger River
delta. In an era in which
large corporations and

especially oil companies
are perceived as exploiters of
their communities and of the
environment, SPDC is the
largest single social donor to
Nigeria, pouring $63 million
into community develop-
ment projects last year.
LaPin helps Shell partner
with communities, non-gov-
ernmental organizations,
foundations, donors and the
government to use Shell
resources as a catalyst for
development assistance. She
works with 140 full-time
staff members to support
community services in
health, water and sanitation,
education, business develop-
ment, women's programs and

21

WORLDVIEW

WORLDVIEW

agriculture. She promotes the
corporation as a social, as
well as economic, institution.
And she insists that corpora-
tions, like any social institu-
tion, can change.

LaPin majored in French
at Agnes Scott and then
earned a master's degree
and a doctorate in African
languages and literature from
the University of Wisconsin.
Her master's thesis was the
first ever to be written on
Nobel Prize-winning author
Wole Soyinka and led to
field research in Nigeria on
Yoruba oral literature. She
spent roughly a decade in
academic employment, lec-
turing at the University of Ife
(Nigeria), Emory University,
the University of Pennsyl-
vania and the University of
Arkansas.

Tenure at the latter msti-
tution was not enough to

22

keep her in the United
States.

"I missed Africa," she says.
She went to work with
UNICEF in Benm and then
Somalia, where she stayed
until the Somalian civil war
forced UNICEF to close its
offices there in 1990.

Committed to communi-
ty development, she sought
further education for the
task. After attaining a mas-
ter's degree in public health
from The Johns Hopkms
University, LaPin was hired
by USAID (United States
Aid in Development), which
eventually sent her to
Nigeria in 1994.

Soon after LaPin returned
to Nigeria with USAID, a
dramatic shift in internation-
al aid to Nigeria occurred.
Under Sani Abacha, who
had come to power in 1993,
the militaiy regime grew
increasingly oppressive, and

the execution in 1995 of
Ogoni writer and activist
Ken Saro-Wiwa along with
eight others drew interna-
tional criticism by the
United Nations and numer-
ous governments and human
rights organizations. The
result was an imposition of
limited sanctions on Nigeria
by much of the developed
West, including the United
States. American aid dropped
from $24 million to $6 mil-
lion almost immediately.

While conducting
research to assist Congres-
sional decision-making,
LaPin discovered that oil
companies were making con-
siderable investments to
communities in their areas of
operation. These investments
were substantial m quantity,
but not always efficient,
often cultivating dependency
rather than the self-reliance
of the communities. Shell

was "still viewing their proj-
ects as short-term compensa-
tion for oil exploration and
production rather than as a
social investment that could
truly develop the region and
improve people's lives on a
sustainable basis," she says.

Discussions about this
with Shell management led
to a proposal by LaPin and a
job offer by Shell. LaPin
made some recommenda-
tions based on research that
"let the people speak for
themselves." The company
accepted her development
plan,

"1 welcomed the chal-
lenge of building the largest
community development
'business' inside an oil com-
pany, " LaPin says. "Here was
a real test of what the private
sector could do to promote
economic development and
social justice in a politically
difficult developing country."

AGNES SCOTT C-QLLEGE WinKr 2001

Deirdre LaPin and Mark Malloch-Brown, administrator of the United Nations
Development Program, discuss collaboration between Sliell and UNDP.

LaPin readily acknowl-
edges the controversial
role Shell has played in
Nigeria over the years, but
says the company has come
a long way since her first
contact with it in 1997.

Most of the recent con-
troversy aside from envi-
ronmental concerns that are
inherent in any extraction of
natural resources has
focused on the villages of the
Niger River delta, an area the
size of Virginia where most
of Shell's on-shore produc-
tion takes place. The roughly
1,500 communities of the
delta, it is argued, have sacri-
ficed land and labor for oil
without reaping many bene-
fits of the industry. With oil
representing 60 percent of
Nigeria's gross domestic
product, more than 85 per-
cent of government revenue
and more than 90 percent of
income from exports, even
small percentages of that

income poured into delta
communities would presum-
ably have positive economic
impact. Yet many, like Ogoni
activist Saro-Wiwa, ques-
tioned whether any econom-
ic growth in the region could
be tied to the industry.

Protests over inequitable
profit distribution have tar-
geted Shell, in part because
of its visibility on shore and
because of its relationship
with the Nigerian govern-
ment. Shell and the govern-
ment are separate and dis-
tinct, but because natural
resources are state-owned,
they are joint venture part-
ners. As Shell was more like-
ly to respond to demands for
justice than the military dic-
tatorship, protests lobbied
the company to pressure the
government for change.
Though the regime has since
changed elections in 1998
ushered in a democratic civil-
ian government resentment

toward the oil industry has
persisted.

Concerns that communi-
ties have not reaped substan-
tial benefits from oil are
valid, LaPin points out,
because past governments
have misappropriated rev-
enue from oil, and because
past investments by Shell
and other oil companies have
often been unilateral efforts.

"Communities did not
regard themselves as owners
of donated projects and they
therefore did not cherish
them," she says.

"All the roads, bridges,
electrification systems,
health centers and schools
that Shell could afford to
give would be insufficient to
stem the tide of social
decline in the region. A new

approach was needed."

So Shell consulted com-
munities through focus
groups and interviews and,
based on its findings,
changed its approach. The
result is a strategy that Shell
and LaPin call "the leveraged
buy-in," by which the com-
pany's resources become a
catalyst for others' invest-
ments in the region.

Whereas most companies.
Shell included, have histori-
cally had a direct philan-
thropic role building
bridges, roads and schools
and providing scholarships
(SPDC sponsors roughly
3,000 scholarships per year),
for example the strategic
investment of the leveraged
buy-in goes further by seek-
ing a high-impact ongoing

23

WORLDVIEW

WORLDVIEW

return for society that can
multiply in value over time.
Shell's approach engages
other actors government,
donors, non-governmental
organizations in creating an
environment compatible with

both business and human
development while emphasiz-
ing the self-reliance of com-
munities themselves. LaPin
calls Shell's new approach an
evolution from "corporate cit-
izen" to "social investment
partner"

Last year, SPDC hosted a
donors' roundtabie with the
United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) that was
attended by senior officials of
20 development organiza-
tions and six oil companies.
The event aided future plan-
ning and networking for
development of the often
neglected delta area. Now 80
percent of Shell's 400-plus
annual projects are done by a

24

partnering approach with
communities and other
donors.

SPDC's investments sup-
port community services in
health, water, sanitation, edu-
cation, business development,
women's programs and agri-
culture. Examples of partner-
ship investments that LaPin
facilitates include SPDC's
work with state govern-
ments to train teachers,
cooperation with NCOs
and state governments
to start major cam-
paigns to improve
women's awareness in
reproductive health,
business management
and water mainte-

nance, and partnerships with
agricultural NCOs in fish-
eries, seed multiplication and
crop disease control. An ini-
tiative with SPDC, UNDP
and a German government
development agency has
recently begun extensive
vocational training in the
Ogoni area, among others.

And the list goes on.

With the advent of a
civilian government and the
major shift in Shell's
approach, L.aPin says the
region is noticeably more
peaceful than it once was, as
community conflicts and dis-
ruptions to the oil produc-
tion process have decreased
by more than 40 percent

since 1997. Anecdotal evi-
dence, she says, suggests
that the company's
approach is creating more
self-reliance in communities.

"Putting a human face on
the corporate culture has
required real work, " she
says, "because it means
changing the minds and
hearts of oil workers who
see the community as a hin-
drance rather than a poten-
tial partner in the field."

But changing minds and
hearts, whether in down-
town Adanta in the 1960s
or a multinational corpora-
tion in the new millennium,
is, in a sense, what social
activists do.

DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956,
but many Nigerians from oil-producing
regions the Niger River delta, in particular
insist that they have seen little benefit
from the industry's profits.

Reasons for this abound, but tw/o of them
have been the mismanagement of govern-
ment revenue and the lack of awareness
among oil companies until recently of "best
practice" community development. Deirdre
LaPin '67 notes progress on both fronts, in
Nigeria and worldwide.

In Nigeria, Shell is 30 percent owner and
operator of a joint venture that also includes
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(55 percent), Elf (10 percent) and Agip (5
percent). Shell also invests around 3 percent
of its total operating budget of more than
$2 billion on community development. But
its social investment impact could be much
greater through strong partnership with the
Nigerian government. It pays a profit tax of
85 percent to the federal government on its
share of oil revenues. In addition, Shell
employees pay 20 percent in income taxes
to the states in which they work.

Companies are playing more of an advo-
cacy role with the Nigerian government than
in the past, trying to ensure that returns
from the industry help create an enabling
environment for socio-economic develop-
ment, LaPin says. "Like the World Bank, the
private sector now recognizes that good gov-
ernancenot merely government income-
is the key to development."

Nigeria's new constitution requires that
13 percent of funds derived from natural
resources be re-invested in their areas of ori-
gin, as oil companies have advocated.
(Disbursements from this requirement
began in January.)

In addition, Shell helped prompt the cre-
ation of a Niger Delta Development
Commission that would use funds from oil
companies and other sources to undertake
development projects. The commission is
scheduled to begin work once its members
are appointed and approved by the National
Assembly.

"Shell hopes that its development
approach will serve as a model for the com-
mission's future programs," LaPin says.

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Wmicr 2001

LIFESTYLE

Aiding the healing process, reading, writing and hope, a lifetime of service.

BY THE BOOK

Edna Gray Farrar '85 has
experienced a parent's
worst fear the death of a
child. Farrar's 4-year-old
daughter was with her
when she discovered her
baby had succumbed to
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome).

Some months later
Farrar overheard her daugh-
ter discussing the baby's
death. "I wanted to help her
through this. She was a
beginning reader, so 1
looked for children's books
on death and grieving. But 1
couldn't find any books for
my child," says Farrar
Determination kicked in,
and Farrar intensified her
search for suitable materials.

Working with librarians,
searching book catalogs,
and making inquiries to the
National SIDS Resource
Center, Farrar began dis-
covering books that
addressed the tough topic.
She decided to share her
information with other
parents.

"Language opens doors.
As you read, you help your
child heal. As you do that,
you also heal yourself,"
Farrar explains. Her desire

Edna Gray Farrar '8; pioneered a national program, KIDZ BOOKZ.

to develop a comprehensive
book list deepened her
search for "boy books."
"Boys don't talk about emo-
tions as directly as girls.
They need books geared
specifically for them."

Gradually, Farrar com-
piled a list and categorized
it for age appropriateness.
When she offered her find-
ings to the local SIDS sup-
port group, the idea quickly
went national and is now a
program called KIDZ
BOOKZ. Its purpose is to
distribute children's books
on the subject of coping
with grief and loss and to
distribute the SIDS Survival

Guide to parents. As a result
of KIDZ BOOKZ, helping
kids heal has been better
addressed and support
groups such as SIDS
Alliance and Rainbows are
working closer with one
another.

Farrar's aid to families
didn't stop with books. She
has spoken with authorities
on improving treatment of
families after a SIDS death.
She involved people in a
memorial quilt-making proj-
ect to honor their children.
Whether it's fund raising,
taking photographs, or
acquiring flowers for SIDS
support group gatherings.

Farrar has stepped in to
help. Her efforts at trans-
forming pain into healing
for herself and others were
recognized recently when
she was named "Volunteer
of the Year" for Georgia at
the National SIDS
Convention.

Farrar says her Agnes
Scott education helped her
tackle big projects by pro-
ceeding from small to larger
concepts. To her way of
thinking, however, friend-
ships formed at college are
of greater significance. "If
not for my college friends, I
wouldn't have made it
through this ordeal," Farrar

25

UFESTYIE

LIFESTYLE

states. One classmate in
particular helped Farrar nav-
igate the grieving process.
"Laura Jones had taken a
college course on grief and
grieving and had donated a
copy of the SIDS Survival
Guide to Agnes Scott.
Through that book, I
became aware of support
groups," Farrar says.

Nancy iWorelami

Farrar encourages families who
have experienced SIDS to contact
the national information number
and hotline at 1-800-221-7347 or
to log on to www.sidsalliance.org.

CHANGING
LIVES

THROUGH
UTERAGY

\"\7'7'hcn Bessie Murphy

W Lee '60 became
director of the Greenville
Literacy Association in
1980, circumstances were
hardly auspicious. The asso-
ciation had a budget of less
than $25,000, partial class-
room space in an aban-
doned school and two part-
time employees.

But what she lacked in
resources, Lee made up in
dedication. The Greenville
Literacy Association is now
one of the five largest in
America and a recent cam-
paign raised about $2.4 mil-
lion for program expansion.

Lee and her husband

26

Bessie Murphy Lee '60 has been recognized for her literacy work.

moved to South Carolina in
1967. With a psychology
degree from Agnes Scott in
hand, she pursued her mas-
ter's in education at Furman
University. She spent three
years teaching math at
Greenville Technical
College, then took a career
hiatus for motherhood.

Illiteracy issues caught
Lee's attention while attend-
ing a church supper As a
woman spoke of her efforts
to promote literacy and
described people who
couldn't order oft a menu,
Lee recalled a family maid.
"She signed her name with
an X, ' Lee says. A few
weeks later, Lee answered
an advertisement for the
directorship.

When she reentered the
workforce, she discovered
that nonprofit organizations
had developed hidden tal-

ents. "You learn money
management on a shoe-
string and learn public
speaking," she notes. Her
mission was to recruit and
train volunteer teachers,
recruit students, coordinate
between students and vol-
unteers and raise funds.

Convincing communi-
ties to address illiteracy was
her favorite challenge.
Greenville's transition from
mill town to high technol-
ogy center made the lack
of literate, skilled workers
painfully apparent, "The
public outcry helped our
cause," Lee says.

Transforming lives
through literacy has been a
highlight of Lee's career
Two noteworthv examples
are a former mill w<irker
turned teacher and a Rus-
sian immigrant who
became conductor of

Greenville's symphony.

Her fondest memor>' is
of a distinguished elderly
man, "Mr Pace learned to
read the Bible so that he
could preach," Lee says. He
taught more than gospel,
however

"The United Way asked
us to do a commercial I
immediately thought of Mr
Pace's charisma Whenever
the TV spot aired, our
phones rang off the hook,"
she says. When NBC's pres-
ident saw the commercial,
he ran it on his network,
and established Pace as a
national literacy spokes-
man. "He met with literacy
advocate and then first lady
Barbara Bush, appeared on
Oprah and won community
awards, " Lee recalls. Pace
also carried the message
beyond the spotlight, visit-
ing prisons throughout the
state.

Reflecting on progress
eases Lee's transition to
retirement. Earlier this year,
the governor gave her the
Order of the Palmetto,
South Carolina's highest
honor award "It has been a
privilege to devote my life
to this work," she says.

This statement echoes
her feelings about her
Agnes Scott experience.
"When I was there, young
women learned duty and
commitment to people who

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE Winlrr 3001

LIFESTYLE

didn't have our opportuni-
ties." Lack of opportunity,
according to Lee, is the
biggest factor contributing
to illiteracy. Fortunately for
many, Lee established an
example of duty and com-
mitment to those without
opportunities.

Nancy Moreland

A LIFETIME
OF SERVICE

Elizabeth Warden
Marshall '38 was a Girl
Scout, spent time as a camp
counselor during her col-
lege years and had a 40-
year career in social work.
Her commitment to service
continues well into her
retirement years as she vol-
unteers for several commu-
nity organizations.

"When I attended
school, women could marry
or teach. 1 didn't want to
do either," Marshall states.
(She did marry 1 2 years
after graduation.)

Graduating during the
Depression might have lim-
ited her options even more,
but where there is hardship
there is opportunity to
serve. "Dr. McCain was
Gollege president then.
When 1 graduated, he got
me a job at the Department
of Public Welfare. That was
the beginning of a wonder-

ful career," Marshall remem-
bers.

About 500 students were
on campus in those days.
For Marshall, the College's
size lent itself to meaningful
relationships and closeness.
"We had a sense of the indi-
vidual's importance in the
community."

As have many Agnes
Scott students, Marshall
developed lifelong friend-
ships with fellow Scotties.
In the 1960s, alumna Mary
Virginia Allen '35 got her
interested in helping estab-
lish a shelter for the
DeKalb Humane Society.

Marshall served the
organization in various
capacities board member,
newsletter writer and com-
munity outreach person.
Pet therapy taking ani-
mals to visit nursing home
patients was a beloved
endeavor. "The residents'
faces just light up," she says.

Currently, she teaches
children the importance of
properly caring for animals.

"What we see at the
shelter is heartbreaking. We
have an obligation to edu-
cate the public about abuse
and neglect."

A Brownie group that
she recently addressed
became interested in a blind
cocker spaniel at the shelter
that could see again if it
received the proper surger-

ies. The young girls donat-
ed about $500 from their
cookie sale toward the sur-
gery.

She volunteers at the
Humane Society's semi-
annual fund-raiser as well as
finding time for water aero-
bics twice a week. Marshall
also volunteers in the office
of Decatur Presbyterian
Church and arranges doc-
tors' office transportation
for residents of a local

retirement home.

For one who did adop-
tion placements in the
Depression, Red Cross
work during WWII, and
now works with abandoned
animals, heartbreak was
always close at hand. But
Agnes Scott "taught what
we could accomplish in the
world," so a concern for
people and animals keeps
Marshall motivated.

Nancy Moreland

Elizabeth Warden Marshall '38 and friend jodi teach pet care.

27

LETTERS

To the Editor:
There Is a peculiar conse-
quence that results from the
transition of student to alum-
na: a belief that nothing
about Agnes Scott can
change from the way she
was when we knew her, per-
fect yet flawed, frozen in
time. Hearing of professors'
retirements, staff changes,
office moves, even witness-
ing the destruction of the
Alston Center this past sum-
mer have all been blows to
my image of Agnes Scott.

When I heard that Mary
Alma Durrett was leaving
Agnes Scott, 1 felt that same
shock and disbelief. Mary
Alma is part of what Agnes
Scott means to me. Working
for her and with her in the
publications office for four
years, through many changes
and crises, she came to
embody many of the quali-
ties I associate with Agnes
Scott, Including personal
honor and Integrity, persist-
ence, and joy in life. I admire
her professionalism, her
devotion to producing a
quality publication, reporting
both the events of the Agnes
Scott world and connecting
her audience to the problems
of a broader world, and her
personal interest in the prob-
lems and successes of all
those she came across. She
was always Interested In the
latest paper I was writing or
book I was reading.

As a student, ! could have
found easier jobs, work over
the breaks that paid more,
but part of what kept me in
publications was Mary Alma.
1 thought if she could come

28

back for another year, con-
tinue on for another issue of
the alumnae magazine or
Maw Events, or even Public
Safety's Parking Guidelines
brochure, then so could 1.
With Mary Alma moved out
of her office, there is one less
person for me to visit, one
more change moving Agnes
Scott on and away from the
college that lives In my (still
very recent) memories. She
is one of the best parts.

Working short-staffed
under more stress and frus-
tration that most people real-
ize, Mary Alma did much to
keep the publications togeth-
er. I see her contribution, her
words and images, every
time I look at Agnes Scott.
Mary Alma, thank you.

Jennifer M. Odom '98

To the Editor:

The new ACNES ScOTT

Alumnae Magazine came

today. I have just read the

excellent letter from my
classmate, Frances Puckett,
and feel strongly the need to
respond.

I have returned to live in
Decatur after 30 years In one
of the most beautiful parts of
England, Herefordshire.
Many people who knew
where I lived there have
wondered why 1 came back
home to retire. Frances' letter
helps explain many of the
reasons. However, I do want
to add another observation.

Our country seems to me
to be unique in its accept-
ance of so many people from
so many places. I tried to be
accepted as English and at
home in England for all the
30 years 1 lived there, but
never made it beyond being
"the American at Brobuty."
Here in the United States,
we think of people as
"Americans from . Hungary,
Ethiopia, Spain, etc.," not
"that German in Atlanta."

This makes all the differ-
ence.

We are still a meltmg pot.
We still welcome those who
want or need to come here.
True, often people begin liv-
ing here in enclaves of their
own people, but usually they
advance beyond that as their
children grow. There is an
inclusiveness in our national
thinking that is good. 1
believe that in nearly every
other country In the world,
an Immigrant continues to
feel separated from the
indigenous population.

Today we are going
through a post-election trau-
ma nationally, and every-
where 1 look I see changes
from 30 years ago Some of
them really bother me. But I
am sure that if any people
anywhere can hope for a
sound future, we can in this
wonderful America.

Margaret Andes
Okarma '52

CONTRIBUTORS

Christopher De Pree is assistant
professor of astronomy and
director of Bradley Observatory
at Agnes Scott College.

T
Tish McCutchen '73 is a freelance
writer living in Longview, Texas.

T
Nancy Moreland is a freelance
writer based in Woodstock, Ga.,
whose work appears in trade and
mainstream publications and on
the Internet.

T
Jennifer Bryon Owen is director of

creative services and editor of
the Agnes Scon Alumnae Magazine
at Agnes Scott College.

Celeste Pennington, a former edi-
tor of the Agnes Scon Alumnae
Magazine, now manages several
publications.

Dolly Purvis '89, former manager
of news services in the Office of
Communications at Agnes Scott
College, is editor of The
Champion, a DeKalb County
newspaper.

Lizanne Stephenson '84 is execu-
tive director of The Zeist Founda-
tion, Inc. and former director of
advancement for The Community
Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

T
Lewis Thayne is vice president for
institutional advancement at
Agnes Scott College.

Chris Tiegreen is editor of Main
Events and senior writer in the
College's Office of Communi-
cations.

The Agnes Scon Alumnae Magazine is recipient of the Award of Excellence for Alumni Magazines in the
CASE District III Advancement Awards Program 2001.

ACNES SCOTT COLLEGE W.mir, looi

GIVING ALUMNAE

Depression-era values inspire practical philanthropy for Mary Reimer

As a child of the Depression, I have great respect for
money and practicality," says Mary McConkey
Reimer '46. Despite limited finances during her child-
hood and adult years, Reimer consistently contributed her
time, talent and money to various organizations including
Agnes Scott College where she is a long time Annual Fund
donor and volunteer.

Her most recent gift was in response to a unique reunion
class challenge. A classmate committed herself to giving
$25,000 to the Annual Fund if five other people gave $10,000
each. Reimer accepted the challenge. "I'm glad 1 am able to
make a one-time gift at this level in support of reunion giving
and the Campaign"

As the mother of six children, she lived volunteerism, help-
ing out with everything from Scouts to field trips. Oakhurst
Presbyterian Church valued her church activities, which
included a 20-year stint as treasurer, so much that they cele-
brated Mary Reimer Day in her honor. She also received the
Valiant Women Award from Church Women United of
DeKalb County.

Currently, she is executive secretary and program coordina-
tor at Decatur Area Emergency Assistance Ministry. This, too,
began as a volunteer endeavor, but evolved into a salaried
position.

"F^elping people in need is both rewarding and discourag-
ing. It's difficult when people need help with exorbitant bills,
and they don't know how to manage their resources."

Reimer is such a familiar face during Agnes Scott fund-
raisers that she received the 1997 Outstanding Alumnae Award
for Service to the College from the Alumnae Association She
has served as fund chair, volunteers at Annual Fund
phonathons, and, at one time, solicited contributions by writ-
ing personal notes to more than 100 classmates.

"Now, 1 write one letter, which the College copies and
mails," she explains. She actively promotes her upcoming 55th
class reunion as an occasion to give. "It's great when people
give to their children's and grandchildren's colleges, but I feel
the first priority should be to one's own alma mater Any time
spent at ASC should be a valuable learning experience, so even
if you didn't graduate from here, what you received as a student
is worth a few dollars a month in contributions"

This ongoing contact with the College enriches Reimer's
life. She enjoys the college's close-knit community ties and the
cultural opportunities it offers.

The math and physics major has a self-professed "head for
figures," and she knows the value of a few dollars. Reimer, the
first college graduate in her family, and her husband put their
six children through college on one salary. She recycled before
it became popular. "I drove my station wagon full of glass to
the Coca-Cola glass plant. They paid a penny a pound."

Given these stories, Reimer's reasons for supporting the
Annual Fund are no surprise. 'This fund appeals to my practical
side. It pays for nuts and bolts expenses like teachers' salaries
and books." Nancy MoreLvui

29

GIVING ALUMNAE

Agnes Scott College

THE WORLD FOR WOMEN

141 East College Avenue
Atlanta/Decatur, GA 30030-3797

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Nonproht
Organization
US Postage

PAID

Decatur, GA 30030
Permit No. 469

STAR GAZING

For students and visitors to ASC's renovated Bradley Observatory and new
Delajield Planetarium, lookincj up may be more common than looking doivn.
But this vietv oj the heavens, taken of the new teaching and viewing plaza, is just
one surprise. The plaza, titled "Celestial Spheres" and designed hy Christopher
De Pree, assistant professor oj astronomy and observatory director, and Terry
McGehee, professor of art, is an artistic representation, in various colors of gran-
ite, of the solar system and the Milky Way galaxy. "It is my hope," says De
Pree, "that this building will continue to be a meeting place for science, music
and art, and to he more than simply a sum of its parts." Page 1 3

ALU M N * E : M

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.meV 2001

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GUEST COLUMN

Acjnes Scott's love of the written word continually enriches and nourishes the life
of the campus community Christine S. Cozzens

"Miranda wasn't lisknini) to her father's speech."

"Yes, she unis listenini), Prospero ioas at fault because he kept

pushing |jf r "

"But Miranda was a hoy, and hoys cjoof off when they should

he listenincj"

No, this conversation overheard in Evans Dining Hall
last fall was not an analysis of some weird new reali-
ty program on television The students were talking
about the latest Blackfriars' production, a reverse gender ver-
sion of Shakespeare's The Tempest directed by theatre professor
David Thompson

The play has only one female role and so was ripe for a
challenging transformation that
would give students many more
interesting characters to become
and lines and lines of
Shakespeare to memorize.

With more than 250 first-
years reading the play in English
class and attending m masse on
opening night, Shakespeare
returned to the College stage
after a 1 3-year absence (the
Blackfriars' produced Comedy of

Errors in 1987). The production was polished, the interpreta-
tion controversial, and the Shakespeare buzz on campus
spilled out of the theatre and classrooms, proving to anyone
listening that literature is alive and well at Agnes Scott.

In literature departments, the faculty are always glad when
students turn their passion for reading into majors, but we are
also delighted to note that even m times of economic pres-
sure, there is a pre-med student who simply must study
Wordsworth, a math major who wants to become a play-
wright, or a future law professor who learns about legal com-
plexity in the tog-befuddled world of C'harles Dickens' Bleak
HoKsc A biology major told me the other day how thrilled
she'd been to meet Sharon Olds at this year's Writers' Festival,
the student had her books autographed and offered the gra-
cious Olds two papers she'd written about her poems.

Literature makes its way into courses on many subjects:
history classes read novels to capture the spirit of an age, psy-
chology students study the personalities of literary figures.

Literary life on campus extends well beyond the classroom.
The Writers' Festival drew wide attendance from students, fac-
ulty and staff and an astonishing number of alumnae who
were perhaps drawn by the performances of two of their own,
Anjail Rashida Ahmad '92 and Marsha Norman '69. Literature
welcomes students to Agnes Scott and stays with them long
after they graduate.

Last fall, as in years past, new students read a work of liter-
ature (this year's choice was The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya
Sisterhood) as a way of stimulating dialogue on a common sub-
ject and infusing those first bewildering days with ideas and
excitement. In December and January, 26 students and two
faculty members spent three weeks
abroad studying Ireland's literary
landscapes. And book discussions
continue to be a favorite topic for
alumnae group meetings all over the
country.

As Agnes Scott women, our
students are not content merely to
read: they must write. More stu-
dents are majoring in English litera-
ture and creative writing than ever
before, choosing courses in poetry,
fiction, nonfiction and dramatic writing. At our Writers'
Festival's statewide contest, the visiting writers award a
first-prize in each genre, this year, there were two home-
grown winners, Caroline Murnane '01 for fiction and Sarah
Worden 03 for the one-act play. The Aurora an entirely
student-run creative writing magazine produced a beautiful
issue last year with a cover design celebrating the increasingly
diverse image of the Agnes Scott woman. Besides housing fine
offices for student publications, the new Alston Campus
Center offers exciting spaces for literary coffeehouse nights,
poetry slams and student readings.

The most dramatic transformation to the spaces in the
newly renovated McCain Library and to the landscaped areas
on campus is all the new places designed for sitting at a table,
flopping in a chair, or stretching out on a bench with a
book

Dlr^

CONTENTS

Agnes Scott College Alumnae Magazine
Spring/Summer 200 i, Volume 77, Number 3

^'Tr-

61^^'

,i'.;/vii^^^(:^

,'\-.j^f

The Oue That Holds It All Together ' ' .Ji;' J^f i "* ^

By Nancy Moreland and , / ''rf/i^^fe'^^^

Jennifer Bryon Owen , :,''''"^ ' -' > -^iljillti

Recml design mhanc'ments til ihe'Collecje'slatidscnpe ' / /

stfoeti'c imify mii^ si'm^li'dty. ' / '/i^J

'That's Me Leaving Tracks"

By Margaret W. Pepperdene

A special look at Robert Frost's unicfue relationship with ASC.

A Life Together
In the Spotlight

InteiA'iew by Willie Tolliver Jr
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee discuss their
life as celebrities and civil rights activists

The Search for God

By Lisa Ashmore

Literary icon John Updike muses

about a career devoted

to chronicling the

lives of seekers.

That Last Frost of '62

By Linda L. Hubert '62

An alumna recalls the poet's impact

on f/jc College, thm and now.

DEPARTMENTS

2

On Campus

33

Litestyle

36

Excerpts &
Contributors

37

Giving Alumna

COVER: A statue of the young
Robert Frost, a frequent visitor to
Agnes Scott, was recently dedicated
in the Alumnae Garden.

CHRIS TIEGREEN PHOTO

Director of Communications:

N4ary Ackerly

Editor: Jennifer Bryon Owen

Contributing Editor: Chris

Tlegreen
Designer: Everett Nullum,

Mattfiew Nullum
Intern: Victoria F. Stopp '01

Copyright 2001, Agnes Scott College.
Published for alumnae and friends three
times a year by the Office of Commu-
nications, Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
Annex, 141 E. College Avenue, Atlanta/
Decatur, GA 30030
Postmaster; Send address changes to
Office of Development, Agnes Scott
College, 141 E College Ave., Atlanta/
Decatur, GA 30030 (404) 471-6472.
The content of the magazine reflects the
opinions of the writers and not the
viewpoint of the College, its trustees or
administration

e-mail: publications@agnesscott edu
Web site: \\'ww.agnesscott edu

Agnes Scorr Alumnae Magazine is recipi-
ent of the Award of Excellence for
Alumni Magazines in the CASE District
111 Advancement Awards Program 2001.

CONTENTS

ON CAMPUS

All about weddings, a Russian graduate, and a challecje to end "women's oppression."

HERE COMES
THE BRIDE-
ORGANIZED

Lara Webb (;arrigan 44
offers everything a
prospective bride needs in
order to beat the prematri-
monial jitters in her witty
text, The Beit Friauii Ciude to
Phmnini! ii Weiidiuif

The book's clever advice
comes from the first hand
experience of a now happily
married woman whose
ambition and dream was to
write a mystery novel.

Biit that plan changed

when Carrigan became
engaged.

"I went to buy a book for
myself and there really
wasn't anything that spoke
to me, so 1 decided to do
one of my own," says the
Athens, Ca., native.

Carrigan majored in En-
glish literature and creative
writing and Latin. With the
encouragement of profes-
sors Bo Ball and Christine
Cozzens, she honed her tal-
ents and shaped her future
as a writer.

Immediately after gradu-
ation from Agnes Scott,

On campus to talk about her fledgling writing career and successful first
book, alumna Lara Carrigan '9^ signs copies of her wedding guide.

Carrigan went to Boston for
Radcliffe's summer publish-
ing course where she also
participated in a career fair
for the course's graduates.
Through this, Carrigan sub-
sequently found a job,
moved to New York, and
began her career in publish-
ing with Random House.
She later worked at Playboy.

Carrigan recently auto-
graphed her book at the
College bookstore when
she returned to campus to
participate in Celebration
Weekend.

"I learned to write at
Agnes Scott," says Carrigan.

The entire process from
research to publishing Tlif
Best Fnahi's Guide to Planumij a
WeiUin(j took two years,
during which she kept
detailed records of her own
wedding plans and inter-
viewed dozens of brides.

'The strangest wedding 1
learned about was the scuba
diving one. I don't know
who they got to officiate it,
a minister or a judge or
what, but I think it was
thumbs up for 'I do' because
it was just a bunch of bub-
bles, i don't even know if
they could hear anything,"
says Carrigan.

"One of the most memo-

rable weddings ! attended
was my cousin's. My cousin,
an American marrying an
Italian, held the wedding in
Greece. The Italians didn't
speak English, the Ameri-
cans didn't speak Italian,
and nobody spoke Creek.
Then, midway through the
week, my 60-year-old aunt
went over the cliff on a
motorbike." Both the
author's aunt and the wed-
ding ceremony survived.

In light of these and
many other experiences she
uncovered in her research,
Carrigan's sage advice is
"Don't sweat the details
have fun."

Aher all, the book's
purpose to help the
prospective bride with how
to find a dress, return the
shoes, hire a caterer, fire
the photographer, choose a
florist, book a band, and
still wind up married at the
end of it all covers the
details

The Best Frimd's Guide to
Planning a Wedding is
Carrigan's first published
book, but she plans at least
one more of the same type.
And of course, there's
always that mystery novel
waiting in the wings.

Victoria F Stopp '01

,\r-MPC cr'f\-rT t^rM i t:rf: c,.-....jc ,

ON CAMPUS

FROM AGNES
SCOTT
WITH LOVE

Olenegorsk, Russia, is a
world away from
Agnes Scott College.
Located above the Arctic
Circle, this small industrial
town was home to Elena
Kutuzova Venuti '01 for 17
years. This spring, Venuti
graduated from Agnes
Scott, a journey she proba-
bly never would have made
without an alumna who this
year celebrated her 20th
reunion.

Jennifer Giles Evans '81
and husband, Rob, spear-
headed the exchange stu-
dent's entrance into Ameri-
can society when they
became her host family
during her senior year in
high school. Venuti was a
regional winner in an
English skills contest spon-
sored in conjunction with
the Freedom Support Act,
and the three-part competi-
tion required students to
write an essay to an
American family.

Reading the essay, the
Evanses felt connected to
this girl living thousands of
miles from their North
Carolina home. Within a
few weeks, they picked her
up at the airport. "Our first
meeting was a little awk-
ward because of the Ian-

Russian student Elena Venuti 'oi receives her degree from President Mary Bullock '66 in spring ceremonies at ASC.

guage barrier Here was a
teenager who had traveled
halfway around the globe
to meet a family she would
live with for a year," Evans
recalls.

Venuti's experience of
being in unfamiliar sur-
roundings echoed Evans'. "1
was a country girl from
Carroll County, Ga. 1 spent
my childhood playing with
other white children. The
world opened up for me at
Agnes Scott. At first, I was
so scared,- but the student
hostesses, some of whom
were black, made me feel
welcome. Meeting foreign
students and attending cul-
tural events also introduced
me to opportunities 1 never
knew existed."

Soon after Venuti's
arrival Evans' mother died,
and Venuti attended the
funeral with the family.
Driving home they stopped
by Agnes Scott, planting a
seed for Venuti's future.

'The campus was beauti-
ful, really impressive. I
never imagined I could be a
student there," she recalls.
Back in North Carolina,
Venuti attended high
school, participated m
extracurricular activities and
went to church with the
Evanses. Soon, it was time
to return to Russia, but
before leaving, she ex-
pressed an interest in Agnes
Scott. That was all Rob
Evans needed to hear "Rob
is one of those great Scottie

husbands who is a cheer-
leader for the College. He
got the ball rolling," says
Evans.

Venuti's visa required a
two-year stay in Russia
before returning stateside.
Her American family nour-
ished their friendship
through correspondence
and e-mail, much of which
centered on the College.
"Rob completed financial
forms and made sure that
application deadlines were
met," Evans notes. In the
meantime, Venuti studied
at Russia's St. Petersburg
University.

"A small women's col-
lege was a novel concept
for Elena," says Evans.

"Compared to St.

ON c.-wirus

ON CAMPUS

CHRIS TIEGflEEN PHOTO

Elena Kutuzova Venuti 'oi (seated) and alumna Jennifer Giles Evans '81.

Petersburg, Agnes Scott was
much more personal."

Venuti concurs "Having
close contact with profes-
sors was really special. It
was nice to be able to call
them at home if necessary."

Husband Rob initially
had some reservations about
Venuti attending Agnes
Scott.

"Being trom Russia, her
situation was so desperate
that she could not afford to
earn a degree m liberal arts
without definite business
skills," he points out. "My
wife was an English major,
which IS fine in the US. but
would nol put tood on the
table tor Lena in Russia. 1

encouraged her to take the
hardest classes Agnes Scott
offered, which she did and
has done well rivaling
what 1 had at Georgia Tech.

"1 was worried also about
Lena adjusting to Atlanta
after growing up in a small
town near the North Pole.
Fortunately, that's where
Jeni's college roommate
took over In fact, many of
my wife's classmates have
lent a hand in taking care of
our 'exchange' daughter"

While Evans purchased
college supplies and helped
set up the dorm room, her
former roommate, Melanie
Merrifield Podowitz '8 1 ,
became a vital link

"Melanie provided whatever
1 needed whether it was a
coffee maker or advice,"
comments Venuti.

Another alumna, Betty
Derrick '68, special assistant
to the vice president for stu-
dent life and community
relations, offered mentoring
through the Alumnae Asso-
ciation's "You've Got a
Friend" program. She often
took Venuti to art galleries
and restaurants. "Because
Betty had been a history
major, she helped deepen
my understanding of the
United States, " says Venuti.

Rob Evans' fears about
Venuti getting a job after
graduating with a liberal
arts degree proved unfound-
ed The alumnae penchant
for networking opened
doors. Venuti spent her first
summer as an Agnes Scott
student doing Web design
for an alumna. Tlirough
Rosemary Cunningham,
economics professor, Venuti
found a job her second
summer working at the Fed-
eral Reserve Bank in
Atlanta.

When alumna Shalia
Stephens '95 visited campus
to recruit for her employer
in Germany, she secured
Venuti a summer internship
developing an e-business
marketing strategy. The
same company offered
Venuti a job as a marketing
research assistant when she

graduated. Recently mar-
ried, Venuti and her hus-
band will work in Munich,
Germany, for two years
before returning to Atlanta.

She has no regrets about
the drastic change she
made from Olenegorsk to
Decatur

"Fm glad 1 came here
and I'm grateful for my
j Agnes Scott education It
improved my work ethic. I
feel there are more chances
for leadership at a small
college, too," says Venuti,
who developed leadership
skills as president of the
College's International Stu-
dent Organization.

According to Evans, this
young woman makes the
most of opportunities that
come her way. "Give her a
little shove and shell go
with it Rob and 1 did the
shoving, as did other ASC
graduates '"

Husband Rob offers his
perspective. 'This story is
one of a young woman
embraced by Agnes Scott
women at all levels to make
sure she was educated,
comfortable, skilled and
employed. It is a great story
about Agnes Scott gradu-
ates working together for
someone they hardly know
except that they all wear
the same onyx ring.'"

Nancy Moreland

Editor's Note: Our appreciation to
Rob Evans for bringing this story
to our attention.

ON CAMPUS

FEMINIST
SPEAKS OUT
ON WOMEN
AND
OPPRESSION

Egyptian feminist Dr.
Nawal El Saadawi's
resume includes director
general of the Health
Education Department
(Ministry of Health,
Cairo), head of Women's
Program in the United
Nations, professor, medical
doctor and prisoner.

According to El Saada-
wi, she was imprisoned for
"believing Anwar Sadat"
that he would run a more
democratic government
and allow criticism of his
policies. This led to a
charge of "crimes against
the state" and she was not
freed from prison until after
Sadat's assassination. Her
captivity along with her
many experiences with
oppression has led her to
speak out against crimes of
injustice. Forcibly circum-
cised at an early age. El
Saadawi has overcome
both physical and emotion-
al oppression to become a
successful medical doctor
and feminist leader

El Saadawi presented a
public lecture and dined
with a group of students
and faculty at Agnes Scott
this spring.

Her speech, originally
titled "Women, Creativity
and Politics," became more
of a speaker-audience dia-
logue than a lecture. "1
don't like to talk at people.
1 like to talk to people,"
said El Saadawi.

And talk to people is
exactly what she did. For
nearly two hours, she pre-
sented her theories and
ideas on women's oppres-
sion, discussed her experi-
ences as an oppressed

also agree in the attribution
of masculine characteristics
to God," says El Saadawi in
The Nawnl El Saadawi Reader.
This disapproval of the
societal role of organized
religion was a focal point of
her dialogue at Agnes
Scott.

El Saadawi also
expressed her distrust of
and uneasiness with the
American government, in
contrast to her affection for
American citizens. Her dis-

the sixth international con-
ference of the Arab
Women's Solidarity Asso-
ciation being held in Octo-
ber in Cairo, Egypt, and
which will focus on 'Arab
Women and Global
Change." She believes that
ending the oppression of
Arab women is an impor-
tant step in ending the
oppression of women
everywhere.

In Manoirs jwm the
Women's Prison, El Saadawai

woman and presented some
of the recurring themes in
her books.

"The oppression of
women is not essentially
due to particular religious
ideologies. The great reli-
gions of the world uphold
similar principles as far as
the submission of women to
men is concerned. They

trust of the American gov-
ernment supports her idea
of lay people mobilizing for
change. She stressed the
importance of "globalizing
from below," or increasing
power among local op-
pressed people in order to
overthrow their oppressors.

El Saadawi encouraged
audience members to attend

recounts her arrest, impris-
onment and eventual
release. She dedicated her
book 'To all those who
have hated oppression to
the point of death, who
have loved freedom to the
point of imprisonment, and
have rejected falsehood to
the point of revolution."

Victoria F. Stopp 'Oi

5

ON CAMPUS

Recent design enhancements
in the College's landscape provide
aesthetic unity and simplicity.

By Nancy Moreland
and Jennifer Bryon Owen

On college campuses, the stu-
dents, faculty and staff pursue
their own interests, many
times in different buildings and
on different schedules. Some
rarely encounter each other. Yet, their paths
do cross, so to speak. According to Carol
Johnson, a college's landscape pulls these
various parts together.

"The landscape is the glue, the unifier,"
says Johnson, an award-winnmg landscape
architect. "Everyone crosses the Quad at
Agnes Scott. That's the one common thing all
share. That's why 1 was so keen on simplify-
ing."

Johnson and her firm, Carol R. Johnson
Associates Inc., of which she is founder and
chairman of the board, were enlisted to bring
the College's landscape into the 21st century
as part of the expansion and renovation pro-
gram begun about five years ago.

President Mary Brown Bullock '66 made
the landscape a priority,

"During our master plan process we real-
ized the significance of our space," says
Bullock. "\(/e decided a landscape plan was
essential. A serious long-term enhancement
was needed to preserve, sustain and renew our
precious landscape "

Trees, Tours and a $io,ooo Dogwood

Agnes Scott has a tradition of beauty
and of caring about its environment.
One tree, in particular, is legendary.
The College's second president, James Ross
McCain, set a precedent for tree preservation
in the '40s when plans to relocate Presser Hall
required felling a mature dogwood, McCain
spared the tree by ordering a redrawing of
architectural plans at a cost of $10,000. The
president's bold move inspired the nickname
"$10,000 dogwood" and is still talked about.

Although age eventually claimed the dog-
wood. It has been honored in art, Douglas
Ellington, husband of deceased alumna Sherry
Ellington '84, commissioned an artist to craft
four wood-turned bowls and pens from one of
the limbs. One of the bowls was presented to
the College in memory of Ellington and is dis-

THE GLUE THAT HOLDS IT ALL

TOGETHER

'^^1^'

^yis.

I

i- Kl * i*

ALL BEFORE AND AnER PHOTOS BY JERRY HOWARD

BEFORE & AFTER: Buttrick Drive
from the Quad looking West

Agnes Scott students relax and study
on the College's newly planted green
grass on the lawn along College
Avenue. The fescue grass is a special
variety that thrives in shade such as
that on the tree-covered campus.

played in the Office of the President

In past years, the College had a sclt-guided
tour, highlighting several significant trees and
through which visitors learned about urban
torestr>' and the diversity of tree species. Betty
Derrick '68, special assistant to the vice presi-
dent tor student lite and community relations,
hopes the tour will be reinstated one day. She
believes trees not only beautify the grounds,
but are a reflection of those who planted
them. "Mary Stuart McDougall taught biology
here from 1921 to 1954. She took a cypress
sprig from a Christmas arrangement and
planted it by Campbell Hall. Today, that
'sprig' stands 38-feet tall," says Derrick.

The College's trees find themselves on
tours organized by various groups. For several
years, Trees Atlanta has sponsored a Mother's
Day tree tour, which includes Agnes Scott.
Participants in the Decatur Tour of Trees walk
through the campus as part of that event.

Observing Arbor Day is a College tradi-
tion. This year's ceremony included the pres-
entation of the Al Thomas Hays and Virginia
Pearson Hays Award for an outstanding stu-
dent gardener to first-year student Maria
Zambrano, The children of Virginia "VeeCee"
Hays Klettner '5i and S. John Klettncr plant-
ed a Florida dogwood in the Alumnae Garden
in honor of their parents' wedding anniversary.
Concluding Arbor Day festivities was the raf-

fle for four camellia bushes in honor of retired
professor Kate McKemie, whose commitment
to the College's landscape resulted in her
recent donation of seven camellias from her
own garden to the Alumnae Garden.

The College works closely with the City
of Decatur's Tree Preservation Ordinance to
be sure that what is done on campus comple-
ments the community Under the landscape
architect's direction, the College began a
major tree renewal program. Approximately
1 35 trees have been planted during the past
two years. Cue Hudson, dean of students and
vice president for student life and community
relations, had a hand literally in this effort
on a snowy day last December when she put
shovel to soil in a joint tree-planting ceremo-
ny on campus with Decatur Greens.

Choice Trees and Buildings

It was this reputation for beautikil trees and
buildings that Johnson wanted to build
upon and enhance. 'The first thing I do is
evaluate the resources that exist," says John-
son. "Agnes Scott has choice architecture and
trees, so that's the basis for the landscape
plan."

That's where she started to simplify.
"There were so many little, overgrown
plantings that were removed. You don't want
to clutter these choice elements. "

A PEACEFUL SPOT

Gardens for Peace, an international non-profit organization
dedicated to promoting gardens as a place of meditation
and peace selected Agnes Scott in 1992 as the location for its
first garden on a college campus. A scenic path through the
Alumnae Garden serves as the College's Garden for Peace.

Laura Dorsey '66, co-founder of the gardens, became inter-
ested in the universal healing power of gardens after her hus-
band was wounded in the Vietnam War. She went to Japan to
care for him, and the beauty and solace she experienced in the
Japanese gardens allowed her to feel peace despite the conflict
around her. Dorsey attributes her love of gardens to her mother,
Laura Dorsey '35, with whom she founded the Gardens for
Peace program in 1984.

To be considered for membership in this international net-
work, the garden must satisfy some basic standards, such as
offering feelings of peace, tranquility, safety and refuge. A
sense of enclosure, multiple types of stimuli, complexity and
mystery are also considered. The first and foremost require-
ment is that the garden be open to the public.

Agnes Scott's Alumnae Garden met these criteria. "The
meaning of the garden at Agnes Scott and the quality of the
education there meant a great deal to Gardens for Peace from
the beginning," says Dorsey. "The support and enthusiasm of
the College greatly contributed to the project."

Victoria F. Stopp 'oi

CHRIS TIEGREEN PHOTO

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Simplification included the whole plant
palette of the campus. In an attempt to con-
trol and focus the maintenance in high use
areas, huge overgrown plants were removed
and native, dwarf and low-growing plants
were employed. "I hope the whole plant
palette will be simplified and planting beds
made smaller," says Johnson. 'The use of
spring-flowering bulbs gives the campus a lot
of show for less maintenance, for example."

A goal was to reinforce plant beds where
appropriate as a focal point or where neces-
sary for screening, safety or ease of mainte-
nance, and to remove plant beds where possi-
ble to emphasize the dominant structure of
large canopy trees and lawn.

Green Grass Year Round

According to Johnson, a key decision
between her, her associates and the
College was that they wanted green
grass all year Few grasses thrive beneath
mature trees, but with determination and

some research assistance from the University
of Georgia, the College found a fescue grass
that grows in such conditions. "Having
green lawns all year long requires a lot of
extra care. It shows a substantial commit-
ment from the College to have large grassy
areas, and I'm very pleased that this was a
priority," says Johnson.

She points out that green grass year
round gives great pleasure to students and is
an amenity for students. It also gives a sense
of order, which is important also to student
life. Additionally, it is a tradition of many
other college campuses.

"Some were skeptical about all the grass
and irrigation we installed, but today people
love it," notes Bullock.

Providing the irrigation through the com-
pletion of a storm water management system
was one of the largest projects to date.
Connected to an existing underground
spring, a detention basin collects storm
water and runoff. A pump pushes water back

"Agnes Scott has choice
architecture and trees,
so that's the basis for
the landscape plan."

up for irrigation of the campus, a form of
water recycling that allows for more effec-
tive maintenance. Located south of
Cellerstedt Track, the basin project was
designed by LI R.S. Corporation, an engi-
neering firm

Although Johnson's firm did not do the

work on this detention pool, she hopes to fur-
ther improve the surrounding area through
planting for a wildlife habitat Also, students
engaged in the new environmental science
program have hands-on learning opportunities
through the resources provided by the deten-
tion pond.

THE CAROL
R. JOHNSON

FILE

Carol R. Johnson is the
founder and chairman
of the board of Carol R.
Johnson Associates Inc. For ^^i
years she has maintained a
diversified professional prac-
tice in the areas of landscape
architecture and site planning.
Typical work that she has
overseen w/ithin the firm
includes site development,
open space and recreation
planning, master planning and
urban development for munic-
ipalities, schools, colleges and
universities, corporations and
public agencies.

According to Agnes Scott
Trustee Harriet King '64, chair
of the Board's buildings and
grounds committee, the
College was impressed with
Johnson's previous work.

"Her conversation
expressed an understanding
of the local materials with
which she would work, and
her form of presentation
engaged all of us in the excite-
ment she felt for the potential
contribution the landscape/
hardscape would make to the
success of our vision for the
campus," says King. "We all
believed that some of our stu-
dents would find her to be so

captivating that they would
expand their educational
experience to include time
with her and would come
away enriched by the experi-
enceif not on the way to
landscape architecture
training."

Johnson's career includes
an impressive list of accom-
plishments and contributions.
She frequently writes and
speaks on landscape design
issues, serves on numerous
boards and is the recipient of
outstanding awards. For
example:

Harvard University, Master
in Landscape Architecture,

1957

Wellesley College,
Bachelor of Arts in English,
1951

2000 recipient of The
Massachusetts
Horticultural Society's Gold
Medal, which recognizes
horticultural accom-
plishments and out-
standing service to
the Society

1999 recipient of the
Brick Industry
Association's The
Brick Paving Design
Award for the U.S.
Federal Courthouse
in Boston, Mass.,
with Olin
Partnership,
Philadelphia,
Penn.

1999 recipient

of the Brick in Architecture
Award for the U.S. States
Federal Courthouse in
Boston, Mass., with Pel
Cobb Freed & Partners,
Architects from the Brick
Industry Association and
The American Institute of
Architects

1998 recipient of the
American Society of
Landscape Architects;
ASLA Medal, the society's
highest honor
"Carol only takes on one

new project per year," says
the College's Vice President
for Business and Finance
William E. Galley "So we were
very pleased that she chose
Agnes Scott."

In addition to her work at
Agnes Scott, Johnson has
ongoing projects on the cam-
puses of Gettysburg College,
Juniata College, Grinnell
College, Rollins College, The
University of the South, Bab-
son College and Bowdoin
College.

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CHHI5T(EGREN PHOTO

The Heart of the Campus

Agnes Scott's approximately 100 acres
are defined by three quadrangles that
divide the space into more intimate
areas. "Quads are the heart and core of a cam-
pus. They give colleges identity. Students use,
enjoy and remember them," Johnson points
out. Woodruff Quadrangle in the heart of the
campus received a major facelift.

Significant in this was the removal of the
granite sitting wall on the site of the former
"Hub," which Johnson says obstructed a nice
vista directly to the campus center and library.
"In removing it, we opened up the area, uni-
fied the campus character and created a more
gentle, green space and added wooden bench-
es. I worried that students would feel deprived
of their amphitheatre gathering space, but we
seem to have provided something students
can use," she notes.

. Johnson is proud of the foyer entry walls
on Buttrick and Evans drives where distinctive
fences, signage and plantings offer a welcome
to the Quad and emphasize its importance.
"This main quad needed definition," says
Johnson, "but it would not have been worth
defining if we hadn't removed the wall."

One of the big issues was making the cam-
pus a more pedestrian-friendly space. Johnson
notes that when the College was built, mixing
cars and pedestrians wasn't a big issue because
there weren't that many vehicles. However,
she believes pedestrian-friendly communities
will gain increasing importance in this new
century.

To that end. Woodruff Quadrangle was

pedestrianized and Buttrick Drive converted
to a brick-pavered walkway with retractable
bollards at the entrance to allow room for
emergency vehicles.

The Public Face

If you're coming to a campus, you should
know by looking at spaces what they are,"
says Johnson. "Just as the Quad should
indicate that students cross it, the north arrival
space at Agnes Scott should be welcoming.
One of the first changes Johnson made at the
College was to remove the holly hedge along
the campus front, symbolically opening the
campus. "Also, we want to make a good
impression on that family arriving to campus
with the student."

Although much remains to be done along
the perimeter of the campus, significant
changes have been made to enhance the
College's public face. The landscape plan con-
tains provisions for a decorative edge around
the campus. Materials, lighting and signage
need greater consistency, says Johnson. 'The
whole perimeter treatment is dependent on
burying overhead utilities along South Cand-
ler Street," she notes. 'The College must work
with the city to address utility and signage
issues."

The College's respect for nearby residents
is evident in design features. Plants help
screen the parking lot along South Candler
and the South McDonough parking facility.
Glare from lighting was minimized, and deck
materials carefully chosen to harmonize with
surrounding school architecture.

Woodruff Quadrangle's facelift
Included removal of the granite
sitting wall, which "opened up
the area, unified the campus
character and created a more
gentle, green space," says land-
scape architect Carol )ohnson.

.,W4

71-lGl.yt.TH.-\TI

BEFORE & AFTER: Buttrick Drive
from the the entrance looking East

BEFORE & AFTER: The front of
campus along College Avenue

"Wc Iry very hard to create a welcoming
atmosphere, for both students and the city,"
states Cue Hudson. Community feedback
reflects this. After seeing recent landscape
improvements, a city official and a downtown
developer told Hudson, "This place looks like
a first-rate college. You ve done an outstand-
ing job here." Neighbors frequently stop
President Bullock on the street to comment on
the beauty of the campiis

It's Not All Plants

Many small-scale refinements add to
the school's aesthetic appeal.
Campus Linity was achieved through
standardized lighting, brick pavers on walk-
ways and a consistent plant palette. When in
place, uniform signage will be a key compo-
nent to overall appearance. New lighting was
installed in the commencement area located in
the Presser Quadrangle, and plans are under-
way for irrigation in this area as well, !

Plant material isn't the only item of consid-
eration when landscape improvements take
place Hardscape features that connect archi-
tecture with exterior areas also come into play.
The south patio of Evans Hall was "invigorat-
ed." Crading eliminated the steps and solved
drainage problems. More outdoor furniture
was added, pavers reset and some areas
replanted. This increased the flow between
indoors and out by creating "spill out" areas.
The new Alston Campus Center also has patio
dining areas, creating a "cafe atmosphere. "
The landscape plan's intention to create
outdoor spaces and connect buildings is seen
in the area between the Alston Campus Cen-
ter and McCain Library. The Elizabeth Came-
ron Reading Terrace of the library has a wiste-
ria arbor and other elements that relate to the
east side of Alston, which also has an arbor
The Secret Carden, formerly a part ot the
library, is scheduled to be moved to another
part of the campus as buildings and landscape
develop.

A Garden Respite

The spirit of Agnes Scott College is felt
strongly in the Alumnae Carden The
new millennium saw a fresh start for
this space. Mature camellia shrubs, donated
by retired staff and faculty members Bertie
Bond and Kate McKemie, have been planted.

'These camellias are a great start in
improving the winter blossom color in this
area," says Johnson.

Additional lighting now extends the gar-
den's nighttime use and creates an inviting
glow. Pathways were repaired and the pool is
undergoing renovation.

A crowning touch for the Alumnae
Garden was the recent donation by Susan
Gamble Smathers '75 and Bruce A. Smathers
of a life-size statue of Robert Frost, which
commemorates the poet's strong attachment
and commitment to the College. The poet
and Agnes Scott shared a unique relationship
that spanned almost 30 years, and it was
common to see him on the campus. While
some students report being a bit startled to
find a man sitting on a bench when they walk
through the garden at night, the statue is
appropriately placed, surrounded by nature
and close to the hub of lively discussion and
learning.

Meeting the Challenges

Colleges have different landscape needs
from those of businesses or resi-
dences, according to Johnson
'There's a very intense use of the landscape."
The rhythm of a college's calendar affects
the landscape and its use. College campuses
have public faces and private faces, and
according to Johnson, most focus on the
public face. Landscape designers must be
sensitive to the needs of students who come
and go as well as to those of faculty and
staff who stay and the entire campus
community.

Considering these elements, Johnson's

i^a

m

^.

.i\

goal at Agnes Scott was a simple, clear land-
scape treatment that made the entire campus
environment more intelligible so that simply
by looking at the spaces one can tell how they
are used.

Bullock says it is all coming together with
"an elegance and simplicity that highlight

both the trees and historic buildings." With so
many changes now in full bloom, she con-
tends that the disruption and upheaval have
been worth the effort.

"Like Thomas Jefferson, I believe that the
natural environment has a profound effect on
learning and morale," says Bullock.

ERfiY HOWARD PHOTO

While a student at Agnes
Scott, Marisa Scalera '98
served as an intern with
Carol R. Johnson and
Associates. After graduating
with a major in art and a
minor in French, she earned
a master's degree in architec-
ture from The University of
Georgia. The comments
below about uses of key
spaces on the campus are
from work she did for Carol
Johnson.

The Commencement Area

The Buttrick-Presser court-

yard is used for commence-
ment and for receptions
after particular convocations
or for special events. On a
daily basis, it is a place for
just passing through,
stealing a quiet moment or
for an unplanned rendezvous
between students and
faculty.

The Woodruff Quad

Special uses of the Quad
include TGIF picnics, movies,
the occasional carnival or
social gathering. Day-to-day,
it is a place for passing

through, studying or reading,
catching some rays, socializ-
ing, playing Frisbee, even
holding class on a nice day.

The quad is the heart
that pumps the blood
through the College.
Students, faculty, staff and
visitors all pass through this
space to the buildings along
its borders as well as those
beyond.

Between Alston Campus
Center and Winship

On a beautiful day this space
is used by students to study,

read, chat, eat lunch or a
snack or to just soak up the
sun. Also, it is used as a path-
way between the Quad and
Winship.

The Alumnae Garden

Alumnae parties and other
formal get-togethers are held
here. This space also con-
tains the goldfish pond into
which students (and faculty!)
are thrown, per tradition,
should they become
engaged. Students come here
to sneak a brief moment of
quiet.

i-km

^^^^^mm^.

THAT'S ME
LEAVING TRACKS"

AND ACNES SCOTT COLLECE

By Margaret W. Pepperdene

All Photographs of Frost from the Agnes Scott Archives

When President Bullock asked me to speak on this occasion honoring the found-
ing of Agnes Scott, she suggested that I talk about Robert Frost, specifically
about his long-time association and his unique relationship to the College.
With that focus of the subject understood, since I make no claim to be a Frost
scholar, I accepted President Bullock's invitation, agreeing to talk about Frost the man and the
unusual place he devised for himself in the life of this institution.

While 1 did not have any special friendship with Frost, 1 did know him for a period of six
years, having spent many hours with him on his visits here. It fell my lot, as the newest member
of the English department, to escort him to his appointments and meetings and to take post-
prandial walks with him, if he were so inclined. I also spent a long summer afternoon and evening
with him in his cottage on the Homer Noble farm where we talked about everything from teach-
ing to the care and feeding of schnauzers (three of them played rowdily around us the whole
time we talked). There I met the Morrisons, Ted and Kay, who were the people closest to Frost
from the time his wife died in 1938 until his own death in 1963. Kay was his agent-manager-
caretaker for 25 years.

1 do not think any other person, not even Elinor Frost, knew the poet and the man as well as
she did. So, this morning 1 would like to talk with you about the Robert Frost that I knew the
poet who came to Agnes Scott to read for 20 years and the man who in the privacy of his own
lH>iiie, the cottage where he lived and wrote, identified himself as a teacher and named this
College as his academic home, an identification that merely confirmed what his campus visits
had already revealed.

14

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE Sprmg/SumnvT 2001

Dr. Alston frequently spoke of "Agnes Scott's love affair
with Robert Frost." I would like to suggest that it was not
so one-sided a relationship, that the affection was not
just on Agnes Scott's part in Lawrance Thompson's (the Frost
biographer's) description of it as a school-girl crush by "women ...
who adored and idolized him," that instead it was a feeling duly
reciprocated by Frost, his own "love affair with Agnes Scott."
This was a relationship, to use the current locution, between two
consenting adults and it was long-term, as we shall see.

I met Robert Frost in January of 1957, the first year I came to
Agnes Scott to teach. By that time, he had made fourteen visits
to the College the first in 1935, then again in 1940 and 1945,-
after that he came every year until he died. These annual visits
took place at the same time each year, during the last ten days of
January when he was on his way to a winter stay in Miami. These
dates were held open for him, and he would choose the time and
notify the College. The person whom he would contact during
the first years was the one whose energy and persistence had
brought him to Agnes Scott in the first place. Professor Emma
May Laney of the English department. She became henceforth
his unappointed sponsor and his self-appointed caretaker during
every visit until she retired in 1956. She met him at the train or
plane, took him to his lodgings, which for the last ten visits was
the home of the Alstons, instructed Mrs. Alston about his dietary
wishes, saw to it that he wore a coat properly suited to the
weather, made him put on his overshoes when it rained and set
aside time for his daily nap. Frost confided to Mrs. Alston, "She
tries to mother me," adding with obvious please, "but she's a nice
girl. 1 like her." (I met Miss Laney just once, when Dr Alston
invited her back for Frost's visit the year after her retirement, but
even that brief encounter told me that not many people would
dare talk about her like that!)

Frost's first visits, those in the early forties, were short ones.
He would come in early in the morning, read or lecture in the
evening, and leave the same night. By the time of his annual
visits, he stayed much longer, often as long as a week, but
always three or four days. During these times, he moved
freely about the campus, mingling with students, talking
to members of the faculty, becoming part of the aca-
demic rhythm of the College. The formal schedule for
these visits, in time, came to follow a pattern that
suited his desire to "duff into" (as he might put it)
this particular place.

There was always a session with the students who
came together, usually at the Alstons' home, and
formed a small class. They had been reading some of
Frost's poems and brought questions about them. Most
of all, they just wanted to hear him talk about the
poems they were reading or the ones he was making.
Not infrequently he delighted in creating a little academ-
ic mischief by questioning some of the interpretations of
his poems which the students offered,- he assumed they
would take his remarks back to their English classes. They

Author Margaret W. Pepperdme, professor anerita of English, recalls
the College's special relationship with America's poet laureate in her
February 23, 2000, Founder's Day speech at the College.

did. Some of their teachers used the occasion to remind them
that the poet is not always the best critic of his poems.

A special night was set aside for the faculty to meet with him,
always at the Asltons. Faculty members would gather around 8
o'clock in what was then the sun room of the president's house
and take their seats in chairs arranged in circular fashion almost
no one missed those gatherings. Then, Dr. Alston would bring in
Frost, seat him in a chair of the circle, and turn to him with, "Mr.
Frost, here is your faculty." These were always his words of intro-
duction, and (as is the way with words) they carry their own
force affirming his academic connection to the College. Next,
Dr Alston would get him started on his evening's monologue.
These get-togethers were called "Conversations with Robert
Frost," but that is a slight misnomer The format was not particu-
larly conducive to conversation,- besides. Frost liked to do most
of the talking. Since by this time in the visit, Dr Alston had
learned what was on Frost's mind, what he had done of late that
interested him, he would begin by asking about that.

For instance, in 1957 (the first time I was at one of these
meetings). Frost had just returned from receiving honorary
degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, and during his stay in
England had been feted by everyone from E.M. Forster and W.H.
Auden to TS. Eliot. He was brimming with stories about the
whole English journey. The next year (1958), he was touting his
role in the Pound affair, gaining the poet's release from the gov-
ernment mental hospital, St. Elizabeth's, in Washington.
Although Archibald MacLeish was the initial, and remained the
persistent, mover in this effort, he got Ernest Hemingway, TS.
Eliot, and Robert Frost to sign the letter which he (MacLeish)
drafted to the Justice Department, making the case that Pound
should be let out. He also saw to it that Frost was the first signee
of the letter because MacLeish knew of Frost's connections with
Sherman Adams and others in the Eisenhower administration. In
the closing weeks of the endeavor, Frost did have an
increasingly visible role to play, but by the time Pound got
;^ k out and Frost got to Agnes Scott, he was taking credit for
A the whole thing and that was his topic for the year
T In the visit of 1961, of course, he could talk of little

but the Kennedy inauguration and he read both
4 "Dedication" (the new poem he had written for the
occasion) and "The Gift Outright" (which
Kennedy had asked him to read at his evening
performance).
With events like these to choose from. Dr.
Alston would begin by asking Frost to comment
further. Frost, then, would talk and talk until he ran
down. Dr. Alston, ready with another question,
would wind him up again. There were always ques-
tions and comments from the faculty interspersed
here and there, but by and large these were evenings
given over to a master storyteller/teacher who held his
audience/class captive.

Each visit included, too, a lunch with the English
department, which Frost took to calling "his depart-
ment." (As those of you who recall members of that
English faculty can imagine, there was not common
glee over this claim.) We met in the President's Dining
Room in Evans Hall. The talk at table varied,- very

15

"THATS ME LEAVING TRACKS"

Frost with English professor
Emma May Laney, 1935

often there was a carry-
over from the evening
at the Alstons. I recall
there was lively discus-
sion of the Pound
story, most of it cen-
tering on the personal
relationship between
the two poets, for
theirs had been an
uneasy friendship at best.
For the most part, these
luncheons were rather for-
mal, proper affairs,
untouched by academic
argument, even of the pleasant
variety. However, there was
one exception that broke the
mold, brought something of a breach between Frost and "his"
department, and created a modicum of notoriety. It happened
during Frost's last visit in January, 1962,- the conversation was
taking its usual course about his recent activities, when, for
some reason. Frost began to talk about Coleridge, specifically
about some aspect of his criticism and delivered himself of cer-
tain unflattering opinions on the subject. At first no one at the
table said anything needless to say his remarks carried no
invitation to response,- but then there was a ruffle from the end
of the table and janef Preston, who taught Romantic poetry at
the College for years and who not only resented any criticism
of the Romantics but took such as a personal affront to, not to
say attack on, her, spoke up and took firm issue with Frost's
remarks. Not a little taken aback, he answered her briefly but
dismissively, she persisted. The exchange seemed to last longer
than I am sure it did. Finally, Frost changed the subject, but he
was puffy for the rest of the meal. He once wrote Louis
Untemeyer, "1 hate so to be crossed. 1 have come to think not
being crossed is the one thing that matters in life" Miss
Preston had crossed him and he was not pleased.

Nobody thought very much of the incident. In fact. Frost
and 1 took our usual walk after lunch and talked of many
things, but he made no mention of his words with Miss
Preston. We were to learn, however, that when he got to
Florida a few days later, he told Lawrance Thompson he had
not been treated well by the English department at Agnes
Scott. He said he thought we did not like him anymore and he
was not going back there again. Obviously his momentary
putliness had turned into a full-fledged peeve, a condition
apparently not unusual in Frost. Kay Morrison tells of a time
when she and his doctor were trying to get him to go to hospi-
tal for tests. Frost walked out of the room and retreated to his
upstairs bedroom. The doctor followed, found him stretched
out on his bed, immobile, refusing to speak. ^X'hen the doctor
returned, he lold Kay;

He won't talk to me.'

'Where is he?'

On the bed.'

Face up or face down?'

'Nc'" on the pillow.'

16

'In that case," said Kay, 'it will
be three hours before I can
get him to hospital. I wish it
had been the other way.'

Thompson wasted no time in coming to the College to tell
us of Frost's hurt feelings and of his decision not to return
for his visit next year. He came, by the way, of his own
volition, just a few weeks after Frost had left, on what turned out
to be more an errand of mischief than one of mercy. Dr Alston,
when he heard from Thompson of Frost's reaction to the incident
at lunch, was concerned but not particularly troubled. He made
his planned trip to Washington for Frost's 88th birthday party in
March, where he talked with the poet, smoothing some ruffled
feathers and ascertaining that he would make his customary visit
to Agnes Scott the following year, but when January came
around. Frost was ill and died the week he was due to arrive.

The highlight of every Frost visit was the night of the public
reading/lecture. The whole campus and the entire Decatur/
Atlanta community were caught up in the occasion. The students
would begin to line up outside Gaines the line eventually wind-
ing through the campus by 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the
reading. They had all been issued tickets, but got in line early so
as to get the best seats middle section, down front, right under
Frost's podium. By starting time, 8:15 p.m., the hall was packed,
the stage filled, even an auxiliary hall upstairs pressed into use
where the program was carried. Having been present at six of
these readings, I can vouch for the waiting's having been worth
it. Frost never gave a bad performance. At the start, he would
adjust the lamp on the podium and then fiddle with the micro-
phone Dr. Alston said that was his way of getting started.
Next, he would talk for a while to the audience, informally, on
any subject on his mind. During these opening remarks, which
the students called "Mr. Frost's nuggets," he often made some of
his most memorable comments on poetry or people or politics.
Then, he would begin to "say" his poems a mixture of the old
and the familiar like "Birches" or 'The Road Not Taken" or
"Stopping by Woods" and the new, finished but not yet pub-
lished, ones. About midway through the reading, he would lean
out over the podium and address the students sitting in the large
main section of the hall, telling them he was going to say a "new"
poem for them, one he was in the act of making. He would
instruct them to get out their pencils and paper, which they duti-
fully did they always came prepared for this moment. Still lean-
ing over the podium as if watching their actions, he would say

Frost with students, 1935

AONES SCOTT COLLEGE Sprme/SumiiuT 2001

the poem carefully, pausing frequently, and
slowly repeating the lines so that they could
take them down. That "lesson" of the night
done, he returned to his reading.

Through it all, he kept the beat of the poet-
ry, making sure that his audience knew and felt
that rhythm. Kay Morrison said that

Frost used to conduct himself when
he read his poetry. He had a style,
a strong emphasis for us on the
beat, the sheer beat of meter,
because he was conducting.

He concentrated on
teaching, on what
being a teacher meant,
on his affinity for insti
tutions where students
and faculty "gladly
leme and gladly teche.
He said he always
thought of himself
as a teacher

Frost at the unveiling
of his portrait, 1959

Those were memorable evenings of peda-
gogy and poetry. This Robert Frost who
paddled around the campus in his "tenni
pumps" (as the students called them), who domi-
nated faculty conversation and colloquy, who con
ducted himself in resounding poetic perform-
ance was the public man charming, cantan-
kerous, self-centered, witty, full of wry, often
sly, humor, a marvelous performer off stage
and on. There was another Robert Frost, the
private one, a quieter, more reflective man,
one more accessible to his companion
of the moment, delighting in what
the Irish call "good crack," good talk
(real conversation), revealing a sim-
pler, less certain self, the one hid-
den by what he called "my kind of
fooling." in a letter to his daughter
Lesley, he wrote, "No matter how
humorous I am, I am sad, 1 am a
jester about sorrow ... I am prepared
for any sadness in the structure of the
universe." Dr. Alston often remarked
on the sense of aloneness that emanat-
ed from Frost, a reflective side that
accorded with one "Acquainted with
the Night."

This was the Frost I spent some time
with in the summer of 1961 at his small
cabin on the FHomer Noble farm in
Ripton, Vermont. The occasion for this
visit was that I happened to be going to
New F^ampshire for a summer holiday
just at the time when our librarian,
Edna Byers, was readying for pub-
lication a bibliography of the
Frost holdings in the Agnes Scott

library. (The Frost collection was begun by Professor Laney and
Mrs. Byers in 1944. Frost himself contributed generously to it,
sending first editions of his poems, hard-to-come-by translations
of them, complete sets of his Christmas cards, and handwritten
copies of poems in the process of composition. Vie took great
pride in the holdings and often complimented Mrs. Byers on her
efforts to assure its quality.) Since my destination in New
F^ampshire was Lyme, a village not very far from Ripton, Mrs.

Byers asked if I would go over to the Homer Noble farm
and get releases from Frost for the holographs of poems
she planned to reproduce for inclusion in her little vol-
ume. She gave me carbon copies of these handwritten
poems for him to sign.

When 1 got to Lyme, I called Kay Morrison, told her
what 1 wanted, and asked for an appointment with Frost,
She told me to come the fol-
lowing week for an afternoon
meeting with him. As sched-
uled, I drove to Ripton and to
the farm. Both the
Morrisons, Ted and Kay, met
me at the gate, and Kay
took me immediately to
Frost's cabin, a few hundred
yards up a hill behind the
gleaming white farmhouse.
On the walk up, she told
me that Robert was in
grand form: Louis Unte-
meyer had just left after a
day and a half visit,
which had left him
(Untemeyer) exhausted
but Robert raring to go.
When we got to the
cabin, Kay left and I
went in to find Frost sit-
ting in his Morris chair
with his writing board
on his lap. His little
schnauzers were
romping around the
room. He greeted me
graciously, I told him
my mission from Mrs.
Byers, thinking he
would look the copies
over, sign them and I
would be on my way.
He was in no such
hurry and asked if I
could stay a while,- I settled in.
He spoke briefly about his
recent time with Untemeyer,
amused about how anxious his
friend was to get the volume
of their correspondence ready for
the press: "Louis is afraid I am going to die
on him before we get it finished."
Speaking of publications reminded him that his new volume
of poems, III the Clearing, had just gone to press. This reference to his
book brought his attention around to the reason for my coming to
get the releases signed. He picked up one of the copies and signed
it, at the same time making clear that I understood none of these
released poems could appear in the Agnes Scott book until after In
the Clearing came out. That was no problem because Mrs. Byers' bibli-

17

THAT'S ME LEAVING TRACKS"

Frost holding court in the library, 1962

ography was not due out for months.

I assumed he was ready to sign the other copies, but he had
something on his mind. I soon learned that that "something" was
teaching and Agnes Scott. He began by asking me what 1 taught
at the College. When 1 said Old and Middle English literature,
he turned the conversation to his friend FN. Robinson of
Harvard and inevitably to Chaucer It came as no surprise that
Chaucer's poems, especially the tales by that "companye/Of
sondry folk," were favorites of Frost. From this point on, he con-
centrated on teaching, on what being a teacher meant, on his
affinity tor institutions where students and faculty "gladly lerne
and gladly teche." He said he always thought of himself as a
teacher, (and my mind went back to those evenings at the
Alstons but even more to the way he turned a formal reading
into a classroom recitation). He took particular pleasure in
recounting the story about one of his first teaching jobs. It was
at a Normal School (or teacher's college),- he was, he said, an
instructor in "education." The first assignment he gave his class
ol would-be teachers was Mark Twain's 'The Celebrated
lumpmg Frog of Calaveras County." The students were mystified
by the assignment. When class met the next day, he said he
asked them what they had learned from the story that would be
valuable to them as teachers. The students were silent, they had
no idea what he was talking about. So, he told them. You will
recall the story. It is about a contest between two frogs, one,
owned by Jim Smiley, who bet forty dollars that his "edercated"
frog named Dan'l Webster could "outjump any frog in Calaveras
County"; the other belonged to a stranger who took Smiley up
on his bet. Before the event, the stranger managed to put a tea-
spoon of quail shot down DanTs throat, "that filled him pretty
near up to his chin. '

When the contest began and the starter "touched up " the
frogs from behind, the stranger's frog "hopped off" but Dan'l
"couldn't budge." What Frost said he wanted his voung teachers

to learn was that there are two kinds of teachers: those who fill
their students with so much quail shot they cannot "budge," and
those who give them a "little punch behind" and they go
"whirling in the air like a doughnut."

Fr(jm these reminiscences about his own teaching, he seemed
to turn naturally to his visits to Agnes Scott. He spoke of his
admiration for the teachers he had come to know George
Hayes, Ellen Douglass Leyburn, and of course, Emma May
Laney He talked a lot about Ferdinand Warren, who had done
his portrait, about what a fine piece of work he considered it. He
told Warren at its unveiling in 1959, "You have more of me in
that than there is of me in me." His praise of Dr Alston was
unstinting, honoring him as a man and as a scholar Most of all,
he talked about how his regard for and attachment to the
College had grown and deepened through the years until now
he felt himself a real part of its academic life. Alston's "Mr Frost,
here is your faculty" and Frost's own appropriation of the English
department as "his" had new resonances in Vermont on that sum-
mer afternoon Visibly moved by his memories and his own
words, he paused for a moment and then added, "You know, I
have two colleges, Bryn Mawr, Kay's college, and Agnes Scott."

He was ready now to turn to Mrs. Byer's business and to sign
the copies. He looked at each one carefully and then put his
name to it. Everything was going along smoothly until he came
to the copy of "Peril of Hope," which he had written out for
Mrs. Byers while he was still in the act of making it. It showed
tell-tale signs of its composition: mark-throughs and cross-outs
and word substitutions. When he saw the copy. Frost put his pen
down, turned to me and said, "Where did you get that?" He was
not aide ^just startled. 1 told him I had got it where I got all the
others he had written it out and Mrs. Byers had given it to me.
Then wryly, with something of a smile breaking across his face,
he said. That's me leaving tracks." 1 did not think of it at the
time, but remembered later on the drive home that Frost never
liked anyone to think that he worked over or revised his poems,-
he preferred to create the impression that they came full blown
and final in a burst of inspiration. He quietly put aside the copy
of "Peril of Hope, " talked amiably as he signed the remaining
poems, but never came back to that one. In the meantime, Kay
brought dinner for us (and the dogs), and we talked into the
night, until 1 had to leave for Lyme.

The rest of the story of "Peril of Hope" was to come the
following January when Frost came to the campus for his
usual stay. I went to pick him up for lunch with the
department. We talked about things inconsequential on the way
to the dining room. What stmck me as strange was that he made
no mention of our meeting at Ripton the previous summer I did
not get the idea that he did not remember it,- I just felt that he
did not want to talk about it. After lunch (this was the day of the
Preston revolt), as we headed back to the Alstons, he suggested
that we take a walk. Again, the conversation was easy and pleas-
ant. He was looking forward to the grand birthday celebration
being planned for him come March in Washington, the new
book of poems. In the OwWiu;, would be coming out the same
day. The talk about his new poems, perhaps, touched a memory,
or at least provided a frame for what followed. He turned to me
and said, "Do you know what I am going to do for you?" (One's

18

AGNES SCOTT aiLLEOE .Snnnir/Sumiiu-T AVI

immediate instinct: "No, but I am not sure I really
want to know!") I answered, "No, Mr. Frost, what are
you going to do?" All smiles, he said, "1 am
going to go to the library, make a fresh copy
of that poem (he did not name it, nor did
he need to, for we both knew exactly
what he was talking about), and get the
old one back." As 1 recall, all 1 said was,
"That is very thoughtful of you, Mr. ^^^^B \ \

Frost, but you don't want to do that,-
you know, we don't mind your leav-
ing tracks." He smiled again,- the sub-
ject was closed. He did not go to the
library, but I did just as soon as 1 left him
at the Alston door. There really was no
need to worry. Edna Byers was not about
to let that original go, and I have no
doubt that Robert Frost knew that, too,-
but, you cannot blame a fellow for
trying.

That was the last time 1 saw Frost,- it
was his last visit to Agnes Scott, but it
was not the last time he was a pres-
ence here. F^e had left "tracks" on the
little poem safe in the Frost collec-
tion,- but he left more lasting traces
of himself woven into the life and
the story of the College he chose
to make his own. In 1974, those
"tracks" were everywhere apparent
when, to commemorate the
1 00th anniversary of his birth,

Agnes Scott held a two day Frost at ASC, 1962

celebration of Robert Frost,

honoring the person, the teacher, and the poet those "traces" of
himself which he had so singularly imparted to this place. The
Morrisons, Ted and Kay, his dearest friends in whose company
he had spent the last years of his life, came to talk about that life.
An unexpected treat was Ted Morrison's reading of several of
Frost's poems, among them many he had often read here. If one
closed one's eyes, one would swear it was Frost himself speaking,
so alike their intonation and rhythm. Dr. Alston returned for his
first official visit since his retirement. To a packed house in
Gaines, he lectured on Frost's visits to Agnes Scott, describing the
life Frost brought to and lived in the days he spent here each
year. The talk was in perfect Alston pitch: true to himself, seeing
the truth in his subject, saying that truth with candor and grace.
Cleanth Brooks joined the group to speak on Frost's poetry the
teacher talking about the teacher. To end the celebration, "To
knytte up al this feeste, and make and ende," as Chaucer would
say, Richard Wilbur honored Frost the poet by reading his own
poems, thereby reminding us all that
... poetry makes nothing happen,- it survives

in the valley of its making where executives

Would never want to tamper: flows on south

From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs.

Raw towns that we believe and die in,- it survives,

A way of happening, a mouth.

It was a very special time, when those "tracks," visible still, vis-
ibly became Frost's "bequeathment" to Agnes Scott's learning life,
already being tacitly realized in all those who came after
him for long and recurring visits: in Sir John Rothenstein
who for years, came to teach, quietly connecting his
classroom in Dana to the art world of the Tate and
beyond; in Josephine Jacobsen, poet-novelist who for a
decade was the stable and sensitive center of the
Writers' Festival,- in Richard Wilbur who made visits
frequent and extended, as a poet and teacher, reading
in Gaines of an evening and teaching Milton's
"Lycidas" in class the next morning,- in Eudora Welty
who came so often she herself lost count of the times,
but never forgot her part in the continuing story of this
place.

We could go on and on, following those "tracks" now
turned tradition, for they are still here. They have
brought us to this room this morning to remember the
"gift outright" from Robert Frost to the College we love
and honor today.

>^^

THE FROST

The sculpture of the young Robert Frost in the Alumnae Garden was
created by George W. Lundeen and depicts the poet writing "Acquainted
with the Night." This poem was selected by a faculty and staff commit-
tee to commemorate Frost's legendary love for walking the Agnes Scott
campus late at night. Lundeen received his B.A. from Hastings College
and his M.F.A. from the University of Illinois and studied at the
Academia de Belle Arte in Italy. The recipient of numerous awards and
honors, he was named "Distinguished Nebraskan" in 1995. Two addi-
tional Lundeen sculptures reside in Decatur on the Courthouse Square.

19

THAT'S ME LEAVING TRACKS"

Frost in Gaines
Chapel, i960

Robert Frost energized
Agnes Scott in
perpetuity with his
immense, earth-rich spirit.

during those Alston-Frost years, 1 find
my feelings to be an odd wash of then
and now. Tangible objects ground my
mories On a wall in the entry,
hangs a picture taken the very
evening of that last reading. I
recognize the students who
face the camera, and I know,
too, that one of the backs
photographed there is
mine That evening, then,
was real a very much
younger me met the
poet in that house.
At home I have
my little Modern
^l^pg^ [ Library text signed by
^\^^ I Robert Frost. It will
^^^KMe never be of any mon-
^^^Bl etary value because
^^Hi^V my scribbled notes

^B from his readings des-
ecrate its pages. I have
a copy, too, of the
Christmas card that Frost sent to
the college in 1962. Jane Pepperdene, I
believe, saw that I was given one of the dupli-
cates from the Frost collection soon after I
came back to teach.

I feel an obligation now with every class
of first year students that I teach to haul out
the fraying 16mm documentary about Frost

-#^

n

IN THE '
. "FROST
ROOM"

In the "Frost Room"
in the president's
home-so named
because this is where
poet Robert Frost stayed
when he visited the cam-
pus during the Alston
years -is a bust of Frost
by sculptor Leo
Cherne. This bust
was given to the
College by the estate
' ieorge W. Kinnard
llowing Rock, N.C.,
nlionor of his daughter
.{ge Hartsell-DuPont '92.

that was compiled in 1962. Tight-haired
young women at Bennmgton in straight skirts
and loafers laugh with love at the poet, just as
we did at Agnes Scott. Eager male students,
visiting in coats and ties, seem peculiarly awk-
ward in the rustic environs of Frost's cabin,
though Frost, the teacher, works to make
them comfortable. In frames to follow, the
casually clad Frost pads around his simple
domain, heating a tin coffee pot on a small
enamel stove of the 1930s. Next, the-man-of-
the people Frost, wearing a hard hat, tours a
factory, and the public-spirited Frost christens
a ship as a host of reporters and sailors look
on. And finally a scene stuck in the memories
of all of us old enough to have watched the
occasion that was televised to the world:
Frost, Kennedy's spokesman for the arts, tries
to read a new poem at the president's brutally
cold inauguration. His text whipped by the
wind, the enterprising Frost abandons the new
piece and recites by heart 'The Gift Out-
right," an old familiar, but a perfect choice for
this event.

Contemporary students find these glimpses
of the past quaint but I love this old film,
and I'll continue to show it as long as I teach
and so long as Agnes Scott maintains a pro-
jector of the ancient type required.

This college isn't mentioned or shown in
that documentary, alas, and I have often
lamented that Robert Frost's Agnes Scott was
not captured and cherished in celluloid as we
might have wished. Frost visited other col-
leges, some of them quite regularly. But I
think it unlikely that he left such a lasting
impression upon them as he has upon us. His
legacy here is not limited to the walls of the
president's residence or to the books and pic-
tures in the special Frost collection in McCain
Library, though Ferdinand Warren's remark-
able portrait captures the poet's singular
essence perhaps as effectively as film footage.
Nor is Frost's influence at Agnes Scott con-
fined to his immediate impact upon individu-
als like me

Robert Frost energized Agnes Scott in per-
petuity with his immense, earth-rich spirit.
Doubtless, in 1962 and for all the years of his
annual visits, he was the most evident reason
that Agnes Scott students and area residents
alike recognized the College as a place that
provided quality encounters with the great
and the talented. In ongoing tribute to Our
Poet, it is similar experiences for students and
friends opportunities for living lile with
poetry that the College continues to pro-
vide, provide.

22

AHNF.S SCOTT CVLLEOE Sf.rrri,/Sii

23

THAT LAST FROST OF '62

A LIFE TOGETHER

From their perspective as stars and civil rights activists, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee talk on the effect of fame on race.

An interview by Willie Tolliver Jr.

Photogiaphy by Marilyn Suriani

/'IS yenr's ifiiesi speakers for Aifiies Scoil Colleije's ALTrtiir Luther
Kiiii) Jr. Diiy celehrtitioii irerc llx esteaiieJ hiishiviil-imil-uvjc
iKliiii) IfiJMi. Ossif Davis ami Riihy Dee. Stars ofslacle, screai
ami lelepisioii. the)' hare heex perfoniiiui) together Jor 55 years.
T/'or iiistiii^uislxJ hoJy oj work has (Janiered many siilnificaiil
(iimriys inc/iiifiiii; iIk NAACP linage AtparJ Hall of Fame, the National
MeJal of Arts. anJ most recaitly an ainarjfrom the Screai Actors GiiiUfor
lifetime achiwanent. Before an J liiirini) their visit to Agnes Scott, they (/racions-
ly participated in interview on tlx subject of my currait research: race and
celebrity. In this project I inpesticfate how our society's cult of celebrity compli-
cates our liiscourse on race.

Tlx particular focus of my stutiy is on tlx effect of fame on those figures
who become racial icons. This is a subject that both Ossie Davis and Ruby
Dee have reflecteii upon often ami about which they had much to say that was
ailightaiing and provocative.

Willie Tolliver: What degree of influence and power do you think celebrities
Imv{ in today's society?

Ossie Davis: Not as much as it would seem. Celebrities are a
kind of shorthand to call attention to whatever it is that the ven-

dor has in mind. The use of celebrities by the advertising indus-
tr\' has made the celebrities into sort of a commodit>'. But we
look at them, and we appreciate them, and the gossip in our lives
is fine, but I don't think the public is really swayed heavily by
what the celebrities think or do.

Ruby Dee: I quite agree. I think that celebrities [serve to]
measure what's happening in society and the world. We have
something against which to measure ourselves. It helps to keeps
things in perspective. I think that's what this business of celebrity

^ THE SPOTLIGHT

helps us to do and it gives us, gives us standards and rules and
levels and things by which we can measure our own
progress. Celebrities help spell the times.

Tolliver: To aihnt extent are you conscious ojyour own influ-
ence as public peopled

Davis: We are conscious to some degree that ^^

we circulate in the celebrity atmosphere, that
people will tend to listen and pay attention
to us to some degree more than they ^

would to somebody that they might
not know in the same kind of way. We j

are aware of it, but once again, we ti-y / ,;,;.;

and always understand that it's a / , .' fli

minor kind of relationship. It's not a / v ,,

fundamental relationship between L

us and the rest of humankind. It's f

kind of surface rather than substan- f ;|

tial, but we are aware that we are ^

thought of in the industry and in
the public as celebrities.

Dee: And that's kind of a
rewarding thing when people think
of you as worthy, praiseworthy, ... 'd

to like you and appreciate what ,^

you do. [It's] like a ... stamp of
approval, and it means you must ,

be doing something right ,. . . 1 \

think it's like a pat on the back '

when people say . . . how much

*?

^

Martin Luther King Jr.
knew he was famous,
that he was popular...
was beloved, but he did
not hesitate to give up his
right to public adulation
on the basis of principle.

Tolliver; In my teacbintj oj black Amfnci?ii likntUire,
! notice how the careers of dijjerent writers nre effected
by ibeir piiUic status people like Frederick Doitijlass,
Booker T. Waibington, and so forth. And I wondered
bow the system ofjame, epoi hack in those days, affected
them m their ahdity to represmt the race. Speculate on
what fiiififiojs ii'lifH race and celebrity come together.

Davis: I think, first off, I would like to dif-
ferentiate between celebrity on one hand and
fame on the other. To me fame is based on
substantial achievement or substantial impor-
tance to the public. Fame belongs to Frederick
Douglass, Fame belongs to Malcolm X. Fame
belongs to Martin Luther King Jr., because of
what It IS that they did. Celebrity on the
other hand is more for surface. It doesn't have
as much to do with substantial activities.

Now, a man like Frederick Douglass who
goes out into the world would help change
the world's opinions of slavery and acquires a
fame, acquires a celebrity, acquires even noto-
riety . . . can use that fame to get the attention
of people that might otherwise not listen And
once he has their attention, use the connec-
tion with the public to make a persuasive
argument of what it is that he thinks is impor-
tant or what it is that he wants them to do.

Malcolm did it, Martin did it ... Mary
McLeod Bethune did it Paul Robeson did it.
They were famous because of the importance
of what it was they thought or said or did,
and they used that fame as a part of the staig-
gle to get increased recognition about the
value of the humanity of African-Americans in
American society.

Tolliver: Giii you speculate a little bit more about
bow Martin Luther King Jr might have been affected by
bis own lecjend and mytboloily?

Davis; 1 think anybody who knew Martin
could understand that he had a very, very
sober concept of who he was and who he

remained He knew he was famous, that he
was popular ... was beloved, but he didn t hesi-
tate to give up his right to public adulation on
the basis of principle. For example, when he
attacked the Vietnam War, he went against a
lot of people who admired him before that
time, but changed their minds about him
because of his stand on the Vietnam War.

Robeson, for example, was loved and
adored and worshipped by masses of people.
And yet when he stood for principle, when he
confronted power, when he insisted on trying
to get an anti-lynchmg bill, when he insisted
on friendship with the Russian people in spite
of the threat of what they said about commu-
nism, he lost his popularity, and he knew it.
But he had the principles of a hero, and he
would' ve stood [his ground] had he lost his
popularity totally

Of course, he didn't lose his popularity
with everybody. There were those that loved
him for his celebrity who walked away
because he was no longer their favorite
motion picture star. But there were those who
also appreciated him for his fame and for the
basis of his work, who appreciated it even
more that he would risk the loss of his popu-
larity in order to defend a principle.

Dee: That makes a great deal of sense.

Tolliver: J'lii /liirticiiliirly curious to know what you
think about today's young black stars. Do you see them
as breaking new ground in creating new and differmt
kinds of racial images?

Dee: 1 must say that I haven't done a study
of them, but I'm glad to see that they're on the
horizon. From the glimpses 1 get in the news-
reels, and magazines and television, they
remind me of young people who are strug-
gling to do the best they can to be as mean-
ingful as possible. Those who pay more atten-
tion to the struggle seem to relate more close-
ly in their work to the reality that they find.

That's not to say that those who don't
bring the realities into what they do aren't
paying attention. But I'm pleased. There's
vocal concern going on, and the time is far
more complicated than when we were coming
along and getting more and more complicated
all the time. So, it's not fair tor us to make
judgments on their address to the current level
of problems. But, you [see they've] been pay-
ing attention. In time of crises . . . they come
out . . . those who are intimately concerned
with the challenges of the moment [are]
citizens of the world.

Davis: Once again, 1 insist on making the
difference between celebrity and fame Young

26

.^GNE.S SCOTT COLLEGE Slmwls,,:

people are celebrities, and they get to be
celebrities to some degree because the indus-
try needs them as commodities to sell to the
public. It doesn't mean that they have power.
They have celebrity. They cannot walk into
the halls of power in Hollywood and change
things. They're only made to seem to have
that kind of power. There are limits to what
they can do. Spike Lee, who wants to make a
film about Jackie Robinson, has not been able
to do it. He hasn't got the power to do it.

So, when we look at the young celebrities
today, we have to understand sometimes that
even they do not understand. What they have
is celebrity, but what they do not have is
power and clout. The two things very seldom
go together. So, when 1 look at the young
people today, 1 don't blame them for what has
happened. This is how they fit into the eco-
nomic interests of Hollywood and the radio
and television [industries]. This is how they
make their living being used by people who
take celebrity and market it. Even the culture,
the hip-hop culture, is based much more on
the ability to use celebrity as a selling tool
than it is on the recognition of the artistic
merit of those that perform.

So, these people, the young people by and
large, come into the industry trying to estab-
lish a foothold wherever they can, as best as
they can, and for us to blame them without
bringing the whole civil rights struggle into
their own independent desires to make a liv-
ing for themselves is wrong. We're asking
them to do what we should be asking other
forms of leadership to do. We can help these
young people understand clearly, as Ruby
said, the nature of the struggle in which we all
areinvolved. We can show them how we can
be participating in that struggle, [and how to]
become stronger . . . [and] much more pur-
poseful. But to blame them, 1 think is wrong.

Tolliver: VViis there a dejtning moment when you real-
ized that you had made a transition from heintj a purely
private individual to being a public figure?

Dee: I've lived a few years, and I've done a
few things, but 1 hardly consider myself a pub-
lic figure, like a Michael Jackson or a Maya
Angelou, in terms of this kind of wide accept-
ance. 1 call myself, to some degree, a celebrity,
but not enough to really make me stay up
nights contemplating my crowd of two that
might surround me when I go out someplace.
I've got a long ways to go before celebrity
even becomes a factor in my comfort. That's
the truth.

Davis: Was there a moment when you rec-

ognized you were a public figure? No, not in
my case. There was no moment when 1 was
"Oh, look." Whatever happened to me, gradu-
ally came. If recognition gradually came, it
came . . . The fame ain't got here yet, but
maybe one day it will come. There was no
pleasant, slapping on of the light, saying, "Oh,
look. I am now a public figure."

Dee: I travel in comfort on the subways. 1
might meet one or two people who will give
me a second look, but 1 can go on buses and
walk the street. You know what I'm saying. So,
1 have a comfort level as a human being and
only on special occasions when somebody
puts on an affair, calling attention to the fact
"Oh, we have a celebrity, and you better be
a celebrity, because we gotta raise these funds.
And we invited you, you celebrity, you."
[laughing] [at those times], depending on the
cause, 1 wish 1 were a fan dancer or had some
notorious thing about me that could attract
attention. 1 wish that 1 were notorious enough
to get the attention to raise the funds that the
organization needs, especially if 1 believe in
what they're trying to do. Maybe 1 could do
something outrageous

The work that we've done, we've felt has
been something that people have wanted to
witness or be part of, so they invite us to do
that work. So, we have our suitcase, and
please let us give out our cards . . . like we
have a product to sell, and hey, don't you
want to buy it? Oh, this is a very good
turnout. 1 feel like a celebrity at that moment
[laughing]. But, if you do a movie and nobody
comes to see it, the celebrity ... doesn't mat-
ter. 1 think that it's something that people
need for you to be for them, not for yourself.

Some need that you have to satisfy outside
of yourself. You just become the flypaper
[laughing]. You become the magnet for the
moment . . . the momentary magnet for that
cause. And 1 think that's good when celebrity
can be made to benefit somebody and some
cause, some nations.

And when it's
successful, 1 feel
like a celebrity.
When it's not,
I'm just another
person getting on
the subway. So, it's all
relative.

"The work we've
done, we've felt has
been something that
people have wanted
to witness or be part
of, so they invite
ustodo that work."

^^Uta

1

^^^^^^Mt~ ^^H

i

M*

John Updike at ASC:
"I've become a 20th-
century author, when that
no longer is the latest
kind of author to be. The
20th century is old hat,
it's gone. It's like a door
slammed shut in my face."

THE SEARCH

FOR GOD

A literary icon muses about a career devoted to chronicling the lives of seekers.
By Lisa Ashmore

John Updike may be the writer whose
work best ilkistrates that the imperfect
and adulterous are searchmg also tor
Cod, whether they recognize it or not.
Being branded on a 1968 Time cover as
the crown prince of the affair" falls to
supercede the stream of wonder and seeking
God in his work. For those who know him as
a satyr, it was something to hear him say
"making your way in a godless universe is a
thought too abysmal to consider."

During a March reading before an audi-
ence of more than 800 at Agnes Scott's 30th
annual Writers' Festival, Updike said faith and
sex have more in common than rightly
acknowledged. "They're both forms of want-
ing more, " says the author 'They're both ways
of saying 'yes' to life "

While many bad writers have written
about infidelity, Updike's gift is putting
thoughts into the minds of middle-class,
earthbound characters whose revelations near
epiphanies, and who still remain completely
believable. The precision, uncommon delight
in words, the occasional cutting comments
that hold those stories together are the mark
of writing that have won Updike most of the
major prizes in American literature.

The same is true off stage. A kind conver-
sationalist, Updikes words in a private inter-
view flew out with a poet's ease in pulling out
just the right word. They were witty, but
occasionally measured.

Updike had just celebrated his 69th birth-
day Sunday before his arrival at the College
for his second visit to Agnes Scott. The
author notes that the sense of leaning into
another thousand years, while being forever
chained to the last, was a little gray cloud
lodged on his horizon.

"I've become a 20thcenturv author, when

that no longer is the latest kind of author to
be, " says Updike "Suddenly all my experience
and my knowledge belonged to the 20th cen-
tury . . . and the 20th century is old hat, it's
gone. It's like a door slammed shut in my face.
I'm looking at this blank door of the 21st cen-
tury, and 1 don't know a thing about it."

The thought may have trailed from that
morning's work at the breakfast table, where
he and a panel of writers were judging young
writers' work. The contest, held in conjunc-
tion with the festival, culminates in a bound
edition of the best entries, selected from stu-
dent submissions throughout the state.

"I think It would be very hard for a young
person now to duplicate my career, just
because the circumstances have changed,
there's less leeway in the system. Theres less
opportunity. The New Yorker really was a fat
magazine that needed a lot of prose to fill it,-
and I was happy to be a provider of that
prose."

The child of that success is the burden of
being an elder statesman That means he has
less freedom to risk publishing a bad book,
which could be his last.

"If it's by me, it ought to be pretrs' good to
be printed at all, " he says. "I'm no longer at
the stage where 1 can afford to write a bad
book or one that's clearly bad because Im a
young man. So in a way it's inhibiting to be
me. You try to shake that off and 1 probably
will, because what else am I going to do in the
morning?"

Civen Updike's voluminous work in fiction,
criticism and poetr>', poking around in charac-
ter analysis seemed hopeless. So he addressed
a writer's ability to thrive after making the first
hurdle of publication.

"in all the arts there's this terrible tendency
for the first to be best," says Updike. "Your

28

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rt v^

#i.:.

..v..

,.v''-'."?l':fe

r .

J^>

f

4i'

\

Novelist |ohn Updike
strolls across the Agnes
Scott campus with Linda
Hubert '62, professor of
English, during this
year's Writers'! estivaK-

GARY MEK PHOTO

29

-1

- -THE SEARCH FOR Oc^P

first novel how many first novelists are there
that never measured up? That first decade,
when you first sort of get the tools in your
hand, is like getting a driver's license. "Boy, I
can make this thing go!" he laughs "It's hard
to keep that forever

"I think the problem that any writer has, is
that the world that is the most vivid and
meaningful fraught world is the world of
your first 20 or maybe 30 years."

Updike's middle-class Pennsylvania child-
hood has been scoured for clues and written

useful, I think, for a prose writer to try and
handle language at that level. The precision
and concentration to make the words count in
a big way."

He believes that with the advent of the
word processor, it's too easy to turn out rib-
bons of prose. "It just comes out like ... talk.
Whereas poetry, to some extent, keeps you
honest and gives you sort of a mark in your
mind. So I try to write prose that can be re-
read with some interest. I mean, it will have
secrets that it unveils to the second reading.

"1 try to write prose
that can be reread.
1 mean, it will have
secrets that it unveils
to the second reading, like
as a poem; a good poem
always rewards rereading.
1 hope my prose has that
compression and charm."

about by several writers, including his own
account in the memoir Sdj-Consciousness.

"\ had an extremely stable childhood in
that 1 went to a school system from kinder-
garten through 1 2th grade, all the way,- with
the same people basically, some additions,
some subtractions. But 1 had a continuity that
1 don't think too many, particularly young
people, or even people from my generation
had. That was both a handicap and an advan-
tage. It's a handicap In that there's a lot you
don't know, there are a lot of places you
haven't been. But you have been that place at
least in the same way Faulkner really was in
Mississippi. But you kind of use up that advan-
tage early on, writing about it. I'm always
aware in myself of ignorance, " says Updike.

The biggest requirement, possibly, is the
combination of imagination and discipline
that creates inspired writing Although he's
known for novels and short stories, a useful
tool for Updike has been his faithfulness to
poetry.

"My first book was a book of poetry, and
my latest book [Americana ami Other Poems] is a
book of poetry and I've never quite given up
on it," stresses Updike. "But of course I haven't
the energy, or really the will, to become a
career poet.

"It comes second to the prose and It's prose
that makes the money. And prose is what has
made my name. Nevertheless, I've never
stopped writing poetry intermittently. It's very

like as a poem, a good poem always rewards
rereading. You'd hope that your prose has
some of that compression and charm "

Charm may explain why Updike has had
such success in seducing America to read
highbrow lit, even during the '80s decade of
the airport bestseller and genre thriller
On the surface, he reflects some of his charac-
ters' tendency to cling to senses and memory
the way Rabbit notes how certain trees
unfold first on the sunny side in spring, along
side a weird mix of wistfulness, cynicism and
optimism. Not that he doesn't see his role as
chronicler of the unbuckling of America, and
the wrath and rejection of the Eisenhower era.

"Just in reading these stories by young
people [from the writing contest judging], 1
am struck that many of them are really very
angry at their parents," he said. "Our own
vitality . . . requires in some way killing our
parents, so we can have room to breathe. The
Creeks wrote about this, and Shakespeare,
too, so it's not like it's specific to this time.

'The '50s vision of the house in Levittown
and the mother in the apron raising little kids
in these safe streets, what did it produce? It
produced the rebels of the '60s, and Molotov
cocktails and wild sex and you know, hatred, a
kind of hatred of the establishment, which
amazed me, being kind of at that point, In my
30s, of the establishment. And I couldn't
believe that people were talking about
America, this kindly, loving well-intentioned

30

country, so viciously."

Asked whether author Joan Didion's state-
ment "writers are always selling someone out,"
was true, he hesitated and qualified.

"To some extent you're tied to your own
experience, and your own experience doesn't
occur in a vacuum," says Updike. "Well, you
try not to be wounding, but on the other
hand your main duty is to your audience, to
deliver some truth, and not to please your rel-
atives. It comes up again and again in a
writer's life. The people you know best, and
mean most to you family are usually not
writers. And they can feel to some extent
exploited. And I guess they have been exploit-
ed, but I like to think exploited in a larger
cause, the cause of delivering a little light or
truth to the reader." Further qualifying he says,
Didion was much more of a journalist "and
she's got a wicked ear."

He holds up the painters Vermeer and
Richard Estes known as realists with an
arresting eye for detail and beauty as models
for writers. This selection suggests Updike's
ability to write about passion and sorrow in
the everyday, without the affliction and mis-
ery that seem to haunt so many American
novelists.

"By and large, a lot of the wounding has
not been the fact of being a writer Maybe the
writing gives you a kind of mental license to
indulge yourself and self-indulgence as we all
know leads to heart attacks, and loss of effi-
ciency, and the fact that Hemingway's later
writings really do show a certain lack of
focus," says Updike. "And Fitzgerald had a
very truncated career."

That isn't the case in England and France,
he notes, where the approach to being an
author is based more on scholarship than
upheaval. "I've tried to approach writing busi-
ness-like, realistic as my chosen vocation at
which I work hard but it is a profession and
not a priesthood," says Updike.

"In a way, this is kind of an anti-American
thing to say, because I believe we like to see
our writers and artists burn themselves up,- we
like to feel like they're in touch with the light-
ning and mostly hzzle out. I didn't have the
kind of experience that Hemingway did by
18. Heaven knows what had happened sexual-
ly to him, but he certainly nearly died, so that
he emerged before he even began to write at
all, in a sense,- he had become a man. The
early Hemingway you wouldn't want to give
him back but he achieved those marvelous
effects in the first four or five books at a price
he paid for the rest of his life."

Agnes Scott English Professor Chris Ames
calls Updike one of our greatest critics, words
that Updike takes soberly. Still, Updike
believes the criticism has suffered.

"I don't feel that my criticism is now as
good as it was. This is not an admission an
author makes willingly or blithely, because
you hope in some ways you're getting better,
or at least maintaining your standards," he
says. "I do the criticism now basically as a way
to get into print, and a way to force myself to
read contemporary writing, that I probably
would not read otherwise. I certainly care
enough about my criticism that I've carefully
put it into these big books that have come out
periodically, so I obviously hope that some-
body will find it useful and informative some-
day. (He considers his best collection to be
Hugcjincj the Shore.) A lot of the books I
reviewed of course are already antiques, in
that they're not in fashion, and who's really
read them," says Updike.

Still, criticism is a form he believes
endures. "1 would hope that in all those words
of mine, there'll be something that might be
of interest a hundred years from now, or 50
years from now."

"I've tried to approach
writing business-like,
realistic-as my chosen
vocation at which 1 work
hard -but it is a profession
and not a priesthood."

OBSTACLES CREATE
PATHWAYS

Disability provides opportunity for ASC poet.

Poet Anjail Rashida Ahmad '92 knows
about overcoming obstacles, and her
most recent one affected her life's
work in a major way a few years
ago she began losing her sight. Her
vision loss became so severe that for a time
she didn't write at all. Ahmad has since
learned to navigate the world with a cane,
and with the help of technology, she is able
to share and record her creativity, teach and
even read others' work. Computer programs
allow her to scan documents into her
machine and have them read aloud to her.
One of the most important things that
Ahmad has learned through her struggle

Poet Anjail Rashida Afimad '92
returned to campus recently as a
guest of the 2001 Writers'
Festival, where her poetry read-
ing kicked off the event.

with blindness is that people who can't see
have dreams too. She recognizes that her
biggest mistake in the beginning stages of
her blindness was imagining her situation
from the perspective of a seeing person
not from that of the visually impaired person
she had become: "1 wasn't thinking as a per-
son who doesn't have full sight " She quickly
realized that the key to recognizing her
potential lay in picturing the world around
her as someone who relies on senses other
than sight.

In doing so she is able to continue unim-
peded on her path to achieving her goals.

Ahmad is now well on her way to a

Columbia. Her area of study is creative writ-
ing, concentrating on African-American
works with a minor in 20th-century
American poetry. After completion of her
degree, which is scheduled for this summer,
Ahmad plans to teach college-level English
and creative writing classes, and Atlanta is
on her list as a priority teaching destination.

She is of the first generation in her family
to graduate from high school, college and
graduate school. In addition, she believes
her unique experience with triple marginal-
ization as an African-American, as a
woman, and as a person with visual impair-
ment will make her more than just a
generic instructor in the classroom.

"My presence would have great value for
many reasons, especially so that someone
else would know that he or she can, too. 1
believe that everything we do is energy
based, " continues Ahmad, noting that posi-
tive energy is essential to achieving positive
results and that people experience their days
based upon what they put into life and what
they expect to receive.

Perhaps it was such energy that drew her
to Agnes Scott as a Return-to-College stu-
dent. Ahmad began her academic career at
Georgia State University, but says the
impersonality of the school was not what
she was looking for in a college. She
promptly transferred to Agnes Scott, where,
although her interest was in banking, she
was offered the opportunity to take a cre-
ative writing class something she'd always
wanted to do. That class was Professor Steve
Guthrie's introductory poetry class, and
Ahmad was quickly converted to a major of
English literature/creative writing.

Ahmad returned to campus recently as a
guest of the 2001 Writers' Festival, where
her poetry reading kicked off the event She
mesmerized the audience with her intricate-
ly crafted poems, including 'the thorn in the
side of the rose," "namesake" and "in late
august before sputnik orbits its great metallic
eye over the earth " Ahmad's collected
poems, Necessary Kindlincj , will be published
later this year. Vktorin F Stopp 'of

32

AriKICG Cr^ITT t ,^\ \ Ci '.f V.

LIFESTYLE

Teaching and writing fulfill dreams

ALUMNLiS
REACHES
GOAL

Al Carson M. AT. '01
has gone full circle in
finally completing his peri-
patetic search for a teaching
career. Several careers ago
he graduated from Camp-
bell High School, in Smyr-
na, Ga. Now he has
returned to Campbell High
School this time as a
teacher.

And he loves it.

Agnes Scott's Master of
Arts in Teaching Secondary
English (M.A.T.) program,
of which Carson is a recent
graduate, made it possible
for him to achieve this life-
long desire.

Carson teaches both
advanced and "on-level" stu-
dents at Campbell. He has
an 1 Ith-grade International
Baccalaureate class, as well
as 9th- and lOth-grade reg-
ular students.

With a grin, Carson
implies that it may be just
as well for him that there
are no teachers from his
own student days still at the
school.

However, it has taken
him more than a few years
to make his way back to
Campbell. Carson majored
in English at Davidson

Al Carson M.A.T. 'oi has changed professions and fulfllled a long-time dream, thanl<s to ASC's M.A.T. program.

College (N.C.), intent on
pursuing a high school
teaching career. He wound
up in the U.S. Army and in
Vietnam instead.

His Army stint over, he
enrolled in the University
of Georgia to pursue a mas-
ter's in English, still deter-
mined to teach.

Obligations to a new
family derailed him again,
and he spent 14 years with
Sears, Roebuck and Com-
pany, working in Georgia,
Maryland and finally
Florida. He resigned from
Sears in Florida to open his
own business. When a com-
petitor made Al an offer he
couldn't refuse, he sold it
and returned to Atlanta.
After a few more detours

and a careful examination of
the educational opportuni-
ties in the area, he chose
Agnes Scott for his master's
and teaching certification.

A number of the Col-
lege's more than 100 M.A.T.
students have been people
like Carson who are chang-
ing careers and entering the
teaching profession. Also
like Carson, a number of
them have been men who
have found this graduate
program a good one for
reaching their goals.

(For a women's college
to offer the M.A.T, law
required that any graduate
programs must include men.
The first males graduated
from Agnes Scott's program
in 1994.)

"1 have always had
some vague 'teaching phi-
losophy,' but Agnes Scott
helped me refine and artic-
ulate it. 1 feel that if a stu-
dent is not learning, it is
because the teacher is not
teaching. We must be
advocates for the kids,"
says Carson, who is dedi-
cated to the idea of being a
life-long learner

Carson claims that he
also acquired an attitude at
Agnes Scott that may be
more important than a spe-
cific philosophy. He
describes this attitude as
the "assumed pursuit of
excellence." He looked at a
number of schools before
picking Agnes Scott.

Nowhere else did he

33

LIFESTYLE

hnd this nearly palpable
attitude that the pursuit oi
excellence was a given.
Carson is tr>'mg to imbue
his high school students
with this same attitude,- he
admits that this is a chal-
lenge, but it seems that only
makes it more fun for him.

Having a father who
returned to school at a rela-
tively "advanced age had
little impact on his family,
according to Carson His
children were used to these
things. Carson's wife just
finished law school and is a
prosecutor in Cherokee
County.

Phil Amavum. AIA.T '02

TEACHER
USES ASC
AS MODEL

Sylvia Martinez 9o,
M.A.T. '98, not only
appreciates but also mirrors
the blending of past and
future, of preservation and
progress, that one finds on
the Agnes Scott campus.
Her past as an Agnes Scott
student is a strong influence
on her current work as a
teacher.

While taking an educa-
tion class as an undergradu-
ate student, the San
Antonio native discovered
her passion for teaching "I
remember walking into a
classroom the lirsi time and

Ideals and concepts learned at Agnes Scott are the teaching model for Sylvia Martinez '96, MAT. '98.

instantly feeling like 1 was
at home. It was the same
feeling I felt when I first
came on campus the sum-
mer before I started at
Agnes Scott. 1 just knew. It's
that feeling, that gut feel-
ing. I knew I wanted to be
a teacher."

Following graduation,
she entered the intensive
Master of Arts in Teaching
Secondary English (M.A.T.)
program at Agnes Scott.
She is finishing her fourth
year of teaching at
Campbell High School in
Cobb County a school at
which she is very proud to
teach. "We have great
teachers and a phenomenal,
diverse student body,"
Martinez says.

Martinez spends long
hours at Campbell, where
in addition to teaching, she
spends her "free time"
proofreading essays, assist-
ing with assignments in
English and other subjects,
and offering an ear to stu-
dents who need guidance
and comfort. Not only has
she made teaching more
than a career, she has made
herself more than a teacher.
She considers herself a
counselor, comedian, medi-
ator, big sister and diplo-
mat Having real relation-
ships with the students is
what has made Martinez a
memorable and meaningful
teacher "My students trust
and respect me because I
taist and respect them."

This philosophy of
mutual respect is one she
gained during her time in
college. From the kinds of
relationships her professors
developed with her to the
nature of the curriculum,
she uses Agnes Scott as a
model for education. "1
want to give my students
the kind of challenging and
encouraging atmosphere I
had here, " she explains,
"because Im very confident
about my education." The
most rewarding part of her
profession, according to
Martinez, is having students
who are people who hug
her, who are honest with
lier, and who are in process.

Agnes Scott provides
her with more than an edu-

34

LIFESTYLE

cational model,- the attitude
and example of many peo-
ple on campus make it a
model for self-discovery.
"Agnes Scott gives you the
formula to find your voice,"
she explains,- she strives to
offer this formula to her
students as well.

Her students aren't the
only ones who have recog-
nized her teaching talents.
She was chosen recently
from educators across the
country to be one of 30
trainers for the College
Board Pacesetter Program.
The Pacesetter program is
a course of study with a
national curriculum that
examines the idea of
"voice" through the differ-
ent mediums of essays,
poetry, novels, film and the
media. Like the Advanced
Placement Program, Pace-
setter culminates in a
national exam. "1 found the
Pacesetter course to be an
exciting and effective pro-
gram, and I look forward to
training new Pacesetter
teachers," says Martinez.

Having found her own
passion in teaching, she has
shaped a new ambition.
This summer Martinez will
begin writing a book about
this passion for teaching, in
which she plans to incor-
porate the narratives of
other teachers.

Erin Davis Desmarais oo

FROM GRANT
WRITING TO
WRITING
GRANT

Ann McMillan 74 is
passionate about med-
ical history. For years she
carried around a book. The
Honors of the Half-Known Life,
about the development of
obstetrics and gynecology
in the 19th century United
States. Another of her
favorites was The Serpent and
the Rainbow, a title about
Haitian plant poisons. This
passion combined with
her love of writing has
made her a published
author

McMillan has written
four books, the most recent
of which is a mystery. Civil
Blooii. Thirteen years after
graduating with a major in
English, she published her
first book, Chaucer's Legend of
Good Womm.

"At the time 1 began
writing 1 was working part
time as a grant writer I've
done a lot of grant writing
on subjects ranging from
neurosurgery to library col-
lections. Now that fiction
writing is my job, I work at
home with some travel for
research, talks and book-
signings."

Her current focus is a
series of mysteries set in
Civil War-era United States

and published by Viking
Penguin. McMillan strug-
gled with the setting of her
Civil War novels. "Since 1
grew up in south Georgia in
the 1960s, 1 experienced the
nostalgia for the Old South,
and the last thing I wanted
to do was romanticize the
period, especially since in
Richmond, where 1 live, the
war is still being fought."
McMillan decided to
paint a full and honest pic-
ture of the time by develop-
ing several viewpoints a
white widow who becomes
a Confederate nurse, a doc-
tor who was a free black
woman and a female British
journalist. By characterizing
people of very different
backgrounds, McMillan
hoped to show the many
pieces in the Civil War
puzzle. Her research has
uncovered numerous inter-
esting, but little-known,
medical facts that she finds

Novelist Ann McMillan 74

fascinating and many of
which find their way into
her novels. For example,
McMillan discovered the
price that medical schools
paid for the body of an
infant $4.

A native of Columbus,
Ga., she fell in love with
the picture of Agnes Scott
College in a Presbyterian
magazine. "1 remember
Margaret W Pepperdene as
a life-changing professor for
me and for many others.
The entire English depart-
ment in fact, the entire
faculty of Agnes Scott
was incredible. How lucky
we were!"

Recently, McMillan's
attachment to the College
has surfaced in another
way. "1 feel closer to Agnes
Scott now that my old col-
lege roommate, Marianne
Bradley '74, is employed
there in the library."

McMillan lives in Rock-
ville, a Richmond suburb,
with her husband. Randy
Hallman, an assistant metro
editor with The Richmond
Tnnes-Dispatch , daughter
Hunter and dogs Flora,
Mary Thing and Henry.
She is continuing her mys-
tery novels. "I have plenty
left to learn and more than
enough challenges to keep
interested in continuing the
series."

Victoria R Stopp 'of

35

EXCERPTS

Dixie Rising?

Democracy Heading South-.

National Polilics in the

Shadow of Dixit

by Augustus B. Cochran III

(University of Kansas, April

2001)

In the wake of the 2000 presi-
dential election, Dniiocrdcy
Headinil South may verify your
worst fears ahout the condition
of politics in the United States
Cus Cochran writes convincing-
ly on the connection between
national and regional politics
and the strong resemblance
between our present political
institutions and those of the old
"Solid South." Cochran grew up
In Athens, Ga., received his
f^h D from the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
and has been teaching political
science at Agnes Scott College
since 1973

Cochran quotes V O Key
Ir, a leading political analyst,
who in 1949, wrote Southern
Politics 111 Sliiff and Nation. Key
pointed out that racism, vio-
lence, illiteracy, inadequate
heath care, poverty, depleted
natural resources and a degrad-
ed environment were critical
problems in the South, and pos-
tulated that responsible politics
could solving these problems

Instead, the South respond-
ed, with a few exceptions, with
political demagoguery that per-
petuated racism and disenfran-
chisement, an inadequate public
school system, a repressive
criminal justice system and eco-
nomic policies that benefited
only the planter-Industrialist
elite. Fifty years later, Cochran
notes the familiar ring to these
problems and cautions us about
the present when "national lead-
ership has passed into almost
exclusive Southern hands."
Cochran maintains that the

past 40 years, from Lyndon
Johnson to George W Bush,
have shown this shift of power
in politics and that even Nixon
and Reagan pursued a 'Southern
Strategy." He describes the con-
vergence of Southern and na-
tional politics to show changes
caused by the civil rights move-
ment, the end of segregation
and the shift in the South
toward two-party politics

At the same time. Demo-
crats' influence dwindled nation-
ally and a conservative move-
ment, supported by the religious
right, began to emerge

In this movement, Cochran
predicts the advent of "partyless
politics" with no connection to
an electorate or the needs of
constituents. Rather the game is
the three M's money, market-
ing and media. Sums spent on
political campaigns continue to
rise, and millions of dollars
given to campaigns are beyond
public regulation and accounta-
bility. Political candidates and
their messages are marketed to
the public based on survey and
polls, and mass media attempt
to entertain the public rather
than to help educate or enlight-

CONTRIBUTORS

en the audience on political
issues.

We are asked to question
whether the hiture of democra-
cy Is truly bleak in light of our
national politics and a changing
global picture Are we moving
toward an oligarchy where func-
tion and institutions have the
trapping of popular sovereignty
but are distorted to maintain
"behind the scenes control by a
powerful elite"? In the final
chapter citizens are urged to
take a different path and are
given suggestions for action:
campaign hnance practices cry
out for reform, voting must be
made easier for all citizens,
minor-party activity should be
encouraged, a revitalized labor

movement must once again
organize workers and form
alliances with activists and stu-
dents and even with groups
beyond our borders, consider-
ing the powers of globalization.

Cochran's substantial
research Is revealed in a bibliog-
raphy ranging from political sci-
ence and history books to biog-
raphy to newspaper and maga-
zine articles His notes are
enlightening, and his persuasive
presentation of ideas, along
with an entertaining writing
style, make the book accessible
to a broad audience

This book, in no way, can
be considered "South-bash-
mg" nor is It a political tirade
against the right. Instead
Cochran condemns certain
political institutions of the Old
South and hopes that Its dis-
credited politics will stand as a
warning against the trends that
increasingly taint our national
politics. We are called to action
to rally against these trends
that threaten "what has always
been and remains today Ameri-
ca's grandest experiment and
noblest aspiration; democracy."
Consliiiicf Curry '55

Phil Amerman M.A.T.'o2 is a gradu-
ate of Princeton and a former CIA
employee.

T
Lisa Ashmore is manager of news
services for Agnes Scott College.

T
Christine S. Cozzens is associate
professor of English and director of
The Center for Writing and Speaking
at Agnes Scott.

T
Constance Curry '55, a lawyer and
civil rights activist. Is the author of
Silver Rights and the author of a
chapter as well as editor of Deep in
Our Hearts.

T
Erin Davis Desmarais '00 Is a partici-
pant in the College's MAT. program.

Linda L Hubert '62 Is professor of
English at Agnes Scott and director
of the College's Master of Arts in
Teaching Secondary English pro-
gram.

Nancy Moreland writes regulady for
the American Nursery and Land-
scape Association and authors their
national newsletter She also writes
for the Georgia Green Industry
Association and Is a member of the
Garden Writers Association of
America.

T
Jennifer Bryon Owen is editor of the
Agnes Scott Alumnae Magazine and
director of creative sen/ices at
Agnes Scott.

Celeste Pennington, former editor of
the Agnes Scon Alumnae Magazine,
manages several publications.

T

Dr. Margaret W. Pepperdene is pro-
fessor emerita of English at Agnes
Scott College. She Is a 2001 recipi-
ent of the Phebe and Zephanlah
Swift Moore Teaching Award from
Amherst College.

T
Victoria F. Stopp '01 was the Office
of Communications intern before
graduating with a major In English
literature and creative writing and a
minor In religious studies.

T

Willie Tolliver jr. is assistant profes-
sor of English at Agnes Scott.

36

jr.NFS sroTT rni 1 per <;:,,, <^^

GIVING ALUMNAE

Banking on an ASC Education.

Mary Cay Bankston 74 smiles slightly as she
recalls the moment: She was a young Agnes
Scott economics grad among 2 1 M.B.A.
graduates in a commercial credit training
class at C&S Bank (now Bank of America). "1
sat at the top of the class. It was the moment of realization that
my education was different from the others'."

Embracing that gift, along with the understanding that
"there are no limits to what a woman can accomplish," Banks-
ton deftly moved up through the ranks at C&S in Atlanta, later
at Los Angeles' Lloyd's Bank of California and First Interestate
Bank where she was senior vice president of marketing and
planning. In 1991 she moved to Southern California Gas
Company to serve as vice president of planning. Since the mid-
1990s, Bankston has transformed her career into a successful
consulting practice.

"At Agnes Scott, you do get a sense that you can do any-
thing," she says. "It's the culture, it's the belief expressed by
your professors, and it's inspiring. It's also a community steeped
in integrity and excellence. 1 think
there's always going to be a need
for a place like this."
^ To that end, Bankston
invests in the College. Since
graduation, she has contributed
regularly through the Annual
Fund with her level cur-

rently at the Presidential Circle. Early in Bold Aspirations; The
Campaign for Agnes Scott College, Bankston stepped forward
with a generous gift. Now as co-chair with Jeanette Wright '68
of the California campaign committee, she will invite alumnae
to give.

They will bring together alumnae from far-flung parts of
Southern California to re-establish connections with one
another and the College. Bankston relishes the opportunity.

"We are a great group! No matter what decade we represent,
1 believe there's a common experience here that is priceless."
She also believes that there is good news to share as they
reacquaint California alumnae with the campus. "The growth
of the student body at the same time the College is raising the
academic qualifications is terribly impressive. Mary Bullock is
the right leader. This is the right time. This is the time for
alumnae to step up to the plate and do something special with
their gifts."

Both Bankston and husband who has served as California
campaign chair for his alma mater, Georgia Tech are partners
in philanthropy, whatever form it takes. "Some people will have
more money than time, and others will have more time than
money," believes Bankston.

"Everyone should give what they
have. Both are needed. In fact,
by contributing her time an
alumna may raise as much
money for the College as
someone else who pulls out
her checkbook."

Celeste Pennington

Bankston talks with
Edmund J. Sheehey,
vice president for
academic affairs
and dean of the
College, during
Celebration
Weekend.

Agnes Scott College

THE WORLD FOR WOMEN

141 East College Avenue
Atlanta/Decatur, GA 30030-3797

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CHRIS TlEGRfEN PHO

During ccrcmunies held on Alumnae Weekend, Agnes Scott College dedicated a life-size statue of the
young Robert Frost, which resides in the newly landscaped Alumnae Garden. The statue commemorates
the more than 30-year relationship that Frost had with the College. To read more about Frost and
Agnes Scott College, read "That's Me Leaving Tracks" on page 14 and "The Last Frost of 62" on page 20.