Agnes Scott Alumnae Magazine [2005-2006]

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Who will you become? The college experience means something
different to each of us, but Agnes Scott alums seem to agree on the "one true
thing" that defined our years at the college. That guiding principle is being
incorporated into the experience of current students as well as being used to

recruit new ones, by Barbara byrd GAINES '77

Barbara Byrd Gaines '77,
president of the alumnae
association, is manager-
directory content for
BellSoutfi Advertising and
Publishing in Tucker, Ga.
Her daughter, Bevin, is a
2005 graduate of the
college.

Wlun you arrived on campus your tnrst year
whatever year it was did anyone ask you, "Who
will vou become?

Proiiably not But it was implied The ques-
tion probably had not been articulated in just
those words. Everyone faculty, administration
and staff was here to help you answer that
question. The college created the possibilities,
asked you the question and set you on the path to
where you are and to where you are going.

Overwhelmingly, alumnae credit Agnes Scott
with playing a major role in shaping you into the
people you have become. This became evident
recently as consultants interviewed alumnae,
students and prospective students, searching for
the "one true thing" that defines the Agnes Scott
c.Npencncc You told them Agnes Scott was life-
changing for you, a major factor in helping you
become the person you are today and the one
you are beconiing

^(lu will see these words or variations ot them
frequently since it is being asked of students and
prospective students. For students, "Who Will
You Become?" describes a philosophy of educa-
tion that is responsive to their dreams, talents,
abilities and ambitions

lor alumnae, this (luestmn calls us to consider
the role Agnes Scott played in our lives It also
calls us to consider the ways the college continues
lo be involved in our lives, the ways we continue
to be mlluenced and altected, shaped, if you will
by Agnes Scott. Numerous ways lor us to be
involved in the life of the college are available
We can attend events Alumnae Weekend local
chapter e\ enis, cultural and sporting events
Family Weekend, if you have a daughter attend-
ing the college,- and special lectures and readings.

We can volunteer with the college, local
alumnae chapters and the alumnae association.
We can support the college through donations to
the annual fund and I can t say enough about how
important it is that alumnae give yearly to the
college to help meet the needs and opportunities
of each year.

If you are looking for a way to connect with
the college, contact your class president or call
the alumnae office.

The college keeps you posted on activities
and developments through this magazine AIjim
Ei'fiils, Scott c-iVni's and various mailings through-
out the year. Most college events are open to
alumnae.

Each interaction with the college provides a
new experience and a new way for us to become
As akminae, you are the wonderful results, the
radiant examples of the colleges efforts in your
lourney. The professions and volunteer activities
in which you are engaged and indeed the total
wdiiien \'ou are and will be show .Agnes Scott was
lite changing for vou.

The college asks again Who will vou
become^'

^PlOAjU^i^ /4*-K^

Editor's note: We are eager to hear ^ur stories. If you
would like to share how Agnes Scott helped you become
the person you are today, please contact Jennifer Bryan
Owen at iowen@agnescott.edu or 404 4/1-6301, orwrite
to me in care of the college.

o

Fall 2005

Volume 82, Number 1 -^^^

INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT [\i
FOR INSTITUTIONAL
ADVANCEMENT AND
DIRECTOR OF
COMMUNICATIONS

Mary Ackerly

EDITOR

Jennifer Bryon Owen

SENIOR writer/editor

Wendy Cromwell

ADMINISTRATIVE
ASSISTANT

janann Giles

DESIGN

Winnie Hulme
Design Office

Our Mission

Agnes Scott College
educates women to
think deeply, live
honorably and engage
the intellectual and
social challenges of
their times.

2005 Agnes Scolt College
Published for alumnae and
fnends twice a year by the
Office of Communications,
Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
Annex, 141 E. College Ave,
Decatur, CA 30030.

The content of the magazine
reflects the opmions of the
writers and not the viewpoint

Change of address: Send
address changes by mail to
Office of Development, Agnes
Scott College, 141 E College
Ave , Decatur, CA 30030, by
telephone, call 404 471-6472 or
by e-mail to development^
agnesscott.edu

E-mail:

publication@agnesscott.edu

Web site: www.agnesscott edu

Cover: The Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual
Arts/Corbis

Agne^^StCffij:

GAMBIA PHOTOS BY AMANDA FURNES5 "08

Features
10 In Her Own Words

Women's colleges live up to their claim.
Four alumnae show us how.

BY DAWN SLOAN DOWNES '92

13

Preserve the Past,
Create the Future

On the drawing board are a major reno-
vation and a new building, the prospect
of which is stirring the memories and
dreams of the Agnes Scott community.

BY CELESTE PENNINGTON

18 All That Coke Stock

Do colleges go better with Coke? This
historical and current look at the rela-
tionship between the college in Decatur
and the soft drink giant in Atlanta shows
just how well the two go together.

BY LISA ASHMORE

Departments
2 Reader's Voice

5 Arts & Letters

Agnes Scott's Pulitzer Prize-winning
playwright "rescues" a Broadway-bound
musical.

BY LINDA LENTZ HUBERT '62

8 Research

Everyone complains about the traffic
but an Agnes Scott professor is doing
something about it.

BY JENNIFER LUCAS

26 Who Will You Become?

Students with goals and ambitions fulfill
them at Agnes Scott.

28 World View

An alumna's devotion to Indonesia leads
her back following the tsunami.

BY MELANIE S. BEST '79

Students discover how the plight of
women in Gambia mirrors the struggles
of their country.

BY AMANDA FURNESS '08

Reader's Voice

^^ We can and should be leaders in the march toward greater justice,
compassion and inclusion, both in the church and in the world. ''

THE REV. ANNA PINCKNEY STRAIGHT '93

The Last Issue

ANOTHER STRONG ISSUE! While I have no doubt
ministry is the vocation for which God designed
me, 1 do believe I arrived at it much sooner than I
would have without the wise, kind and superior
teaching of Martha Rees, Tma Pippin, John Carey
and Patti Snyder. I was tremendously blessed
while a student at Agnes Scott, most of all for
being encouraged to keep the bar high for
Christian communities we can and should be
leaders in the march toward greater justice, com-
passion and inclusion, both in the church and in
the world. From what I can read, this belief is
alive and well in the religious diversity and dia-
logue of today's Agnes Scott. It is a wonderful gift
to current and future students. What about the
window pictured on your cover? That powerful
window (a picture of which hangs on my office
wall) was my companion for so many moments of
meditation, prayer and worship. Where is it now?

THE REV. ANNA PINCKNEY STRAIGHT '93

Pill e-mail

I HAVE SPENT a most engaging evening reading,
cover to cover, the latest ASC alumnae magazine.
Though I subscribe to numerous national publica-
tions of high repute, this issue of Agnes Scott The
Magazine is certainly the most riveting received in
some time. Every article was superior in content
and gave pause for excessive brain work. Well
done to one and all. Alums everywhere surely can
take pride in the folks who are building upon a
proud past and taking our alma mater toward ever
higher ideals. Thank you.

MARGE CROMER '65

ii<i e-nunl

I HOPE MANY ANCIENTS like me will let you know
our student newspaper was called The Agonistic,
not The Agnostic as is alleged on page 23 of your
religion issue. The name was changed to The Agnes
Scott News the year before I became editor. I sup-
pose there were two reasons: not enough students

took Greek to know what "agonistic" meant, and
people off campus sometimes misread it as
"agnostic." I had liked The Agonistic as the name
because of its rather esoteric assumption of learn-
ing, but I think The Profile is the best of the three.
Congratulations on a fine job, and thanks.

ELEANOR HUTCHENS '40

Via e-mail
Editor's Note: We regret the error.

I AM ABOUT AS CONSERVATIVE as they come, and
for the past year I have been concerned about
some of the articles printed in the alum magazine.
i planned to write a protest letter, but due to
several illnesses in our family, I never got around
to writing. However, I did not give to the fund
drive to show my displeasure.

When 1 read the latest magazine, I agreed
with Winnie Horton Martin's letter [spring 2005
ASTM] and was pleased with some of the articles
that were printed. Therefore, you will find my
check enclosed. Thank you for finally presenting
some traditional Christian conservative views.

VIRGINIA HANCOCK ABERNATHY '54

Dii/(oii, Ga.

YOU WILL NOTE from this e-mail I've sent to my
friend, a retired Presbyterian minister, as am 1,
that I was totally consumed by the entire issue of
the spring issue of Agnes Scott The Magazine.

You and the entire staff should be beside
yourselves with pride for putting out such an out-
standing issue. I've read it from cover to cover and
am absolutely flabbergasted and pleased beyond
words! Keep up the good work!!

VAUGHN EARL HARTSELL

Via e-mail
Hey, Mr. Posey!

The spring 2005 I'ssiif 0/ Agnes Scott The
Magazine jiist came out. The whole issue is a terrific
reaii chockjull 0} absolutely fincinating reading.
Eveiy page is filled with content that will keep your
rttfeiifioii to the end! It is so outstanding that I asked

1 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2OO5

. . . many morn-
ings as I prepare
for the day, a
difficult task or
decision at hand,
I say to myself,
'How would
Raper handle
this?'"

them to send you a copy. Almost every article will grab
and hold your attention. I predict that you will spend
the better part of two or three hours engrossed in the
articles. I must say you are in for a treat when this
magazine reaches your mailbox! It is a treasure trove of
journalistic jewels!

Vaughn Earl

Arthur Raper

IN 1972, as an ex-Peace Corps volunteer, I was
trying to find my way. My mother, Mamie Ratliff
Finger '39, suggested I see a professor she had had
at Agnes Scott Arthur Raper Your marvelous
story about Raper brought back the vivid memo-
ries of that afternoon of conversation and later
visits, correspondence and friendship. He truly
had a "life-changing impact," and 1 offer the
proposition that such impact reached to the next
generation, whether they encountered Raper as I
did or only heard about him.

Meeting Raper was a pivotal moment, as I
was trying to decide whether to move back to the
South, stay in Washington or go where? He
walked me through his career that day, pulling
down volumes from his floor to ceiling bookcases,
where he had catalogued his life, pausing for a
long discussion of his visits to the Mississippi
Delta. He worked with the Delta Cooperative
Farm, an integrated farm venture with support
from Reinhold Niebuhr, Sherwood Eddy and
others, and consulted with my grandfather, who
was a cotton farmer nearby, and my grandmother,
a liberal Methodist
church activist.

1 regained a
direction back into my
roots and soon after
headed home to the
South, where I've
stayed. One of my
stops involved a
wonderful weekend
where Raper came
to the University
of North Carolina
and discussed the
Southern Tenant
Farmers Union in
a program
sponsored by the Southern Oral
History Program. A friend and budding photog-
rapher caught Raper making a point in his
speech long white flowing hair brushed back,
full white beard, eyes completely closed, eyebrows
raised high into his wrinkled forehead, his right
hand across his chest in gesture. And, with that
black and white photo nearby for the last 30
years, many mornings as I prepare for the day, a
difficult task or decision at hand, 1 say to myself.

"How would Raper handle this?"

1 was delighted to read of the biography that
Cliff Kuhn is writing, an ambitious undertaking,
given the reach of Raper's archives. I look forward
to seeing the full scope of Raper's brilliant career
and inspiring life.

BILL FINGER

Raleigh, N.C.

I'm simply ecstatic over Kristin Kallaher's "He
Taught Students to Think" in the spring 2005
magazine. With facts added by Clifford Kuhn's
research, 1938 classmates learned even more
about our favorite professor, Arthur F. Raper
Congratulations to all involved with producing
this tribute so long overdue to that forward
thinking individual. Beyond lifetime friendships
formed there, Dr Raper's influence remains at the
heart of my own experiences at Agnes Scott
College.

ELSIE WEST DUVAL '38

Newport News, Va.

Sen. Clinton at ASC

I ADMIRE YOUR DECISION to award an honorary
degree to Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as to invite
her to be the commencement speaker. That took
a considerable amount of courage, or guts, to do
these days in Georgia. Thank you very much.

W. PHILLIPS TINKLER, M.D.

Greenwood, S.C.
Father of Ellen McGill Tinkler Reining '7 )

I WAS DELIGHTED TO LEARN a couple of weeks ago
that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be speaking at
Agnes Scott's commencement. And I was thrilled to
hear you [President Bullock] on NPR this morning
talking about the event. 1 may be able to help you
with your memory problem. You can't remember
who spoke at your graduation because when we
graduated in the '60s, there was not an outside
speaker The spotlight was entirely on the gradu-
ates. Congratulations on your choice this year.

ANN ROBERTS DIVINE '67

via e-mail

WE THINK it's WONDERFUL that Hillary Clinton
was the commencement speaker at Agnes Scott.
Our daughter's [Dana Peterson '09] older brother
ran into her at a political event in Washington,
DC, and visited with her about it. He was proud
to add that his little sister was going to be a fresh-
man at Agnes Scott. She raved about the school
and about how well she was received and treated.
She said she had encouraged Chelsea to attend a
women's college.

NICOLE PETERSON P'09

via e-mail

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 3

Reader's Voice

reader's VOICE
POLICY

We appreciate your letters
to the editor. Space limita-
tions dictate that letters in
the future may not exceed
250 words and may be
edited for length as well as
for style. Include your
current address and phone
number. Letters will be
verified before they are
published.

Please send letters to:

Editor

Agnes Scott The Magazine

Office of Communications

Agnes Scott College

141 E. College Ave.

Decatur, GA 30030

Or, by e-mail to

publication

agnesscott.edu

To President Bullock

LAST WEEK I RECEIVED a Copy of your current
alumni magazine. I don't often have time to read
or praise other colleges' publications, but the
beautiful cover of your magazine caught my eye,
as did its focus on "Religion on Campus." The
time I spent leafing through was certainly worth-
while. 1 especially appreciated the article on your
honor code and Hillary Clinton's text. You may
recall that we spoke about Sen. Clinton at the
recent Annapolis Group meeting, and I again
applaud your skill in securing her as a commence-
ment speaker.

STEPHEN D. SCHUTT

President

Lake Forest College

Lake Forest, III.

I AM A 30-YEAR-OLD Woodruff Scholar and a single
mother. I have made several bad decisions in life,
as I'm sure Sen. Clinton and every woman has
done. If 1 were to be penalized publicly because of
my past and had failed to act due to such criticisms,
1 would have been denied the opportunity to
improve and explore the numerous contributions
1 know I have to make. Why do so many women
feel the need to condemn Sen. Clinton for the
events that have taken place during her marriage?
We all live and learn. As women, one would think
that we would be compassionate. How many of us
have been betrayed by husbands or partners who
are not and could never be complete reflec-
tions of our own, individual character?

Though 1 may disagree with some of her
beliefs, I find inspiration in the fact that, at a time
when women are not stepping up to lead. Sen.
Clinton has taken the initiative to do her best to
represent women and to explore issues we face.
My response to these alums is to encourage them
to take action themselves and to provide younger,
conservative Scotties with the female leadership
they so desperately need. Sen. Clinton has not
achieved success thanks to her husband, but in
spite of him. This is what Scotties are strong
women who not only survive, but who thrive
brilliantly, even in the face of adversity.

1 am disgusted by the attacks on Agnes Scott
that assume its decline. Yes, there are homosexu-
als here. Yes, some of us live with men we are not
married to. We struggle with the same issues
women throughout time have wrestled with
how to love ourselves, how to shape our own
morality and even how to develop a relationship
with the Creator. For alums with fundamentalist

beliefs (many of which I do subscribe to myself), I
caution you to go light on judging. Jesus taught
tolerance, acceptance and a desire to meet people
where they are. Love of humanity does not mean
isolating oneself from the outside world, just as it
does not mean denying a grade-A education to
women whose morals one questions.

1 am very proud of Agnes Scott for many of
the great things it does and for its determination
to present a World for Women. It is imperative
that at least one safe place exists where we can
come together as a group despite our differ-
ences to grow, learn and assist each other. In
opening itself up as a truly diverse institution that
welcomes women of all races, religions and sexual
preferences, the college more adequately prepares
us for a world that is reflective of such variety.

AMANDA FURNESS 'o8

['111 f-miji(

Corrections

We apologize for the misspelling of the last
name of The Very Rev. Jean Alden McCurdy
Meade '64, rector of Mount Olivet Episcopal
Church in New Orleans, La., in the spring
issue of Agnes Scott The Magazine.

On page 1 4 of her article in the spring issue of
ASTM, "The Birthright of Our Tradition,"
President Bullock quoted John W Kuykendall,
president emeritus of Davidson College.
However, punctuation in the article did not
make clear that this was a quote. The follow-
ing is President Bullock's quote from a speech
given by Kuykendall:

Here, I believe, is a distinctiiiejeatureojour
particular heirloom: Our tradition simply will not he put
into that sort 0} strait jacket. We have before us a
remarkable opportunity to express and exercise faithful
insights in different ways pertinent (0 different settings
and environments. To treasure f/.'c communion of faith
and learning in education is the focal birthright of our
tradition.

We regret the errors.

4 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

Arts & Letters

Writing a Lije One Hasn't Lived

A Broadway-bound play about to premiere in Atlanta is in trouble. The call for help
goes out to Marsha Norman '69x H'05 Agnes Scott's award-winning playwright
who, even with challenges inherent in the project, accomplishes the task.

BY LINDA LENTZ HUBERT '62

LaChanze as Celie with the sun in Alliance Theatre's world
premiere production of r/7e Co/or Purp/e.

Imagine being requested a few months before
its world premiere in Atlanta to "rescue" a
Broadway-bound musical. Impossible
unless you are as gifted and focused as
Agnes Scott's Marsha Norman '69x H'05,-
but even for her, to have her talents brought to
bear in the eighth year of an eight-year venture
was daunting! When producer Scott Sanders sum-

moned her in February 2004 to the task of writing
the book for a musical built on Alice Walker's
novel The Color Purple, the project was presump-
tively destined in two weeks for a staged
reading sans script and due to go into pre-
views at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in September.

The Color Purple broke Alliance box-office
records with the majority of the performances.
The local response underscored the collaborative
strengths of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and proved
the good judgment of promoters in selecting for
this first stage a prominent theatre in Walker's
home state.

During the extravagant opening on Sept. 17,
2004, Walker herself interrupted the unmitigated
applause and standing ovation that came with the
final curtain to provide a welcome endorsement
of the musical her novel had inspired, inducing
sustained cheers as she spoke of the racial healing
and African-American triumph represented by the
musical interpretation and its talented production
and performing casts.

"Agnes Scott Night" was held several
performances later with a festive, crowded pre-
theater reception for students, faculty, staff,
alumnae and other college constituents.

Among the Agnes Scott participants cele-
brating Norman's role in this production was my
class of 27 students in the master of arts in teach-
ing secondary English, who had studied Walker's
novel, analyzed Steven Spielberg's 1985 film and
were climactically concerned with the issues
involved in adapting the original text to a musical.
They were eager to press Norman with questions.
So several months later, Norman was generous
enough to expand on remarks made the night of
the Agnes Scott performance.

'As a white
woman, I felt
I was really
frightened that
much as 1 loved
the story, 1
wouldn't be able
to do it justice.
Could 1 tell this
story that 1 had
not lived?"

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 5

Arts & Letters

Alliance Theatre artistic
director Susan V. Booth
(left), actor Adriane Lenox
and playwright Marsha
Norman '69X H'05 at
Alliance Theatre's world
premiere production of
Broadway-bound The
Color Purple.

By that time, changes for Broadway, revealecl
by the Atlanta run, were underway. Norman, her
expressive face initially drained by the meet-
ings of the Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees
that had drawn her focus all day grew animated
as she conveyed her complex assessment of The
Color Purple project.

Eleventh-hour entry

Upon learning of plans to create a musical
from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel,
Norman, long a fan of Walker's book, had written
to its producers of her eagerness to be engaged in
the project. She had no real idea that she would
be hired and she wasn't in spite of credentials
that include her own Pulitzer Prize for 'night,
Mother and a Tony for the book and lyrics for the
musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's
beloved novel The Secret Garden.

That is, until production floundered: Regina
Taylor had been commissioned to write the play-
book, which, owing
to her overcrowded
calendar, had fallen
much behind schedule.

When Norman
received the call asking
for her help, she
agreed only to soon
learn that Taylor had
backed out altogether.
She found herself
stepping into a project
most unlike any she
had experienced. First of all, she was not asked to
write the song lyrics along with the book, as she
had done for The Secret Garden. Many songs had
already been written,- she recognized an intimidat-
ing challenge in providing a structure and text
that could accommodate the already existing
musical numbers.

Most of all, she felt the trepidation of being a
white woman when the novel, the cast, many
of the staff and the sensibility of the project were
black. The miseries of the story's Celie were
remote from Norman's own experience.

"As a white woman, I felt I was really
frightened that much as I loved the story, 1
wouldn't be able to do it justice. Could I tell this
story that I had not lived?"

Further, there was potential awkwardness in
her 1 1 th-hour entry. "Would the cast accept me?
Would the other writers and musicians feel
displaced?" It would be a considerable while

before Norman could say with grateful convic-
tion, "it was an experience that changed my life."

Expressing gratitude for the privilege of
working with this material, Norman noted addi-
tional misgivings she had to overcome to embrace
the clear risks of this project. Musicals, of course,
are never a sure thing, and adapting a popular
novel particularly one about the poverty and
abuses suffered by blacks in the rural South of the
first half of the 20th century can involve as
many minuses as pluses. The perception of some
African-American men that the novel and its film
version stereotyped them as child-abusing, greedy,
misogynistic, lazy and self-centered creatures had
resulted in boycotts of theaters when Spielberg's
film was released. That was not something anyone
wished repeated with the musical. Furthermore
and problematically Spielberg had dodged the
sexual dimension of the love between the protag-
onist Celie and Shug Avery. Norman, like Walker,
felt the musical should not downplay the lesbian
relationship. Nor should it flee from rendering the
abusive sex and violence so fijndamental to the
novel. She could and would mitigate the
harshness of "Mister's" profile by allowing him to
change as a consequence of his well-desei"ved
punishments and the lessons of the liberated Celie.

There were hefty theatrical problems to solve
in the translation from epistolary novel to musical
that were different from the ones Spielberg wres-
tled with in his film.

"Movies can handle scale and scope very
well," allowed Norman but she had to decide
how to handle Nettie's long disappearance from

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

Il Adriane Lenox as Shug
Avery in Alliance Theatre's
world premiere production
of The Color Purple.

X\

^^>

f*'^^

the stage as well as find a way to overcome the
Lion King stereotypes that plague any current stage
rendering of Africa.

Changes for New York

The Atlanta solutions had not been entirely
successful, Norman explained, and she shared
a number of the changes she contemplated for
New York. She described how an intensified focus
on the novel's primary character, Celie and a
corresponding diminishment in her sister Nettie's
stage role would improve the coherence of the
play and help to make convincing Celie's remark-
able development in self-esteem. She delighted us
with her reassurance that the hilarious "gossips," a
recurring trio of carping women, not only were to
persist but were to be given husbands.

She mentioned the expanded role of Squeak,
whose slight part in the Atlanta production had left
her motivations murky. There were to be a number
of cast changes, she explained. She spoke of new
songs and revisions of old and, this time, Norman
had been able to do more than tweak their lyrics.

Norman also shared a substantial change made
to promote clarity and focus. She planned for the
opening scene to differ in time and place from
that of the Atlanta production. At the Alliance,
the play began with Celie's mother's fijneral
and the introduction of her two grieving little
girls, Celie and Nettie. The pained gospel music
was compelling, but the performances of the
children were not.

The revised opening: a few short minutes
into the show and a newborn baby cries. As her

babe is taken from her, Celie lullabies a heart-
wrenching song added since the premiere
"Somebody Gonna Love You." That supernal
pledge to her offspring links the opening and the
close of the play, as well as the start and the
completion of Celie's journey to selfhood and self
love. By the time this musical ends, Celie, in the
spirit of Walker's novel, commits to the belief that
these lyrics apply not only to her children, but
also to herself.

As we listened to Norman's tape of this song,
I realized I was far from alone in registering its
emotional power and thematic significance. These
plaintive and haunting notes contain the genesis
of the joy of self-affirmation to come. We, as an
early trial audience, felt included in the fictional
struggles and triumphs of that poor abused black
woman living decades ago in rural Georgia.

A universal paradigm

In the book she constructed for this production,
Norman helps to "write a life" for which she
reveals manifest sensitivity and sympathy,- but she
also makes certain as Walker would surely wish
that the life of this musical provides a universal
paradigm for the inevitable battles for selfhood
and self-approval waged by almost all human
souls, even those who experience lives far more
advantaged in every way than Walker's Celie

The rousing July 4
finale offers the ^^

prospect of healing
and wholeness for
women and men, for
black and white and
perhaps even for the
nation. Celie's
independence is the
primary reason for
celebration, of course,
but in her playbook,
Norman underscores redemption for the
chastened Mister as well, allowing him and
his male counterparts back into the human fold
at least provisionally.

In the lyricism of The Color Purple, A New
Musical, there is more hope than defeat, as much
humor as pain a view we trust will be endorsed
by sold-out performances, standing ovations and
theatrical awards to follow with the Broadway
production.

Linda Lentz Hubert '62 is professor emerita of English at
Agnes Scott.

L

THE COLOR PURPLE,
A NEW MUSICAL

Opening Night:
December 1, 2005
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway
New York, N.Y.

Color
Purp/e

.*^'

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 7

Research

Going Nowhere Fast

Everyone complains about the traffic, but no one almost no one does anything
about it. Driven by her frustration and curiosity, an Agnes Scott professor's research
may yield solutions down the road, byjennifer lucas

The cost for
congestion is
$573 per year for
each Atlantan,
The city also has
three of the top
20worst bottle-
necks in the
United States.

The average automobile commuter in
the United States spends 53 minutes
driving 30 miles roundtrip a day just
going to work and back home again.
That is a lost hour each day. Traffic
congestion has increased nationwide, and
American roads are congested for longer periods
of time, which has increased travel times and will
continue to increase travel times. Needless to say,
commuting to and from work is frustrating and
stressful for many people.

In Atlanta, where I live, and in many other
cities, commuting is posing a threat to quality of
life. This issue has surpassed safety issues, and
great numbers of people are moving back inside
the Perimeter to avoid long commutes. Atlanta
ranks fifth in the nation as the city with the great-
est delays and 1 1th for the worst congested travel.
The cost for congestion is $573 per year for each
Atlantan. The city also has three of the top 20
worst bottlenecks in the United States

This issue is a personal one for me. One
Friday afternoon, I was delayed at work and did
not leave until 3:30 p.m. I had hoped to leave
earlier because Friday rush-hour traffic is the
worst travel time during the week. My usual rule
was that if I did not leave by 3 p.m. I would stay at
work until 7 p.m. On this day I took my chances
and suffered the consequences.

I took my normal route home, a 28-mile trip.
Just after getting onto the interstate, I saw that the
vehicles up ahead were at a standstill. I quickly
thought about trying to exit, but I was six lanes in
and missed the exit. I drove up to the stopped
vehicles and waited.

In my first hour of waiting, a radio reporter
announced that a tractor-trailer had jackknifed
and spilled its contents. I began thinking about
how much my commute was affecting me. Unlike
most of my friends, I got up at 4:45 a.m. so that 1

could leave my house by 5: 1 5 a.m. I wanted to
avoid the traffic, but I also wanted to be sure to
get to work on time for my 9 a.m. course. If I tried
to drive to Agnes Scott during rush hour, my nor-
mal 45-minute trip could take two hours or more.

In my second hour of waiting, I thought
about my work-family research and how commut-
ing especially affects dual-income couples who
work in opposite parts of a city.

In my third hour of waiting, I wondered who
was doing research on commuting and what those
people were finding. That day it took me almost
four hours to get home. But it also gave me my
current research project.

The next day I conducted a literature search
on commuting, and found articles about such things
as road construction, vehicle safety and traffic
flow, but I wanted to know about how people are
affected by commuting. Most of what I found had
been done in other countries and was 20 or more
years old. I was surprised more researchers were
not doing research on the psychological effects of
commuting. This gave me a wonderfijl opportu-
nity. Since beginning my research five years ago,
others have begun investigating commuting, but
much more research needs to be done.

The following tips, many the results of my
published research, can be used to lessen your
commuter stress.

AT WORK

Participate in a fiextime program with var\'ing
work start times. Through my research 1
found that commuters with flextime reported
less driver stress and feelings of time urgency.

Participate in a telecommuting program. You
can avoid commuting altogether on the days
you work from home.

Participate in company vanpooling or
carpooling.

8 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

#^Ai

^^^r^Bfnf ^^^F ^n

Set up nontraditional work hours to avoid the
heaviest traffic.

If your employer doesn't offer these programs, it's
worth it for you to raise the issue.

AT HOME

Find a predictable commute. My research
revealed commuters with more predictable
commutes experienced less driver stress. 1
also found less-predictable commutes nega-
tively affected work productivity once at
work.

Live near mass transit and use it.

Drive away from traffic to avoid congestion.

1 found commuters reporting greater conges-
tion also reported greater driver stress.
However, I did not find the commuters with
longer-distance and time commutes to report
greater driver stress, so congestion is a more
important contributing factor for stress than
length of commute.

Move closer to work if you have a congested
commute.

If the above suggestions aren't feasible, you
can try to cope by listening to music or to books
on tape. Think about purchasing a vehicle with a
comfortable environment. Less noise and vibra-
tion, better back support and an air filtration
system ease commuter stress.

1 continue to research commuting and hope
to learn more about the effects of commuting so
that 1 can develop better coping solutions. This
year I decided to take on a much more ambitious

research project. 1 am writing a grant to study
both the physiological and psychological stress
that can result from commuting. I became inter-
ested in physiological stress after finding through
my past research that commuters reporting high
commute strain also reported more negative phys-
ical symptoms and exhaustion.

For the grant, I am proposing a model of the
commute experience with physiological and psy-
chological stress as the end result. I will assess
stress using written questionnaires and salivary
Cortisol, a stress hormone. Salivary Cortisol was
selected because it is a reliable indicator of physi-
ological stress and also because it can be extracted
from saliva instead of blood or urine, it causes less
stress for research participants. This is exciting
research because salivary Cortisol will allow me to
determine if stressful commutes actually cause
physical damage to commuters' bodies.

Following my own advice, I have significantly
decreased my commute stress. 1 moved much
closer to work, drive away from traffic creating
a predictable commute and avoid the rush hour
by going into work later.

Jennifer Lucas, associate professor of psychology, joined
the faculty in 1998. She holds a Ph.D. in industrial-
organizational psychology from Kansas State University.

author's note

Wliile they were students,
Kira Barden 'oo, lelena
Crawford '03, IVlandy Gray
Gewin '00, Tonia Miller '00
and Amber Raley '02
assisted in conducting my
commuting research, and
this experience helped all
of them gain acceptance
into graduate programs.

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 9

In Her Own Words:

The Value of a Women s

College Education

These days, the value and feasibility of a women's college education generates hot
debate, and some single-sex schools are admitting men or closing. Testimonies of
Agnes Scott alumnae validate the college's clear mission of educating women.

BY DAWN SLOAN DOWNES '92

Women make up more than half the students
enrolled at America's coeducational institutions,
and the growth in their numbers outstrips those
of men Because of this, women may appear to
have the same access to educational experiences
and opportunities as men.

Some educators and politicians question the
value of a single-sex education, but they fail to
note the fact that women who attend women's
colleges are three times more likely to major in
economics and one and one-half times more
likely to earn degrees in math or science. When
sui-veyed, women's college graduates report con-
sistently greater overall satisfaction with their col-
lege experience than do their coed counterparts.

While women's college graduates represent
only 2 percent of all female college graduates,
they make up more than 20 percent of the women
in Congress, 30 percent oi Business Week's "2004 50

Female Rising Stars of Corporate America ' and
20 percent of Black Enterprise Miulazine's "20 Most
Powerful African-American Women." Women
participate in philanthropic endeavors in
significantly higher numbers after graduation
and are twice as likely as graduates of coeduca-
tional institutions to earn doctorate or medical
degrees.

Statistics and facts indicate a women's
college education does give its recipients an
edge in careers and life. But the "proof is in the
pudding," as a look at four alumnae conHrms,

Daum Sloiin Downes '92 is ii freelance ifriter in
Tucker, Ga.

10 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

"Constantly surrounded by accomplished
women who were my fellow studmts, alumnae,
professors and college administrators, I
could envision my future as one of them."

DR. AMY HUTCHINSON '86

A View of the Future

Dr Amy Hutchinson '86, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Emory University,
had never considered attending a women's college.

"I specifically threw away every brochure I received from women's
colleges," she recalls. "I planned to go to a large university with the rest of
my crowd until late in my senior year when a teacher suggested Agnes Scott
might be a better fit for me."

Hutchinson, whose job includes teaching and research as well as patient
care, has also volunteered on a number of international medical missions,
including a mission to Ecuador in April. As part of her clinical research, she
recently undertook a study of childhood vision screening and began a
project with a Georgia Institute of Technology engineer to develop an
automated vision-screening system.

Her first visit to Agnes Scott did it. "It only took that one brief experi-
ence for me to realize that Agnes Scott was the kind of college I wanted to
attend," Hutchinson says. "I remember coming away with a very favorable
impression of the students because they seemed so confident and intelligent.
I was also impressed with the dynamic in the classroom. As it turns out, the
attributes that attracted me to Agnes Scott that weekend are the very ones
that ultimately helped define who 1 am today."

Hutchinson attributes her academic success at Agnes Scott and in
medical school to the college's small class size and direct interaction with her
professors. This led to "a certain confidence and self-assuredness that 1 prob-
ably would not have gained if I had gone to a larger university," she says.

JODIE ELIZABETH JEFFREY '80

Focus on Self

Co-owner of Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing in Mountain Home, Ark., Jodie
Elizabeth Jeffrey '80 manages 24 employees and runs a full-service market-
ing agency that handles accounts for manufacturing, health-care and service
businesses. Since 1984, Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing has won more than 40
national awards for creative services.

A native of Lone Oak, Ky., a small town in the western part of the state,
Jeffrey learned early in life about the societal expectations placed on young
women.

"In rural Western Kentucky in thel970s, women focusing on themselves
and their intellectual growth was uncommon," says Jeffrey. "Attending
Agnes Scott allowed me to do that in a lovely, safe environment. The
courses and faculty enabled me to develop creatively and analytically. I not
only gained from the course knowledge, but developed communication
skills that still serve me well today."

For Jeffrey, choosing a women's college was simple. "Going to college
was about learning and stretching oneself mentally. Agnes Scott's focus has
always been at least in my opinion primarily about learning. The coed
schools I visited during my search for a college seemed to stress the social
aspects of college as much or more than the opportunities for learning."

Jeffrey says her Agnes Scott professors inspired a lifelong love of learn-
ing that is a "never-ending and rewarding journey of its own. If you know
how to learn, to use your mind and communicate, you can handle any job or
career or opportunity you encounter the rest of your life."

"It was wonderful to have jour years oj
learning without the distraction of hoys in
the classroom or competition for the
professor's attention or pressure to look good
in class."

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 11

"Bejore and after college there are ample
opportunities to develop the skill of iporking
with men. At a women's college, you are free
to try something new and to succeed without
the fear of upstaging some hoy who's
interested in you."

LETITIA "TISH" LOWE '69

Lifelong Learning

Letitia "Tish" Lowe '69 experienced the growth of her self-esteem and confi-
dence during her years at Agnes Scott. However, the former president of the
World Bank's International Finance Corp. says the most important thing
Agnes Scott gave her was a love of learning.

Lowe has been the first woman in each position she's ever held, and in
some cases, the first person in that job. "My professors at Agnes Scott pro-
vided me with a sense that even if I didn't know about something, 1 could
learn what I needed to learn to do it."

Her career began when she became the first woman to work as a com-
puter operator for IBM. A music major, she taught herself programming
before taking anthropology classes at the University of Tennessee and ulti-
mately creating her job as head of the Tennessee Valley Authority's cultural
resources management program.

At the age of 40, Lowe earned her MBA. from Yale University. Hoping
to combine her environmental experience with an interest in international
development, Lowe was told that such a job simply did not exist. Refusing to
abandon her dream, Lowe secured a five-week contract with the International
Finance Corp. as a public relations consultant for IPC's lone environmental
specialist. Soon, she became a fijll-time employee and developed a program
to train bankers in developing nations to evaluate loans for their environ-
mental impact. Her program is now a standard for banks worldwide.

"If I'm not learning something new, I'm not happy," says Lowe. "It was very
freeing for me to attend Agnes Scott free of the social pressures of a coed
environment and to be challenged to be better than 1 thought I could be "

Retired from the IFC, she is studying drawing at the Angel Academy of
Art, the world's foremost academy of classical art, in Florence, Italy.

KAY LAWTHER KRILL '77

Confidence to Lead

Fashion may not have been the first priority for Kay Lawther Krill '77 when
she was a student at Agnes Scott, but the psychology major has learned a
thing or two about the subject since graduating. Recently she added CEO to
her role as president of Ann Taylor Stores Corp., where she manages one of
the best-known and most successfijl brands in women's fashion.

Krill joined Ann Taylor in 1 994 as merchandising vice president and in
1996 helped launch the company's new stand-alone Ann Taylor Loft division,
a moderately priced brand extension, for which she is credited with building
and nurturing since its inception. Promoted to president of the division in
200 1 , she turned the concept into one of the retail industry's fastest growing
brands, delivered 19 consecutive quarters of positive sales and turned the
store into Ann Taylor Corp.'s largest division. Since November 2004, she has
overseen all three of the company's concepts Ann Taylor Stores, Ann
Taylor Loft, Ann Taylor Factory Stores with more than 700 stores in 45
states, which produce more than $1 billion in annual sales. She also manages
all aspects of marketing.

"Agnes Scott definitely developed my leadership skills and my confi-
dence. 1 was president of the athletic association and on the student council,
and those two experiences were very important for my growth and exposure.
Leadership is a journey, and confidence in leading a team, a company, or
even a few key associates, further develops and is refined each year."

"A single-sex education was
crucial in creating and
developing my thought
process, my confidence and
my leadership skills. "

12 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

On the drawing boards are two "beauties" a stunning new
chapel and renovation and expansion of the beloved Anna I.
Young Alumnae House. While both projects meet practical needs
of the college, both also meet spiritual needs, by celeste pennington

Preserve the Past,
Create the Future

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 13

Anna I. Young Alumnae House:

It's Time

The Anna I.Young
Alumnae House, named
for a 1910 alumna of the
college who served as a
mathematics professor
until her death In 1920, is
the second oldest such
building in the United
States, and the oldest in
the Southeast.

After Mary Wallace Kirk '11
became president of the
local alumnae association
in 1919, she visited the
alumnae offices in a
number of other women's
colleges. She discovered
Vassar College had an
alumnae house and
decided Agnes Scott
should have one, too. Kirk
didn't waste time, donat-
ing half of the needed
$20,000 for design and
construction for the house
to be built in 1921. When
authorized by the trustees,
the resolution stated the
"alumnae of the college
are our best asset."

The well-worn guest books of the
Anna I. Young Alumnae House read
like a who's who. With its high
ceilings, congenial hearth and lovely
garden, the Georgian-style home
has hosted a range of guests from royalty to
students' dates, as well as provided a home-away-
from-home for the literary greats.

As president, James R. McCain { 1923- 1951 )
sent fresh flowers for the enjoyment of Agnes
Scott visitors, among them the poet from New
England.

"Robert Frost was tall and gaunt and very
quiet," recalls Mamie Ratliff Finger '39, who kept
the flowers fresh as she served him and other
Alumnae House guests for two years after her
graduation. Frost spoke few words to Finger, but
he showed his appreciation with a beloved keep-
sake, an autographed book of his poems.

An elegant place to live

"It was a very elegant place to live," allows Finger
who stayed in a second-floor room of the house
where she worked as both hostess and assistant
editor of the alumnae association's publications,
including the Qunrterly. She is certain that under-
taking prepared her well for the stream of guests
she has entertained during 62 years of marriage to
a minister who became president of a Methodist
college and later a bishop.

Day students regularly enjoyed refreshment
in the Alumnae House's downstairs tearoom.
Trustees who didn't see eye-to-eye during board
meetings have been known to iron out their dif-
ferences while relaxing together in the living
room. For decades, the alumnae association has
used its lush and fragrant garden to fete new stu-
dents in the fall and new graduates each spring.

"It is a symbol of those who have gone
beyond the campus," notes Lucia Howard
Sizemore '65, former director of alumnae
relations. "It is also a bridge for those coming to
and going from campus."

Thanks to a cohort of volunteers, the
Alumnae House garden has been restored and

maintained beautiRilly. Structurally, the house is
in good shape, but the blush is off the rose when
it comes to the house's outdated systems and
interiors. Years ago, one avid gardener, Mary Ben
Ei^win '25, described it by saying: "We look like
fallen aristocracy. We've got to do something with
the Alumnae House!"

On occasion the house has been spruced up,
yet in nearly 85 years, its plumbing and electric
wiring remain virtually unchanged. Several guests
still share one bath on the hall. Switch on a table
lamp upstairs, and lights may flicker all over the
house.

"Plug in a hair dryer, and strange things
happen. It will be wonderful for visitors, especially
dignitaries and speakers, to stay in a lovely place, "
muses trustee Jeanne Kaufmann Manning '72.

Linda Grant Teasley '61 agrees. She has
served on the board of trustees for six years and
knows the house well. "Like staying in a dorm, the
Alumnae House is a very companionable place,
yet this renovation will help it lose that 1950
dorm feel. I am especially looking forward to it
having a bathroom with each room and a shower
that is in better shape."

14 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

Changes are under way

Thanks to a gift from Erwin's friend and fellow
Alumnae Garden volunteer Bella Wilson Lewis '34,
plans for tfiese kinds of clianges are underway.
When Lewis died in 1995, President Mary Brown
Bullock '66 allocated $900,000 in undesignated
funds from Lewis' estate as a lead gift for the $2.9
million project. No money will be diverted from
academics or student life for this renovation and
expansion. It will be funded by gifts from alumnae
and other donors, and construction will not begin
until all funds are in hand.

In 2002, the college presented its ideas for
the renovation and asked the architectural firm of
Perkins + Will of Atlanta to make a proposal.

The first question was: "Can you fit ail these
functions into the existing house?" After careful
consideration, the answer was no.

The second question was: "If we restore the
house to its original design, can we expand
through an addition?"

Perkins+Will did a building analysis and
studied site constraints. Vance Cheatham, associ-
ate principal and senior designer, says, "The
house looks good standing alone. Our challenge
was to design an addition that appears logically
attached and does not compete." He presented
four concepts, and the college chose a carriage
house-style addition.

As they approached the project, Cheatham
and interior designer Marcia K. Knight '73 of
Perkins-^Will were excited that Agnes Scott
archives contained the original hand-drawn plans
for the house. One rendering shows an interior
with details including the molding profiles.
"Williams Brothers [lumber company] is still in
business," says Cheatham. "They did the molding
and have kept their old profiles, so we can match
them exactly!"

Although changes are required to upgrade
and make the house energy-efficient, Knight says,
"Our historic preservation consultant said that the
historic integrity of the house rates very high.
The wooden floors are lovely. The fireplace in the
living room is just exquisite. We want to maintain
the building's stately and elegant character We
believe that when we are done, people will say,
'This is what the Alumnae House should look like!"'

Nancy Thomas Hill '56, trustee emerita from
Richmond, always elected to stay in the house
while a trustee. She vividly remembers, as a stu-
dent, standing in the Alumnae House with her
date, nervously waiting for her mother to descend
the stairs and join them for an evening at the
opera. "When I went back to work on Bold
Aspirations, I was back in the Alumnae House. It
had deteriorated considerably," says Hill, who is
looking forward to staying in the renovated space.
"Would the college put Sen. Hillary Clinton there
now?" Hill smiles: "We joke and we laugh, but it is
definitely time for a change."

The renovation and
addition will include:

Restoration of the
tearoom, seating up to
30. Three pairs of French
doors at the bacl< of the
house will open from the
tearoom onto a terrace
overlooking the
Alumnae Garden.
Tearoom parties can
spill out into the garden.

Each of the five guest
rooms will have a
separate bath.

A VIP room on the
second floor will have a
sitting area, work space,
bedroom, bath and
storage.

ADA accessibility
includes an elevator
making second-floor
rooms accessible to all
guests.

A serpentine brick path
will unify the Alumnae
House and the garden.

A carriage house
addition. It will contain
three offices and a large
workroom for students
and support staff. It is
designed so the addition
could be readily retro-
fitted as two additional
guest rooms in the
future.

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 15

Julia Thompson Smith Chapel:

Sacred Space

By design, the
Julia Thompson
Smith Chapel will
be a Christian
chapel that
welcomes people
of all faiths.

On the drawing
board are a foyer,
a separate space
for prayer and
Bible study, a
sanctuary to seat
a minimum of
100, space for
the Brombaugh
Opus 3id organ
and a garden.

A half-century ago, Agnes Scott
students attended required chapel
services in Gaines Chapel. But Anne
Jones Sims '53 remembers their
enterprising Christian Association
president scouring the campus for a more intimate
place for prayer. In an upper room in Murphey
Candler, they rolled out a nice carpet remnant,
added "found" chairs and "some hymnals that we
thought would be better used there than in the
pew backs of Gaines," admits Sims. "We could
worship together in Maclean and Gaines. But
these did not meet our need."

Thatcher Chapel, located inside the old
campus center, provided a place for worship and
reflection, but that building was demolished to
allow a building space for the Alston Campus
Center

Today, students meet in their residence halls
for Bible study and for worship in The Amelia
Davis Luchsinger Fireplace Lounge or in a
second-floor room in Alston Campus Center

"Even though it was pretty small and drafty,
for a while the gazebo was enclosed and used as a
prayer room," recalls Maiy Brown Bullock '66,
past CA president. "There was always a search for
the best place to have religious services."

Soon that long search will be coming to a
glorious end.

Harmony with surroundings

Before his death, Hal L. Smith, trustee emeritus,
gave $2 million to the college toward a freestand-
ing chapel so future generations will have a sacred
place for spiritual reflection and expression. It will
be named for his wife, Julia Thompson Smith '3 1 .
The naming gift of $500,000 for the chapel gar-
den was donated by trustee Jim Philips and his
wife. Donna, in honor of his parents, Davison and
Kay Philips '43.

This year, the trustees selected a world-class
architect of contemporary Gothic chapels,
Maurice Jennings -i- David McKee Architects, to
design a chapel to fit the landscape and provide a
profoundly beautiful, light-filled space for worship.

Their design philosophy upholds the principles
of organic architecture espoused by Frank Lloyd
Wright and Fay Jones. Jennings -i- McKee is the
successor firm to that of the late Fay Jones, noted
architect of Thorncrown in Eureka Springs, Ark.

"It is like a beautiful gem," says former trustee
Sally Skardon '70, past chair of the building and
grounds committee, describing Thorncrown,
which was featured in Southern Livin(j. "When we
entered the chapel, it made our hearts soar. They
design every aspect of the space. It is simply
transforming."

Jennings worked with Fay Jones and was the
only partner in Fay Jones -i- Maurice Jennings
Architects. Their designs for contemporary
Gothic chapels are listed among the most signifi-
cant buildings in the United States in the past 100
years. Their design principles focus on a harmony
between the building and its natural surroundings,
a close relationship of the individual elements of

the building to each other, the honest expression
of materials and generous use of natural light.

Cue Pardue FJudson '68, vice president for
student life and community relations and dean of
students, is among administrators and alumnae
who visited several chapels designed by this firm,
including the Chapel of the Apostles at The
Llniversity of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. "When
you walk in, you have that sense of awe that you
are in a sacred space, " says Hudson.

By design, the Julia Thompson Smith Chapel
will be a Christian chapel that welcomes people
of all faiths. On the drawing board are a foyer, a
separate space for prayer and Bible study, a

16 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

sanctuary to seat a minimum of 100, space for the
Brombaugh Opus 3 1 d organ [one of only six of its
kind] and a garden. The architects are planning to
incorporate the Llorens stained glass window
from the Thatcher Chapel.

A place for reflection and quiet

After considering eight locations, the college
selected the former Snodgrass Amphitheatre and
May Day Dell as the site, chosen for its beauty
and its access along a thoroughfare between the
new Science Center, Alston Campus Center and
McCain Library.

"Hal Smith was actually more interested in
the location of the chapel than in the architects,"
says Bullock. "Hal Smith loved this site."

Providing students with a stand-alone chapel
makes sense to Paige McRight '68, former Julia
Thompson Smith Chaplain. "In the midst of the
busyness of college, this will be where students
can take a breather and take stock, a place for
reflection and quiet." Now and then, McRight
performed funerals and memorial services in
Gaines because Thatcher Chapel, seating 70, was

Agnes Scott is one of the best expressions of that
reality. Having a chapel is a visible reminder of
what the college was founded on."

Skardon agrees. "The college has focused on
the academic with the construction of a library
and science buildings, on the social with a student
center, on the physical with its athletic field and
tennis courts and we are excited about all of
these things. The college was created to help
shape the intellectual, ethical and spiritual values
of the students.

"Inscribed on the seal is II Peter 1 :5. Add to
your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge.' It is a
holistic approach to education. The chapel will be
the spiritual center of the campus, affirming the
importance of faith in our community of higher
learning. Our students want and need this,"
continues Skardon.

In hand is about $4.4 million of the estimated
$6 million needed for chapel construction, the
garden and an endowment for maintenance.
Construction will begin after all funds have been
raised.

"Many alumnae will want to be involved," says

TO LEARN MORE

Examples of chapels
designed byiennings +
McKee Architects,
includingthe Chapel of
the Apostles at Sewanee:
The University of the
South in Tennessee
(above), can be found at
www.jenningsmckeearch.
com.

not big enough.

"It will be very
nice to have a place for
students to gather

together for special occasions, worship and
celebration," says McRight.

Bullock agrees. "Now, we will have a place for
Bible study groups. This will be wonderful for
lectures and recitals. Oh, and weddings! Now we
will have a beautiful space for small weddings!"

McRight is also interested in how the chapel
will reflect "the commitment to faith undergirding
all that the college is. Higher education is the
oldest mission field of the Presbyterian church.

Jane King Allen '59 of Young Harris, Ga. "You can
go back and forth about brick and mortar, but this
chapel will be a means to an opportunity."

Celeste Pennington, a Georgia-based freelance writer,
manages several publications.

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 17

AGNES SCOTT AND

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY:

All That Coke Stock"

Mention
Agnes Scott's
endowment,
and you'll
frequently
hear a response
that includes
"all that Coke
stock." But
there's more.

BY LISA ASHMORE

Bordering Agnes Scott College is a
tree-lined street bearing the family
name of Asa Candler, the druggist
who started Coca-Cola's march from
a regional fountain drink to one of
the world's largest companies.

In 1954, Agnes Scott trustee and alumna
Frances Winship Walters' bequest of $4.5 million
in Coke stock and other investments doubled
what was then the college's endowment.

"It is not exaggeration to say Walters' gift
saved the college from the decline that shuttered
many women's colleges during the '60s and '70s,"
says President Mary Brown Bullock '66.

I Ifgiven today, Frances Winship Walters' $4.5 |j

' million bequest in Coke stock and other invest- ''

ments would be worth r^
I $32.6 million.

Connections multifaceted and interlaced
between The Coca-Cola Company and Agnes
Scott College go back to the late 1 800s. The two
were conceived just years apart the formula in
1 886 and the college in 1 889. Foresight and luck
played a part in both their successes.

In the late 1890s, Letitia Pate married Joseph
Whitehead, a Tennessee lawyer who obtained the

rights to bottle Coca-Cola. Although Asa Candler
was skeptical about bottling the successful fountain
drink, doing so was crucial to the brand's success
in going national, then global. When Whitehead
died in 1906, his widow assumed the running of
the company so well that Coca-Cola President
Robert Winship Woodruff welcomed her to Coke's
board of directors in 1934, one of the first women
to hold that role in an American corporation.

In 1923, Mrs. Whitehead married Col. Arthur
Kelly Evans, a retired Canadian army officer.
During her lifetime, Evans, an Agnes Scott trustee
from 1949 tol953, gave the college Rinds to build
the Letitia Pate Evans Hall and left $100,000 in
her will to maintain it.

The Woodruff Coca-Cola fortune became the
source of the largest philanthropy in Atlanta, pro-
viding millions annually to medicine, science, the
arts, the poor, civic duty and colleges so much
so that an Emory fight song included the lyriC: "So
fill your cup. here's to the hick of the Cocii-Cohi School."

How it all began

While Agnes Scott may not be known as the
"Coca-Cola " school, the relationship goes way
back. Pinpointing how it all began is difficult,
according to Charles F^. McTier, president of The
Robert W Woodruff Foundation. He doesn't
believe there was one person who influenced the
connection, but rather many independent
decisions to support the college that were made
by those who came to know the college.

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

"Much of it was based around the college's
strong set of Presbyterian roots," says McTier.
"George Woodruff, a devout Presbyterian, was
deeply interested in Agnes Scott, as were other
members of his family."

The college's academic strengths, then and
now, were the major factor. "Agnes Scott has
always been a strong school, and it has garnered
much attention among Atlanta donors."

For the first half of the century, Emory
University and Georgia Institute of Technology
did not admit women, and women in some of the
prominent families of Atlanta attended Agnes
Scott and influenced the giving of their families,
says McTier.

"Lettie Pate Evans appreciated the school for
what it was giving women a superb education,"
notes McTier.

Family ties

Executives of The Coca-Cola Company have
served on the college's board for decades. Those
relationships and the company's dividend poli-
cies and stock prices have been a major factor
in what the college has become.

George W. Woodruff, a businessman and
engineer who was president of the world's largest
manufacturer of cotton gins and cotton equipment
for more than 30 years, served on the Agnes Scott
board in various roles including vice chair and
strategically, on the investment committee
from 1939 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1974,
when he was named trustee emeritus. At his death
in 1987, George Woodruff's estate bequest of $ 1 4
million during the Centennial Campaign became
the largest single gift ever received by the college.
A $ 1 million bequest of his wife, Irene Woodruff,
was designated by the college for financial aid for
Return-to-College students, and the program was
renamed Irene K. Woodruff Scholars in her
honor. The main quadrangle at Agnes Scott is
named for this couple.

This family's connections to the college were
on both sides of the aisle: Irene's mother, Clara
Belle Rushton King, attended Agnes Scott Institute
from 1 892 to 1 894,- she was a lifelong friend of
Frances Winship Walters, George W. and Robert
W. Woodruff's maternal aunt.

Family ties also form one connection Joe
Gladden, retired Coca-Cola general counsel, has
to the college. His wife, Sally Bynum Gladden '65,
his mother, Frances Baker Gladden '38x, and his
aunt, Betty Baker Prior '49, are alumnae. His
grandfather, Woolford B. Baker, taught biology
here during the 1920s. The Gladdens' gift to "Bold
Aspirations: The Campaign for Agnes Scott
College" was made in his honor, and the Science
Center atrium was named for Baker.

On the business level. Gladden led the college

board of trustees from 1992 to 2002, a decade of
incredible growth and prosperity funded largely
through unprecedented Coke stock returns. At his
retirement from Coke in 2001 , Gladden was one
of six Coca-Cola executive committee members
who steered the company through some of its
strongest periods of growth, in July 1998, Coke
common stock was trading at $85.75, and the
Agnes Scott endowment market value had
increased from $193.6 million in 1993 to $450
million in 1998, a remarkable sum for a college
with less than 1 ,000 students. That put Agnes
Scott in the top 1 8 percent of private college
endowments. Other calculations made at that
time placed the college fourth in the nation in
endowment value per student. Since that time,
the overall decline in the stock market, and the
decline in Coke stock in particular, has affected
the college's endowment. For comparison, the
July 1 Coke common stock price this year was
$42.2 1 , and the market value of the Agnes Scott
endowment as of June 30 was $277 million.

Endowment investments

By the mid '90s, many colleges were questioning
the wisdom of banking their endowments on the
performance of a single stock. But late into that
decade, returns of 30 percent or more were hard
to pass up. Many schools with hefty portfolios of
Coke stock figured it was worth the gamble to
reap the reward.

Since the 1954 bequest, the Agnes Scott
endowment has been invested heavily in Coke,
and in the past decade, that amount reached as
high as 60 percent of the college's investments.
This concentration was due to the fact that
Walters' will specified her gift of Coke stock could
not be sold solely for the purpose of asset diversi-
fication, but it can be sold prudentially for the
benefit of Agnes Scott. The college thus began
selling a small portion of Coke stock in 1 996 to
make the endowment payment to the annual
operating budget, an authorized purpose. A recent
example of such a purpose was the sale of Coke
stock to help pay for the college's new $36.5
million science building.

The same sort of careful stewardship influenced
the board's recent decisions, says Christopher M.
Little, board of trustees vice chair. Essentially, the
college's endowment has been spread over a pool
of about a dozen types of investments.

For years, the college spent only interest and
dividend income an unusually conservative
position but moved in the 1990s toward today's
policy of spending 4 percent to 6 percent of the
endowment based on a rolling I2-quarter average
market value. With a current spending level at 6
percent, 4 percent goes to the operating cost of
the college and 2 percent to debt retirement. The

Endowment
asset allocation

Historical

1996-2001 average

Coca-Cola, 50%
Large-cap core, 25%

Fixed income, 25%

Current

2004

Coca-Cola, 27%
Large-cap core, 17%

Fixed income, 11%
Small-cap value, 9%

Small-cap growth, 9%

International value, 8%

International growth, 8%

Alternatives, 7%

Real estate, 4%
Cash, 1%

TOTAL MARKET VALUE: $275 MILLION
SOURCE: OFFICE OF BUSINESS AND

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Connections
multifaceted and
interlaced
between Tlie
Coca-Cola
Company and
Agnes Scott
College go back
to the late i8oos.

goal of the board of trustees is to reduce tlie
amount of the endowment used annually for oper-
ating expenses and debt payment to a maximum
of 5 percent, a fairly common foundation average.

Planning for diversification was begun about
10 years ago, and implementation began in 2002.

"Before diversifying, the assets of the endow-
ment were invested in stock of The Coca-Cola
Company, stocks of very large 'core' companies
and in bonds," says trustee William Coodhew,
former chair of the finance and investment com-
mittee. "Our eggs were in three baskets. We were
exposed to the risk of these asset categories doing
badly and had no opportunity to participate in
the growth of other categories "

The need to diversify

Little says the recent change in allocation was not
just in response to the U.S. stock market plunge
that followed the record highs in the 1990s.

"To me, 2001 was just further demonstration
of the need to diversify," he says. "Because if you
hit a volatile period and you're too concentrated
in one particular part of not just the market, but
of the investment field then you risk an unnatu-
rally large decrease in the endowment. And in
fact, we have seen a significant decrease in the
Coke stock."

"We now have investments in approximately
1 2 investment categories and expect to be in sev-
eral more," says Coodhew. "For example, we have
investments in large-cap value stocks, small-cap
value, international growth, international value,
real estate and hedge funds. And we still have
major investments in bonds and in Coke."

"Nothing is completely bullet-proof. There
have been times when almost all types of invest-
ments have done poorly, for several years," says
Coodhew. "[But] our policy of limiting spending
provides a great deal of protection."

Agnes Scott has a long record of providing
exceptional financial aid to attract bright and
diverse classes. Such generous policies helped
achieve the 1 ,000-student target set a decade ago
and reached last year. A dividend of a larger student

body is more tuition revenue, which means less
reliance upon the endowment for annual expenses.

"Because of the amount of financial aid Agnes
Scott gives, the budget requires a significant con-
tribution from the endowment every year, " says
Little. "Without the endowment's past contribu-
tions, it would be a very different school."

The goal is to build upon what's been
achieved so far to protect and grow the endow-
ment^allowing the college to plan based on
needs and wants, instead of financial expediency.

"1 don't think that we can be satisfied with the
size of the endowment or the work that we've
done up until now," Little says.

Coodhew agrees. "In the past five years,
we've spent $ 1 20 million in new and expanded
facilities. 1 think our physical plant is one of the
best in this country, for our size, although we still
have a ways to go in repairing and updating some
of our older buildings."

The building program came in $3 million
under budget. But to help Rind it, the college
created a $70 million bond issue, the largest ever
at Agnes Scott. "We did some of the funding with
bonds but none of it could have been done with-
out our endowment," Coodhew says.

The board's current goal, according to Little,
is to add an additional $5 million per year to the
endowment, which Bullock hopes is achievable.

"Our endowment has been and continues to
be an extremely valuable asset to the college, "
says Bullock. "We have a very high bond rating
for a college (a Moody's rating of Al and a
Standard & Poor's rating of AA), and we never
could have had a bond issue without the leverage
of that endowment. No college should raid its
endowment or its 'seed corn' some people
say to pay for annual expenses," says Bullock.
"You should have annual revenues from multiple
sources, including a reasonable payout from the
endowment. But if you raid your endowment,
you're really threatening the future of the institu-
tion you wake up and suddenly there's no
endowment. Our board's foresight and leadership
are making sure that doesn't happen here.'

Percent of revenue from endowment

93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97

99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05

20 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

Agnes Scott, Coca-Cola and the People

Agnes Scott's relationship with The Coca-Cola Company goes deeper than money.
It's built on individuals families, alumnae who become employees and Coke
executives with a personal stake in the college's success.

h Clyde Tuggle

J

Clyde Tuggle is a senior vice president at
The Coca-Cola Company and its director
of worldwide public affairs and communi-
cations and a college trustee. He follows Joe
Gladden as a trustee of the college. Gladden,
Coke's general counsel, now retired, served 10
years as the college's chair of the board. Having
that sort of global business perspective has been
invaluable to Agnes Scott's growth and direction,
says President Mary Brown Bullock '66.

"It's given us a board that is respected from
the corporate sector, both here in Arianta and
nationally that's very important," she says. "Also
those trustees have brought a broader sense of
marketing and a sense of trends in many different
areas to the work of the board."

Tuggle has been on the board for more than a
year But when he was a teenager, Tuggle's mother,
Nelle, enrolled here in 1 974. In 2005 Tuggle's
wife, Phyllis, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa
cum laude, and set records as a cross-county run-
ner. Both women attended Agnes Scott through a
program first named Return-to-College and
now Irene K. Woodruff Scholars designed for
women who attend college later in life. So when
Tuggle makes decisions affecting the college, he
has two strong alums at home to consider.

'The Coca-Cola Company knows that there
is an important place for women's higher education
in this country," says Tuggle. "1 am proud to help
represent the company in its support of Agnes
Scott."

The quality of a city's institutions and the
education of the workforce is also a concern of
any corporation.

"Part of that puzzle of the success of the city
is Agnes Scott. It plays a critical role," he says. "So
if we, as a company, want Atlanta to succeed, then
we need to make sure that institutions like Agnes
Scott succeed."

And who can measure the difference that an
intellectually curious mother makes?

"I grew up in a home where education was
always extremely important," Tuggle says. "It was
an inspiration for me to see a parent coming home

in the evening, studying, writing papers and
preparing for tests. It was a great example a
great role model and an inspiration for what's
truly important in life." In addition to his bache-
lor's degree in German, Tuggle earned a master of
divinity from Yale University.

Tuggle praises two alumnae with whom he
works now: Helen Nash '93 in communications
and creative director Sarah Hunter

"1 am a strong advocate of the liberal arts
education being the perfect background to work
at a company like Coca-Cola," he says.
"The ability to read, to write, to research,
to express thoughts and to
engage in intellectual
curiosity all of those are
unique to the liberal arts
experience . . . and those
are the skills and capabili-
ties that we look for at
The Coca-Cola
Company."

This spring. The Coca-Cola Foundation
awarded a $ I million grant toward the col-
lege's international studies program, now
named The Coca-Cola Global Awareness
Program. There for the formal presentation was
another of the college's ardent cheerleaders, Anne
Register Jones '46, trustee emerita and wife of
Boisfeuillet Jones, president emeritus of the
Woodruff Foundation at his death in 200 1 . She was
instrumental in the college obtaining the grant.

Jones calls the award the fulfillment of a long-
standing wish. Graduating soon after World War
11, her own study abroad was curtailed. "The most
traveling I did in those days was from South
Georgia to Decatur," she laughs.

Agnes Scott has built a track record of send-
ing its students abroad and not to the typical
glamorous, western-European destinations. It's
not unusual for almost half the graduating class to
have studied outside the United States.

"The world is getting smaller, and 1 think it is

'The Coca-Cola
Company knows
that there is an
important place
for women's
higher education
in this country."

-CLYDE TUGGLE

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 21

increasingly important that we get to know
people of other cultures in the hope there will be
better understanding among us," Jones says.
"Knowing [Coke's] global presence and the col-
lege's desire to give students the opportunity to
experience other cultures, the college approached
The Coca-Cola Foundation for support," she says.
"This support has been and will be of immeasura-
ble importance."

Jones is an articulate advocate for Agnes
Scott and one more reason Coke had faith that
financial support of the college was money well-
spent. She also paved the way for the college to
receive a $1 million grant in 2000 and a $1 .5 mil-
lion grant in 2003 from The Goizueta Foundation.
The first provides for two scholarships and the

second for additional
student scholarships,
giving strong prefer-
ence to qualified Latina
students, and funds the
directorship and
programming for the
college's Science
Center for Women.

Roberto C.
Goizueta, chairman of
the board and chief
executive officer of
The Coca-Cola
Company, died in
1997. Five years ear-
lier, he established The
Goizueta Foundation
to provide financial
assistance to educa-
tional and charitable
institutions. In creating
the foundation, he
acknowledged his
indebtedness to the United States and continued
the commitment to philanthropic endeavors that
has symbolized the leadership of The Coca-Cola
Company for more than a century.

Aweek after graduating, Vernita Bowden
Lockhart '76 went to work for The Coca-
Cola Company. It appears skipping
vacation was smart next year will be her 30th
with the company.

"When you've got a job coming out of
school, you (iifee it," she laughs.

Lockhart was one of Agnes Scott's early
African-American students, and the second
African-American professional chemist Coke

hired. She began as a bench chemist and has just
completed a stint as interim director of the global
analytical laboratories, overseeing about 70
employees mostly chemists to coordinate
the work of Coca-Cola's trade sample labs world-
wide in Atlanta, India, Argentina, Brazil,
Mexico, Belgium, South Africa and China. She's
visited all of them.

Trade samples are bought from supermarkets,
groceries and convenience stores by third-party
shoppers for review at the labs.

"We test the samples to determine the quality
attributes of the product and the package, "
Lockhart says. "We generate a product quality
index, as well as a package quality index."

All packages bottles, cans, cartons are
scrutinized to determine the quality index.
"They're graded on whether the containers are
scratched or scuffed, whether the label is properly
affixed, whether the printing is aligned or blurn,',
and whether the top of the bottle the closure
has the trademark or the phrase 'Bottled by
The Coca-Cola Company.' If any required infor-
mation is missing or there are characteristics the
consumer would find unacceptable, this gets
captured in the package quality index."

In August, Lockhart became director of
strategic initiatives for Coca-Cola. Although no
longer involved with the labs, her experience there
is valuable in her role as the quality representative
on various innovation projects as well as on some
customer quality projects.

Reared in Atlanta in a single-parent family,
Lockhart was the third of three children in college.

22 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 200$

Agnes Scott "was gen-
erous," she says. Falling
in love with the cam-
pus clinched the deal.
That year, she had
one other African-
American classmate,
Dellphine Brown
Howard '76; they've
stayed in touch. "At
the reunions, we like
to say we have 100
percent participation."
As a member of a
minority group, her
experience at Agnes
Scott and later Coca-
Cola was not perfect.
But she feels both
made sincere efforts.

"Diversity at a
college is very, very
important," Lockhart
says. "If you don't see
people who look like
you, you can't fully acclimate into the college
environment.

"There were people at Agnes Scott who didn't
want us there, and you knew it," she says.
"Particularly we felt it more when we were fresh-
men and sophomores they tended to stay away
from us 1 think that might have been their way
of dealing with it. I think Agnes Scott was trying
to make the change."

Since that time, Agnes Scott has become
known for its diversity U.S. News & World Report
2006 rankings place the college 15th among
liberal arts colleges nationwide for diversity.

Now when a major class event rolls around,
Lockhart's there.

Around Agnes Scott, the Delafield name
creates images of the heavens and finan-
cial campaigns. The new planetarium
opened in 2000 is named for trustee JoAnn "Joie"
Sawyer Delafield '58 and her husband, Dennis.

But her major was chemistry, and that degree
led her to The Coca-Cola Company straight out
of college. In the '50s, the company decided to
move its export labs to Atlanta from New York.
"And in doing so they had to find some techni-
cians and chemists to work," Delafield says.
The lab had two men and three women
chemists. "At one point we [the women] were all
Agnes Scott graduates," she says. She attributes

this to Coke having hired Frances Ginn Stark '53
earlier, which started the trend of hiring Scottie
grads.

The small lab had a long reach. Samples were
sent and received from Egypt, India, England,
China and South America pretty much any-
where Coke had bottling facilities, and by that
time it was served in 120 countries.

"We tested their ability to do tests properly
and accurately and also to send us samples of the
material they were using to make the product
and sometimes you got some pretty sloppy-look-
ing things," says Delafield.

"1 kick myself every once in a while because 1
had the most marvelous collection of Coca-Cola
bottles in all languages."

Coke's attention to protecting its brand and
formula is legendary. The company had employ-
ees surreptitiously order Coke at soda fountains
and restaurants.

"The sample snatchers they were a won-
derhjl group," Delafield says. "They went out into
the public and devised their own way of going up
to a counter or at a table and ask for Coca-Cola.
And some way they were able to get it into their
containers and bring it back." If it tested as knock-
off Coke, the owners got another visit.

Agnes Scott was also smaller in Delafield's
day her class had seven chemistry majors.

"It was such a small group that I was able to
get enough help when I needed it, and I just loved
doing it. It meant that I was in a lab four or five
days a week." Agnes Scott let her do what came
naturally, and when she left, she felt prepared
professionally.

"I never had a feeling that when I left
college and went to work for a large
corporation that I was not selected for
what I could give to that
institution not that I was a
woman, but that I had the skills to
work in the research lab," she says.

After cochairing a successful
campaign yielding more than $70
million for the college, Delafield
knows what Coca-Cola means to
Adanta philanthropically.

"All relationships are
important," Delafield says.
"Agnes Scott knows the
importance of a relationship
with that corporation,
because that Coca-Cola
stock took it a long, long way.
It's going through some rough
times now, but that's all right.
It's been a wake-up call for us to
feel that we cannot rely heavily
on just one major stock."

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

23

'The first signifi-
cant product that
I was involved in
was Tab. We
started the diet
drink revolution."

VIRGINIA PHILIP '61

01^ COOPERATION

Sarah Hunter '80 was a "nontraditional"
theatre major when she came to Agnes
Scott. A mother of two, her third child was
born while Hunter was a student. But by the time
she graduated, she already had a toehold in A-list
entertainment, serving as a set gopher when Alan
Alda's The Four Seasons filmed on campus.

This January, she became a creative director/
producer with The Coca-Cola Company's
Worldwide Public Affairs and Communications.
In 2004, she staged an event on Coke's Atlanta
campus where 3,000 people celebrated the arrival
of the Olympic flame on its way to Athens. As
Coke has been a major sponsor since the Games
were revived in the '20s, a spectacle was called for.
The flame arrived by plane, greeted by a host
of dignitaries. Children's choirs sang and a glass
"quilt" with images of Coke employee torch run-
ners lit up Coke's campus. American Idol Diana
DeGarmo sang 'The Star-Spangled Banner " And,
when the 1996 Olympic Games were in Atlanta,
Hunter choreographed a dinner held at the
Fernbank Museum of Natural History for the
International Olympic Committee.

Making a lot of people work together toward
a cohesive, successful series of events is some-
thing she learned
while president of
Blackfriars at Agnes
Scott.

"1 produce meet-
ings and videos that
utilize all that theater
stuff scenery, light-
ing, acting, writing,
audio, visual, multi-
media," she says.
Hunter was a
Return-to-College stu-
dent [now Woodruff
Scholars] and a Dana
Scholar who became
an enthusiastic but
unflappable profes-
sional with experience
in feature, industrial
and corporate films
and, later, events. She
has worked for national and international agencies
and also owned her own business.

Coke hired her after seeing her agency work
at its events and wanted her on the home team.
So far this year, her working itinerary has
included Brussels, Bangkok, Ghana, Mexico City
and Buenos Aires. That's the result of her shift in

emphasis from events to preparing Coke execu-
tives and leaders to deal gracefully and effectively
within and outside the corporation with
employees, local government leaders and national
press.

"Because Coca-Cola is a global corporation,
something that happens in Africa has the possibil-
ity of affecting the corporation around the world, "
Hunter says. Her job is not to produce spin but to
create a culture that speaks well all the time, not
just under media scrutiny.

Back at home, she and husband, Rob. live in a
loft within sight of the Coca-Cola campus. Now
empty-nesters, they only have to plan around
Agnes, their Scottish terrier, and her brother,
Fergus, who work as therapy dogs.

ONE-COMPANY PERSON

In 35 years as a
chemist, Virginia
Philip '61 never
needed a resume. "I've
never applied for a
job," she says.

Coke called Agnes
Scott looking for
chemists. She stayed
her entire career,
retiring in 1996.

In 1961, there were about 700 employees in
Atlanta, and essentially one product Coke.
Before she left, Philip had seen hundreds of
launches and all sorts of twists in packaging.

Her fondness for the company is in superla-
tives; "1 loved every minute of the time I was
there," she says. "1 liked my job. It was a wonder-
ful company."

Philip was hired because of the Agnes Scott
grads who had worked there before her. 'They
liked the first ones and kept coming back to get
more," she says.

Although hired as a bench chemist, Philip left
soon for the research department.

"The first significant product that I was
involved in was Tab," she says. "We started the
diet-drink revolution." Much of her career was
spent in the worldwide division. Her experience
included developing a new extraction process,-
she's careful to say it was a team effort, but one
she led. Later she traveled as far as japan to over-
see the equipment and implementation required
to duplicate it elsewhere.

However, as Coke went into more countries,
food laws became more stringent and varied. Her
department was the clearinghouse for corporate
approval of any new product launches or tweaks

24 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

Who's Who

r:

}

Frances Winship Walters

died on November 14, 1954
a watershed date in the
history of Agnes Scott. By
her will, Agnes Scott became
the residuary legatee of her estate.
Walters' bequest more than doubled the
college's endowment. President James
Ross McCain called Walters the second
founder of Agnes Scott.

Frances Winship was born in Atlanta in
1878, the youngest daughter of IVIr. and
Mrs. Robert Winship. Her sister Emily
married Ernest Wood ruff who bought The
Coca-Cola Company from Asa Candler.

Frances Winship attended Agnes Scott
from 1892 to 1894. In 1900, she married
George C. Walters, who died 14 years later.
Walters made her first gift to Agnes Scott
in 1920 when she contributed $1,000 to
establish the George C. Walters
Scholarship. In 1940, she gave $50,000 to
create the Frances Winship Walters
Foundation. She contributed twice toward
the building of Hopkins Hall, provided the
funds for the McCain entrance to the
campus and in 1949 gave the money to
build and equip the infirmary. In 1937,
Walters was elected a trustee, and in 1947,
the board named her its vice chair, a post
she filled until her death.

The memorial adopted by the trustees in
1954 reads, "She never waited to be asked
for support, but always volunteered her
generous donations."

^^^^^ Letitia Pate Whitehead
^^^^^^^ Evans was born in Bedford
^B^^^^P County, Va., in 1872. She
^B ^j^W married Joseph Brown

^^ Whitehead in 1895 and had
two sons. The family moved to Atlanta
after Whitehead and a friend secured
exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-
Cola throughout most of the United States.

After her husband's death in 1906,
Whitehead assumed control of his busi-
ness interests. Whitehead, who later
married Arthur Kelly Evans, became one of
the first women to serve on the board of
directors of a major American corporation
when she was appointed in 1934 to the
board of The Coca-Cola Company, a posi-
tion she held for almost 20 years.

She contributed to more than 130 different
charities. Hospitals, colleges and universi-
ties were recipients of her generosity, and
she gave liberally to the church.

Evans served as a trustee of Agnes Scott
from 1949 until her death in 1953. In her
will, she left Agnes Scott $100,000 to serve
as an endowment for the dining hall, and
later her foundation made a grant that
made possible the air conditioning in the
dining hall.

ti ^'S fc George Washington Scott
w ^J was the founder of Agnes
Scott College, which he
named for his mother. He
was the father of Mary and
Nellie and the friend of Milton Anthony
Candler Sr. Mary Scott married Charles
Murphey Candler. Nellie Scott married
Milton Anthony Candler.

Milton Anthony Candler Sr. was the older
brother of Asa Candler, a member of the
Georgia legislature and a U.S. representa-
tive. He was the father of Milton Anthony
Candler Jr. and Charles Murphey Candler.

Asa Candler made most of
his money selling Coca-
Cola. He began his career
as a drugstore owner and in
1891 had fully purchased the
formula for Coca-Cola from its inventor for
$2,300. From that, he created today's
Coca-Cola Company. He became mayor of
Atlanta in 1916 and sold The Coca-Cola
Company in 1919 to a group of investors
led by Ernest Woodruff.

Robert Winship Woodruff,
_y^^ sonof Ernest and Emily,

A^^m was elected president of
The Coca-Cola Company in
1923 and was essentially in
control of the company until his death in
1985. In 1937, he incorporated the Trebor
Foundation, which became the Robert W.
Woodruff Foundation following his death.

George W. Woodruff, also son of Ernest
and Emily, was president and chairman of
the board of the Continental Gin Company.
His bequest of $14 million to the
Centennial Campaign became the largest
single gift ever received by the college.

compiled by Jennifer Bryon Owen

DI^INK

IN BOTTLES ^^

COURTESY OF THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

made in any product worldwide.

For instance, artificial sweetener cyciamate
was banned in 1970, well after Americans iiad
embraced diet soda. Coke researchers had to
scramble to find replacements. And red coloring
that was fine in Canada, for example, could be
against food laws elsewhere.

"My boss was the guy who had to sign off on
it. And I was the guy who recommended to him
whether or not he should do it," Philip says. "That
was an interdisciplinary activity in that it wasn't
just a technical approval," she says. "Marketing
people, financial people, production people all
had to get together and figure out how to do this.
Believe it or not, there were more than 1 ,000 of
those every year."

Coke "was No. 1 the whole time I was there,"

she says, "it was the kind of place where people
expected to work, and were expected to work, for
their entire careers."

In 2004, Philip curated the art show Gathering
at the Dalton Gallery, which evolved from con-
versations begun while serving on the college's art
committee. Philip collects "self-taught, vernacu-
lar, outsider" art. "Mine is mostly Southeastern
African American. What I had in mind, I know
people that collect and deal in this kind of art,
and I'll go borrow some, hang it up on the wall
and we'll have an art show," she says. "The next
thing I knew they were saying I was going to
curate an exhibit."

Lisrt Aihmon, a freelance writer living in Alpharetta,
Ga., is a former manager of news services at Agnes Scott.

AGNES SCOTT TRUSTEES
FROM THE SCOTT AND
CANDLER FAMILIES

George Washington Scott
C. Murphey Candler
George Bucher Scott
Milton A. Candler
James Julius Scott
Bessie Scott Harman
George Scott Candler
Allie Candler Guy '13
Hansford Sams Jr.
George Scott Candler Jr
Betty Pope Scott Noble '44
James Wallace Daniel
Clark E. Candler
Louise Hill Reaves '54
James Phillips Noble Jr.

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 25

Who Will You

Become?

'^fe-

rt

'if you're a woman with a dream,
Agnes Scott is a great place to make
it a reality." - casey mcintyre '07

1^.

'i '^'

If you're a woman with a dream, Agnes Scott
is a great place to make it a reality." So says
Casey Mcintyre '07.
"My passion is music. And my dream
job is to be editor of a famous music maga-
zine, sucfi as Rolling Stone or Spin Magazine."
To reach that goal, she is combining majors in
Enghsh/creative writing and music.

Mcintyre finds Agnes Scott an ideal school
for anyone interested in music. "When I had my
audition for piano, the whole music department
turned out and watched. They were so receptive,
so interested. It was really exciting.

"Atlanta is a great place for music. It attracts
the best independent performers," she adds.
"There are music venues and clubs that cover the
entire spectrum of tastes."

Mcintyre is vice president of Sigma Alpha
lota, a service organization dedicated to improv-
ing opportunities for women in music.

This New Jersey resident wanted to go to a
small, liberal arts college in the South, and she
considered a number of them. But Mcintyre fell
in love with Agnes Scott on her first visit.
"There's a real sense of community that you don't
find elsewhere," she says. "In my music classes.

people are so excited to start different ensembles
or provide accompaniment for someone else."

She attributes the classes becoming discus-
sion groups to the small class size. "You not only
learn from the professors, but from your fellow
students as well. They are all so smart. You have
this feeling of connectedness in every class."

Her favorite classes have been Virginia
Woolf and Modernism, where she says she
learned a lot from other students. "I also love
Music Theory, a class with only five students. It's
a difficult subject, but everyone helps each other.
And my other favorite is Introduction to
Nonfiction, which is a writing class that included
getting a lot of feedback on my work from the
professor and my peers.

"Everyone 1 know at Agnes Scott is goal-
oriented," says Mcintyre. "It's encouraging to be
among women who have dreams."

26 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

"I think of Agnes Scott as a college
without borders," - yevheniya krutko '07

I think of Agnes Scott as a college without
borders," says international relations major
Yevheniya "Jane" Krutko '07, who is also
getting a minor in German. "Next semester,
1 will be studying in Germany. My particular
interest is to study Germany's role in the
European Union. I'm interested in how a state
subordinates its sovereignty to the idea of a
united Europe. Longterm, 1 hope Ukraine will
become a member of the EU as well.

"My favorite class so far is Gomparative
Politics. I'm fascinated by the way countries are
shaped by their individual political systems and
how their relationships with other countries are
defined by those systems," she says.

Krutko was born
in Russia. "We moved
to Ukraine after my
father was killed while
serving in the Russian
army. At 1 3, I was
accepted at one of the most prestigious schools in
Ukraine, where we were required to learn three
foreign languages English, French and
German. I speak fluent Ukrainian and Russian,
and I plan to learn Polish. "

Her goal is to get a Ph.D. in political science
and return to Ukraine to teach and enter politics.

Krutko's role model is the prime minister of
Ukraine, Yuliya Tymoshenko, a key leader in the
Orange Revolution that brought Viktor
Yushchenko to power late in 2004. Recent events
in Ukraine have only whetted Krutko's appetite
for politics. "Agnes Scott teaches me to be a
strong woman, like Tymoshenko, and to grab
onto whatever is ahead. And the busy pace of my
life here, with classes, clubs and the swim team,
prepares me for the kind of work I'll have to do
when I go out into the world."

Krutko chose Agnes Scott out of 20 colleges
to which she applied. "They have a great interna-
tional relations program with excellent professors
who are good at providing direction and guid-
ance," she says. "All you have to do is study hard
what they give you."

An expert swimmer and captain of the Agnes
Scott swim team, Krutko is a two-time winner at
the NGAA Atlantic States Division III champion-
ships. She holds a number of school records and
was named Collegiate Women's Athletic
Association player of the week and rookie athlete
of the year. She is also a member of the student-
athlete advisory committee.

"The most important thing to me about
Agnes Scott," says Krutko, "is just the spirit here
that pushes you to do strong things."

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 17

World View

Heading into
Sk the Tsunami

-^^teH^

w^

%l With a commitment to a country and a love for its people,

Jan Bowman Dixon '60 chose to return to what had become a land

Jan Bowman Dixon '60
(center) is working with
Indonesian women to
restore order following
the tsunami.

of devastation, by melanie s. best '79

| he earthquake and tsunami that

upended life in Indonesia last
December touched Jan Bowman
Dixon '60 and her husband, Roger,
personally, for they had lived and
worked in the country much of their adult lives.
They were living comfortably at their home
in Bedford, Va., when the news came.

"The first reports estimated 5,000 dead. But
we knew it had to be tens of thousands, at least.
Even that was an underestimate," says Dixon.

Given her language fluency and acquaintance
with Indonesian culture, Dixon felt compelled to
join the massive rebuilding effort. A Christian
group with which the Dixons had been affiliated
welcomed her offer of aid, so on Jan. 28 Dixon
found herself in northern Sumatra, surveying the
devastation and figuring out
where to begin.

From 1965 until 1995,
when the Dixons moved back
to the United States, they were
based on the island of Java,
working with local churches to
expand their outreach. This
year, in Aceh, where the
/ \:^S^^^I tsunami's force hit hardest,

/V^ ^^J^^H Dixon helped in assessing

victims' needs for shelter and
supplies. In the process, another urgent need
emerged; long-term mental health support and
job training for female survivors.

'Tor every woman in northern Sumatra, there
are now three or four men," says Dixon. "The
women had a much harder time fighting the water.
They hadn't been taught to swim. They were the
ones reaching out to save the children. Their
physical weakness kept them from surviving."

Girding for the social and economic conse-
quences that will follow from this lopsided gender
imbalance, those on the relief effort's front lines
hatched a plan to establish a women's center in
Meulaboh, one of Aceh's hardest hit cities. The
counseling part of this project became the focus
of Dixon's work.

The seeds were planted

Reared in Virginia and Tennessee, Dixon is not an
obvious candidate for relocation to a distant
tropical culture. But the compass seemed to have
fixed eastward from the start, as a string of experi-
ences during her college years primed her for a
life abroad.

Dixon became a Christian while a first-year
student at Agnes Scott. The following summer
she met her fijture husband. "Within a week, " she
recalls, "I knew I wanted to mairy him."

Roger intended to become an overseas mis-
sionary, and his subsequent three-year Army tour
of duty in Germany gave Dixon time to adjust to
the idea. Meanwhile, she spent a month in
Malaysia at the home of a college hMend and spiri-
tual mentor, Mildred Ling Wu '59. The seeds of
her attraction to Asia were planted.

Following Roger's seminary training, they
were dispatched by their sponsor, an interdenom-
inational mission agency, to Singapore for lan-
guage instmction and then on to Indonesia. With
two young children in tow, they arrived in Jakarta
amid immense social and political change.

The capital was ramshackle, Dixon recalls, an
ethnic hodgepodge. Great numbers of people
lived alongside the canal system, using it for
washing and bathing. After a few years there, the
Dixons, now with a third child, moved inland to
Bansduns, located in a former Dutch resort area.

28 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

While Java's cities hosted the country's eco-
nomic boom, Dixon found her favorite aspects of
Indonesia outside the urban centers. The dramatic
landscape swells with volcanoes, some still rum-
bling. Boundlessly fertile soil, thanks to centuries
of ash deposits, and a six-month rainy season
render the rural areas lush and verdant. Dixon loved
the luscious fruits she could not get in the States.

In the late 1980s, Dixon returned to the
United States for three years to earn a master's in
clinical psychology. This academic training, and
the ensuing practical experience, paved the way
for this year's Indonesian experience.

"We're going to rebuild"

Arriving one month after the earthquake and
tsunami, Dixon joined a multinational army of
relief workers. Meulaboh at that time hardly
resembled a city. Vast expanses of rubble stretched
in every direction, punctuated here and there by a
building inexplicably left standing. In fields, Dixon
saw abandoned cars, evidence of attempted
escapes. Elsewhere, sofas and mattresses littered
the ground. Bodies had been there, too, but had
been removed.

At night, Dixon slept on the floor of a guest
house in Medan. By day, she and colleagues
handed out food and kitchen utensils in Meulaboh
and Banda Aceh and canvassed residents for their
most pressing rebuilding needs. To have a well
cleaned out was a common request.

With the housing stock wiped out, people
were living in "horrible, hot little tents," Dixon
notes. "But every day they would come back to
where their homes once stood and just sit amid
the ruins."

"We're going to rebuild," they insisted.

As daunting as it seemed, rebuilding did get
under way during these early months. Whole
villages, not merely single houses, began to rise
again, says Dixon, thanks to a communal effort
instigated and financed by foreign relief workers.
"Others would help one man build his house, then
he would lend the next person his physical labor
The Acehnese have a lot of pride."

They're also very brave, Dixon observes,
noting that the ground there in early 2005 still
felt like jelly, shaking and rolling often.

"! would sit and talk with people. One woman
told me all about her losses and 1 said, 'Don't give
up'. She replied, 'We would have killed ourselves
if we'd given up.'"

Coaxing people to talk about their tsunami
experiences hanging in trees for hours awaiting
rescue, having children ripped from their arms
was part of the therapy Dixon found herself
dispensing. This ad hoc crisis counseling evolved
into a plan for a permanent counseling center
Dixon and the project developer began scouting

buildings that would make clients feel safe that
is, buildings without gaping foundation cracks
and clean of water marks. She helped find some-
thing suitable the former office of a nearby gold
mine and the United Nations and Samaritan's
Purse committed funding for the first year of
operations.

In April, Dixon went back to Virginia for a
few months while the facility was being refur-
bished, and in July returned to Aceh to serve as an
interim counselor while recruiting suitable

Indonesian staff. Besides its counseling area, the
center houses rows of sewing machines and a
large kitchen. The tsunami destroyed a local
garment factory, so it is hoped that producing
new workers with sewing skills will help the city
attract a new factory and at least create home
industries. The center will also teach women how
to prepare Western food, so they'll be qualified to
cook for nongovernmental organizations.

As for the social and emotional challenges
women will be facing, Dixon expects the surplus
of men will give most widows the chance to
remarry. But it will also spur an exodus of widow-
ers and single men from Aceh to urban areas,
probably on Java, where females and jobs will be
in greater supply.

"1 don't know what these demographic shocks
will do to the town," Dixon says with apprehen-
sion. In the meantime, the counseling center can
get local women active again and divert their
minds from the traumas of the recent past.

But, Dixon is certain of this phase of her
career. "You can't stop trying to be usefiji. After
all, what else is life for?"

Melanie S. Best 'i9, a freelance journalist living in
Hoboken, N.J., specializes in international business and
culture.

ABOUT INDONESIA

Location: Southeastern
Asia, archipelago between
Indian and Pacific Oceans

Geographic Coordinates:

5 00 S, 120 00 E

Area comparison:

Slightly less than three
times the size of Texas

Population: 241,973,879
Quly 2005 est.)

Languages: Bahasa
Indonesia (official,
modified form of Malay),
English, Dutch and local
dialects, the most widely-
spoken of which is
Javanese

Source: CIA World Factbook

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 29

^^l

?\

4V

i

Women, whose dresses
are modeled after the
Gambian flag, display a
sense of national pride at
President A.|.|.Yahyah
Jammeh's birthday
celebration in Kanali.

^0^^

For Better or \Norse

Gambia's women, Agnes Scott students learn, remain loyal to their
homeland in spite of the hardships they face, byamandafurness'os

The aridity of the Gambian landscape
can be deceiving when one first sets
foot on this African soil.
Amid the concrete compounds
and barren trees peppering Gambia's
countryside rests an underlying vibrancy, a
remnant of hope and perseverance. This will to
live manifests itself in the liveliness of that nation's
people and in the occasional smattering of random
wildflowers growing brilliantly in unexpected
places. But the problems are many and real.

Perhaps Gambia's women best illustrate the
refusal of its nationals to submit willingly to the

poverty and underdevelopment that reign here.
Cloaked in boisterous clothing constructed from
sheer lace, layers of thin cotton and intricate
Mandinka designs, these women challenge the
patriarchy that threatens to choke the life out of
their daughters and themselves.

Shortly after commencement, 15 Agnes Scott
students departed on a two-week Global
Connections trip to Gambia to learn first hand
about the many issues jeopardizing the livelihood
of Gambian women and girls. Violet Johnson,
professor of history and department chair, and
Elizabeth Hackett, associate professor of women's

30 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

studies and philosophy, led the group in exploring
issues of gender in post-colonial Africa for several
months in advance of the trip. But, all of them
found the written word is often limited in what it
can capture of a woman's pain and circumstance.

Traveling to Gambia meant meeting these
women face to face, which group members did
upon their arrival. The Forum for African Women
Educationalists-Gambia Ghapter played host to
Agnes Scott's visit, and it was through them that
Global Gonnections participants met female
farmers, visited female students at Gambia
Gollege and heard first person exactly how hard it
can be to be a girl in Gambia.

Moving toward self-sufficiency

By far the smallest nation in Africa, Gambia is 95
percent Muslim. Resting on the continent's west-
ern coast, it is surrounded on three sides by
Senegal. Though tiny in stature, Gambia is a
historical powerhouse whose geography bears
several slave fortresses and the village of Juffure,
believed to be the original home of Roots author
Alex Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte.

Residing in Gambia are several tribes who
can trace their beginnings to the ancient African
kingdoms that as students in Johnson's history
classes learned boasted organized political and
social systems centuries before Europeans even
knew Africa existed. Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and
Jolla all have legacies as varied and as steeped in
tradition as the continent itself. In Gambia, these
groups coexist peacefully and even intermarry.
Ethnic differences have become irrelevant in the
face of collective memory and in the effort to
achieve Gambian self-sufficiency, self-determina-
tion and nationhood. Since claiming independence
from Britain in 1965, the country has been moving
toward these goals. Achieving them is difficult,
especially when more than half of the population
finds itself at a disadvantage.

Women comprise 68 percent of the 75 per-
cent of Gambian adults who cannot read or write,
and there exists a serious shortage of teachers
especially female ones whose presence the
Forum reps believe could help raise retention
rates among girls in the educational system. Many
girls leave school after the eighth grade and get
married around the age of 15. On average, they
will birth six children.

"I know that in Gambia, as in just about every
other countiy in the world, women are more
likely to be economically disadvantaged than
men," says Yolanda Gurtis '06, an international
relations major "1 noticed many examples of this,
but two things in particular that come to mind are
women beggars and women vendors. For the most
part, I do not remember seeing a male beggar on
the street. Most of the beggars I came across were

women. I also noticed
that women were more
likely to simply ask 'a
little something for me
(or the baby)' than
men were."

In many cases, the
men are not around to
ask. A local vendor and
the matriarch of the
market known as
Mother Teresa says
men often "get the girls
pregnant and then
leave." In Kololi,
Gambia's tourist area,
this merchant has seen
countless young girls
lured into affairs with

older locals, tourists and visiting businessmen.
Poverty is their introduction into these relation-
ships and often paves the way for a shift to out-
right prostitution.

"Many girls, starting sometimes at 10 years
old, are kept out of school and sent into the
streets by their mothers to peddle peanuts,
cashews or mangoes because the family needs the
money," Teresa says.

This is where their troubles begin,- the girls
have little parental supervision and comb the
streets all day, looking for customers to purchase
their wares. Eventually, they're approached by
men who buy not just one mango, but an entire
plate of them. Impressed by their customer's buy-
ing power and by how fast the money comes, the
girls strike up uneasy friendships. Perhaps they
sense that the next time, a customer may try to
stroke a leg or a breast as he buys mangos. More
often than not, Teresa notes with sorrowful eyes,
the relationship becomes a sexual one that reeks
of unintentional prostitution.

Gontracting FHIV and early pregnancy are two
consequences of such dealings. For some girls, a
pregnancy before marriage may mean ostracism
by their Muslim families. The men in such cases
often with one or two wives of their own
abandon Gambian girls with their children, leav-
ing them alone, afraid and embattled in a cyclical
struggle that seems impossible to overcome.

"When 1 went to shop in the markets, I
noticed it would be much easier to bargain with
women and to get lower prices from them," Curtis
says. "I think that it is because women are more
economically vulnerable than men, but that is
only speculation. It could simply be that women
are just more willing to compromise. At any rate,
this was important because 1 know that many of
the women vendors in the markets had children,
although 1 am unsure of their marital status."

ABOUT GAMBIA

Location: Western Africa,
bordering the Atlantic
Ocean and Senegal

Geographic coordinates:

1328 N,i6 34W

Area comparison: slightly
less than twice the size of
Delaware

Population: 1,593,256
Ouly 2005 est.)

Languages: English
(official), Mandinka,
Wolof, Fula and other
indigenous languages

Source: CIA World Factbook

FALL 2005 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE 31

MUSINGS ON GAMBIA

Journeys have a way of
reshaping our perspective.
Here are some realizations
I encountered during my
stay in Gambia:

The world does not
begin and end with your
place of birth.

Sometimes strangers
can be kinderthan those
you call your friends.

Women around the world
struggle with similar
hardships.

What Africa lacks in
development, it makes
up for in the character of
its people.

Life truly is what you
make it, regardless of
material wealth.

The past can never be
undone, but the future
can be what we want it
to be.

Professors are human
beings, too.

The poorer half of a nation

Warding off early pregnancy is just one battle
that the Forum faces in its campaign to educate
Gambian women. Representatives have found
that getting girls to finish school is difficult
because their families are often not supportive, in
part because they expect their daughters to marry
early. In marrying, girls cease to be a financial
factor for their parents, which could mean a slight
improvement in quality of life for the rest of the
family. But for women and girls, this strategy is
ultimately disastrous,- undereducated, unskilled
and ill informed, they continue to remain the
poorer half of a nation that is already patriarchal
in its social structure.

The Forum is addressing these issues.
Members which include female cabinet minis-
ters, officials from the nation's department of
education, teachers, volunteers and concerned
mothers hold regular sit downs with parents
and girls at regional schools, present workshops
intended to encourage and inspire women and
work with male government officials to 'sensitize'
them to women's issues.

Gradual gains are being made but change can
be divisive. Affirmative-action practices at the
collegiate level have been discarded because of
complaints that such programs ignore the needs
of boys, and there is a constant call for women
activists to balance their calls for equality with
the cross-gender partnerships necessary for
national unity.

Hackett was impressed with how female lead-
ers in Gambia handle this balancing act. "A lot of
the women we met were negotiating a difficult
place because they're committed to Gambia, and
yet many of them have had Western educations,
they've been educated by the colonizer," she says.
"Figuring out how to stay sane in that space and to

GETTING READY FOR GAMBIA

Participants in the Global Connections Program
trip to Gambia spent spring semester 2005
preparing for their journey to Africa. History profes-
sor Violet Johnson and women's studies associate
professor Elizabeth Hackett met with 15 students on
Friday afternoons to study Gambia's history, the
quality of life of its women and to examine the
remnants of colonialism that exist there.

Students received two credit hours for their work
in the class, which included readings, watching a film
about Gambia, participating in discussions and
writing a paper based on their experiences in Africa.

have chosen not to abandon [Gambia], but to
instead say 'I'm going to try to take what is useful
from this and to use it in my country if I can,' is a
whole layer I've never had to worry about. You've
got these two sets of conflicting values that you've
been taught. F4ow are you going to make it work?
Are you just capitulating to the oppressor? Being a
member of the privileged racial and economic
group has its problems, but one of them isn't that
you have a split personality."

For the women of the Forum, the decision to
fight for women's equal rights, education and con-
sideration in their society is one that overrides the
pull of Western culture. Persistent yet respectful
of Gambia's norms, they march on in their efforts
to remain connected to their nation, despite its
faults. For better or worse, the Forum members
remain faithful to the hope that at some point,
their female children will enjoy the same opportu-
nities Agnes Scott women do.

Amanda Furness 'os, a Woodriijj Scholar and a
recipient of the college's Karen Green Human Relations
Award, participated in (fee Global Connections trip.

Students dressed in
African garb attend a
celebration to honor
President A.J.J. Yahyah
Jammeh's birthday in his
hometown of Kanali.

TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT GAMBIA:

www.visitthegambia.gm

www.gambia.net

www.gambia.gm

www.gambiagateway.
atspace.com

32 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE FALL 2005

AS ADVERTISED IN

SUNDAY. OCTOBER 2. 2005

Women's Education

THE UNFINISHED AGENDA

"There are few subjects that match the social significance of
women's education in the contemporary world "

Amarcya Sen, Nobel Laureate in Economics."What's the Point of Women's Education," address at
Women's Education Worldwide 2004: The Unfinished Agenda, conference at Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, June 2, 2004

"Improvements in women's

"People ask me today

education have contributed

is there still a role for

the most by far to the total

women's colleges and

decline in child malnutrition:

I answer immediately,

and mothers with a secondary

'Absolutely. '

education have children

What I hope we can do is

with mortality rates nearly

spread women's education

36 percent lower than

across the world. It could

mothers with only a primary

be one of America's

school education."

greatest legacies."

First Lady Laura Bush, remarks lo the

Senator Hillary Clinton.

status of Women on International

Agnes Scott CoUege.

Women's Day. March 8. 2002

May 14. 2005

Women s College Coalition:
Promoting the Worlds Greatest Underused Natural Resource

Agnes Scott College

Decatur. Ceorg/o

Alvemo College
wwwjivemaedu
Barnard College

IV, baypach.edu

St Joseph. MmnesoTa

College of Saint Mary
Columbia College

Mills College

OoWond, Colifornio

Mount Holyoke

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College

Mount Mary Co

lege

Mount Sc Mary

Los Ange/es. Califor

s College

Peace College

r.0

Saint Mary's College

crlpps College
mith College

Bryn Mawr College

of Rutgers University

Regis College

^eet Sr.orX'rg.n,o
rinity (Washington)

Wellesley College

www.wellesleyedu
Wesleyan College

Wilson College

The Women^ College of
the University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

www. womensc ol I ege.d u.edu

>J'S COLLEGE COALITION WASHINGTON. 1

MENSCOLLEGES.ORG

Agnes Scott College

141 E. College Ave.

Decatur, CA 30030-3797

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SPRING 200$

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aty Brown Bullock '66
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agazine

Signature

The Lure oj Outstanding Students in this celebratory issue, we

highlight President Mary Brown Bullock and the connections with China that
enrich Agnes Scott, by penny campbell

Penny Campbell retired
in 2004 as Charles A. Dana
Professor of History after
40 years of teaching at
Agnes Scott. Her desire
to encourage a sense of
adventure and scholar-
ship in Africa, Asia and the
Middle East led her to cre-
ate the Kilimanjaro Award
Fund for study abroad.
The fund, which will give
scholarships of approxi-
mately $2,500, is named
after the highest point in
Africa and is endowed by
Campbell's gift of $50,000.
The scholarship is open to
all students and to alum-
nae who have graduated
within five years.

Through a relationship that goes back more than
40 years, 1 believe I have a unique perspective on
our presiclent, one that sheds light on her tenure
with us.

My friendship with Mary Brown Bullock
began during spring break, 1965, when I inter-
viewed for a teaching position in the history
department. Mary and Georgia Gillis Herring,
both history majors, escorted me during my visit.
The opportunity to work with such outstanding
students was a primary factor in my decision to
come to Agnes Scott. During my first year
Mary's senior year I constructed a reading
course of the best scholarship available on China
so that Mary, who had never studied Asian history
formally, would have some preparation when she
entered an Asian history graduate program. She
wrote short papers, and we met weekly to discuss
the material.

Mary was a "missionai^y kid" at Agnes Scott,
and her life had been shaped to a large extent by
her family's Asian service and by her experiences,
including schooling, in Korea and Japan. She
was quietly confident and becomingly modest.
She had a sense of self-deprecation and humor.
Faculty and students admired the independent
thinking behind her lively classroom responses.
Underneath lay her perceptible religious faith.

In searching for personal qualities to explain
Mary's professional success, none stands out
more than her eagerness to share credit and to
express appreciation publicly to all who have
helped her or the college. Related is her genuine
human warmth. She laughs with you, she cries
with you, she throws her arms around you. Two
more defining characteristics are her spontaneity
and her individuality. Of Agnes Scott's presidents,
only Mary Brown Bullock has walked across
campus in short shorts, dashed on stage to sway
with a boisterous choral group or incorporated
popular music (theme from "Chariots of Fire")
into inauguration ceremonies.

A high level of sustained energy also accounts
for Mary's success. She has worked to broaden the
curriculum to reflect the importance of Asia and to
continue a strong faculty tradition. Recognizing
the value of science education, she led the drive
for a modern facility. She has encouraged students
to study abroad and has been particularly sensitive
to the needs of international students.

She made it an era of free speech, as scholars,
social activists, politicians and even agitators
offered their ideas in an academic forum. For
Mary, though, management and personnel chal-
lenges of a magnitude never faced previously have
required her to perfect her "iron fist in a velvet
glove" style of effectiveness.

Mary's departure reminds me of a story she
told me a year or so into her presidency. She was
in Thailand for a conference and stopped at a
Buddhist temple where an old woman tended a
cage of songbirds. For a few coins, a visitor could
earn merit by releasing one of these birds. Mary
made the donation and felt exhilarated as "her'
bird flew to freedom.

This is a metaphor for Mary today. She has
been constrained by the demands of college
administration, but soon she will be free to sing
her song in a big world fortunate to have her, as
we have been these eleven years.

2,t<vi^^^

Spring 2006
Volume82, Number2

INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT
FOR INSTITUTIONAL
ADVANCEMENT AND
DIRECTOR OF
COMMUNICATIONS

Mary Ackerly

EDITOR

Jennifer Bryon Owen

SENIOR writer/editor

Lisa Ashmore

ADMINISTRATIVE
ASSISTANT

Janann Giles

DESIGN

Winnie Hulme
Design Office

Our Mission
Agnes Scott College
educates women to
think deeply, live
honorably and engage
the intellectual and
social challenges of
their times.

2006 Agnes Scott College,
Published for alumnae and
friends twice a year by the
Office of Communications,
Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
Annex, 141 E, College Ave.,
Decatur, GA 30C30

The content of the magazine
reflects the opinions of the
writers and not the viewpoint
of the college, its trustees or

Change of address: Send
address changes by mail to
Office of Development, Agnes
Scott College, 141 E, College
Ave., Decatur, CA 30030, by
telephone, call 404 471-6472 or
by e-mail to development
agnesscott.edu.

E-maih
publication@agnesscott.edu

Web site: www.agnessco tt.edu

Cover; photoillustration by
Christopher Hickey, portrait
of Mary Brown Bullock '66 by
Caroline Joe

Srott

Features
8 Celebrating Her Presidency

BY KATHARINE KENNEDY

The faculty celebration of Bullock's 10th
anniversary highlights her presidential
strengths.

10 Presidential Perspective

BY MARY BROWN BULLOCK '66

The college's first alumna president
reviews her tenure.

13 Friend of the Scotties

BY CELESTE PENNINGTON

One of the college's biggest fans leaves a
unique imprint on the college.

16 China Comes to Agnes Scott

BY LISA ASHIVIORE AND KRISTEN RALPH '06

From professors to students, China
comes to Agnes Scott.

22 Overwhelming Greatness

BY ASHLEY CLARK '06

The Great Wall provides an epiphany for
a Global Awareness student.

28 Ambitious Standard

Guides College Throughout

Its History by imary brown bullock '66
The president shares insights and strength
gained from college founders.

34 It's So Annual

by LARA WEBB CARRIGAN '94

Understand the college's daily operating
budget in one easy lesson.

Profiles

24 Compassionate Sisterhood

by MICHELLE ROBERTS MATTHEWS '91

An alumna organizes women to foster
cross-cultural understanding.

26 A Long-Term Connection

BY VICTORIA F. STOPP '9I

The call to return to China remains strong
for one alumna.

World View

36 Drinking It In byallisonadams'89

A sense of adventure and commitment
placed this alumna in Kenya at a critical
time.

Departments

2 Reader's Voice

4 On Campus
40 Arts and Letters

Reader*,s Voice

The ASC magazine is awaited eagerly at our house and occasionally
waltzes off with some family member who is fascinated by the stories. '

Agne.^,Stl^o,tt

reader's VOICE
POLICY

We appreciate your letters
to the editor. Space limita-
tions dictate that letters in
the future may not exceed
250 words and may be
edited for length as well
as for style. Include your
current address and phone
number. Letters will be
verified before they are
published.

Please send letters to:

Editor

Agnes Scott The Magazine

Office of Communications

Agnes Scott College

141 E. College Ave.

Decatur, GA 30030

Or, e-mail:

publication

agnesscott.edu.

My husband took the fall 2005 issue, thinking it
was his Coke magazine, especially when he read
about people he knows.

When 1 was at ASC in the 1950s, we didn't
know we could have careers like Tish Lowe '69
or Kay Krill '77. We aimed to get an engagement
ring in senior year and be wives, mothers, teach-
ers, choir directors, etc.

One of my three jobs at ASC was working for
Eleanor Hutchens in the Alumnae House. I know
she is eager to see the beautiful renovation, and 1
thank her for her service to ASC.

The plans for a Fay Jones' style chapel like his
Eureka Springs, Ark. one will be perfect for the
dell. Annette Griffin Jones '56 and 1 were dancing
sunflowers in one of the last May Day celebra-
tions when Harriet Potts Edge '54 was our queen.

Kristin Kallaher '04 gave us a portrait of
Arthur Raper, a remarkable man ahead of his time
and an inspiration to his students and now to us,
75 years later. More than ever 1 share Raper's goals
to end economic, political and social injustice. I
keep foam board at home in the event I have to
go hold up a sign for women somewhere.

The trip to Tuskegee Institute interested me
because my parents lived there briefly in 1935
when I was a baby,- my mother used to stroll me
on the campus and would sometimes spot Booker
T Washington or George Washington Carver,
who would come down the sidewalk with his lab
coat flapping in the breeze and nod to a woman
strolling a baby headed to Agnes Scott!

Thank you for printing the speeches by Dr.
Bullock, Sen. Clinton, and the poetic remarks of
our own Marsha Norman: sign up for peace, sign
up for women presidents and sign up for faith. 1
have never been to a more exhilarating graduation
or read more inspiring college or university maga-
zines than the spring and fall 2005 issues of Aijnes
Scott, The Magazine . Thank you.

JACQUELINE P. FINCHER '56

Alpharetta, GA

RS. My mother never left the ASC campus
without saying "Oh, I wish 1 could stay and study

here and eat that good food" at the "Delicia
Plate" Evans Dining Hall as we called it in the
1950s. I feel the same.

Feast Day

YESTERDAY WAS FEAST DAY FOR ME Allies Scott

The Magazine came! 1 enjoyed reading about
Anna Young, still a part of me. Also to read Bill's
[Finger's son] appreciation of Dr. Raper was a
delight.

All the articles were fascinating. The hUigazine
reveals the personality and flavor of the college as
reflected in the careers and lives of the alumnae.

I'm proud of my choice of Agnes Scott, which
has helped me in the choices throughout my life.

MAMIE LEE R. FINGER '39

Ashemlk, NC

Editor's Note: We regret to report that Mamie Lee Finger dieil
Feb. 1 3, 2006.

All that Coca-Cola Stock

AS ALWAYS, I WAS GLAD TO RECEIVE the fall 2005

issue. My curiosity was especially piqued by the
cover story on ASC's long-standing relationship
with the Coca-Cola corporation

All long-term relationships, be they between
individuals or institutions, deserve celebration.
As an alum, I am grateful for the support we have
received from Coke and individuals affiliated with
it. However, strong and effective relationships
are also characterized by honest assessment and
transparency. As someone who regularly works
with college students, 1 am very surprised that in
the extensive coverage of Coke as a supporter of
undergraduate education no mention was made of
the criticism Coke has received from many cam-
pus communities around the countiy and around
the world.

Student groups at schools such as Mt.
Holyoke are active in the "Killer Coke' campaign,
and some schools from Oberlin College to
Rutgers University have terminated their con-
tracts with Coke due to human rights abuses in

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

"I am very
surprised that
in the extensive
coverage of Coke
as a supporter
of undergradu-
ate education
no mention was
made of the criti-
cism Col<e has
received from
many campus
communities."

Colombia, South America. If ASC truly seeks to
prepare women for life and leadership in a global
society, we need to be open and constructively
critical about the alliances we pursue. Although 1
assume no campaign against Coke exists at ASC,
alumnae and students would benefit from learning
what students at other institutions consider to be
human rights concerns.

Coke is fortunate to have alumnae such as
Sarah Hunter '80 to help them manage their
cooperative efforts. I am sure as a socially respon-
sible corporation it would welcome opportunities
to address the concerns of student activities. I am
disappointed that ASC missed the opportunity
to dig deeply into issues related to corporate
accountability.

JACQUELINE DECARLO '8/

Wiishington, DC

I WANT TO THANK Lisa Ashmore for her compre-
hensive, well-written article on Agnes Scott's
relationship with Coca-Cola, particularly as it
concerns our endowment. Having often returned
to campus for various alumnae leadership semi-
nars in the five years since 1 graduated, I have
greatly benefited from hearing frank explana-
tions of Agnes Scott's finances given by various
representatives from the board of trustees,- to wit,
that our endowment, while generously large,
is not the end-all, be-all of the college's assets.
Consequently, the annual fund is not just a feel-
good, happy-go-lucky pot of money for the col-
lege to spend at its whims. Yes, the endowment
is significant, yet the annual fijnd is a budgeted
necessity, the goals of which are projected in
advance and expected to be reached.

Let me be clear. For a group of women seem-
ingly so in touch with the college that they annu-
ally attend Leadership Weekend, this forthright,
direct news about Agnes Scott's financial picture
was met with surprise the first time we heard it.
Time and again, we urged the school to spread
the message about the endowment's allocation

and how that money is spent on a yearly
basis. Misperceptions about Agnes
Scott's financial health we are a "Coke
school," and thus presumably immune from
economic pressures of our time hamper
the ability of the college to raise truly neces-
sary funds for everyday expenditures.
I am certainly gratefijl for the gifts from
legendary alumnae that have allowed Agnes Scott
to thrive financially. But I am equally gratefijl
for the prudent and far-sighted leaders of Agnes
Scott today, who recognize that while Coke is a
wonderful resource, we need to drink from other
streams as well.

MELANIE MINZES 'OO

Washington, DC

MAY I ADD MY TWO CENTS WORTH to your article
on Coca-Cola recently? As a lowly copywriter
with McCann-Marshal Ad Agency, around 1950
or thereabouts, I contributed two winning slogans
and several food with Coke campaigns. One day
looking down on a lunch counter, I noticed every
one had a Coke beside their sandwiches. So I
thought to myself food must taste better with
Coke. People came down from New York and said
we can't say food actually tastes better with Coke,
but we can say Things Go Better with Coke.
Another slogan 1 thought of, and it was accepted,
was "it's the taste you never get tired of." 1 also
found that Sprite was a wonderful mixer. So I
proposed the Have a Melon Ball with Sprite, Fast
Freezes with Fanta and Fundo (Fondue) suppers
with Tab until a home economist objected,
saying that cheese with anything was fattening.
Premiums with each promotion were important.
We imported melon ball scoops from Japan,
handsome teakwood-like handled fondue forks
and a little battery-operated refrigerator for
making Fast Fruit Freezes with Fanta in your own
boat. While 1 was senior in 1938 at Agnes, 1 wrote
in a paper that I wanted to go into advertising and
write copy for Coca-Cola. Be carefijl what you
dream about, for it surely can happen!

Keep up the good work on The Magazine ^

THE REV. JANE GUTHRIE RHODES '38

Decatur, Ga.

A Correction

I WAS HONORED TO BE FEATURED in the article
on "Lifelong Learning" in the fall 2005 issue of
The Magazine. The point of the article on lifelong
learning was totally accurate: The faculty and
staff at Agnes Scott nurtured within me a love
of learning that continues to this day and has
opened up many opportunities for me to grow
and serve. There were, however, some statements
regarding my career that should be corrected
or clarified. At the World Bank's International
Finance Corporation, I founded and managed
an innovative program for financiers on environ-
mental risk management that formed the basis for
today's environmental standards for banks, how-
ever, 1 never served as IFC's president. I created
a job as an anthropologist in the newly formed
cultural resources management program at the
Tennessee Valley Authority, but did not head the
program. At IBM's southeast regional administra-
tive operations office in Atlanta, 1 was the first
woman to enter the exclusively male domain of
the computer room,- whether this was a first for
IBM nationally is uncertain, but it was definitely a
breakthrough for women in the regional office.

LETITIA "TISH" LOWE '69

via e-mail

SPRING 2006 3

On Campus

Go Scotties!

Basketball

IT WAS A WINNING SEASON the first in the
college's history for the basketball team, which
finished 15-13. The previous record of most wins
in a season was only six, set last year.
Other basketball firsts include:

The toughest schedule in school
history. The team played two

Division I schools, two Division
II schools and one National
Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics school.
Third place finish in the
conference the best in school
history. Last year's team only won three
conference games, and this year's team went
10-4 in conference play.

Conference tournament runners-up. Agnes
Scott had never won a conference tournament

ame

Joeleen Akin, basketball coach and
athletic director, was named Great South
Athletic Conference coach of the year.

Cross Country

CROSS COUNTRY WON the Conference champion-
ship for the second year in a row, and Dennis
Kruszewski received GSAC conference coach of
the year.

Soccer

THE SOCCER TEAM FINISHED SECOND

in the regular season and tied
Maryville College (Tennessee) in
one game, breaking Maryville's 34-
game streak of not losing or tying a
game. Even though the Scotties lost
to Piedmont College (Georgia) in the
semifinals, the soccer team had a winning
season. Joe Bergin was named GSAC confer-
ence coach of the year.

Swimming

SWIM TEAM MEMBER Yevhcniya "Jane" Krutko '07
(see page 27, fall 2005 ASTM) finished first in the
100-meter butterfly and 200-meter breast stroke
in the Atlantic States meet in Virginia. The team
finished fourth in the Atlantic States Conference
championship.

A Tree Grows in Decatur

TO HONOR the 10-year presidency of Mary
Brown Bullock '66, the college staff planted
an American fringetree on the front lawn of
Agnes Scott last fall. Expected to grow to 25
to 30 feet tall, the tree produces flowers that
are white, feathery blossoms.

"This fringetree represents President
Bullock's commitment to making Agnes Scott
a beautiful community. She has been deeply
involved in creating an attractive campus
environment that is appreciated by every-
one," says Gue Hudson '68, vice president
for student life and community relations and
dean of students.

4 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

JAMES ROSS MCCAIN FAITH AND LEARNING LECTURE, 2006

Renowned Theologian Issues Challenge

WHAT DOES ATHENS have to do with
Jerusalem?" renowned preacher and
theologian the Rev. Peter J. Gomes
asked an almost-full house gathered in Gaines
Chapel for the 2006 James Ross McCain Faith
and Learning Lecture. "What does the city of
reason have to do with the city of faith?"

His hour-long address peppered with
humor explored the role of an intellectual
institution founded on Christian principles.

Noting the study of religion has nothing to
do with the practice of religion, Gomes proposed
there is tension between the city of reason and
the city of faith and this tension ought to be
addressed regularly.

"The thing about tension is not
what it resolves but what it creates,"
said Gomes, citing music and novels as
examples.

An ordained American Baptist
minister, Gomes is Plummer Professor of
Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in The
Memorial Church at Harvard University. He
has written a number of books and has pub-
lished 1 volumes of sermons as well as numer-
ous articles and essays.

He debunked the idea that today's college
students are spoiled, materialistic and morally
complacent and believes they have the moral
curiosity to search for truth.

"In many ways, college is the ideal place to
discover religion the books, the professors and
the environment of free inquiry," said Gomes.

Gomes admonished Christians to act boldly.
"The Christian intellectual heritage says we have
nothing to fear from science or reason. We are to

act boldly and be not afraid."

He added Christians have nothing to fear
from other religions. "Their truth does not
compromise our religion. We act with hospitality
toward them."

Gomes encouraged Christians and the
college founded on Christian principles to look
to the future.

"We have nothing to fear from the future,"
said Gomes. "Easter is the beginning of a whole
new brave world,- not just the end of Lent. You
cannot make progress driving with your eye on
the rear view mirror. Going ahead is the only
place where Christianity can be experienced."

He warned the college about cultivating the
past, but encouraged it to take the journey for-
ward in faith by being transformed in what can
happen. "Be part of the transformation for good.
Your best years are ahead of you."

"The Christian intellectual
heritage says we have nothing
to fear from science or reason.
We are to act boldly and he
not afraid."

Mary Brown Bullock Science Center ..

OTOS BY CAROLINE JOE

ULLOCK SCIENC

6 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Above the Science Center entrance
hangs the building's official name
Mary Brown Bullock Science Center.
As one way to show their
appreciation, the Agnes Scott Board
of Trustees named the building for Mary Brown
Bullock '66, who concludes her I 1 -year tenure as
president of the college August 1 .

"There is no better way to acknowledge in
a lasting way all that President Bullock has done
for the college than by naming this particular
building in her honor," says Harriet King '64,
chair of the board of trustees. "This is a state-of-
the-art building designed to provide our students
with every tool and opportunity necessary to
educate them in the sciences.

"Mary's leadership in emphasizing the
importance of the sciences in a liberal arts
education and in constructing such a building
on our campus is indicative of her vision for the
college and for women's education."

With the campus community gathered in
the Science Quadrangle, a temporary sign was
unveiled during a brief ceremony during the
board's April meeting.

Known until now as the Science Center, the
$36.5 million building houses the departments
of biology, chemistry, psychology and physics,
as well as the Science Center for Women. It
consists of more than 1 1 5,000 square feet with
a "racetrack" floor plan, placing shared resources
in the center of the building's wings, with labs
and classrooms around the perimeter. Laboratory
space provides for faculty/student research as well
as individual faculty research.

A popular gathering and meeting place is
the building's Woolford B. Baker Atrium with its
three-story representation of Agnes Scott's DNA.

When the building opened in 2003, President
Bullock said, "Liberal learning assumes the
integration of scientific and ethical concepts,
scientific and aesthetic
concepts,
scientific
and social
concepts. And
so this building
is designed
to bring us
together."

SPRING 2006 7

Celebrating Her Presidency

Celehratincj Mary Brown Bullock's iO-year anniversary as president, the
campus community proclaimed MBB Day, which concluded with a party
during which the faculty reviewed the highlights of her leadership.

BY KATHARINE KENNEDY

Mary Brown Bullock '66, arrived
in the summer of 1995 with
the intimate knowledge of an
alumna and the fresh perspec-
tive of a scholar and administra-
tor whose work had taken her far from Georgia
and from the world of small colleges. Her career
as a Stanford-trained China historian included
frequent trips to East Asia and a position at
The Woodrow Wilson international Center for
Scholars in Washington, DC. Leaving a fulfill-
ing career and life in Washington to face the
challenges and uncertainties of the Agnes Scott
presidency required a rare level of courage and
vision. In her inaugural address, President Bullock
promised, "We will grow, we will build and we
will change." Her success in hjlfilling all three
promises has been truly remarkable.

Becoming Visible

One of President Bullock's first targets was Agnes
Scott's understated image Realizing a college
could only suffer from being a "well-kept secret,"
she began to advertise. Print advertisements
asked, "Who in the World is Agnes Scott?" and
"Where in the World is Agnes Scott?" In response
to Georgia's HOPE Scholarship, the college's
advertisements proclaimed, "Georgia Offers you
Hope. Agnes Scott gives you the World." The
advertising blitz included four advertorials in
the New York Times during Bold Aspirations: The
Campaign for Agnes Scott College President
Bullock's leadership of national organizations
such as the Women's College Coalition and the
National Association of Independent Colleges
and Universities has increased the college's
national stature among college administrators.
Closer to home, Agnes Scott invited its neighbors
to campus for a series of autumn "Nights under
the Stars." The cultural events program flourished,
and the college attracted speakers such as Kurt
Vonnegut, John Updike, Thomas Friedman, Alice
Walker, Julian Bond, Marsha Norman, and Hillary
Rodham Clinton.

A two-year "re-imaging" effort produced an
attractive new logo, of which President Bullock
wrote, "The intersecting web is light, but not
fragile. It's enduring, like the sisterhood of Agnes
Scott alumnae." At the same time, the college
adopted its tagline, "The World for Women."
Agnes Scott breaking into the top 50 in the U.S.
News &World Report ranking in 2003 represented
another step toward a national profile and an
affirmation of improvements ranging from faculty
salaries and student retention to alumnae giving
and publicity.

Toward 1,000

Agnes Scott was a perilously small college in the
mid- 1 990s. Even before assuming the presidency,
Bullock stunned faculty with her vision of a stu-
dent body of 1 ,000. Growth began immediately.
Full-time-equivalent enrollment has grown by an
amazing 67 percent.

Supporting the Academic Program

President Bullock has made strengthening the
academic program a priority. For a number of
years prior to her arrival, the size of the faculty
had been frozen at 70. As enrollment grew, so did
the faculty, with the addition of 1 1 new tenure
track positions. Each of these new positions ful-
filled long-held needs and dreams for a faculty
member to direct the international relations pro-
gram, for an art historian specializing in the mod-
ern period, for a scholar of world religions, for a
faculty member in women's studies, for an ethicist,
for a molecular biologist, for a conductor for the
music ensembles, for an astronomer specializing
in planetary science, for an industrial ps>'cholo-
gist, and for a scholar of post-colonial literature
Each has added breadth, depth and excitement to
our curriculum. President Bullock has participated
in the hiring of more than half of the peimanent
faculty.

Her notable curricular initiatives include the
recently added requirement that students take a
second course in science or a science-related Held

8 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

and introduction of the 4/4 student course load
and 3/2 faculty teacfiing load. Although faculty
are working as hard as ever, the reduced teach-
ing load has provided a welcome opportunity
to focus energies. While teaching remains the
faculty's priority, President Bullock has success-
fully encouraged impressive achievements in the
area of research.

Even with the college's financial challenges,
faculty salaries have increased over the past decade.
For years, we aspired to reach the 80th percentile
of salaries at four-year colleges, as reported to the
American Association of University Professors.
Only after President Bullock's arrival did salaries
actually reach the 80th percentile with any regularity.

Another successfully achieved presiden-
tial goal was to make the college more global.
The number of students studying abroad has
increased, with 43 percent of the class of 2005
having had an international experience. The
world has also come to Decatur through the
contributions of international students, who con-
stitute almost 1 1 percent of the class of 2006 and
more than 7 percent of the entire student body.

Building for the Future

The most visible changes have been to the
campus. A Master Plan identified construction
projects needed to propel the college into the
2 1 St century, and President Bullock donned her
hard hat. The first new building was a parking
facility. Although this project initially distressed
some neighbors, the college acknowledged their
concerns and erected an attractive and unob-
trusive parking facility. Extensive renovation of
Evans Hall resulted in a larger, lighter and more
attractive dining hall,- and the renovated kitchen
and serving areas facilitated the preparation of
tastier and more varied food. The renovated
lower level of Evans became flexible, serviceable
space. Construction crews demolished the old
gymnasium/student center and part of the library
to make way for the new hubs of social and intel-
lectual life, Alston Campus Center and the reno-
vated and expanded McCain Library.

The wave of construction culminated with
the new science facilities. The renovated and
expanded Bradley Observatory contains the state-
of-the-art Delafield Planetarium and a LIDAR lab.
After years of thorough planning, construction
commenced on the Science Center with President
Bullock on a backhoe during the groundbreaking
ceremony. The Science Center's opening in 2003
included the well-publicized unveiling of a ren-
dering of Agnes Scott's DNA on the wall of the
Woolford B. Baker Atrium. Students and faculty
are delighted with the enhanced opportunities
for teaching, research and learning at the Science

Center and Bradley Observatory and Delafield
Planetarium.

Construction of the Science Center neces-
sitated relocation of the tennis courts, and the
new Byers Tennis Courts now occupy a perfect
spot high above the athletic field. After renova-
tion of Woodruff Quadrangle and landscaping of
the entire campus, Agnes Scott has never looked
better. Residents and visitors marvel at the beauty
of the campus and, especially, the greenness of
its grass. In transforming the campus. President
Bullock consulted college constituencies, hired
nationally known architects, and drew on her own
commitment to and appreciation of quality.

Money Matters

Bold Aspirations: The Campaign for Agnes Scott
College, launched in 2001, raised $70,652,390.
President Bullock met with alumnae throughout
the country, making the case for contributing to
the present and future of Agnes Scott. Alumnae
provided 60 percent of the contributions to
the campaign, reflecting the participation of an
impressive 66 percent of alumnae.

The college's large endowment enjoyed
healthy growth in the late 1990s, but this trend
reversed in the new millennium. When the
endowment lost 46 percent of its value between
1998 and 2003, the challenges were great.
President Bullock has guided the college through
four years of painful budget cuts with compassion
and intelligence, and revenues from sources other
than the endowment have increased significantly.

A More Harmonious Tone

Faculty who toasted President Bullock at our 10-
year anniversary celebration emphasized dramatic
improvement in campus "climate," "morale" and
"tone" under her leadership. She has brought
dignity, wisdom, insight, generosity, toughness,
kindness and respect for scholarship to the presi-
dency of Agnes Scott. When she speaks of aca-
demic excellence, she understands it and means it.
Her appreciation for all of the college's constitu-
encies is genuine. Despite inevitable bumps in the
road. President Bullock and her leadership team
have fostered an environment where faculty can
focus on teaching, scholarship and service,- where
students can learn and grow,- and where staff can
provide services vital to the college's success.

As our president, Mary Brown Bullock has
embodied the ideals set forth in our Mission:
Agnes Scott College educates women to think
deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual
and social challenges of their times.

Katharine Kennedy is Charles A. Dana Professor of
History.

SPRING 2006 9

PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE

BY MARY BROWN BULLOCK '66

WHAT DOES
ACADEMIC
EXCELLENCE
MEAN IN THE
2 1ST CENTURY?

With the Atlanta Olympics just
around the corner, it was hard
to resist an Olympic metaphor
in my inauguration speech
I I years ago: "We are going
for the gold!" And yes, I returned to Agnes Scott
in part because, like all alumnae, I have a com-
petitive streak. With its extraordinary historic,
human, financial and geographic assets, Agnes
Scott should be known as one of the finest liberal
arts colleges in the country. The question was:
how to do it?

I knew from my student years that academic
excellence was key to Agnes Scott's past, and I
believed it was central to its future. But what does
academic excellence mean in the 2r' century?

To start with, it requires a somewhat larger
institution. The decline of the student body from
approximately 750 when I was a student to less
than 600 when I returned made a huge difference
in the campus climate. By 1995, Agnes Scott had
become too small to support a first-rate institution.

i came to realize, however, that size was not
the only issue. The second but most important
challenge was believing believing that Agnes
Scott, a fine liberal arts college in Atlanta, had an
important future and could define standards of

academic excellence in educating women for our
region and throughout the country. And so at my
inauguration I called for us to "build, and grow,
and change."

During my first two years, the faculty, senior
staff and I worked hard to produce a comprehen-
sive strategic plan, calling for nearly everything
including a major building program. The only
time I remember being truly anxious as presi-
dent was the night before the trustees reviewed
the final plan. 1 knew it was a truly aggressive
approach to transforming the college. I need not
have feared; the trustees not only approved the
plan, they enlisted. 1 cannot overestimate the
importance of the Agnes Scott trustees during the
past 10 years. More than half are alumnae from the
1940s to the 1980s, and they joined me in a sense
of urgency, concurring that "our time is now."

The first critical challenge was growing the
student body, it was not just that Agnes Scott was
smaller than in the 1960s, it was that the aver-
age size of strong liberal arts colleges had grown
to between 1 ,000 to 2,000 the size needed to
maintain a large enough faculty and appropri-
ate institutional resources. We are now hovering
just over 1 ,000 "head-count" including students
abroad. Woodruff Scholars, Year Five students
and students in our
post-baccalaureate and
graduate programs.
Our extraordinary
growth is due to the
work of many people,
but Stephanie Balmer.
dean of admission and
associate vice president
for enrollment, and
Cue Hudson 68 vice
president for student
affairs and community
relations and dean of
students, deserve a
huge vote of thanks.
Thev believed.

Looking ahead.
Agnes Scott needs to
stabilize that number at
1 ,000 fijll-time regular
students in our under-
graduate and graduate
programs and then

10 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

continue growing. Our campus capacity is about
1 ,200, including sufficient residential space with
our Avery Glenn Apartments.

We have not sacrificed quality for our
increased number of students. In fact, in fail 2006
we reduced the number of entering first-year stu-
dents from approximately 250 to 230 in order to
raise the SAT average approximately 40 points to
1220. Likewise, we raised the entrance standards
for our Post-Bacclaureate Pre-Med Program by
about 1 00 SAT points. While this resulted in a
slight decline in overall enrollment this year, we
are convinced raising the academic standards will
increase enrollment in the years to come.

Indeed, if there is one point driven home to
me in my 10 years as president, it continues to be
that academic quality matters, it matters to alum-
nae, who want to be proud of their alma mater.
It matters to students and their families who are
making serious investments in their futures, it
matters to faculty who are choosing an institu-
tional home for perhaps a lifetime.

And it matters to public perceptions. The
academic institutions that are known for excel-
lence, including women's colleges, will flourish
in the future. According to our ranking in US
News & World Report, Agnes Scott now is clearly
recognized as the strongest women's college from
California to Pennsylvania and one of the top six
liberal arts colleges in the Southeast.

When I talk about academic excellence, I am,
of course, talking about faculty and the academic
program. Upon returning to Agnes Scott, 1 found
that the faculty had retained the high quality lib-
eral arts curriculum I remembered, and they had
also been innovative in weaving women's perspec-
tives throughout the curriculum and in introduc-
ing pioneering Language-Across-the-Curriculum,
Global Awareness and experiential-learning pro-
grams. In many disciplines, students are engaged
in collaborative research projects with their pro-
fessors. With an enviable student-faculty ratio of
1 0-1 , Agnes Scott still provides the personalized

aS|(. I instruction for which

- 4'M wirfi. s j( 1^35 always been

known.

Although we have
increased significantly
our support for faculty,
including sabbatical
and professional devel-
opment support, a
critical challenge for
Agnes Scott in the
future is to retain and
support our profes-
sors to raise our
faculty salary level and
to provide adequate
resources for research
and teaching excellence. The next campaign
yes, get ready for the next campaign! will be
about academic excellence. 1 estimate we will
need at least $25 million in new endowment funds
to stabilize and raise current faculty salaries to
the level of top-ranked liberal arts colleges and
an additional $10 million for five named faculty
chairs. We will also need an investment in aca-
demic facilities not necessarily new buildings,
but the renovation of Dana Fine Arts Building and
Buttrick and Presser Halls, as well as the reconfig-
uration of Campbell Hall into a center for the fine
arts, and our growing education programs. We are
beginning to plan for this revitalized academic
quadrangle.

Eleven years ago, I wondered what it would
be like to return to a women's institution.
While I knew I had benefited from an
all-women's college, my subsequent years had
been in settings dominated by men. I have
been pleasantly surprised. For starters,
I have never been in a more supportive
and less-factionalized environment. For
another, 1 have learned so much from our
faculty about women's studies the many
different ways in which they integrate
women's perspective into the classroom.
But 1 have also learned a great deal from
the staff who oversee our residential life
and design our co-curriculur programs. A
holistic approach to young women's lives
now includes competitive varsity sports,
strength training, physical and mental
wellness programs and career guidance.
This year our cross-country team won our
conference tide for the second year in a
row, and our basketball team made it to
the finals. This year 1 00 percent of our
students applying to medical school were
accepted. Each of these accomplishments

A HOLISTIC

APPROACH

TO YOUNG

WOMEN'S

LIVES NOW

INCLUDES

COMPETITIVE

VARSITY

SPORTS,

STRENGTH

TRAINING,

PHYSICAL

AND MENTAL

WELLNESS

PROGRAMS

AND CAREER

GUIDANCE.

SPRING 2006 1 1

EVEN AS WE
BECOME MORE
LOCAL, WE
MUST BECOME
MORE GLOBAL.

speaks to the role of Agnes Scott today in provid-
ing a high quality comprehensive program for
young women today.

I have come to appreciate the men of the fac-
ulty and staff who are also dedicated to teaching
and mentoring women. Like them, my husband
George a wonderful partner in my presidency
is an enthusiastic promoter of women in sports,
women in music and women in science. I bridle
when someone brings up the gender issue and
says that Agnes Scott is not diverse. We may not
have undergraduate boys, but we have lots of
men, and we have many wonderful faculty and
staff families who live in and around the college.
We also have extraordinary socio-economic,
ethnic, religious and political diversity. Like
many other women's colleges, we are modeling
a new kind of American community. Yes, we are
still working at that challenge, which is also our
nation's challenge, but 1 have become convinced
that this four-year women-only interlude may
create one of the most effective environments for
learning to live and work in a diverse world.

Where to from here? Agnes Scott will
become both more local and more
global. For some years, 1 have been
talking about "a liberal arts college with the reach
of a university." We don't compete with other col-
leges: we compete with universities, the dominant

educational model today. Our curriculum cannot
expand indefinitely, but it can become enhanced
by substantive ties to the universities and cultural
institutions around us. New initiatives with Emory
University include a five-year program in nurs-
ing, a pre-doctoral humanities teaching program
and the expansion of our foreign language capa-
bilities. We signed a unique agreement between
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and Agnes Scott last fall, providing a framework

for student internships, faculty development
and opportunities for CDC scholars in medi-
cal anthropology, women's health and the social
aspects of epidemiology to teach at Agnes Scott.
Our fine arts departments are considering new
ways in which we can link to Atlanta's flourish-
ing cultural community. Atlanta also will present
new opportunities for graduate programs and
continuing education programs, but only if they
complement and enhance our core undergraduate
program.

Even as we become more local, we must
become more global. I am proud of the fact
that more than 40 percent of our students study
abroad, but that number and the number of
our international students is threatened by our
budget constraints. Agnes Scott's students must
graduate with a global vision we really are
talking about not just the world for women, but
women for the world.

While being innovative, Agnes Scott has a
special responsibility to maintain its core values,-
as 1 put it in my inauguration speech, being "more
faithful to our founding values." These values
include holding fast to the goal of "a liberal arts
curriculum abreast of the finest in the country, "
and they also include the conviction that knowl-
edge, by itself, is not enough. Our motto from
II Peter reads: "Add to your faith wisdom, and to
wisdom, knowledge." At a time when faiths col-
lide at home and abroad, this college believes a
liberal arts education includes paying attention
to the religious journeys of all our students. Our
new chapel, designed to be a Christian chapel
welcoming to people of all faiths, will include an
inter-faith meditation room. It will provide a new
setting for students to engage in conversations
with those who share their faith traditions and
those who embrace different faiths. It will provide
a special place for all members of the Agnes Scott
community to explore the purpose and meaning
of their lives.

It has been a privilege to serve as president
of Agnes Scott College during these 1 I years. I
have loved the challenge of institutional leader-
ship, and 1 have loved representing Agnes Scott in
educational settings around the countiy. Like the
college, 1 have changed during these years and as
a result of this extraordinars' experience 1 have
especially enjoyed listening to the life-stories of
many alumnae and watching the personal growth
of our students.

From all of you 1 have gamed the inspiration
to close this chapter in my life and to embark
upon new discoveries. As an alumna. I look
forward to my continuing association with the
college. And I have no doubt that under my suc-
cessor, Agnes Scott will continue to be going for
the gold!

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

'S husband of the college's first alumna
Resident, George Bullock charted new
rritory, finding hi^wflBle in the college

)ts of fai

FRIEND

George Bullock is a natural in his
Agnes Scott ball cap.
From the sidelines, he has
taken in everything from student
games to matches and meets. With
pride, he wears the ASC logo. With his encyclo-
pedic knowledge of sports and his interest in stu-
dents, he's a well-cultivated Agnes Scott fan.

"George can tell you who had the best time
on cross country, each goalie's record, who's per-
forming in tennis or basketball," notes one faculty
member. "It is quite spectacular"

Just as effortlessly during the past 1 1 years,
Bullock seems to have slipped into his role as the
college's first first husband. Wherever he finds
himself, he's assimilating an extraordinary amount
of information and personally making connec-
tions for the college.

When he's out on the road consulting
about 50 percent of the time Bullock has set up
appointments with alumnae in the area.

of the Scotties

"We haven't had any presidents' wives do
that!" remarks an alumna.

"He is quite a multi-faceted guy. He is a good
conversationalist and has strong opinions," com-
ments long-time friend Martha Thompson '66.
"If you have an interest and ask what he knows
about a topic, George will hold forth. He's well
informed,- he has the facts. Ask his opinion and
you will know where he stands."

At home in Decatur, Bullock pursues wide-
ranging interests on and around campus. He loves
the performing arts. So several months out, he
makes mental notes of student recitals. With no
schedule conflicts, Bullock is there savoring the
music and congratulating the artist.

Team Trivia? "It's the toughest at Manuel's
Tavern," says Linda Lael '66. Several alumnae have
extended an open invitation for Bullock to sit at
their table on Sunday nights. With his graduate
school work in history from Stanford University,
wide-ranging experience with Beltway politics

SPRING 2O06 1 3

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Ashley Bullock, who
holds an undergraduate
degree from Wellesley
College, Is pursuing
a master's degree in
human development
at the University of
Chicago. In between her
educational ventures, she
taught autistic children
at the Lion Heart School
in Atlanta, served as a
research assistant with
Emory's anthropology
department and worked
on organic farms in
Hawaii.

Graham Bullock is
working on his Ph.D. in
environmental science,
policy and management
with a National Science
Foundation grant at the
University of California,
Berkeley. He graduated
from Princeton University
and has a master's degree
from the |ohn F. Kennedy
School of Government at
Harvard University. For
several years he worked
in China with the Nature
Conservancy and is fluent
in Chinese.

and love of sports, Bullock is a first-pick tor their
"never rowdy" but competitive circle.

"He has an excellent brain and great recall,"
says Susan M. Thomas '66. "We sort of relax when
George shows up."

For fun, he emcees the trivia tournament at
Black Cat each fall. Students respond to his acces-
sibility and his ability to tune in to their interests.

"When you meet him, you can't help but like
him," says Mary Rae Phelps '02. "He has no airs."

CONCERNS FOR STUDENT ENROLLMENT and Student

attrition had loomed large at Agnes Scott before
Mary Brown Bullock '66 arrived as president. As
first spouse, Bullock found ways he could make a
difference. For example, he decided to study the
biographical sketches and learn all the names of
first-year students from out of state.

"That was about 125 students out of 250. It
was not hard to get to know them," he says, "and
then 1 would integrate into my thinking other stu-
dents as we met." He is quick to say he does not
know all of the students. "We have 1 ,000 students
now. Some I've gotten to know pretty well."

"1 am fairly certain every year George has
approached me during orientation to tell me
about students who may not be majors but ought
to be in my program," remarks David Thompson,
associate professor of theatre. "One example is
Hollis Mutch ['06]. She is not a theatre major, but
she is talented. He encouraged her, and she has
been in several of our productions."

The same is true for the athletes. Tennis
player Mary Rae Phelps '02 was part of a stellar
tennis team that didn't lose many matches. "Agnes
Scott is such an academic place, most students
are involved with their classes and probably
didn't know what was happening, but the athletic
department and George were excited. He was at
every match. It definitely made my experience "

Emily Rose '06 of Tampa, Fla., also benefited
from that legacy. On her dorm wall hangs a photo

of her with President Bullock. She remembers the
Bullocks attended her first ASC orchestra concert
in fall 2002. She played the harp, and afterward,
they mentioned how nice it would be for her to
play at an event in their house. This December
when Rose and her mother were rolling the harp
up to the President's House for a parry, Bullock
was the first one out, offering to help.

After the party, he wrapped up refreshments
for Rose. "1 have been lucky,' she says. "Having
these two people so involved with students makes
it seem like what we are doing is more important."

The Bullocks came to the college just as the
board of trustees, faculty and staff were making
a campus-wide effort to rebuild and strengthen
relationships.

"It was an extraordinary time, " recalls Joseph
R. Gladden Jr., then trustee chair, "As we were
looking for a permanent president, we were using
the search process to draw the elements of the
college community together.

"From the board's and the college's perspec-
tive, it couldn't have worked out better. Mary has
done a spectacular job. George has our enormous
respect. In particular, it has meant a lot to the
students for a person in his position to care about
them. 1 think they love him.

"Under their leadership," concludes Gladden,
"basically, the whole college has been reborn."

EVEN THOUGH BULLOCK wasn't Under the same
scrutiny as President Bullock, he arrived with
strong credentials. A student of 20th-century
American history, he had enough desire for
hands-on knowledge of the federal govern-
ment to work in Washington, D.G., for a year
or two and stayed 25. Bullock served in the
executive branch in the Office of Economic
Opportunity. He has run two state government
offices and, earlier, the office of Sen. Ted Stevens
of Alaska. More recently, he represented various
companies "who need assistance in dealing with
the federal bureaucracy." In 1991, he joined the
Edison Electric Institute, an association of share-
holder-owned electric companies, to am its state
and local programs.

According to Martha Thompson, who
worked in Washington, DC., as the deputy assis-
tant secretary in the U.S. Department of Treasury
when the Bullocks lived on the Hill, their chil-
dren have been most important to them. "George
Bullock is very much the coach supportive,
teaching them, urging them on. When Mary
was traveling, he did their meals and got them to
where they needed to go."

During their Washington years, Bullock
officially put on his coach's cap when he learned
there was no organized baseball for their son,
Graham, then 8. In the process, he started the

14 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Capital City Little League. By the time Craham
graduated from high school, the league was first-
class, with 75 teams and 1,500 players. Daughter
Ashley played baseball until she was 1 3. Later
she played at Sidwell Friends School on the same
Softball team with Chelsea Clinton.

Just when Bullock had thoughts about
reclaiming his roots with a move West, "along
came Agnes Scott. One thing led to another. We
processed it as a family," he explains. "Craham
had just started Princeton, so he was set. Ashley
was a freshman in high school. That was some
consideration for us.

"1 thought 1 could continue to do what 1 was
doing in Decatur and get a better airport out of
the deal!"

Today, Bullock serves four clients. He rep-
resents Georgia Power on a state level and the
Southern Co. on a national level. He regularly
attends meetings of such groups as the National
Governors' Association, Southern Governors'
Association, the Southern Legislative Conference,
the National Association of State Legislatures, the
Council of State Governments and the Energy
Council. He enjoys travel but admits, "1 pick and
choose a little. I will go to Hawaii, San Francisco,
Santa Fe or Alaska."

AS THEY LOOK AHEAD, Bullock is Sorting through
stacks of business files downstairs at their home.

Among his ASC memorabilia is a nice crystal
keepsake he received during an athletic banquet.
It's inscribed to him, "As a friend of the Scotties
for his endless support of our student athletes,
2000-2001."

The Bullocks will maintain a residence in
Decatur. "We're not moving lock, stock and bar-
rel to Timbuktu," answers Bullock in response to
student complaints. Yet their decision to leave has
been received with mixed emotions throughout
the campus and among alumnae.

"You have to realize that China is huge right
now. If you are a China scholar like Mary, and
China is pulling out of the station, you've got to
go," says Susan Thomas circumspectly.

The difference will be felt even more sharply
on campus. "When we found out, students were
crying in the dorm," says Rose. "The underclass-
men are so sad that the Bullocks won't be here to
finish up. The seniors, well, we are glad that we
are seniors. But seniors cry too. I do.

"The Bullocks are a very good fit at Agnes
Scott. As a student, you're more than a name here.
You are treated as a whole person. That is true
in the classroom. It extends all the way up to the
Bullocks. Or, maybe it starts with them and trick-
les down."

Celeste Paininclton, a Georgia-based jreelaiice writer,
manaijes several publications^

The board of trustees
passed a resolution
making George Bullock
an honorary Agnes Scott
alumnus.

From Student to Mother of the President

Mary "Mardia" Brown '43 laughs when she talks about one
alumna calling her the "Queen Mother."

However, she admits she will miss being the mother of the presi
dent of Agnes Scott. "It gives you status," Brown notes.

It was not a role she envisioned for herself when her father, a
Presbyterian missionary in Korea, sent her to the
"best girls' school in the South," where tuition was
$1,000 a year.

When she arrived on campus. Brown intended to
drop her nickname "Mardia," an Americanized ver-
sion of the Korean word for Mary. However, she had
too many friends here who knew her as Mardia and
refused to call her by anything else. Her name isn't
the only thing that has remained the same through
the years.

While tuition has increased and the campus
changed physically, Brown believes the personal
contact with professors and "everyone feeling equal"
continues from her student days until now.

"I came from Korea and felt very small," says
Brown. "But I was no different from everyone else here. The college
continues to have the high standards we had and continues to be
forward looking."

She's proud of her daughter's work at the college, but, ever the

mother, points out she is proud of all five of her children.

"Mary left home when she was 13 to attend boarding school, and
she's had to fend for herself," says Brown. "We're proud of what
she has accomplished and appreciate all the help and support she's
received along the way.

"When she came, she had definite goals for the
college," she continues. "I think most have been
reached. It hasn't been easy, but she's enjoyed it."

Brown points out that no matter how busy
Bullock has been, she's always had time for her par-
entsespecially taking her mother shopping and
encouraging her father in his writing about China.

Brown and her husband, George Thompson
"Tommy" Brown, served as missionaries in Korea,
where they had met as children of missionaries.
After they returned to the states to live in Decatur,
Tommy served as director of overseas work for the
Presbyterian denomination and as a professor at
Columbia Theological Seminary, a position from
which he retired.
For Brown, the most fun part of being mother of the president has
been getting to attend all of the events and performances.

"I'm going to miss it. It has just been wonderful for us," says
Brown. "We're thankful we've been here." Jennifer Bryon Owen

SPRING 2006 15

k ^"^5^

AS a child, Mary Brown Bullock '66 heard her missionary
grandfather tell stories of fleeing the warlords of
China during the early 20th century. Her father was
born there, and later returned to Asia with his family,
including then 8-year-old Mary. Her academic work
would center on American medical and scientific efforts in China. And in
this century, Bullock's son has worked in Asian eco-tourism.

What has Bullock's connection to the world's oldest continuous
civilization meant for Agnes Scott? During her tenure, a number of
scholars with deep personal or academic ties to China joined the faculty,
expanding study of the country Bullock has visited annually for more
than 30 years (minus two years when her children were born).

These faculty members work on widely varying planes ranging
rom faith to economics. All are important in helping students
understand a countiy increasingly in the news of 1.3 billion
people, spread over 3.7 million square miles.

BY LISA ASHMORE

16 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

A Fulbright in Hong Kong

DENNIS McCann, Wallace M.
Alston Professor of Bible and
Religion, is in Hong Kong on a
yearlong Fulbright Fellowship,- part of his
time is spent teaching Chinese students
business ethics. There, as in the U.S.,
neither business nor politics is consid-
ered particularly governed by morals.
"It's a problem everywhere," says
McCann. "Here, there are some prob-
lems that are specific to Chinese culture
and the processes of modernization." The
shift from the "moribund" political, moral
and cultural systems of Communism to
a market economy "has been just really
corrosive of what's left of traditional val-
ues, which were already seriously weak-
ened by the Cultural Revolution.

"It's not just that business is particu-
larly immoral. All of life here is pretty
dicey," he explains. "One of the biggest
issues people are struggling with, using
the code word for it, is 'rule of law.' In
other words, in China the law is used as
kind of an administrative tool for those
with political power and influence for
rewarding your friends and punishing
your enemies. It does not have, at least in

practice, the implication of impartiality,
justice, etc."

That's not to suggest Chinese are
bad or fundamentally different from
Americans," McCann says. "In some ways
their personal moral standards are much
higher. But once you get out of the circle
of trust, primarily your family, things are
a lot dicier, and particularly the relation-
ship over centuries with the government
is one of evasion.

"The government is an overweening
influence in the lives of people,- people
fear it they try and stay as far away as
possible. It means that they hide things.
So you can imagine that tax collec-
tion in China is a huge headache," says
McCann. "If you think that fraud against
the IRS is a problem in the United States,
it's nothing compared to tax collection,
or even tax assessment, in China. The
judiciary is corrupt, the political system
is corrupt. People who have money and
influence buy their way out of practically
everything."

The perception that the Chinese
government bans Christianity is untrue.

"It's not as if religion or Christianity

is suppressed in China," McCann says.
"Any Sunday I'm in China and have
the inclination to go to church, 1 go to
church."

'The real issue in China, given
the nature of the political system, is
. . . freedom of
assembly. There
is no presupposi-
tion in Chinese
culture that we
have some God-
given right to
organize our own
activities.

"Religion
falls under that just as much as any other
area of life," he continues.

And while no one can say with cer-
tainty what China wants for its new role
in global politics, he believes the country
is being portrayed as a fearsome, Soviet-
style empire to justify current foreign
policy and the U.S. defense budget.

"China has almost no history of
external aggression. That army, as large
as it is, is basically for purposes of inter-
nal control," says McCann.

SPRING 2006 17

An Economic Game

China's economy is the sixth
largest in the world, and the
third largest trading nation after
the United States and Germany. But like
most economies, it must be politically
shrewd to keep lines of trade flourishing.
"The world
markets are
important for
China's economic
development
for providing
both markets for
its exports and
imports needs,"
says Li Qi, assis-
tant professor of
economics. "For China to be successful in
the long run, it needs to have good rela-
tionship with its trading partners."

A larger question is the relation-
ship between developed and developing
countries.

"Globalization is a hard force to
fight against," she says. "The biggest
economic players need to realize that
as much as each one needs to protect
its own interest, simply curbing inter-
national trade is not going to provide a
recipe for growth," she said.

U3 f

OS I

as t
mm

As for the concern over the Chinese
government holding substantial U.S.
debt via treasury bonds, Li said twin
deficits (in trade and the U.S. budget)
"no matter who is holding the bonds . . .
pose a serious problem for the U.S. econ-
omy and possibly the world economy."

She addresses fears China could
devalue the dollar. "Many may be
concerned that in an effort to de-link
Chinese yuan from the dollar, China

^08801 1

3.9?

Fusing Music and More

Jr OHN WlNZENBURC, assistant pro-
I fessor of music, was in Beijing on a
' Fulbright Fellowship last year, but his
sia experience also contains eight years
there as a student.

"1 was in China during the spring
1989 protests, including 10 days in
Beijing in late May after martial law
was declared
^H^^^^ ... hundreds of

17 ^^^^^^ thousands of

r ^^^H^^B protesters were

W -jgt /^^ out," he says. "I

tt. ii I was in Shanghai

fc|V "-^^^^^^ during the actual
^^^^^(^^^^^1 suppression
^H^IHi^^^^l In

I witnessed pro-
tests in four cities that spring. F^owever,
while there were many signs of discon-
tent in China that year, there was little to
suggest such an outbreak before I left."

in 1985, Winzenburg went to
Thailand for independent study on war
in Cambodia, an offshoot of the Vietnam
War. An East Asian studies major, he also
went to improve his Mandarin.

F^e would spend a year in Xian,
China, followed by three years in Tokyo
and four in Taipei. At the time, his musi-
cal experience consisted of singing
Karaoke, later a scourge in American
clubs and bars.

"My experiences viewing and lis-
tening to Chinese instruments that
year, unbeknownst to me at the time,
would give me an idea for my orchestral
conducting thesis 1 5 years later," says
Winzenburg. "My plan was to live in Asia
indefinitely, with the hope of doing grad-
uate school in the U.S. at some point. 1
expected to stay longer, but very sud-
denly and unexpectedly decided while
living in Taiwan to return to the U.S. to

pursue music studies."

His Fulbright centered on Chinese-
Western fusion concertos, and he's seen
crossover between the two cultures
instrumentation and composition.

"1 have seen a handhjl of concertos
for Chinese solo instrument and Western
orchestra composed by Western/ non-
Chinese composers, and I believe that
more will certainly be composed as
the subgenre expands and people take
greater interest in contemporan' Chinese
music," says Winzenberg. Chinese
instruments likely to be incorporated in
the West include the erhu (two-stringed
fiddle), the pipci (plucked lute\ and dizi
(bamboo flute). The reed instrument, the
suona and the zheng (zither^ could also
appeal to composers here.

In the world of pop culture the West
is prominent.

"So many urban Chinese are attuned
to Western music today so much so
that they are generally unable to distin-
guish between older, non-Western-intlu-
enced Chinese music and newer Chinese

18 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

may sell large quantities of the U.S.
treasury bonds and this may cause the
price to drop," says Qi. "I believe that
the Chinese government can switch to
the currency plan that links the yuan to
a basket of currencies without involving
large wholesale of U.S. treasury bonds.

"Given the current foreign exchange
portfolio held by China, a severe devalu-
ation of the U.S. dollar won't help China
either. [It] has shown the world that it
can be a responsible player for regional
and world economy. During the Asian
financial crisis, when many East Asian
countries devalued their currencies,
China held the yuan's exchange rate and
did not devalue the yuan to protect its
exports. China suffered exports loss from
this, but helped to maintain regional and
world economic stability."

Qi is native Chinese and taught at
Columbia University before coming to
Agnes Scott.

Studying the economy of a coun-
try with heavy regional influences, vast
contrasts in standard of living, and in
the process of shedding decades of

state-owned enterprise is a challenge,-
Qi believes the experimental theory that
won Vernon Smith a Nobel Prize is "a
powerful tool, a new method which has a
lot of strength."

In teaching experimental economics,
she has students simulate influences that
affect markets. "Then we talk about the
results of their games, how they behaved
and the economy implications," Qi
said. "1 can set up games and study your
behavior."

Some of the games were inspired by
China's emerging stock-market setups.
The markets wanted foreign capital,
but didn't want to lose control of their
domestic industry. So they would seg-
ment foreign and domestic investors,
i.e., there are shares that only foreigners
can buy, and reciprocally, ones that only
domestic investors can buy. But they
couldn't trade with each other.

"That was changed a couple years
ago, but it has been like this for 10
years and provides a good setup to test
whether you are responding to some
irrelevant information," she explains.

"Suppose something happened in
the U.S. that has nothing to do with this
Chinese firm. But because your other
stocks are plunging, the price is rolling
down or whatever happens in your U.S.
market, you have to re-evaluate how
you think about your Chinese stock.
Therefore, you maybe selling at lower
prices than before or you may be buy-
ing it at higher prices than before. If I'm
a Chinese investor, nothing happened
to the firm, but all of a sudden 1 see all
of the foreign shares prices changing,"
she says. "I may be panicked, I may be
thinking what happened? Maybe these
foreigners know something 1 don't, when
in fact it has nothing to do with you, it's
something that happened in the U.S.
... But, then you see that the Chinese
investors are likely to be influenced by
what they see, which has no theoretical
foundation based on all these classi-
cal theories about how you should buy
and sell stock. It could be the cause of a
contagious effect, which is irrational, but
happens."

music, which is heav-
ily Westernized," says
Winzenburg.

Beyond music, a
lot changed since his
student days.

"My year in
Xian was very differ-
ent from the one in
Beijing in many ways,
given the rapid, dra-
matic change that has
taken place in China
in the era of economic
reforms, especially
since they accelerated
after Tiananmen.

"Chinese resurgence is being played
out in many areas of society," he says.
The confluence of history, affluence,
religion and politics affects music and
culture there as it does anywhere.

"China is plagued by enormous
problems that could stall its develop-
ment in terms of degree and pace,"
Winzenburg says. Any number of vari-

ables could affect the outcome. "It is
important for us to remember that we
were speaking in the same terms about
Japan just 1 5 years ago."

Winzenburg's experiences show up
directly and indirectly in the classroom.
Last fall, the set of "Chinese Mountain
Songs" performed by the Collegiate
Chorale and Sotto Voce were by composer
Chen Yi. The songs were among those

Winzenburg studied
while he was at the
Central Conservatory
of Music in Beijng.

"1 include a large
Chinese component in
my Global Awareness
japan course this
semester, since there
is such a close con-
nection between
aspects of Chinese and
Japanese civilizations,"
Winzenburg notes.
"Specifically, many
traditional instruments
used in Japanese performing art forms we
study came from China, some of which
are the same ones that I've researched in
my fusion concerto analysis."

SPRING 2006 19

China in Perspective

WHILE MOST COUNTRIES push
patriotism, transnational his-
tory emphasizes the exchange
and migration of people, ideas or materi-
als across borders.

"Transnational historians often argue
that nations are invented and attempt
to provide an
alternative to
official, uncriti-
cal national
histories," says

I ^^^3?''^ ^^9 assistant profes-
sor of history
and a native of
Taiwan, "in the
Chinese case, the
split of China into different geographical
entities the mainland China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong in the 19th and 20th
centuries blurred the 'national boundar-
ies' and opened the door for the discus-
sion of China as different competing
'national locals.' "

Her specialty is early 20th-century
Chinese intellectual history, but she also
considers the much-older influences of
Confucianism and the Dao important to
understand the country's past.

"China in the first quarter of the 20th
century witnessed, simultaneously, politi-
cal chaos and intellectual freedom. Many
radical intellectual changes took place at
that time, including Marxism," she says.

The next few decades are crucial
in the country's development. It is not
so much in the certainty that China is
becoming one of the world's superpow-
ers, but the uncertainty about the ten-
sions and challenges this rising power
might create domestically and interna-
tionally, she notes.

While China's booming economy
is dazzling, the future of China is by
no means clear For example, is the new
China still a red China? If it is, how can a
red China encourage and foster a capital-
ist society while holding on to an author-
itarian socialist state?" she asks. Also,
she wonders how the country will deal
with the tremendous poverty and unem-
ployment created in the countryside by
concentrating economic development in
the cities.

Wu's research focuses on the
Chinese idea of time in the late 19th and
early 20th century, which is cyclical time
as opposed to linear time. Cyclical time
was challenged in the 1 9th century when

Christianity reached the country.

"In Chinese thought, a perfect order
was in the past,- not the future," explains
Wu. "When the Communists triumphed
in 1 949, they said 'Time has begun.' They
had to create something out of noth-
ing. Communist China is very futuristic.
Linear thinking is that the future will be
better than the present.

"Cyclical thinking is optimistic if
it existed before, it can exist again," she
continues. "Anxiety is more in modern
China you don't know if it can exist."

As she prepares to leave the college after more than a decade as president.
Bullock plans to write a book titled: American Science and Medicine m China-, a
Century of Rockefeller Philanthropy . She chairs the China Medical Board of New
York, Inc.; its roots began in 1914 as a division of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Bullock says to achieve meaningful work in China, American students must
master the language.

"It is important that we begin to offer the study of the Chmese language in
order to have a real China studies program," she says. "Our relationship with China
is emerging as the most important bilateral relationship of our times, and the growth
of the Chinese economy is having a huge impact on the global economy, ' she said.
"It is important that Agnes Scott students have an opportunity to study various
dimensions of this country, and 1 am especially pleased that they will be able to learn
about its history, culture, religion and economy here."

Lisa Ashmore is senior uiriier/editor in the office o{ communications and edits Main Events.

20 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

CHI

Four students from China tell
why they chose Agnes Scott.

BY KRISTEN RALPH 'o6

Why did you choose Agnes Scott?

Jinmeng Li '07: My parents were leav-
ing the country, and I was applying to
schools late. One day, an ASC alum.
Bunny Zygmont [Frances Folk '71 ], who
also went to the high school 1 went to,
came back to my high school to donate
books. My teacher talked to her, and she
recommended ASC.
Nanmeng Yu '08: Agnes Scott has what
1 need as an international student. The
small, comfortable environment is ideal
for me to adjust to the American culture.
Chunying Xie '08: Basically, I want to
experience a different life, especially in
education, from what 1 experienced in
China and to open my mind by exposing
myself to a culture and environment I've
never been in.

Weihua Li '09: 1 like women's schools,
and I want to stay in the South. 1 like our
campus a lot, for it is so pretty. In China,
all the universities have many buildings,
few trees. F-lere 1 can find many trees,
grass, hills and even some small animals.
I like all of them. The campus made me
feel closer to the nature.

How does your experience in the United
States differ from China?

J. Li: Discussions inside and outside the
classroom have helped open my eyes and
make me more open-minded.
Yu: Although 1 am Chinese by citizen-
ship, I have been living in Kenya for
almost 1 years. I moved to Kenya with
my parents. They now run a Chinese res-
taurant there. I find it difficult to compare
the three countries because I don't think
1 have spent enough time in each country
to "know" it deeply. I enjoy exploring the
nuances between Kenyan, Chinese and
American culture. For example, the Asian
manner of speech is more circumlocutory
than those of American and Kenyans.
Kenyans prefer to use more proverbs in
their language.

Xie: 1 don't think there are
many differences.
W. Li: Chinese universi-
ties and American ones are
totally different because of
the different culture. For
example, we do not have
small classes, and the usual
number of a class is more
than 100. Thus, the pro-
fessor can only recognize a few students
in his or her class. Here, there are usually
about 20 people in all, and I have many
opportunities to talk to the professor. We
do not have so many activities in China.
One main reason is that we have too
much homework.

What was it lil^e when you arrived at ASC?

J. Li: 1 was anxious and nervous, but the
busy schedule during orientation kept me
from missing home.
Yu: Even though 1 had felt homesick,
1 enjoyed the warmth of the people at
Agnes Scott. The international students'
orientation program was helpful. 1 was
surprised by the casual nature of the
classroom the open discussions. It's an
open exchange of ideas between the pro-
fessor and his/her students. The students
can joke around with the professor or
argue about his or her point.
Xie: People here are really nice, and this
has meant a lot to me even now.

What are your plans after graduation?

J. Li: Work for a year and then go to
graduate school in economics. 1 will
eventually go back to China, but before
that 1 want to gain work experience and
get a graduate degree in the U.S.
Yu: I'm still uncertain. I'm thinking of
attending graduate school or medical
school. 1 will always go back to China to
visit, but do not plan to stay. 1 would very
much like to live in Kenya.
Xie: I'm not sure yet. 1 think I'll go back

Nanmeng Yu'o8, a biochemistry major, is from Atlanta byway
of Kenya and China; Jinmeng LI '07 Is an economics major and
math minor from Beijing; Chunying Xie '08 Is a mathematics and
economics major from Shanghai; and Weihua LI '09 Is also a
mathematics and economics major from Shanghai.

to China since it's fast developing and
there are many opportunities.
W. Li: I am sure I will go back to China,
but not very soon. 1 plan to finish my
study in America. After graduation, 1
will apply for a business graduate school
or try to get a job for some time and
apply for an M.B.A. After I finish my
study, I want to stay in America for a few
years to work in a company. 1 hope to
learn the advanced technology in sci-
ence and in management and take these
thoughts to China. That is to say, 1 have
to stay here for about 10 years or more,
and finally 1 will go back because China
is always my home.

What advice would you give other inter-
national students malting the transition?

J. Li: Keep an open mind.
Yu: Quickly get into the campus activi-
ties,- being busy eases the transition.
Xie: I'd like to have some advice on that.
I've only been here for a little more than
a year, and 1 still want to see how things
turn out.

W. Li: Be confident. Whatever the prob-
lem is, you should be confident in your-
self. Say, "1 can do it" Then, you will find
the life is not so hard as you thought.

Kristen Ralph '06, an English literature and
creative writing major, is an intern in the ojjice
of communications and editor of The Profile,
Agnes Scott's independent student newspaper

SPRING 2006 21

The Great Wall's

OVERWHELMING

GREATNESS

BY ASHLEY CLARK '06

1 am a young, single-sex educated, African-
American female from a small city in South Carolina who decided to study in Hong Kong,
China, population 6,898,686, at the coeducational Hong Kong Baptist University with a
student population of 6,551 . People were curious about my choice.

Based on outward appearances, no one could see my connection with Asian culture. It was
uring my last excursion to mainland China that 1 was recognized for all 1 represented and
jt just for being black.

r f^ M

iV^t

A SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY MAJOR, 1 have

learned to analyze and seek to understand as well
as appreciate cultural differences. My hope in
studying abroad was to enhance my intellectual
ability from a global perspective and better com-
municate with others on an international level,

Asia is such a highly populated region that
it is impossible to ignore the magnitude of its
cultural significance. 1 have always had the
impression the United States' superpower status
is one that many regions of the world modeled
except Asia. 1 believed this region was one that
functioned autonomously regardless of what
other countries were doing around them. From
my perspective, China's message on global sta-
tus wrought empowerment. This was why, as an
American, 1 felt it imperative that I experience
being the "foreigner."

Prior to arriving in Hong Kong, I was told a
trip to mainland China would be beneficial so I
could experience a wider range of the dynamics
of Chinese culture uninhibited by British tradi-
tions as is Hong Kong. Based on excursions to
Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines, 1 experi-
enced the extreme diversity within Asian culture.
This affirmed the need and my desire to tackle
a popular city in mainland China. 1, along with
some of my friends from Scandinavia, Australia
and the United States, visited Beijing.

Visiting mainland China was a completely
different experience from Hong Kong. Hong
Kong had become my home, and 1 was accus-
tomed to its lifestyle. I found myself comparing
life in mainland China to life in Hong Kong,
rather than to the United States. There were so
many people that my Hong Kong population
seemed relatively small. In Beijing, the pollu-
tion was so thick, it felt suffocating. My eyes
watered, and a lump of saliva seemed permanently
cemented in my throat.

Yet, some things remained transparent: The
Chinese are self-efficient and intuitive people.
Never in my life had 1 seen the elderly trekking up
hills carrying bundles on their backs or pushing
carts that seemed to weigh as much as they with-
out someone offering to help. Helping the elderly
as a sign of kindness was rude by Asian standards.

THE INTUITIVENESS I WITNESSED came from an
elderly woman who was able to see beyond my
surface. During our stay in Beijing, we climbed
the Great Wall of China. 1 am not a hiker but
felt this excursion would be one memory 1 would
cherish. We took the non-tourist trail, a six-mile
journey over treacherous terrain. I had never
experienced such pain. My legs ached. 1 slipped
so many times my legs shook.

As the elderly woman walked with me
actually ahead of me, which was quite embarrass-

ing she saw me struggle. 1 quickly had to take
a break. Although we had just started, I was out
of breath. She sat with me and stared at me. She
didn't speak much English, but she pointed at me
and said, "You Cantonese."

1 looked up in amazement. "I'm sorry. What
did you say?"

She then says, "You nose. You Cantonese."

I was speechless,- tears filled my eyes.
Although 1 am African American by all appear-
ances and identify as an African American, my
great-grandfather was Chinese. My grandfather
died prior to my birth so I've only heard great
things about him. My grandmother had told me
that while he was in the Navy, my grandfather
had this same experience an elderly Chinese
woman pointed at his nose and told him he was
Cantonese.

My emotions were indescribable. I was
overwhelmed by the connection made with my
deceased grandfather and my Asian lineage. The
reminder of my grandfather's presence calmed my
fears and motivated me to finish this course on the
Great Wall.

In my journal, 1 attribute my successful hike
up the Great Wall to my grandfather.

It was surprisingly
cold that day, which
was perfect because if
it were hot like it was
supposed to be, since
it was May, it would
have been a tortur-
ous journey! It was so

strange because as soon as we finished (it took us
about five hours) the sun came out. Once we got
to the last little temple thing, I cried and thought
about my granddaddy who I know is so proud of
me. I know he was by my side the whole time ... I
could just feel it. He made the weather just right,
he pushed me to finish it, and when the sun came
out 1 know it was him smiling at me. I still get
emotional thinking about that ... I just knew he
was there with me. I did it for him, and that jour-
ney over the Great Wall was worth me coming to
China. It was just so beautiful and serene. 1 have
never experienced beauty in that magnitude

IT WAS AT THAT MOMENT that 1 felt my mission in
Asia was fijlfilled. I felt complete.

Being seen as something other than my obvi-
ous appearance felt as if someone understood my
soul and all I encompassed. 1 left feeling 1 was part
of Asian diversity instead of being the foreigner.
It was my homecoming and for that embrace 1 am
extremely grateful.

Ashley Clark 'o6, a native oj Charleston, S.C, plans to
attend law school.

Being seen as something otiier than
my obvious appearance felt as If
someone understood my soul and ail
1 encompassed.

Ashley Clarl< 'o6 (center)
is flanked by friends on
her China trip. Clark is
the 2oo6 recipient of a
Freeman-Asia Scholarship
and a Benjamin A. Gilman
Scholarship, both pres-
tigious and competitive
national scholarships for
study abroad.

SPRING 2oo6 23

Profiles

A Long-Term Connection

The call of China outweighs SARS, poverty, sparse living conditions and a host of
other challenges for a young alum, by victoria f. stopp -oi

I was over-
whelmed by
everything
about China
the poverty,
the wealth,
the toilets, the
massive numbers
of people, the
attention we
received as
foreigners and
the pervasive
dirt and dust.

When Eve Smith '01 embarked on
a Global Awareness trip to China
in 2000, she never imagined she
would teach AIDS awareness and
prevention to Chinese youth.
Three years later, she returned to teach
English at Hefei University of Technology and
found herself also teaching an AIDS Awareness
workshop modeled after one she'd attended at
Agnes Scott.

"It was scandalous because HIV/AIDS is con-
sidered to be an outside virus in China, although
that opinion is changing, it's still not comfort-
able for teachers to talk about it in class because
they have to talk about sex," says Smith. "I don't
mind looking like a fool or promiscuous or what-
ever if it's going to keep the students safe. I was
impressed that they look the lecture seriously."

THE GLOBAL AWARENESS TRIP inspired mixed
feelings, and the idea of returning to teach was far
from Smith's mind.

"i was overwhelmed by everything about
China the poverty, the wealth, the toilets, the
massive numbers of people, the attention we
received as foreigners and the pervasive dirt and
dust," said Smith. "1 know that this last part isn't
particularly romantic, but that was what 1 remem-
ber most from my first visit how unclean every-
thing was from a Western perspective. 1 thought
it would take me 1 or so years to be able to come
back for a visit."

But her prediction was not accurate.

"1 wanted to travel the world and be exposed
to different cultures. I wanted to live among the
people I was visiting. Teaching seemed the best
way to do that, and 1 found a master's program in
teaching English as a second language at Georgia
State University."

This program centered on completion of a
master's degree broken into segments separated
by Peace Corps service. In 2002, Smith's Peace

Corps assignment took her back to China to
teach. She lived in Yongchuan, a town in the
southwest of the country with views of a pond,
mountain and farmlands.

"It was absolutely beautiful," says Smith.
"It was laid back. There were old people sitting
around chatting or playing Mahjong everywhere.
I'd go for walks in the countryside on footpaths
used by the farmers. They were always confused
when they saw me because most of the time I
was the only white person they had ever seen in
real life. They were pleasant, though, and always
greeted me."

Panic over SARS prompted the Peace Corps
to pull its members out of China.

"SARS was trying for me, not because I was
terrified of getting the virus, but because I think
people were more terrified than they needed to
be," says Smith. "I don't think the Peace Corps
needed to evacuate. I certainly didn't feel at
risk, and SARS never reached my town or any
of the towns where PC volunteers were living. 1
understand it was about risk and the government
did what they felt best, but 1 didn't think it was
necessary."

The pullout was not only controversial, but
sudden.

"I was having a typical day when I got the
evacuation call telling me that 1 had roughly 1 8
hours to pack one suitcase of 70 pounds and get
to Chengdu, a six-hour car ride away, " explains
Smith. "I barely had time to say goodbye to any-
one and left all things unfinished. That was hard, I
had made good friends"

THE NAGGING DESIRE FOR COMPLETION intluenced

Smith's quick return, this time with her master's
degree. She was the consulate's first choice for
an English Language Fellow Program that nms
in conjunction with the School for International
Training and the State Department. Smith is in
her third year as a junior English language fellow

24 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

studying a
language takes a
sense of humor
and patience.

at Anhui University in Hefei in central China.
With approximately 200 students, she teaches
extensive reading to juniors and spoken English to
freshmen.

Life in Hefei City, the capital of Anhui
Province, is in constant motion. McDonald's, Pizza
Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Holiday
Inn command a Western presence. High rises
impose shadows over the city, and five nightclubs
have opened since Smith arrived in Hefei. While
rapidly developing, Hefei is a far cry from the
comforts of a bustling U.S. city. Smith lives in a
teacher's room inside a student dorm, where heat
is piped in four hours a day, and the water tem-
perature peaks at slightly warm.

"I'm living in a cement box, so I've learned to
keep all the doors closed. If 1 don't, a cold breeze
blows from my kitchen and bathroom. There's no
real insulation in the walls."

Smith doesn't complain about her living space.
Its flaws are nothing like the poverty she's wit-
nessed, and she describes the campus as beautiful.

"I live on the campus, which is nice. We have
tree-lined streets and a pond with five swans. The
buildings are older and a bit rundown, but that
adds to the excitement."

Although Smith can converse in Chinese, the
language barrier pops up.

"Studying a language takes a sense of humor
and patience," says Smith. "One evening after
watching a Japanese film about a demon child in

desperate search of a mother, my friend imitated
signing the Catholic cross and asked its meaning.
I answered, 'Father, Son, Ghost' while making the
sign of the cross. I didn't know the word for "holy"
and left it out. The room burst into laughter."
Smith had said, "Father, Son, and Demon."

SHE HAS FOUND HER NICHE in a country where it's
hard to blend in if not of native origin. Smith has
a large, multi-ethnic circle of friends and absorbs
the beauty of China and its people, whether
through buying handmade crafts, cooking with
friends, enjoying $5 hour-long massages or pick-
ing strawberries in the countryside.

"Eventually 1 will leave China, but I'm not
ready for that step. When it does come, I'm not
sure I'll be able to classify it as a permanent move,"
says Smith. "1 see myself connected long term
with China."

Victoria F. Stopp 'oi, a former intern in the office of
communications, recently earned a master of fine arts in
creative nonfiction from Goucher College in Baltimore.

SPRING 2006 25

Emfiles^

Compassionate Sisterhood

Conceived in response to the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the dynamic organization
Women Transcending Boundaries, which brings together women of all faiths, ages,
beliefs and backgrounds, continues to evolve under the leadership of an Agnes Scott

alumna, by michelle Roberts matthews '91

STARTING A WOMEN'S
INTERFAITH GROUP

On the Women
Transcending Boundaries
Web site {www.wtb.org),
co-founder Betsy Wiggins
'82 offers the following
tips for those outside the
Syracuse, N.Y., area who
might be interested in
starting a similar group.

1. Set a vision for your
group.

2. Get help in getting
organized.

3. Host a meeting.

4. Keep the discussion
moving.

5. Encourage
participation.

6. Continue meeting.

7. Keep communicating.

8. Grow the group.

9. Stay focused.

10. Formalize your
organization slowly.

Betsy Wiggins '82 was in an adult
forum in a Syracuse, N.Y., church
shortly after the Sept. 1 1 attacks,
when she heard another woman
express her sadness at seeing a group
of Muslim women who looked fearful while shop-
ping. Following the attacks, Muslims had been
threatened and harassed in her community. The
woman telling the story said the moment passed
as she did nothing, because she didn't know what
to do to help these women.

"It haunted me," Wiggins says. She became
determined to find a way to reach out to other
women of different faiths.

Wiggins' husband, Jim, an ordained
Methodist minister who serves as the executive
director of the InterReligious Council of Central
New York, suggested she call an imam, or Muslim
prayer leader, for guidance. The imam introduced
Wiggins to Danya Wellmon, who was part of the
mosque's governing body. "She was wonderful,"
Wiggins says.

They met over coffee at Wiggins' house and
realized "we were just scratching the surface,"
Wiggins says. So, they each invited friends of
various faiths, and 20 women met in Wiggins'
living room. "Everyone brought food, and we
all talked about common concerns and what we
could do. Two weeks later, 1 had 40 women in my
living room."

"Betsy's Group," as it was originally known,
became Women Transcending Boundaries. "We
wanted something very broad and sort of pro-
vocative," Wiggins says of the name.

The organization has more than 400 women
on its listserv. The women meet monthly at a neu-
tral location in the diverse university community
of Syracuse. Sometimes they have a speaker on a

particular topic and sometimes a panel is assem-
bled, but they always allow time for questions and
answers and they always ensure the atmosphere
is one of welcoming and acceptance.

BUT THE GROUP DOESN'T LIMIT its activities tO

meetings and discussion. Deciding early that
they wanted to focus on the problem of illiteracy
and the plight of children, the women have con-
tributed to a number of outreach projects. They
held two international dinners to raise money
for Ibtida, a family-founded school in three rural
Pakistani villages. The $ 1 3,000 contribution from
Women Transcending Boundaries paid to con-
struct a permanent building in one village, and a
marker gives thanks to the far-away women who
made it possible.

The group's third international dinner, held in
March, was a joint effort with Women for Women
in Washington, D.C., to raise funds for micro-
financing for women in Third World countries.
With only word-of-mouth invitations, tickets sold
out two weeks before the event, and more than
$ 1 4,000 was raised for this cause and others they
support.

Wiggins explains micro-financing is "a pow-
erful anti-poverty tool" in which organizations
loan small amounts of money to poor women to
allow them to start their own businesses. The
women are so clever with the money," she says.
"They have no property, but when they have their
own money, it's veiy empowering. The rate of
default on the loans is 3 percent because if anyone
defaults in a village, no one else can get one. It's
really exciting stuff, and something we wanted to
do specifically for women.'

The group has had its share of media atten-
tion. With a feature in Oprah's "O " magazine

26 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

as well as coverage in The Neif York Times and
on CNN International, Women Transcending
Boundaries is becoming a go-to source for discus-
sion on topics concerning women and religion.
The paths Wiggins' life has followed seem
to have led her directly to the founding of
Women Transcending Boundaries: her time at
Agnes Scott, where she majored in biology as
a Return-to-College [now Woodruff Scholars
Program] student with two small children "an
incredible opportunity" that taught her "how to
think and how to look at things through differ-
ent perspectives," her professional experience as
a meeting manager (she was featured in Agnes
Scott's alumnae magazine when she worked for
the then-fledgling Carter Center),- her marriage to
Jim, who was chair of the religion department at
Syracuse University,- and her fascination with the
human brain and how it works. Wiggins obtained
a master's degree in speech language pathology
and works with adults recovering from strokes
and brain injuries.

IN ADDITION TO NURTURING her mind and
spirit through her involvement with Women
Transcending Boundaries, which is practically
a full-time job in itself, Wiggins was nurtured
physically by the friends she's made in the group

when, in the second year after its formation, she
had surgery for thyroid cancer.

"1 had Muslim women cooking for me for two
weeks, which delighted my husband," she jokes.
The rare form of cancer doesn't respond to che-
motherapy or radiation, and though she feels fine,
she says there's some residual cancer that requires
her to be vigilant about her health.

As for her personal religious beliefs, Wiggins,
who was brought up Presbyterian and turned 55
in February, says, 'The older 1 get, the less doctri-
nal I get. I don't believe anyone has the truth, the
way. All religions are valuable. Now that 1 know
women who practice different faiths, I know
they're just like me: Most are married, most have
children, we care about the poor, we care about
literacy. There's more that unites us than makes us
different."

The friendships Wiggins has made with the
women she's met during the past five years are
clearly invaluable to her. Co-founding Women
Transcending Boundaries is "one of the most grati-
fying things I've done in my life," she says. "It has
changed the way 1 look at the community and the
world. It's truly a privilege."

Michelle Roberts Matthews '91 is a freelance ipriter in
Mobile, Ala.

Women Transcending
Boundaries members
celebrate with Molly King
(center), wfio received
the Post-Standard
Achievement Award from
their local newspaper.
WTB members are (left
to right) Janet Garman,
president; Barbara Fought,
publicity chair; King;
Betsy Wiggins '82, WTB
co-founder; Jeanette
Powell, book club chair;
and Danya Wellmon, WTB
co-founder.

TO LEARN MORE

Visit Women Transcendin
Boundaries Web site at
www.wtb.org.

ig I

SPRING 2006 27

founder's DAY ADDRESS FEBRUARY 22, 2006

BY MARY BROWN BULLOCK '66

Ambitious
Standard
Guides College
Throughout
Its History

28 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

I

IT IS THE ONE
PRESIDENT I
NEVER MET,
AGNES SCOTT'S
FIRST PRESIDENT,
WHO IS MOST
INTRIGUING TO
ME. WHO WAS
FRANK H. GAINES?

t will not surprise you that
I, as the seventh president
of Agnes Scott, have been
inspired by my predeces-
sors. I salute President
Ruth Schmidt, Agnes Scott's fifth
and first female president. Her
accomplishments include the first
women's studies program, the
first Global Awareness program
and celebrating Agnes Scott's
centennial President Schmidt
provided the leadership that
welcomed minority students to
Agnes Scott, increasing their
percentage from 6 percent to
nearly 20 percent during her 12-
year tenure. She also convinced
the board of trustees to establish
a defined endowment spending
policy.

It is the one president I never
met, Agnes Scott's first president,
who is most intriguing to me. Who was
Frank H. Gaines? Why a girls' school?
Why did he work so hard to take a fledg-
ing school to the first rank of American
colleges?
George Washington Scott underwrote
what became Agnes Scott Gollege because
he was introduced to a compelling vision; a
school of high standards for girls. The per-
son with the vision was Frank F^. Gaines,
36-year-old newly arrived pastor of Decatur
Presbyterian Church. The partnership
between the two men an industrialist and a
clergyman was critical to our beginnings and
asted 14 years until Col. Scott's death in 1903.
Educated in Tennessee and Virginia, Gaines
would have been aware of the Virginia women's
institutions Mary Baldwin College and Hollins
Institute as well as the debates in the church
press about the merits of women's education. A
college was his goal, but you can tell from the
early pictures that Decatur Female Seminary was
a grade school, not even a high school. Decatur
had only 1 ,500 people, and Georgia, unlike
Virginia, had non-existent to abysmal schooling.
Remember: This was the Deep South, just a short
time after Reconstruction.

Only two years later, 1891, the new school
had a first-class building (Agnes Scott "Main"
FHall) thanks to Col. Scott, a principal from
Virginia's F^ollins Institute trained in math,
Nannette Hopkins, and a statement of six prin-
ciples written by Gaines that began with: "a liberal
curriculum jully abreast of the best institutions in this
cowtitry'This one little phrase sets an ambitious
educational standard and is deeply imbedded

in our culture. We are fortunate that those who
founded Agnes Scott believed women should
receive a classic education, equal to that of men,
rather than the more prevailing domestic-oriented
model.'

At the helm of Agnes Scott for 34 years, our
longest serving president, Gaines was almost
totally preoccupied with raising funds and raising
educational standards during the college's early
years. For a quarter of a century the question was:
can a school of Agnes Scott's high standards be
sustained in the South? Significant capital gifts
came from Col. Scott and others, but year in and
year out the fledgling institution was in the red.
Gaines yearly lamented to the board of trustees
that he had not succeeded in recruiting enough
qualified students. After Col. Scott's death in
1903, he turned to the broader Presbyterian
Church community for support, first in Atlanta
and then throughout the Southeast. Fortunately,
Agnes Scott's aspirations came to the attention of
Wallace Buttrick, head of the Rockefeller-funded
General Education Board and the Carnegie
Institution, the two most important national
sources of education funding. At the time of his
death in 1923, Gaines is credited with 22 build-
ings, three endowment campaigns and raising the
endowment to the level of $ 1 .5 million, not an
inconsequential sum for those days.

In spite of the dearth of qualified students,
Gaines was determined to raise standards: first,
to become a real college, second a college of the
"first rank," and finally, a college with a Phi Beta
Kappa chapter. He could not have done this
without the right faculty, and his first major ally in
this pursuit of academic excellence was Howard
Bell Arbuckle. Arbuckle was a chemist who had
received his B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College
and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.
With teaching experience at several colleges, he
knew how to lead the institute toward recogni-
tion by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools. Several legendary members of the
faculty arrived during these years as they sought
qualified Christian faculty: Louise McKinney
in English and Lillian Smith, a classicist, Agnes
Scott's first female Ph.D., with a degree from the
University of Chicago. Nannette Hopkins also
played an increasingly important role.

Gaines and Arbuckle aimed high. As Gaines
wrote: "We do not yet claim college because our
entrance requirements in Latin, modern languages
and math are not up to the grade of such colleges
as Wellesley or Vassar," lamenting that Agnes
Scott's student population of 161 was so far below
that of Mt. Holyoke at 830 and Wellesley at

' Amy Thompson McCandless, The Pciit in tht Premit- Women s
Hiijher Education iii the TwmUeth-Cmtury American South (Tuscaloosa,
University o( Alabama Press, 1999), Chapter 1 .

SPRING 2006 29

GAINES AND
ARBUCKLE WERE
NOT SATISFIED.
IN 1908, THEY
RAISED ENTRANCE
STANDARDS
AGAIN, ADDING,
FOR EXAMPLE,
FOUR ADDITIONAL
BOOKS OF
VIRGIL TO THE
ALREADY STIFF
LATIN ENTRANCE
REQUIREMENTS.

1 ,200." Agnes Scott became a four-year college in
1 906 and a year later was the first Georgia institu-
tion to be accredited by SACS.

But Gaines and Arbuckle were not satisfied. In
1908, they raised entrance standards again, add-
ing, for example, four additional books of Virgil
to the already stiff Latin entrance requirements.
Predictably, the student population dropped to
146. Ever the optimist, Gaines writes to his board:
"The number of students has been unquestionably
reduced by our high entrance exams . . . .none-
theless, the great need of the South is a college
which will maintain high standards." Finally in
1912, Agnes Scott achieved national recognition
as being in Group I of American institutions of
higher learning. In 1913, Agnes Scott was the
only college in the South approved by the U. S.
Bureau of Education.''

In a comparative study of the early years
of Spelman and Agnes Scott colleges, Johnetta
Cross Brazzell writes of the impact of Agnes Scott
at that time:

Agnes Scott was not only a symbol but a
catalyst for change in secondary education
for southern [sic] white women. By stub-
bornly insisting on adherence to its stringent
entrance requirements, Agnes Scott sent a
message to Georgia preparatory schools that
they would have to redesign their curricula
and raise their standards . . . .This challenge
to excellence went beyond the secondary
school system and affected other institutions
of higher education in Georgia .... Agnes
Scott set the pace for its higher education
peers, it is significant that a woman's school
took this bold lead.''

But the journey had almost been too much for
President Gaines. In 191 1, in a confidential letter
to the president of the Carnegie Foundation for
Advancement of Teaching, Gaines confessed to
being worn out from "establishing a College from
its inception and that too under trying condi-
tions. Its ideal and standard had to be formed and
then maintained. Public favor had to be won. . ..
Recognition had to be secured in the educational
world. The difficulty of keeping up a student
body with our high standards under [difficult]
educational conditions gave the President anxious
and laborious summers .... My health is not bro-
ken, but this long continued strain has produced
an increasing weariness, fatigue, and nervousness,
which warn me 1 am running a risk by continuing
to carry this burden. ... All together I will have
been at the head of Agnes Scott for 23 years, that

Frank Caincs, "Report of the President," 1906-1907, Minutes

ol the Board of Trustees, Agnes Scott Archives.
' Edward McNair, Itsl WcFor^t, (Agnes Scott College, 1983.)
'' Johnetta Cross Brazzell, "Education as a Tool of Socialization:
Agnes Scott Institute and Spelman Scniinai'y, 1 88 I -1 9 10,"
Unpublished paper, 1996.

is during its entire history."'

Gaines was denied the retire-
ment pension he requested but was
encouraged to take a vacation in
Florida and, in fact, continued as
president for 1 1 more years. Alerted
to his stress, trustees hired J. C. Tart
as treasurer in 1914, a position he
held for 48 years. James Ross McCain
was hired a year later as registrar, and
upon the completion of his Ph.D.
from Columbia University, was made
vice-president. McCain was associ-
ated with Agnes Scott for 50 years.

Even Frank Gaines must have
been especially gratified by the grand
style in which Agnes Scott's quarto-
centennial was celebrated in 1914.
Representatives from America's lead-
ing colleges and universities from
Stanford to Amherst, from Chicago
to Wellesley attended. And,
somewhat amazingly, the speaker
of honor, accompanied by Georgia
Sen. FJoke Smith, was Thomas R.
Marshall, vice president of the United
States of America.

This is truly an amazing story! We
are both awed and proud of our fore-
bears who persisted in their vision of "a
school of high standards for girls "

The most influential faculty member of
the next decade was J.M.D. Armistead,
chair of the English department, who had
arrived in 1905. With a Ph.D. from Washington
and Lee University and membership in Phi Beta
Kappa, it was Armistead who led his colleagues
toward the next milestone Phi Beta Kappa
recognition. He taught everything from Anglo-
Saxon and Middle English to the American novel
and put his stamp on many college institutions.
Adviser to Aurora, The Silhouette, and The Agonistic ,
Armistead also founded Gamma Tau Alpha, Agnes
Scott's precursor to Phi Beta Kappa. Going for
Phi Beta Kappa recognition was something like
being ranked at the top of US News i,- World Report,
except with real substantive academic criteria.
Only institutions with stringent entrance and
graduation requirements, including significant
training in the classics, were invited to join.
LInder Armistead's leadership, faculty members
of Gamma Tau Alpha met regularly, taking stock
of the entrance requirements and cuiricular stan-
dards required for Phi Beta Kappa recognition.
In looking at a catalog from 1916, i was amazed
to find 1 5 pages devoted to exactly what kind of
high school credit was required for Agnes Scott.
" Gaines to Pritchett, no dale.

30 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

This photo from the
archives shows some of
those who helped set
the college on its course
toward high standards:
(first row, left to right)
Catherine Torrance, Greek
and Latin; IVlary Frances
Sweet, college physi-
cian; person unidentified;
Nannette Hopkins, dean;
(second row, left to right)
Lillian Smith, Greek and
Latin; Alma Sydenstricker,
Bible; Louise Lewis, art;
Louise McKinney, English.

The English requirements alone took three pages
with specific texts in English and American litera-
ture, drama and poetry.

Armistead served as secretary to the faculty,
and his carefully typed minutes of faculty meet-
ings are preserved in the archives. Most meetings
seemed to be about student issues.

For example, in October 1917 the faculty
rejected a student petition for a holiday to attend
the Southeast Fair in Atlanta, noting that "the
routine of the College work has been too recently
established to make the break of it for a day
because it would be hurtful to the best interests of
the students generally." Again and again students
were suspended (sometimes just for a few weeks)
for spending the night off campus without notice,
returning after midnight with a man, or rather
startlingly dancing in a drug store. Since no
men were involved in the later episode, punish-
ment was reduced.

Armistead was only one of a progressively
stronger faculty. Some notable appointments
include: Cleo Hearon, with a Ph.D. in history
from the University of Chicago,- Emma May
Laney, with a Ph.D. from Yale University, cred-
ited in later years with bringing Robert Frost to
Agnes Scott; and Mary Stuart McDougall, who
was a nationally known biologist, with many
research publications and a Ph.D. from Columbia
University. Samuel Gerry Stukes, professor of

Bible and philosophy, had arrived in 1913 and was
to remain on the faculty until 1957. By the early
1920s, the faculty and the educational culture
that permeated the college well into the 1 950s and
yes, to this day was firmly in place.

With faculty standards as well as student
standards, Gaines was persistent, always keeping
in mind his third and fourth ideals, "thoroughly
ipialijied and consecrated teachers" and "a high standard
of scholarship." At his death, he received perhaps
the highest praise from a faculty member: "He
never intruded into the affairs of any department.
. . . Once chosen, they [the faculty] were always
free to do what seemed to be best to them." ** He
himself regularly taught Bible, making sure that
his second ideal, "the Bible as text-hook," was imple-
mented. His course was in the Reformed human-
istic tradition,' not dissimilar to how Bible has
been taught through the decades at Agnes Scott.
Sections on the Bible as Literature, the Bible as
Archaelogy, the Bible as Poetry indicate Gaines
took the concept of "text" seriously and sought to
teach the Bible in context, not, as some today, as
science or as infallible doctrine.

Influenced by the institution he led, Gaines'
educational perspective continued to evolve. In
1 894, early in his tenure, he gave "A sermon to
young ladies" at Decatur Presbyterian Church
with a text from II Chronicles 20:2 1 : "And that
shall praise the beauty of holiness." Gaines began
by defining holiness: a form of moral purity that
beautifies character, life and justice. He then
asked the young women present: "What can holi-
ness do for you? Do you desire a beauty which
will render you attractive in the home? Then
there is no kind of beauty which can make you so
attractive in the home as holiness." He goes on to
praise the attributes of holiness as a "blessing to
others, as unfading beauty, and receiving the joy
of glorifying God."

This sermon bespeaks much about Gaines'
absolute commitment to women's education
under Christian auspices. Although he aspired to
the highest academic standards, this was not for
its own sake, but as stated in the sixth clause of
the Agnes Scott ideal "for the glory of God, the chief
end of all. " And he saw women well-educated
Christian women as possessing the moral good-
ness that family and society required.' This also
reflected Gaines' fifth ideal and the college's focus
on character: all the influences of the College conducive
to the formation and development of Christian character
Today the importance of character building is
well reflected in the concept of "living honorably"
in our mission statement. We have broadened

" Faculty memorial to President Gaines, April 14, 1923.
" See Gaines 'The World's Debt to Calvinism," no date.
* Frank Gaines, "Christian Education," Address before the
Synod of Georgia, 1898.

SPRING 2006 3 1

THE CONVICTION
THAT THE LIVES
OF OUR GRADU-
ATES ARE NOT
JUST ABOUT THEM-
SELVES BUT ARE
ABOUT HOW THEY
WILL CONTRIBUTE
TO THE COMMON
GOOD, AND
THEREBY GLORIFY
GOD, REMAINS.

our commitment to "ensure that students, faculty
and staff of many faiths and secular persuasions
are full participants in the life of the college." The
conviction that the lives of our graduates are not
just about themselves but are about how they will
contribute to the common good, and thereby glo-
rify God, remains.

Twenty years after this sermon, Gaines pub-
lished several brochures that restated his commit-
ment to women's education in more secular terms,
bringing to his Southern audiences a message
of urgency: this was the era of the suffragettes
and progress toward the 19th Amendment. He
repeatedly reminds the listener that women will
have the power to vote and that they will change
the world. In 1916, Gaines outlines the benefit to
society of a college-educated woman: her intel-
lect is strengthened; her vision is broadened, her
will, poise and judgment are steadier. She has
new ideals. And, she will enter the professions
Gaines applauds the fact that educated women are
becoming a new class of leaders and emphasizes
their impact upon the child, upon the state, upon
great sociological questions, upon world peace,
and upon the evangelism of the world. ". . . women
through her ablest leaders will have a voice, soft,
tender, pleading, but clear, intelligent, and strong
such as men have never heard before. And should
she not have a voice? Who is so interested in
peace as a woman?"''

' Frank Games, 'The Revolution in the College Education ot
^X'oman and What It Means," Published by the Presbyterian
Church, 1916-

In 1 9 1 8, he links increasing a women's
college's endowment to the societal crisis that
will follow World War I, observing that educated
women will have responsibility for war relief,
building community in non-English speaking
communities, enforcing social morality "(she
will) hear responsibility for nations across the seas." Only
those educated at a Christian women's college
will have "adequate vision ... and poise . . . the
power to be calm in storm, unafraid in danger."
Gaines' concludes with the rousing words: 'There
has never been a time in the history of the world
when the highest grade college for women had
such a mission."'"

You cannot read these pamphlets without
cheering him on. Described as "grave, modest,
almost diffident,"" the Rev. Frank Gaines was
becoming a proto-feministi By the end of his life
he had become an ardent spokesman, not just for
Agnes Scott, but for the empowerment and edu-
cation of women throughout the country.

President Gaines and Professor Armistead
almost lived to see their dream of a Phi Beta
Chapter come true. But both died unexpectedly in
early April 1 923, just as Phi Beta Kappa national
secretary Oscar M. Voorhees was making his first
visit to Agnes Scott. These two men were deeply
mourned. Mary Wallace Kirk wrote she envi-
sioned her beloved Professor Armistead leaving
her with the message: "Seek truth. Find her. Do

'" Frank Games, 'The World War and Endowment of the

Woman's College," 1918
" Faculty memorial.

The Story of a Mother and Her Son

BY SUSAN DOUGHERTY 'o6

I think of the founding of Agnes Scott College as a story
about a mother and her son. Why did George Washington
Scott name an institution for his mother, some 1 3 years
after her death? It wasn't because she left him a huge
inheritance,- she didn't leave him anything in her
will. In 1816, at the age of 1 7, Agnes Irvine and
her mother immigrated to America from County
Down in Ireland, and settled among relatives in
Alexandria, Pa. Five years later Agnes married a
widower, John Scott who had five children,- she
then had seven of her own. Two of her sons even-
tually moved South and ended up fighting for the
Confederacy during the Civil War,- another son remained
in Pennsylvania and fought for the Union. Agnes Irvine Scott
died at the age of 78 in Alexandria, Pa., in October 1 877,

By 1 890, the year Decatur Female Seminary was renamed
Agnes Scott Institute, only two of Agnes's children were still
living: John Scott, a U. S. senator from Pennsylvania, and Col
George Washington Scott of Decatur. In May 1890, George

Washington Scott wrote to his brother John about his plans to
buy the stock and buildings of the Decatur Female Seminary
and re-name it Agnes Scott Institute. F^e writes:

"In viewing my life over, one thing stands out prominent
above all others and that is that I am indebted to mv Mother
for all the good impulses of my heart and for all my hopes for
the future. In thinking, then, of how 1 could best commemo-
rate her memory in benefiting my people, 1 have con-
cluded to establish at Decatur a school for girls.. .If
I am spared and prosperity continues with me, it is
^ my desire to make it as good an institution of its

kind as there is in the land "

FJere was a man who loved his mother, who
appreciated what she taught him and recognized
how much he owed her. But what do we know-
about her?

One of my favorite sources of information about
Agnes is J.M. Gemmill, a close friend and neighbor of Agnes
Irvine Scott. He came to Decatur for the dedication of Agnes
Scott F^all on Nov. 21, 1 89 1 , and upon his return home wrote
to Col. Scott.

"As 1 recall your mother in these past days, her characteris-
tics were so marked, that I cannot forego the pleasure of briefly

32 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

iH^H

President Frank H. Gaines
and Dean Nannette
Hopl<ins in academic
robes.

not yield." Their real tribute came two years later
when Agnes Scott College was invited to estab-
lish a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, one of 102 colleges
and universities nationally, one of seven women's
colleges and one of only two in Georgia.

We can surely see ourselves in the Agnes
Scott of the early 20th century. This institution
has had a clear and compelling identity from the
start:

a liberal arts college for women with the
highest academic standards

a college that beats the odds and is always
getting stronger

a college in the Christian tradition, influenced
and supported by i'lesbyterians, but with an
ever broadening base

a faculty and staff who dev ^c their lives to
their students

a college that is a beacon of excellence in the
South

We continue to be inspired by the boldness
of our founders. I leave you with President Frank
Gaines' challenge to his board of trustees in 1915.
World War I is about to engulf the United States,
and yet Gaines is looking far ahead:

"Shall we make plans for establishing this
college upon a firm and enduring basis? .... If this
college keeps in line with educational progress,
we must make large plans. To stand still is to fall
behind. . . . Emory University is to be located
within two miles of Agnes Scott. Those in charge
of this movement are making large plans and
announce their intention of raising ten millions.
Those in charge of Oglethorpe tell us they are
likewise making large plans. Institutions through-
out the South, East and West are planning for
great development. Does not the highest interest
of the future of womanhood of the South demand
that we make large plans?"'^

'^ Frank Gaines, Annual Report 1915, Minutes of the Board of
Tmstees, Agnes Scott Archives

recalling a few of them. The first impression she made upon
all who met her was that she was naturally a person of marked
refinement of character ... no one could be in her presence,
even for a very short time, without being strongly impressed
by it. ... Her whole appearance and manner at once bespoke
the lady of genuine kindness, gentleness, modesty, and true
benevolence. She was firm in her convictions and held her
views with great tenacity, but without aggressiveness, or the
least disposition to obtrude them upon others. As a Christian
she was a Presbyterian, having been born and reared in that
faith, and held it fast during all her long life and to the end.
One of her marked characteristics was her strong maternal
love. She loved her children with an intensity of devotion sel-
dom equaled. . . . Her maternal love . . . was severely tested dur-
ing the terrible and bloody conflict of the sectioning, when the
fate of battle alone could decide the issues involved. Her family
was divided, with portions of it on either side,- and all actuated
by profound convictions of duty. These two divisions of her
family demanded her love and her prayers,- ... It would seem a
very trying, if not impossible condition for a mother so to for-
mulate her prayers, as to inspire hope and faith in their answer.
And yet, I have no doubt she found the way. . . I hope you -will
permit me to say in conclusion, that in conferring honor upon

such a mother, by your noble and generous philanthropy, you
have honored yourself, and will confer perpetual blessing on
the generations to follow."

A prayer written by Agnes Irvine Scott found in her family
Bible asks God to watch over her dear children wherever they
may be: "Bless them and make them blessings."

And they obviously were. George Washington Scott,
blessed by God, his mother and good fortune, paid it all
forward.

However we have participated in the life of this college,
we have benefited from that blessing. It serves us well, espe-
cially on Founder's Day, to remember the story of this mother
and her son.

Susan Dougherty '06 is manager of the college's faculty services ^m^ a
Woodruff Scholar As a women's studies major, her main area of interest
is 19th-century American women. She assisted Betty Scott Noble 'Ji in
researching the Scott family and did so through a special study "Agnes
Scott's Place in History," which she designed to earn her last four hours
of credit in women's studies. Dougherty's two daughters are graduates of
the colUae.

SPRING 2006 33

It'sS

Annual

While the name is familiar and requests to give frequent,

the annual fund itself may remain a little understood,
and sometimes misunderstood, part of the college, bylarawebbcarrigan'94

THE ANNUAL FUND

is voluntary

is a necessity for the
college's budget,

is used in the year the
money is given,

must be replenished
each year.

GIVE A COCKTAIL

"My first year out of
college, I made just
nothing and was
supporting my husband
who was in medical
school. I still sent
$50. Every year, I've
increased my gift. It's
my thank you for giving
me a scholarship. I tell
my classmates: Next
weekend when you go
out, just sacrifice one
cocktail, and give that to
the college." Jessica
Ulack Carothers '99

Most alumnae hoici treasured
memories of tiieir days at Agnes
Scott. To be sure, an Agnes
Scott education can be wonder-
ful and life-changing.
And to be blunt, providing this experience
costs money. Where does it come from?
Three sources of income are:

Endowment (For an explanation of the endow-
ment, see "All That Coke Stock," page 1 8 of
Aijnes Scott The Maiiazine, fall 2005.)

Tuition, fees, room and board

Annual fund

The actual cost per student to run the college
exceeds what the student pays by almost $20,000.
This isn't unusual. Many colleges and universities
charge students far less than the true cost to edu-
cate them. Agnes Scott, as do other institutions,
bridges this gap with a percentage drawn from
the endowment and with annual fund gifts, which
comprise 5 to 6 percent of the operating budget.

The annual fund directly subsidizes every
student's education and forms a critical part of the
college's operating budget, says President Maiy
Brown Bullock '66. "Without the annual fund, it
would be hard for Agnes Scott to keep abreast of
the educational needs of young women in an ever-
changing world.

"The annual fund is not glamorous," notes
Bullock. "You don't get your name on a building,
a plaque or even a bench. What donors do get is
the satisfaction of knowing they are making an
immediate impact on the lives of students, facultv
and staff who are right here, right now."

The annual fund is a necessity. In 2005-2006,
the college is depending on the annual fund to
provide $2.2 million of the $39 million budget.

The fund goes toward all college expenses includ-
ing merit scholarships and college-based financial
aid.

Amy Nash, director of development, says
if the annual fund doesn't meet its goal, some-
thing goes. "Library books, faculty raises, equip-
ment the annual fund has a direct impact on the
college's ability to provide quality education. All
the qualities alumnae prize the small student/
faculty ratio, relationships with professors and
small classes are expensive to provide.'

The college's expenses are increasing.
Enrollment surpassed 1 ,000 students for the
first time in 2004-2005. Meeting this milestone
means meeting these students' needs with the
resources women expect from Agnes Scott.

Some professors are retiring. Bullock has
noted that attracting new ones who accept the
challenge of maintaining and expanding Agnes
Scott's tradition of excellence requires money.

"The same is true for attracting a new, qualir\'
president to Agnes Scott," adds Nash. "A healthy
annual fund shows the alumnae's commitment, a
sound financial picture. It makes us attractive."

The long-term goal is to grow the annual
fund to 10 percent of the college's operating bud-
get. Annual funds at peer institutions typically
provide 10 percent or more of their operating
budgets. Increasing to 10 percent would provide
Agnes Scott with a more predictable source of
income and continue to reduce its dependency on
the endowment.

Growing the annual kind is not only about
more money, explains Joanne Davis, director of
the annual fund. "It is also about alumnae partici-
pation a key consideration for foundations and
corporations in deciding where to award grants.

34 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

They ask, 'If a college's alumnae don't support it,
why should we?'"

Davis stresses that any gift, regardless of size,
is a vote of confidence in the college, one that
helps those within the college community and
sends an important message to those outside of it.
Higher participation levels will help Agnes Scott
advance in national rankings.

The word "annual" is key: the call to give is
continual. Annual fund dollars are spent in the
year they are given.

Agnes Scott seeks to cultivate the habit of
giving in young alumnae, attract new donors and
increase the giving level of current ones espe-
cially during reunion years.

Two new initiatives are attracting attention,
according to Davis. To promote leadership gifts,
the Tower Circle has been created to recognize
donors of $ 1 ,000 or more to the annual fund in a
single year, and an appreciation event on campus
during Alumnae Weekend honors those donors.

Also, in recognition of President Bullock's 1 1
years of leadership, the board of trustees decided
any new gift or increase over a donor's 2004-
2005 annual fund gift will be designated by the
president to college priorities of her choice.

To encourage regular giving, monthly giving
through credit card drafts is a new and welcome
option for some alumnae, especially younger ones.

Another key to raising awareness of the
annual fund, Davis asserts, is the college's student-
calling program, which she calls "not just fund-
raising, but friendraising. It's an opportunity for
an alumna to speak in person with a student ... to
learn directly what's going on on campus."

Emily Henderson '03 was a student caller and
then program manager after she graduated. "The
personal contact is the coolest thing."

Another important aspect, says Henderson,
is that every semester the annual fund office edu-
cates students on the importance of this form of
giving, and students go back to their dorms and

talk with their classmates. "Educating students
about the importance of giving can't start soon
enough."

The tactic works. Last year's participation in
the Senior Gift program was 95 percent.

"The annual fund is the life blood for Agnes
Scott," says Bullock. "Only with a strong and
growing annual fund can the college continue
bridging the very real gap between tuition rev-
enues and the actual cost of an Agnes Scott
education.

"Giving to the annual fund is the primary way
in which we alumnae take responsibility for the
future of our alma mater. If we don't, who will?"

Lara Webb Carricjan 94, n jreelance writer mui editor,
is author of The Best Friend's Guide to Planning
a Wedding.

SOME THINGS
don't CHANGE

"I wasn't as generous in
my giving at onetime
because I had questions
over some college poli-
cies. But when I weighed
it against the education I
received, those qualities
hadn't changed, even if
some social ones had.
That made me return
to giving." Genevieve
New Chaffee '76

AGNES WHO?

"Marymount [College,
New York] is being
closed because of lack
of funds. I don't want my
children to say, Agnes
who? When I moved to
Virginia and found the
D.C. alumnae club, it was
so nice to already have
that kind of network.
That led me to continue
and increase my giving.
I say, give a dollar to get
in the habit and go from
there." Tina Carr '89

Follow the Annual Fund

Of every $100 given to the annual fund,

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$33 go to instruction and academic support, including faculty salaries, library acquisitions and classroom technology;

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$28 go to merit- and need-based scholarships, enriching the educational environment by attracting an academically superior student body;

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$20 go to institutional support, including public safety, alumnae relations, development, communications and the office of the president;

$$$$$$$$$$$

$11 go to student services, including the religious life program, athletics, career planning, counseling and student health services;

$$$$$$$$

$8 go to campus preservation and maintenance.

Note; Agnes Scott's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

SPRING 2006 35

World View

ABOUT KENYA

Location: Eastern Africa,
borderingthe Indian
Ocean, between Somalia
and Tanzania

Geographic coordinates:

1 00 N, 38 00 E

Area comparison: slightly
more than twice the size
of Nevada

Population: 33,829,590
(July 2005 est.)

Languages: English
(official), Kiswahili
(official), numerous
indigenous languages

Source: CIA World Factbook

Drinking it in

Trish Anderson '98 dives into one of the world's murkiest problems

access to clean water, by allisonadams '89; photos by trish anderson '98

Soon after arriving in Africa, Trish
Anderson '98 visited the home of
a woman whose husband had died
recently of AIDS and who herself had
AIDS. The woman warmly invited
Anderson in for tea and corn on the cob by the
fire.

"She cares for about 20 orphans," Anderson
explains. "She assembled them all, and they
performed a song and dance for me that they had
written about AIDS and water, it's a beautiful cul-
ture in the way that they combine art and music
and dance with important messages, it was their
way of saying, 'We appreciate your being here."'
Such moments keep Anderson going and
the fact that she loves a challenge. She has
combined her passions for knotty problems,
adventure travel and social and environmental
justice by diving into one of the planet's murkiest
issues access to clean water. Since last summer,
Anderson has lived in Kenya's Nyanza Province,
sei'ving as coordinator for the Atlanta Rotary
Club's Safe Water Project.

Beneath her cropped, sandy hair, Anderson's
unwavering gaze conveys her focused attention.
Her lanky, athletic build and firm jaw suggest
a warrior-like ability to thrive in adversity. She
chooses her words carefully a skill no doubt
honed in a life full of encounters with many
different kinds of people.

"My parents were good about exposing us
to all kinds of living," says the New Jersey native
reared in Dunwoody, Ga. "It was common for us
to work in soup kitchens and with the poor, and
my mother was involved in the St. Vincent de
Paul Society. It made for a rich childhood."

A service trip to Kingston, Jamaica, during
high school opened Anderson's eyes to a literal
world of possibilities. "We worked with the
elderly and the sick and the AIDS population, and
we built homes and worked with kids in school. 1
had never had an experience like this. It was not

just working with the poor but really with dif-
ferent cultures," she says. "I was intrigued by it. I
had a feeling that international development was
the course 1 would go down. I'm an American,
but I really have always seen myself as part of this
amazing human race."

At Agnes Scott a few years later, religion
professor Tina Pippin's class on "Feminism,
Cultural Criticism, and Religion" sent Anderson,
an anthropology major, further down that course,
llise Cohen of the American Friends Service
Committee in Atlanta guest-lectured in the class.
"Cohen put together an amazing study tour
for us," Anderson says of the trip that took her
through Jordan, Egypt and Israel.

"Our entry was sitting in on an all-women's
university in Amman, Jordan. We interviewed
somebody at a newspaper about honor crimes
there, talked with refugees, talked with someone
from a liberation theology organization. In Israel
we met with a women's peace organization, went
to the Knesset, and the last day talked with a dip-
lomat from the U.S. Embassy, and we were ready
to ask really hard questions. I was hooked
hooked intellectually on the complexity of race,
religion, politics and socioeconomic status, but I
also loved the adventure."

After graduating, Anderson joined Ecowatch
AmeriCorps, doing environmental service work in
metro Atlanta. Later she worked for six months as
a client advocate with the Georgia Law Center on
Homelessness and Poverty. 'They had about 50
homeless clients 1 would meet with ever\' week,"
she says. "Oftentimes their problems didn t need a
lawyer 1 could help them understand the system
and just make a phone call. "

A skilled outdooi'swoman, Anderson subse-
quently taught climbing, bicycled from Chicago
to New York and became a wilderness instructor
for Outward Bound in western North Carolina for
two years. Perhaps it was the cold, clear mountain
streams that drew her mind to water. "I thought.

36 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

^JSEMliiijj^,

water-rich area in western Kenya, 206 children
die before the age of 5, and 20 percent of those
deaths are caused by diarrhea, often a result of
drinking unsafe water. The two-year project has
two aims: drill 100 wells in eastern Kenya, which
is more arid, and encourage Nyanzans to use a
safe water system developed at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, combining safe
storage and Water Guard, an inexpensive puri-
fying chlorine solution. The CDC and Emory
University's Center for Global Safe Water are
partners with the Rotary Club on the Safe Water
Project.

In her first few months in Nyanza, Anderson
concentrated her efforts on the water treatment
facet of the program. "We're working with an area
that's very resource-poor," she explains. "Their
buying power is low, and traditional marketing
and distribution aren't going to work. We are
not going to get more wholesalers and trucks out
there. This is about reaching the poorest of the
poor."

Further complicating matters, the HIV/AIDS
epidemic saturates virtually every aspect of life
in Nyanza. The province has the highest rate of
infection in Kenya. "You can't talk about any-

'We're working with an area tliat's very resource-poor. Their buying
power is low, and traditional marl<eting and distribution aren't going
to worl<. We are not going to get more wholesalers and truclcs out
there. This is about reaching the poorest of the poor."

1 have this social justice piece, 1 have this envi-
ronmental piece, and I have this adventure piece.
What do 1 want to do with this? 1 came across
articles that struck a chord with me about water
scarcity and access, especially for marginal popu-
lations. My brother once gave me the advice to
become an expert in something, and then branch
off from there. I took that to heart."

In 2002, Anderson enrolled in Emory
University's two-year Global Environmental
Health Program in the Rollins School of Public
Health and focused on water and sanitation in
developing countries. The program gave her sci-
entific and project management skills, topped off
with a field experience in Honduras. A year after
graduating, she accepted the position that would
take her to Kenya.

ANDERSON MOVED TO NYANZA PROVINCE in June

2005. The goal of the Rotaiy Safe Water Project
is to reduce the incidence of water-related ill-
nesses, a leading cause of death and disease
in Kenya. For every 1 ,000 births in Nyanza, a

thing there without talking about AIDS as well,"
Anderson says. "It would be almost delinquent of
us not to."

That very challenge has also given Anderson's
work a clear context. Hundreds of small support
groups have sprung up in the remotest areas of
Nyanza among women whose lives have been
touched by AIDS. "They are caretakers for people
in the community who are sick,- they take care of
the orphans,- they support each other," Anderson
says. An existing non-governmental organiza-
tion was already working with the groups of 10
to 20 women each, so the Rotar\' Safe Water
Project joined with it to address water treatment
in a complex grassroots scheme blending healthx'
living, economic growth and sustainahilit\', and
community mobilization.

"We're partnering with them to help these
women's groups get access to capital in the form
of micro-credit so that they can buN' Water Guard
and other healthy living products at wholesale,
which they then sell at retail in their areas,"
Anderson explains. The program focuses on

38

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Water Guard because it is the most profitable
product, but other products for sale include con-
doms, flour fortified with nutrition and bed nets.
Anderson and her colleagues also work with
the women's groups to develop effective business
strategies: "Do they need a bicycle, or do they
want a kiosk? How much money do they need?
How are they saving their money? They have a
truck with Water Guard stickers all over it, and
sometimes we drive around with a PA system, just
talking about Water Guard and why people ought
to treat water."

"trish has a clear sense of determination and

a proven ability to get things done," says Richard
Rheingans, director of Emory's Center for Global
Safe Water and, as her professor in public health,
Anderson's mentor. "She's incredibly tough, but at
the same time she's astute at getting people to find
their own solutions without imposing hers upon
them. As a young, foreign woman, she isn't there
to tell people how to do things. It's about being
supportive. Not many people are able to do that."

How effective the approach will be remains
unclear. "We're still in the start-up phase, "
Anderson says. "I'm getting the big picture, figur-
ing out the puzzle. The hope is that we will find a
recipe that works and create a model that we can
replicate in other areas of Kenya."

Key to the project's success will be the degree
to which the women's groups embrace the con-
cept. Anderson is optimistic about gaining local
credibility. (English, along with Swahili, is one
of Kenya's official languages, but Anderson is
learning the local tribal tongue, Luo.) "We are
putting our money where our mouth is,- they're
getting access to credit. But they are motivated
as much by the social aspect as by the economic.
Sure, money is a great motivator,- this area needs
economic development, but the social factor is
huge. Taking care of each other is the focus of
these women's lives. They are excited about this
project. They're the ones who are giving me hope
that this can work."

When the program ends in 2007, Anderson
hopes to have gotten 1 ,000 women access to
loans to sell Water Guard consistently, serving
200,000 people monthly. "It would be a lot easier
if we bought a few trucks, filled them with Water
Guard, and delivered it," she says, "but we're
trying to create something that's self-sustaining,
organic and grassroots, to make this product a
habit in these households.

"We want them to never drink water without
it. This has to work. There isn't a better answer."

Allison O. Adams '89 is a writer and editor at Emory
University, where sfee earned her master's degree in
English.

Taking care
of each other
is the focus
of these
women's
lives. They
are excited
about this
project.
They're the
ones who
are giving
me hope
that this can
worl<."

SPRING 2006 39

Arts & Letters

Writing Outside the Margins

The author of the first-years' book lets the college community inside her writing

brain, by Jennifer b

Since publishing
Bee Season, I get
to be a full-time
writer a dream
come true.

Myla Goldberg
autographs her book for
Sara )ones '09, Kristy
Johnson '09 and Jessie
Taft '09.

RYON OWEN

The success of her first novel, Bee
Season, propelled Myla Goldberg in
the right direction
"My goal is to be a writer for
as long as possible," says Goldberg.
"The movie will allow that."

Bee Season was the assigned book for this year's
first-year students to read over the summer and
discuss in FYI groups during the fall. A movie
based on her book was set for release shortly after
Goldberg's visit.

"Since publishing Bee Season, I get to be a full-
time writer a dream come true," says Goldberg.
"1 consider it my full-time job, so Monday
through Friday, it's a six-hour workday. It doesn't
matter if I don't feel like it or if what I'm writing is
just really awful, 1 do it."

Against the backdrop of a spelling bee from
the loser's viewpoint and with a dose of Jewish
mysticism, Bee Season explores what it means to be
family and what it takes to become your own per-
son in the world. The idea, says Goldberg, wasn't
anything she could have done herself. "My brain
put it together."

"When you have a neat idea for a novel, how
do you get there? 1 rely on the back brain. In col-
lege [She earned an English degree from Oberlin
College], I took a class in

Jewish mysticism, and 1 began wondering if you
can use language to transcend to God."

At a dmner party, a friend shared her experi-
ences with spelling bees. She was intrigued by the
inner workings and commitments of those who
participate in spelling bees.

'They're compelling," she says. "Children cry
when they lose."

Goldberg believes trying as many kinds of
writing as possible will also help her reach her
goal of writing as long as possible. Her latest
book, Wickett's Remedy, explores the Great Flu epi-
demic of 1918. Set in Boston, it follows an Irish-
American shop girl as she pursues her dream of a
better life. The girl's husband quits medical school
to develop a mail-order patent medicine called
Wickett's Remedy. Then the Spanish Influenza
devastates the country. Stealing the recipe, her
husband's business partner transforms Wickett's
Remedy into QD Soda, a soft drink that becomes
extremely popular.

"The really great thing about writing is when
you don't have anything to go on and then you
get a nugget," says Goldberg. "I write about things
that interest me. Mental illness is one of those,- Im
interested in how the brain works. I write because
I want to get inside people's heads '

Goldberg told of her experience going to the
New York Public Research Library to study naval
prisons in the 1900s.

"I was struck by the quality of silence there
a silence of people feeding their brains."

One of the unusual things about Wickett's
Remedy is the marginalia throughout the book.
Audience members asked if they should read the
book first or the marginalia first.

"It's your book. You own it," she responded.
"Read it any way you want. Read them all at once,
i read them last or don't read them at all. Heck I
; won't even know. "

Jennifer Biyou Owen is director of creative services and
editor ojASTM

40, AGNts.scorr ti+e:ma

Agnes Scott College

Dear Alumnae:

How do you say thank you for a decade of extraordinary leadersfiip tfiat has taken the college to
new heights?

Against a changing economic environment and ever-growing competition for the best and
brightest students, President Mary Brown Bullock '66 has led Agnes Scott past several remarkable
milestones, including:

Nearly doubling enrollment, to reach more than 1 ,000 in each of the past two years

Completing a $120 million capital improvement program, on time and on budget

Raising more than $70 million in our most successful capital campaign ever

Expanding the faculty, and

Raising the national stature of the college.

To celebrate her leadership, the trustees have voted to honor Mary by giving her the opportunity
to direct new or increased annual fund gifts to college priorities of her choice at the end of the
fiscal year. In other words, an annual fund gift from someone who did not contribute in the 2004-
2005 fund year, and any increase in an individual's giving over 2004-2005, would be included.

The trustees have pledged to increase their annual fund giving by a total of at least $50,000 and
invite all alumnae to join them in honoring Mary. Together we can make 2005-2006 a record-
breaking year for annual giving a fitting tribute to a president who has worked so hard and so
successfully for us. If you have already increased your annual fund gift, thank you. If not, we invite
you to join us in honoring Mary Bullock's presidency. All donors increasing their annual fund gift
will receive special recognition in the 2006 annual report.

Harriet King '64, chair of the board of trustees, aptly describes Mary as "the epitome of the leaders
Agnes Scott produces." Your annual fund gift ensures that Agnes Scott will continue to produce
extraordinary women who will lead their communities and the world.

Sincerely,

Christopher M. Little

Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Betsy Anderson Little
Class of 1966

141 East College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030-3797 Phone: 404 471-6000 Facsimile: 404 471-6177 Web site: www.agnesscott.edu

Agnes Scott College

141 E. College Ave., Decatur, CA 30030-3*37 *
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

OBSERVATOPV

FALL2006

I

<

Elizabeth Kiss
President

':^.i' A

'-m

Signature

Harriet M. King '64 chairs
the Agnes Scott Board of
Trustees and was chair of
the presidential search
committee.

A Special Story Through the pages of this
magazine, you will begin to know Agnes Scott's eighth
president: Elizabeth Kiss, by Harriet m. king '64

The Board of Trustees believes Elizabeth is the
right person to lead Agnes Scott for a number of
reasons. Her sparkling intellect, charismatic and
inclusive personality, rich academic experience,
deep understanding of the liberal arts, global
perspective and energy make Elizabeth an exem-
plar of the college's mission. Her focus on ethics
mirrors Agnes Scott's core values. She is pas-
sionate about bringing diverse peoples together
around common issues. Elizabeth was a bold and
innovative leader in building Duke University's
Kenan Institute for Ethics, where she recognized
the importance of being visible, distinctive and
academically and programmatically excellent to
attract faculty, students and funding, in her decade
at the Kenan Institute, she created one of the
most active and innovative ethics centers in the
country, in short, she has all of the qualities we as
a community said our next president should have.
On a more personal note, Elizabeth shared a
story with us, one that gives an even better sense
why the search committee thought she was the
right fit for Agnes Scott College. Elizabeth was
born in Brooklyn to parents who emigrated from
Hungary following the 1956 revolution. She
grew up with English not being her first language.

Elizabeth wanted very much to learn English in its
full and complete manner, and, in particular, she
wanted to learn the American version of English.
She went off to kindergarten at the ripe old age
of, we think, around four, intent on learning and
acculturating, being part of America, being an
American because, after all, she was a native-born
American.

In kindergarten, the teacher took her aside
to inform her she would receive special help with
learning English. Elizabeth had set her goal on
learning American, and right away she noticed
a discrepancy between what she was being told
and her goal. So she did what any competent
person would do, which is to garner the tools
available and to use them to bring attention to
the problem: She burst into tears inconsolable
tears to make clear this was a real issue for her.
After conversation with the teacher about why
this was so important to her, Elizabeth realized
that when the teacher was talking about English,
she meant American.

Part of what makes this a special story for
me is not only that this very young woman
stood up for what she thought was important to
her, her ability to achieve a goal she had identi-
fied, but she went on to acquire a real fluency in
American and some 20 years later, she went to
Oxford and learned English

I commend Elizabeth Kiss to you. Take every
opportunity you have to get to know her. As
you do, we believe you will discover even more
reasons she is the right leader for Agnes Scott
College.

yC^<AAliS//{

Harriet M. King '64

Fall 2006

Volume 83, Number 1

INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT
FOR INSTITUTIONAL
ADVANCEMENT AND
DIRECTOR OF
COMMUNICATIONS

Mary Ackerly

EDITOR

Jennifer Bryon Owen

SENIOR writer/editor

Lisa Ashmore

administrative
assistant

Janann Giles

DESIGN

Winnie Hulme Design

Our Mission

Agnes Scott College
educates women to
think deeply, live
honorably and engage
the intellectual and
social challenges of
their times.

2006 Agnes Scott College
Published for alumnae and
friends twice a year by the
Office ot Communications,
Agnes Scott College, Rebekah
Annex, 141 E College Ave.,
Decatur, GA 30030.

The content of the magazine
reflects the opinions of the
writers and not the viewpoini
of the college, its tr\istees or

Change of address; Send
address changes by mail to
Office of Development, Agnes
Scott College, HIE College
Ave., Decatur, CA 30030, by
telephone, call 404 471-6472 or
by e-mail to development
agnesscott.edu.

publication@agnesscott.edu
Web site: www.agnesscott.edu
Cover photo by Caroline Joe

Features

8 Q&A with Agnes Scott's
New President

BY JENNIFER BRYON OWEN

In the first of a two-part series, President
Kiss answers questions about herself and
her vision for Agnes Scott.

13 "A Good Gift"

BY KATHY REYNOLDS DOHERTY '67

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution ended
Sandor and Eva Kiss' fight for their
country's freedom, but their roles in
the struggle profoundly affected their
youngest daughter.

16 The Moral Ambitions of an
Agnes Scott Education

BY ELIZABETH KISS

Opening Convocation 2006 speech

26 Staying on Track by lisa ashmore

Her mental health affects a student's
ability to pursue her education and the
college's ability to provide it for her.

Profiles

20 A Girl's Reputation

BY VICTORIA F. STOPP 'Ol

The college's athletic standing improves
when the coach also emphasizes
scholarship.

22 Connecting Trade with
Conscience by kathy iwckee '87

The faith of Jacqueline DeCarlo '87 fuels
her commitment to economic justice.

24 A Cool "Old-Timer" in a
Hot "New" Field

BY MICHELLE ROBERTS MATTHEWS '91

Today, it's the stuff of Hollywood, but
Susan Morton '71 has been fighting crime
for years.

World View

30 Lessons from the Other Side

of the World by melanie s. best '79
Study abroad takes on new meaning when
you include a husband and four children.

Departments

2 Reader's Voice
4 On Campus
7 Arts and Letters

\^ Printed on recycled paper

Rpridpr*^ Voice

^^ For an alumnae magazine, staying within the bounds of civility is
not a denial of free speech. ''- ele

LEANOR HUTCHENS '40

A Call for Reasoned Letters

I'm sure you'll get several intemperate letters
about allowing Phyllis Schlafly to set foot and
open mouth on campus. Although 1 personally
wish she had never been born, 1 hope you will
not print the kind of vicious invective you have
passed on to us twice in the past, once against
Katherine Harris and once against Hillary
Clinton.

For an alumnae magazine, staying within
the bounds of civility is not a denial of free
speech. There are plenty of outlets for rant in
print, on the air and on the Internet. If you get a
reasoned letter against the choice of Mrs. Schlafly
as a speaker, by all means print it

My deep disapproval of her does not mean

that I think she should be barred from the campus

or that her speech there should pass un-remarked.

In fact students can benefit by seeing in her

career what one dedicated private citizen

can do to reverse what appears to be a

certain course in public policy.

ELEANOR HUTCHENS '40

Taste Coke's History

SEEING THE PHOTO of the color

advertisement in Agnes Scott The
MagaziiK, spring 2006 of the young
woman (circa 1930s) drinking a
Coke, I was reminded of a Coca-
Cola poster 1 posed for in 1 947
or 1948 in New York City while I
was modeling with the Society of
Models. When I saw the "Reader's
Voice" article about Coca-Cola, I
thought you might be interested
in seeing an Agnes Scott girl who
once modeled for one of the leg-
endary Coca-Cola advertising
paintings of the 1940s. By the
way, I lived in Decatur on South
Candler Street within walking
distance of Agnes Scott.

1 am enclosing a picture of myself posing
with the actual painting, which my son, who
worked at Coca-Cola, found in an advertising
archive of paintings Coca-Cola collected through
the years. He asked the curator if I could hold the
painting while he took the pictures. In the pho-
tograph, you can see smudge marks from some
foreign country's efforts to remove the Coca-Cola
"disk," probably to drop it in photographically
when it was printed. The same is true for the slo-
gan "Serve Coke at Home," which was replaced
with a foreign script, followed by a new slogan in
English which read "You Taste it's (sic) Quality."
Before this was done, however, the painting was
used on point-of-sale boards and in calendars in
the United States throughout 1949.

1 always look forward to reading the maga-
zine. I go back in time and relive my days at
Buttrick, the gym. Stunt Night, the hockey field,
and May Day and "oh yes" friends and the
faculty! 1 loved seeing everyone at the 60th
reunion!

SALLY SUE STEPHENSON MARSHALL '46

I'll! C-IIIilil

PS. My mother-in-law, Agnes Gold XX'iley
Marshall from Sparta, Ga., graduated from
Agnes Scott, and my sister-in-law, Elise Marshall
Simkins, attended two years.

"Thanks " from a Daddy

Dear Elizabeth:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS of Saturday morning
[President Kiss' speech at Orientation]. I wasn't
sure Agnes was the right place for Tobi, but after
hearing you speak, I am now confident.

1 am an engineer by profession and have been
a manager for 15 years. My education was focused
on learning a skill, getting a job and supporting
a family. It has served me well, and 1 am now in a
senior staff leadership position.

A curious dissatisfaction has crept into my
work. As 1 begin to replenish leadership talent,
1 find many individuals who have the technical
skills, capacity and curiosity. But I am increas-

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

reader's VOICE
POLICY

We appreciate your
letters to the editor. Space
limitations dictate that
letters may not exceed
250 words and may be
edited for length as well
as for style. Include your
current address and phone
number. Letters will be
verified before they are
published.

Please send letters to:

Editor

Agnes Scott The Magazine

Office of Communications

Agnes Scott College

141 E. College Ave.

Decatur, GA 30030

Or, e-mail:

publication

agnesscott.edu.

ingly interested in knowing a candidate's char-
acter, responsibility, honor, integrity, courage,
honesty, the ability to see value in everyone. I
have become aware that these leadership quali-
ties are what make the difference as they provide
the foundation for "meaningful visioning." Your
speech assured me you are going to focus on
character building. Above all, 1 believe this will
best serve my daughter in whichever of life's many
avenues she chooses.

1 had a similar "lack of confidence" experi-
ence with Tobi and pageants. I was not altogether
"thrilled" when pageants came to the Collins
house. I was concerned that the values professed
by pageants were not in line with what 1 thought
was best for my daughter. I was wrong in many
ways. At least in the Junior Miss program, 1 found
the focus to be more on the leadership qualities
of strength of character, courage, community
service, integrity and responsibility. I mention
this because there are few leadership development
systems for men. There is "sports," but, as we have
seen in recent times, there is more an emphasis on
winning at all costs, including detrimental effects
on health, than on character building.

Women seem to be better able to support and
nurture one another. I've witnessed this even in
what appears to be the highly competitive pag-
eant world. Regardless of inherent trait or learned
behavior, I support whatever system is available
to develop a strong and healthy character. You
have made me believe through your words that
this character building is also your passion. It is
the most I can ask for to prepare my daughter for
her future.

"Thanks" from a Daddy.

TOM COLLINS P'lO

Father of Tobi Collins 'to

Miss Alma Sydenstricker

WHAT A SURPRISE IT WAS to find a picture of Miss
Alma Sydenstricker [at ASC 1917-1943], my
Bible professor, in the spring issue. By coincidence
at the last meeting of the Greenville Reader's
Connection it was my pleasure to lead the discus-
sion of Pearl Sydenstricker Buck's Pulitzer Prize
novel, The Good Earth. Our Miss Sydenstricker was
Pearl Buck's aunt. Her father, Miss Sydenstricker's
brother, was a Presbyterian missionary to China
where Buck spent her childhood during turbulent
times in Chinese history.

While 1 was a student at Agnes Scott, Pearl
Buck was at the height of her fame. Everyone had
read The Good Earth, the novel that gave the world
its first authentic look at Chinese culture. Among
other things, it is said that her novel helped put
an end to the 1 , 000-year-old practice of foot
binding in China.

The story on campus was that after Buck
divorced her first husband and married her
publisher, her family disowned her. Miss
Sydenstricker was the only family member who
continued to claim her and keep in touch with
her. Our teacher's relationship to the most famous
author of the time made her our celebrity,- her
compassion made her our heroine.

In the 1940s, all Agnes Scott students were
required to take two quarters of Bible and attend a
chapel service every morning. Miss Sydenstricker
taught Old Testament and Dr. [Samuel] Stukes
taught New Testament. It was her unenviable task
to teach the entire Old Testament in 12 weeks
to students like me who were mostly ignorant of
the Bible. 1 was terrified of Miss Sydenstricker.
I sat as far back in the class as possible hoping
to be invisible. On occasions that she called out
"Miss Lyndon," 1 would stammer out some kind of
answer, usually wrong. I was not a star in her class,
but I tried. I ended up with the only "C" I ever
received at Agnes Scott.

I do not know how old she was at that time,
but in my 1 8-year-old eyes, she seemed very old.
She wore long, dark dresses and old lady shoes.
Intentionally or not, she thoroughly intimidated
me. The picture in the magazine showed a differ-
ent Miss Sydenstricker. In the picture she was a
lovely young woman,- she was probably a lovely
older woman also. Her dress and her demeanor
were probably perfectly appropriate for her
age and her time. She was an Old Testament
scholar and had high expectations for her stu-
dents higher than some of us could achieve.
Whatever the intent of the required Bible study
and chapel attendance, it seems to have had the
desired effect on me. I became a lifelong student
of the Bible and a Sunday school teacher. I even
became a Presbyterian! Miss Sydenstricker and
Dr. Stukes are outstanding in my memory. I wish
they could know the positive effect they had on
my life.

Even though she was a Pulitzer Prize winner
and one of only two women to receive a Nobel
Prize for Literature, Pearl Buck was largely forgot-
ten by the literary world for many years. Because
of our heightened national interest in China and
a recent biography by Peter Conn about her,
she has been rediscovered and is again taking
her place among America's greatest authors. To
understand China today, one must understand
the China of Buck's day. The Greenville group
enjoyed reading and discussing her masterpiece
and recommends it for all Agnes Scott alumnae.
Those who have already read it will appreciate it
more the second time.

ELOISE LYNDON RUDY '45

ka rleloi5e@charter. net
via e-mail

FALL 2006 3

On Campus

These members of
the class of 2010
are (left to right)
Lauren Buliard,
Brook Bachman and
Michelle Stokes, all
from Marietta, Ga.;
Najla Waleed, Stone
Mountain, Ga.;
Katie Rodgers,
Fayetteville, Ga.;
Indira Cruz, Duluth,
Ga.; Helen Cox,
Marietta, Ga. and
Rebecca Paisley,
Alpharetta, Ga.

The Good Side of Facebook

AGNES SCOTT INCOMING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS from the Atlanta area met on Facebook, the popular
online social networking directory for college and high school students, but decided to meet face-to-face
by organizingasummer picnic on the Woodruff Quadrangle. Currently under fire because of the extremely
personal nature of some entries, Facebook was launched in February 2004 and, according to Middlebury
College reports, is now, with more than nine million users, the seventh-most trafficked Web site and the
number one photo-sharing site on the Web.

Feminist Movement Opponent
Speaks on Campus

A standing-room only audience and a dozen or so
protestors greeted conservative spokeswoman
Phyllis Schlafly when she spoke on 'The Failures of
Feminism" last spring as a guest of the Agnes Scott College
Republicans and co-sponsored by The Clare Boothe
Luce Policy Institute. The ASCR membership
totals about 100, with 15 to 20 active members.
Schlafly has been a national leader
of the conservative movement since
publication of her best-selling 1964
book, A Choke Not an Echo, and has
been a leader of the pro-family move-
ment since 1972, when she started her
national volunteer organization now
called Eagle Forum.

4 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

The 2007 Writers'
Festival, set for
March 22 and 23,
features playwright
Suzan-Lori Parks, poet
Yusef Komunyakaa
and novelist
Beatriz Rivera-Barnes.

Writers' Festival 2006

Alumna poet Nathalie FitzSimons
Anderson '70 joined another poet and a
novelist for the college's annual Writers'
Festival last spring. A 1993 Pew Fellow, Anderson
is poet in residence at the Rosenbach Museum
and Library and teaches English and directs the
creative writing program at Swarthmore College.
Poet Paul Muldoon is Howard G.B. Clark
Professor of Humanities at Princeton University,
and novelist Percival Everett, professor of
English at the University of Southern California,
researches American studies and critical theory
and creates works of fiction.

Anderson

Muldoon

Novelist Percival Everett makes a point during his session with students and guests.

Wellness Center
Opens

THE FIRST FLOOR OF HOPKINS HALL

has been transformed into the col-
lege's new Wellness Center, putting
resources for all student health ser-
vices in one location where students
can receive holistic, collaborative and
high-quality treatment for health ser-
vices and counseling. Sarah Kiwanuka,
nurse practitioner (left), and Carole
Holcomb, director of student health
services, welcome visitors to the
Wellness Center opening.

FALL 2006 5

QjLL^wdlUpUS

100 Years
as a College

The college's documented
history reveals the increasing
effort invested in the vision to
adequately educate women.
And for loo years, the rest has
been, as they say, history.

Agnes Scott began as a grammar school
in 1 889, and gradually moved toward
becoming a college, which it did
officially in 1906. The formation of the Student
Government Association that same year was
described by James Ross McCain in 1956 as "a
powerful factor through the years in maintaining
the ideals of the college. "

He also noted, "it was no simple process to
grow from a grammar school into a first-class
institution of higher learning."

By 1905, the Trustee Executive Committee
authorized the facult\' to separate the work of
the Academy [the preparatory school] and the
Collegiate Department and to make the latter
conform to the Southern Association of Colleges
and Preparatory Schools' standard for a college.
The petition to amend the charter changing
the name to 'The Agnes Scott College was

granted by the Superior Court of DeKalb
County in a special term May 12. 1906.
Agnes Scott College granted its first
degrees in 1906 and was awarded col-
egiate accreditation by the Southern
Association in 1907 the first college or
university in Georgia to be accredited.

Sources: James Ross McCain, The Growth of Agnes Scott
College l889-l955,"/\i)HfsScollBu//tliii 53:2 (1956): 4, 5.
Walter Edward McNair, LtsI Wt Forget (Agnes Scott College.

3)29, 30.

6 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Arts & Letters

A Memoried Time

In her remarks after being presented an Agnes Scott honorary doctorate during
Commencement 2006, Margaret W. Pepperdene, professor emerita of English,
reminds us of the college's tradition of humane learning.

I thank President Bullock and the Board of
Trustees of Agnes Scott for this recogni-
tion. Since this is a memoried occasion
for all of us and since "remembrance never
ends," being what Eudora Welty called "a
spiritual bequeathment," 1 want to include in this
moment my thanks to President Wallace Alston
and Professor George Hayes, who brought me
to Agnes Scott so long ago. The president and
the professor were both schoolmen in the ancient
and honored tradition of the humanist teacher.
Steeped in the learning of their scholarly disci-
plines, they directed that learning toward what
the Renaissance humanist Leonardo Bruni called
perfecting and equipping the human being. They
were lovers of what they professed, like the
English poet-teacher Donald Davie who said,

I have always considered, and still do, myselj an
amateur

In the original soisc of that word as "lover"

In the making and teaching ofpoetiy.

And they, the president and the professor,
called to mind Chaucer's Clerk, a professor of
philosophy at Oxford, who impresses the Pilgrim
Chaucer with his professional achievements but
who moves him even more by his love of what
he does. The words that close the Clerk's portrait
sum up his life: "Gladly wolde he lerne and gladly
teche." The emphasis in the line is on "gladly, " an
emphasis that touches the word back to its Old
English root, meaning "clear," "bright," "joyful,"
suggesting the joy the Clerk finds in the study of
philosophy and in being able to bring the light of
and delight in learning to his students. He teaches
what he loves and he loves teaching his students.

"What's past is prologue." Those humanist
teachers, joined by others of like heart and mind
down through the "passmg years," have made this
college an academic place to come to. I am sure
that you, members of the class of 2006, are as

grateful as 1 am that they invited us to come and
stay for a while by Margaret w. pepperdene

Margaret W. Pepperdene, professor emerita of English,
taught at Agnes Scott from i956 to 1985, and since
retirement has been teaching honors English literature at
Paideia School in Atlanta. She holds a B.A. in English
from Louisiana State University and an M.A. and
Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of
a Fulbright Felloioship, a Ford Foundation Fellowship,
an American Association of University Women
Fellowship, a Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

FALL 2006 7

with A^nes Scott's New President

Just prior to assuming the presidency of Agnes Scott in August, Elizabeth Kiss
sat down to answer questions about who she is and what's important to her.

BY JENNIFER BRYON OWEN

8 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

As the new president of Agnes Scott, where do you start?

Two things I want to say that are really important: One is I start
by getting to know people. That will be tremendously reward-
ing. I'm really excited about getting to know all the different
facets of this community, and then using that as an opportunity
to listen to people, to listen to the aspirations and the kind of
ambitions, plans and goals people have for the college and to
come up with a process.

Second, we will be moving into the next strategic plan-
ning process. I've had the opportunity to see a number of these
strategic planning processes and think they're just a wonderful
tool for bringing people together and catalyzing reflection and
ambition. Part of the underlying goal of the first year will be to
figure out processes by which all the constituents of the Agnes
Scott community can be pulled into a strategic vision and a
strategic planning process, and together we can craft this new
strategic goal.

What do you believe you bring to this position?

The last 10 years being at the Kenan Institute have made me
realize I'm someone who can work and collaborate with and
lead people across many boundaries. I have the temperament,
communication skills and interest really the passion for
doing that.

I feel lucky because there is a match between so many
things 1 care deeply about that have been important to me
over the course of my life and my academic career and Agnes
Scott. So whether it is the Reformed tradition that is part of
my family but is also a part of my history at Davidson, or the
importance of the Honor Code in academic integrity or a focus
on women and feminism and women's rights all of these dif-
ferent strands of my life and my interest intersect here. I'm very
excited about that.

What's your management style?

I'm a collaborative manager, a good listener. 1 tend to lead in
part through inspiring people to be excited about their work. I
try to mentor people and help them aspire and move up. That's
an important part of my management philosophy.

The other thing I really like as a manager I may have
sort of stumbled into this initially and then came to realize how
valuable it was is that it is so important to surround yourself
with strong people. I have really appreciated people who were
challenging, willing to mentor me mentoring occurs up and
down and across and willing to disagree. An organization is
stronger and a leader is stronger if she surrounds herself with
folks who really care about things, who have independent
views, who are willing ultimately to pull together, but who
really have their own sense of judgment. I've learned so much
as a manager from people telling me, "I wouldn't do it this way."
To create a place where people feel they have a voice that's
so important.

What challenges did you have when you arrived at the
Kenan Institute?

One of the first was that the founding donor passed away four
days after 1 was appointed. Here was a brand new institute with
a brand new director at a research university like Duke supported
by a foundation that had a particular vision. The challenge

was to work with the different stakeholders and to earn their
trust 1 was an unknown and to mold a vision that was suit-
able for and inspiring to a whole range of circles.

How does an institute make people ethical?

In our culture we tend to be reticent about ethical issues, so we
often see them in terms of legal compliance or we psychologize
them. Law and psychology are valuable, but they can obscure
the ethical dimensions. One step is to create conversations
about ethical issues, and the trick is to make those conversations
ring true to people in terms of the real challenges they face.

Another piece I've learned from goes back to Aristotle.
Aristotle said you don't learn to be an ethical person by listen-
ing to lectures on ethics. You learn in the same way a musician
learns practice. We must think about ways we can give
people opportunity to practice ethics. That's why honor codes
are so important. That's why service learning is something the
Kenan Institute nurtured. It raises all sorts of deeper ethical
issues for people when they have that experiential component.

Then we identified this notion of individual ethical behav-
ior and organizational ethics micro and macro and height-
ened the emphasis in our work on the macro dimension.

Are people in general becoming more or less ethical?

Humanity is always messy and ambiguous. In some ways, we
are seeing moral progress, and in other ways, moral regress.
Specifically in business ethics, there have been some ways
in which things have gotten worse. Some of that has to do
with incentive structures that have changed. There was a
period we're still in the midst of it with an emphasis on
short termism on the part of leaders of companies. Your earn-
ings were pegged to quarterly earnings reports. To think ethi-
cally is to think long term. But, in other dimensions of our
lives [we've made progress]. That's why you can never draw
simple conclusions on this. Think, for example, race relations.
We've made so much progress in race relations, not that there
still isn't a lot of progress to be made.

Define ethics.

One of the best definitions is one of the simplest the one
Plato ascribes to Socrates where Socrates says, "We are talking
about something very important how we ought to live." So
the notion is that ethics is that dimension of our lives where we
ask, "How ought we behave? How ought we treat one another?
Treat the world? Treat ourselves?" That is the heart of what
ethics is about.

Then, even in the substance of ethics how ought we
behave we find certain patterns across cultures and across
religions. One this gives me goose bumps every time 1 do a
little more research on it is the number of religious traditions
and wisdom traditions that have the Golden Rule. It's in the
Bible, the Talmud, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran. And in many
of those, it's actually listed as the law of laws or very important
rule. So treating others as you would be treated or not treat-
ing others as you would not want to be treated is a deep moral
wisdom humanity has learned over the centuries.

Then there are some core ethical questions questions
about justice, honesty, dignity and respect you find across mul-
tiple ethical traditions. Not to say that there aren't deep moral

FALL 2006 9

disagreements across moral and cultural traditions. There are.
But there are bedrock elements that are really part of the moral
conversation of humanity.

How do you work out ethics in your personal life?

Jeff [her husband, Jeff Holzgrefe] likes to tease me by saying,
"you certainly don't want to read the headline 'Ethics director
caught in ... whatever'." It causes one to think about your own
personal behavior. It has been a wonderful source for leading a
more examined life. 1 think 1 have grown. 1 hope I've become
somewhat of a better person, but 1 have certainly become more
aware of my moral failures.

Everybody has a shadow side. The beginning of moral
wisdom is acknowledging and recognizing your shadow side
and trying to compensate for it and being honest about it. 1
have definitely found what I was doing in my professional life
was leading me to be more reflective about myself and about
how I was living day to day.

In the extreme, it can get a little exhausting. I have
occasionally said, "Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we do
ethics, and Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do moral depravity."
It's really important not to take ourselves too seriously. What 1
dislike about a lot of attention to ethics is that it can lead to a
kind of moralism, a refined ability to look down your nose at
other people. That's icky. But it's good if it leads to being more
aware of moral complexities and of the moral dimensions of
the decisions you make everyday.

Describe your year at Deep Springs College.

It was fabulous, an amazing place. Jeff and I had met somebody
at Oxford who ended up becoming president of Deep Springs.
While I was assistant professor at Princeton, I got a call from
our acquaintance who said, "How would you like to come to
an all-male school in the middle of nowhere on the California-
Nevada border?" I vividly remember I said, "Over my dead
body!" He said, "We have funds for a lecture, so you have to
come give a lecture." Of course, he knew that as soon as we got
out there, we would both fall in love with it.

It truly is in the middle of nowhere. It's at 5,200 feet
surrounded by the White Mountains and an incredible desert
landscape. You can see the Sierras from there. It's an overpow-
ering physical landscape. This little, tiny, tiny college in the
midst of all this grandeur 24 students, the smallest accred-
ited school in America, all on full scholarship, all working the
alfalfa fields, and the dairy boys milk the cows at 5:00 in the
morning so there's milk for breakfast, and studying the liberal
arts. It was wonderful and terrible. It was one of those things
where you realize what an incredibly intensive, intentional
community is like. There was physical labor, there was an

intense intellectual life. It was truly a balanced life in a lot
of ways.

One of the things I loved was that in academe sometimes
we don't respect physical labor the amazing work that main-
tenance people do for example. When the students are actually
fixing the plumbing or not fixing it, as the case may be, you
realize not only the dignity but the intricacy and the value of
that kind of physical labor, the necessity of it.

How did Deep Springs influence how you look at higher ed?

1 was there for a year, and then Jeff and I co-taught there for a
summer. That was a really great experience as a married
couple co-teaching was really fun. One healthy thing it
reminded me of was how many amazing institutions there
are that are doing really creative and innovative work. 1 was
at Princeton at the time, and 1 think there is a danger in
becoming kind of insular in the world of the Ivy Leagues
and not having a broader vision of higher ed. That, in and
of itself, was really powerful for me. Another thing was it
made me realize deeply the importance of the ethos of a
community, the hidden curriculum of a campus and how
crucial that is to what students actually learn. And also the
power of giving students responsibility. The Deep Springs
students pick the next class. I was the only non-student
on the admissions committee. These were 19-year-olds
who were picking 1 8-year-olds, and they took it very seri-
ously. It was a great learning experience for them to be
interviewing their peers. I learned a lot about pedagogy
as well, about how valuable it is to empower students to
learn through doing. Also, they have a public speaking
component. Speaking has fallen off the radar screen in
American higher education. Yet to speak well is one of the
most important skills we can learn

In addition to Deep Springs, you've been involved with
Durham Nativity School, another all-male school. What
benefits from single sex education in these situations can you
apply to an all-women's school?

There are somewhat different rationales for different kinds
of single sex schools. Part of what I find so powerful in the
Durham Nativity School [one of more than 40 tuition-lree
middle schools for financially disadvantaged children] context,
and there are parallels between that and women's education,
is that particularly for young men of color, there is a whole
history of neglect of this population, of underestimating this
population, of not really centering educational institutions
on their ability to achieve. What you see in DNS is how boys
blossom when there's a school that is really focused on them
and on empowering them.

THE KISS FILE

Kiss is pronounced "quiche" and means
Little in Hungarian.

NannerlO. Keohane Director of the Kenan
Institute for Etfiics, Duke University,
1996-2006

Associate Professor of the Practice of

Political Science and Philosophy, Duke

University

Assistant Professor, Princeton University

Department of Politics

Visiting Professor, Deep Springs College

and Randolph-Macon College

Specialist in moral and political philosophy

D. Phil., Oxford University, 1990

B. Phil., Oxford University, 1985

B.A., Davidson College, 1983, graduating

magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and

Davidson's first female Rhodes Scholar

10 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Historically and to this day and certainly globally, to
a dramatic extent there's a real parallel in that women are
underestimated or ignored even in our finest co-educational
institutions. There are still real challenges in creating the right
environment to both challenge and nurture young women to
succeed and to excel. There is a strong parallel of the power of
an institution that is truly focused on, as in the case of Agnes
Scott, young women. It is you we want to succeed,- it's you we
have great ambitions and great dreams for, and we want you to
have them for yourself. That's very, very powerful.

At Deep Springs, there was value in creating a community
that young men had to hold together. There is something
valuable about telling a group, "This community is yours and
you need to shape it and nurture it. And you need to nurture
one another."

You don't say as a child "one day I want to teach ethics; I want
to be a philosopher." How did you reach that decision?

Like many things, it was probably over-determined. I'm incred-
ibly fortunate in having come from this extraordinary family
story where my parents were both political prisoners. My dad
was arrested by the Nazis and the Communists, and so I grew
up with a real sense of pride in that, in my Hungarianess, in
the beauty of the language. My parents used to recite poetry as
they did the dishes. My mother would be washing the dishes,-
my dad would be drying them 1 thought all families did this.
They would be singing Hungarian folk songs or reciting poetry,
so that all was very much a part of my identity. They provided
me with such a rich sense of what it meant to be a Hungarian,
but also always embraced being an American. My parents were
fascinated by American history.

Tell us about Elizabeth, the little girl.

1 was probably a brat. I'm the runt of the family. My sisters
were 1 1 and 14 when 1 was born so I suspect 1 was doted on
and rather spoiled.

As a native of the Bronx, has being in the South been an
adjustment?

My first week at Davidson, I was startled because everybody
smiled and said "Hey." To me, hey meant watch out. I remem-
ber that adjustment of realizing this was not how 1 was used to
interacting. Then, of course, 1 loved it. By the time I went to
Paris for junior year abroad, 1 had to realize 1 could no longer
smile and say "Hey" to everybody on the Paris Metro. That was
not a good idea people followed you home.

1 still love New York, and there's a way in which New York
feels like home because 1 think the place where you are as a
child is always going to be very special, and it was such a won-
derful sort of playground for a child. We were poor, but New
York was a place where you could experience so much. I was
exposed to wonderful diversity there and the opportunity to
grow up in a Hungarian environment.

I have really come to love the South. The South is an
exciting place, it's often much more progressive on race rela-
tions, for example, than the Northeast. It's a place that has had
to absorb and continues to struggle to absorb an interesting
and, in some ways, a tragic history.

On ethics, specifically, 1 grew up with a sense of moral
issues mattering, it was the history of my parents and their
activities in Hungary, but also my sisters were very much mem-
bers of the '60s generation. There was a lot of family conflict
about that. Actually, there was a wonderful family unity over
civil rights, but a lot of family conflict over the Vietnam War.
My sisters were active in the anti-war movement. My parents,
as former prisoners of a communist regime, were passionately
devoted to the war, so I grew up in an atmosphere where moral
and political issues were life shaping and life changing.

1 also saw with my father I saw this with both my parents,
but especially experienced this with my father learning and
changing his mind, specifically on Vietnam, coming to the con-
clusion that there were some real problems with that war. So
1 was just really fortunate, as the runt of the family, as a small
child, being exposed to all these things. I was sort of primed to
be interested in issues of ethics and human rights.

The love of philosophy came about in a different way.
Davidson had this two-year Western Civ sequence called
Humanities. The first trimester, we read, among other things,
Plato and Aristotle, and everybody hated it except me. 1
loved it! So, ! thought this is telling me something. Everybody
was complaining bitterly about these texts, and 1 was think-
ing, "These texts are really interesting!" 1 ended up majoring in
philosophy.

FALL 2oo6 1 1

What did you read as a child?

I read voraciously. My parents were such wonderful educators.
My mother wanted to make sure I was familiar with American
stories like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She would
get all the Walt Disney books but she'd read them to me in
Hungarian 1 had older sisters who were reading, and as the
young brat, I wanted to read as quickly as possible, so 1 was a
voracious reader and 1 worked my way through the Reader's
Digest Condensed Books, hundreds of those. 1 read novels,
encyclopedias, the dictionary.

What do you read now?

A combination of things. I'm readmg an absolutely wonderful
book, which 1 can't believe 1 hadn't come across earlier Bury
the Chains by Adam Hochschild, the story of the anti-slave
movement. The next time I teach on human rights, I will assign
this book because it tells how a small group of marginal people
decided that the slave trade was wrong and got organized and,
over the course of about three or four decades, stopped the
slave trade. You know the Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt
a small group of committed people can change the world like
nothing ever has." Well, this is the story of a small group of
committed people changing the world.

The other favorite recent book is local to North Carolina,
but is resonant in the South generally, called Blood Done Signed
A I)' Ndine. It is about a racially motivated murder that occurred
in O.xford, N.C., in the 1970s. It's about a Methodist minister
and his family, as whites, trying to be supportive of the Civil
Rights movement. It's just a magnificent book, really.

1 try to read novels I'm a very highbrow, lowbrow
person. I read mysteries. In terms of books I keep going back
to, like comfort food, it would be between Barbara Kingsolver,
who I absolutely adore, and Tolkien. I'm a Lord ojthe Rincfs fan.
But, there are many, many novelists 1 like.

From the inquiring minds want to l<now department . . .
pronounce your husband's last name.

It's like "holes grief." 1 mispronounced it for about the first six
months we dated. We had one of those moments when he said,
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you." I thought,
"Oh my gosh, what is it?" "You're mispronouncing my name."
We met at Oxford. He likes to tease that I was a Rhodes
Scholar, but he had a scholarship that was founded in 1283 or
something The Domus Scholarship. We actually met at an
anti-nuclear protest march in London. We had this wonderful
international group of friends that would rent a wreck get
one of these second hand cars for the weekend and tool

around and look at cathedrals and the English countryside. So
we were friends before we became romantically involved. 1 met
him around 1983 and we married in 1989.

Will this be a commuter marriage for awhile?

It will be for the first semester. He has a wonderful opportunity
to teach at the Stanford Institute of Public Policy and, of course,
the great irony is that these opportunities come at the same
time. But he is teaching their core ethics and public policy class.
Jeff's an expert on international relations and ethics and has co-
edited a book on humanitarian intervention. His plan is to defi-
nitely come here in the spring, and he hopes to find a teaching
position in one of the institutions here.

How do you relax?

I'm a nature nut. 1 love hiking. One of my paths not taken is to
be a park ranger. I love birds. We have bird feeders I checked
it out early on the president's house is perfectly suited for
hummingbird and goldfinch feeders. I walk. I used to run. My
knees are not quite up to what they once were. I was actually
a very avid jogger for many years. I do strength training and
swimming. I'm excited about being able to just walk up the
hill to the swimming pool. I'm passionate about exercise not
always great about doing it, but I'm passionate about it in theory!

Jeff and 1 are movie buffs. We are omnivores. Again, like
my reading taste, it's Shakespeare one week and a mystery
the next week. I became interested in cinema my junior year
abroad in Paris. We had never gone to films as a family, and I
discovered movies when 1 was in Paris. And we love to travel.

What gets you up in the morning?

Jeff once got me a cup that said "Things to do today make
coffee, floss, solve global warming." What gets me up is that
there are so many exciting things to do. The best mornings are
when I actually get up in time to have a long walk to start the
day. 1 just feel incredibly lucky to have been able to have such
meaningful work. 1 feel like I'm going from one dream job to
another now.

Jennifer Bryon Owen is director of creative services and editor of
Agnes Scott The Magazine iii the Office o( Communications.

Editor's Note: In the spring '07 issue of ASTM, President Kiss will
discuss the Honor Code, academic integrity, diversit\', being a Rhodes
Scholar and empowering women.

THE JEFF HOLZGREFE FILE

Holzgrefe is pronounced "holes grief"

Native of Australia

Teacher and academic administrator with a
focus on international relations and ethics

Co-editor of a recent book titled
Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal,
and Political Issues

Teaching the core undergraduate ethics
class at The Sanford Institute of Public
Policy at Duke University this fall
Taught at Princeton University, Oxford
University, St. Andrew/s University and
Deep Springs College
Academic administrative experience
Includes service as special assistant to
the vice provost for international affairs

at Duke University, as the Fulbright
Fellowship Program adviser at Duke and as
the executive director of the Association of
International Education Administrators

B.A. in politics from Monash University in
Victoria, Australia, 1981

M.Phil, in international relations from
Oxford University, 1985

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

AN EXTRAORDINARY FAMILY STORY

">A Good Gift

ff

Her birth was, for Sandor and Eva Kiss, confirmation of their commitment to
freedom and reward for their struggle for its preservation. Their lives, for Elizabeth,
breathed into hers pride in her "Hungarianness" and imprinted the importance of
life's great moral and political issues, by kathy Reynolds doherty -67

lizabeth Kiss has a birthmark shaped
like Hungary near her heart. If Cod
does indeed work in mysterious ways,
this may be one of them, and President
Kiss' mother is entitled to think so.
The volatile and poignant history of Hungary
is a visceral heritage for Kiss. Her mother tongue
is Hungarian like that of her parents and two
sisters, all Hungarian natives although she was
born in the United States and reared in the Bronx,
New Jersey and suburban Washington, D.C. She
was the baby of liberation, the American star in
their family flag.

She was "a good gift," says her mother, Eva
Kiss, now almost 80 and living a stone's throw
from the Potomac in Washington.

"My parents were made young by Elizabeth's
birth," says Barbara Kiss,
the eldest of the three Kiss
daughters. "She came as
a prayer, a blessing." She
came, in fact, after the fam-
ily's escape from Hungary
following the short-lived
1956 revolution a brief
moment in the light before
communist clouds closed
over again.

Elizabeth came after
her father fled to Vienna
to escape almost certain
betrayal and imprison-
ment because of his
known opposition to the
Communist regime and
public support of the
revolution. She came
after her mother and
two sisters, then ages
9 and 6, had made a
long, hurried walk to
the railroad station in

FALL 2006 1 3

Hungary, 1956

TO LEARN MORE

Read "For Me the
Revolution Started in
1955 ..." by Eva Kiss,
Personal Recollections
of the 1956 Hungarian
Revolution: A Hungarian
American Perspective,
just publislied by Kortas
Kiado, Budapest, Hungary.
President Kiss is placing
an autographed copy in
McCain Library.

To download chapters or to
purchase the book, go to:
www.freedom fighter56.
com/en_stories.html.

Budapest bearing false papers that got them as far
as Gyor,- after a taxi had dropped them off in a cut
cornfield that clawed their legs,- after Hungarian
border guards had threatened to send them to
the Russians and had stopped only because
her mother demanded that the guards, fathers
themselves, let them go. Chastised, they took the
girls' hands and walked them near the border. The
guards confided; "Don't stop to pray your thanks
at the border or you might be shot."

Eva and Barbara and Agnes walked west into
Austria and, eventually, reunited with their hus-
band and father, Sandor Kiss. A few weeks later,
they were escorted to the Vienna airport and put
aboard a World War ll-era plane for a flight to
Philadelphia, city of brotherly love.

Once in the U.S., they received green cards
and faced the challenge of rebuilding their lives.
After stints in Buffalo,
New York and Dayton,
Ohio, they settled in
New York City. Sandor
Kiss was a key witness
in the United Nations'
inquiry into Hungary
in 1957, telling his
perspective as a former
Parliament mem-
ber who had urged
eschewing revenge
as Hungary rebuilt
after the war, who had
refused to join the Communist Party even as it
asserted almost total dominance over Hungary
and who had favored the liberalization the revolu-
tion seemed to promise

Decision to Flee

It had seemed so hopeful in late October 1956
when Soviet troops had withdrawn from Budapest
and the newspapers were proclaiming a more
democratic regime and the promise of multi-party
elections.

"It was our 10th wedding anniversary and we
were so very happy," Eva recalls. But then the
Russian tanks invaded in force. The U.S. and the
U.N. declined to become involved. The revolu-
tion was over. A few days later, two students
warned Sandor that the secret police were look-
ing for him and he made his decision to flee.

After emigration, Sandor Kiss left his life
in academia he had been a professor of his-
tory to be the editor of is( Europe magazine,
published in five languages by Radio Free Europe.
The family later moved from New York to
Washington, where he joined Voice of America,
Sandor felt this was the best way to continue
to help his country. He gave courses within the
Hungarian-American community on Hungarian

literature and politics and was a lay leader in
the Hungarian Reformed churches in the U.S.
and Canada. In 1961 , Elizabeth was born. For
almost 20 years, the family's life was blessed with
the freedom and stability they had not had in
Hungary. Then Agnes died in a car accident in
1 980 and Sandor died two years later.

Sandor's public role in Hungary's history
was marked in many ways before and after his
death tributes to a man revered for his integrity
and his stalwart support of the "right" side that
is, the side of humanity. A plaque in his honor
hangs at the headquarters of his party in Budapest.
A statue of him stands in Vasarosnameny, Hungary,
his home town near Ukraine. A book was written
about him and his life from his early days as a
leader of the underground against the Nazis, his
arrest and torture under the Nazis, his days in the
Hungarian parliament and then his arrest and tor-
ture, this time by the Communist regime.

Narrow Escapes

His life story is one of narrow escapes and mirac-
ulous survival. "God can save if he wants some-
body," Eva says.

The Nazis captured him after occupy-
ing Hungary on his birthday in 1944. He was
made to walk on fire while singing the 90th
Psalm a Hungarian-Calvinist anthem. When
it seemed he'd share the fate of other Nazi oppo-
nents who were thrown into the Danube, the
Russians good guys at this point were begin-
ning to ring the city, and the Nazis let Sandor go
free to fight against Russians.

Sprung from captivity, he met a Scottish mis-
sionary cooking soup and told the missionar>' he
was coming from the front. Sandor hadn't eaten
in two days. He then met a man with a pail of
water, a friend who had edited a literary journal.
But his friend didn't recognize him at first, wasted
and bearded. The friend hid him along with
other dissidents a ragged but distinguished
company that included the future president of
Hungaiy and a clergyman who was a leader of
the underground. The clergyman gave Sandor
an armband declaring him to be a clergyman and
secreted him in a tower room high in the Church
of the Thanksgiving. There, Sandor hid with a
few others, walking down to the church cellar
at night to be fed, until one night a friend with
a hunch would not let them return to the tower
room. That night, the room took a direct hit from
the Russian bombardment. Sandor was alive, and
soon the war was over.

In the post-war democratic government,
Sandor joined the Smallholders Party and was
elected to parliament, hoping against hope
that Hungaiy would be claimed by the West
or be declared neutral like Switzerland. But it

AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

"My father used
to say, 'always
try to learn
more because
the more you
learn, the bigger
you become as
a human being.
That's something
they can't take
away from you,'"

ELIZABETH KISS, 2006
GRADUATION SPEECH,
DURHAM ACADEMY

> Barbara, Elizabeth and
Agnes Kiss

wasn't to be. Hungary fell into the communist
orbit. Sandor was wooed by all political factions,
including the communists, but he would not join
them because he was a religious man. Lenin had
had other ideas about men such as Sandor, declar-
ing that all former members of the underground
were suspect because they likely would turn
against Communist rule.

"We Will Walk"

Sandor and Eva had married on October 27, 1 946.
He was 28 and she was 19. Two days later she
asked him, "What can we expect for Hungary?"

"If the Russians leave, we will have democracy
and we will be happy," he told her. "If they stay
you will be a widow soon."

At 19, Eva already had seen her own share of
troubles and took this prediction stoically. Her
home had been obliterated by an English bomb
in the war,- she had almost been raped by Russian
soldiers. "But 1 prayed and a voice said 'Be strong
Run'." And run she did, escaping with her sister
from the soldiers.

Even so, was she prepared for what
happened after her marriage? As a mem-
ber of parliament, Sandor advocated
rebuilding Hungary without revenge
or political infighting. He was on a
fact-finding trip in Switzerland touring
small farms when Eva wrote, warning
him of a conspiracy targeting former
members of the underground. When
he returned, although
parliamentarians were supposedly
exempt from arrest, Sandor was
placed under house arrest for
several days and their house was
searched.

That first year of
marriage, they spent 58 days
together, Eva says. Enough
time, though, for her to be
pregnant with Barbara when
Sandor was sentenced to
prison in August 1947. The
stress caused Eva to deliver
early but Barbara lived.
Sandor was tortured, but
he survived. He was
released after more than
two years, and Agnes
was born nine months
later. Sandor had been
branded an enemy of
the state and could
get no job other than
hard labor building a highway
to Russia, ironically, until he earned an electri
cian's license.

He was living that life when, after Stalin's
death in 1953, political life opened up a little.
Prisoners were freed and labor camps closed.
Three years later, people's pent-up desire for free-
dom and hatred of communism erupted into the
October 1956 revolution. "The whole nation was
flowering," says Eva. But the "flowering" went too
far to suit the Soviets.

Sandor decided he must flee.

And Eva? "1 realized I can't let my two chil-
dren grow up without a father. I will stand at the
street and get a ride!" But then a railway man
arrived from Vienna with a letter from Sandor.
One train and one taxi later, beside that field of
cut corn, she bundled her girls into their coats
and scarves and told them; "It depends on you.
Will you meet your father or not? We will not
complain. We will walk "

And they did.

Katby Reyjwlds Doheiiy 67, is a public relations con-
sultant specializing in strategies for business, government
and non-profit aid programs ivith a focus on the devel-
oping loorld. She and her journalist husband live in
suburban Washington, DC.

FALL2006 15

OPENING CONVOCATION AND HONORS DAY, 2006

THE MORAL

AMBITIONS

OF AN AGNES SCOTT

EDUCATION

BY ELIZABETH KISS

16 AGNES SCOTTTHE MAGAZINE

It is my very great pleasure and honor to
welcome you to Agnes Scott College's
Opening Convocation and Honors Day.
This occasion, one of several solemn and
lovely traditions that bind us together as a
community, is our opportunity to welcome new
members of the Agnes Scott family, to recognize
our students for exceptional performance and to
celebrate the beginning of the academic year by
reflecting on the purposes of our shared enterprise.

This year, 1 have the delightful role of standing
here, a newcomer myself, to officially welcome
new students, faculty and staff. From my con-
versations with my fellow newcomers since my
own arrival on campus little more than a week
ago in the parking deck Orientation check-in
line, at the faculty retreat, in my FYI group and
in many other contexts 1 know 1 speak for all
of us new Scotties when 1 tell you that a Scottie
Welcome is a truly wonderful thing. I am so grate-
ful for the warmth, friendliness, interest and sup-
port 1 have received from people all over campus.

As I have begun to get to know the Agnes
Scott College family over the past few months,
1 have been struck, and deeply moved, by the
devotion this college inspires among those whose
lives have been touched by studying, teaching or
working here.

"Agnes Scott has the
power to change lives," one
of our students wrote in a
postcard from South Africa.

"1 found my voice at
Agnes Scott," an alumna

from the class of 1999 told me, "and even if I'm
the youngest person in the room, and the only
woman, if I have something to say 1 say it."

"My professors at Agnes Scott are giving me the
courage and confidence to pursue my dreams and
overcome my fears," a Woodruff Scholar told me.

What is it that inspires such devotion and makes
Agnes Scott, at its best, a life-transforming place?

There are of course many different individual
answers to this question, answers that focus on
an inspirational teacher, a generous mentor, an
exciting journey of inquiry in the classroom, lab,
studio or on a Clobal Awareness trip. Indeed, my
job, especially in the next few months, will be to
engage, listen and learn so that I can draw on a
deep and vivid sense of our multiple strengths as
we craft a strategic vision for the next five to 10
years. But this morning I want to reflect on one
golden strand that shines through all of our work
together and that unites the college's highest
aspirations past, present and future. We might
call this strand the Moral Ambitions of an Agnes
Scott Education.

By this I mean that that we are a community
of teaching and learning grounded in strong

core values. Or rather that we embrace the moral
dimensions of teaching and learning and conceive
liberal education itself, the goal of a liberally
educated woman, as a moral project. We not only
want to strengthen your ability to write, speak and
think critically, we also want to nurture thought-
ful and reflective commitments to honor, integrity,
responsibility, respect, courage and justice.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the
Honor Code, which we will collectively reaffirm
in a few minutes, and which 1 had the privilege of
signing, along with my fellow classmates in the
class of 2010, several nights ago. This year marks
the 100th anniversary of student self-government
and of the beginnings of an honor code at Agnes
Scott. It is particularly fitting, then, that we reflect
on this cornerstone of an Agnes Scott education.

in 1906, when Agnes Scott Institute was
renamed Agnes Scott College and the first
Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded. Dean
Nannette Hopkins proposed that students estab-
lish a student government. This timing, I believe,
was no coincidence. Dean Hopkins regarded self-
government as a fundamental marker of college
life that would set it apart from the secondary
school that for a while continued to operate on
the campus. As Elizabeth Curry Winn of the

THIS MORNING I WANT TO REFLECT ON ONE GOLDEN STRAND THAT
SHINES THROUGH ALL OF OUR WORK TOGETHER AND THAT UNITES
THE college's HIGHEST ASPIRATIONS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

class of 1907, who served on the first Executive
Committee, later recalled.

We felt that our freedom was greatly increased under
the new regime, and there was a general feeling of rejoicing,
as well as much criticism. The criticism became especially
strong when the committee had to deal with infringement of
the rides, and there were times when all of us would have
laid doion our official authority and returned to the carefree
status of private studetits.'

Winn's words capture the gift, and at times
the burden, of an honor code; it pairs freedom
with responsibility and trust with the expectation
of trustworthiness. From the very beginning, then,
an Agnes Scott education was defined by a per-
vasive commitment to a set of moral norms that
students were not only expected to uphold but
entrusted with sustaining. In the eloquent phrases
of the Honor Pledge, Agnes Scott students are
expected to "uphold high standards of honesty
and behavior," "strive for full intellectual and
moral stature," "realize [their] social and academic
responsibilities," and accept the Honor System
"as a way of life."

' M. Lee Sayrs and Christine S. Cozzens, A Full anil Rich Memure-.
100 Years of Educatint) Women at A^nes Scott College, (889-<989
(Decatur, Georgia: Agnes Scott College, 1990), p. 42.

FALL2006 17

These are heady and ambitious words. What
is remarkable about them is that they translate
into real elements of campus life today, from
unproctored and self-scheduled exams to the
Judicial Board and Honor Court. And this, 1
assure you, is not typical in the world of higher
education today. As David Hoekema wryly puts
it in his book Campus Rules and Moral Community, on
far too many campuses, "the language of charac-
ter, citizenship, and moral community is laid on
with a trowel" on special occasions. But the real-
ity behind the rhetoric, he adds, might be sum-
marized thus: We hire excellent scholars for our
faculty, maintain a good library, and fill the flower
beds for Parents Weekend, and we sincerely hope
that the students will turn out right. "^

Hoekema is right about the pervasive moral
reticence on campuses today. Columnist David
Brooks remarked on this reticence in his Atlantic
Monthly article "The Organization Kid," noting
that "when it comes to character and virtue, these
young people have been left on their own."'
Agnes Scott, I am proud to say, is not tongue-tied
about the moral dimensions of our enterprise.

The Honor Code is an important marker of
moral ambition at Agnes Scott. Let me mention
two more our commitment to educating and

THE HONOR CODE IS AN IMPORTANT MARKER OF MORAL
AMBITION AT AGNES SCOTT. LET ME MENTION TWO MORE
OUR COMMITMENT TO EDUCATING AND EMPOWERING WOMEN
AND OUR COMMITMENT TO BUILDING A DIVERSE COMMUNITY
THAT IS A LABORATORY FOR LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP IN
A DIVERSE WORLD.

empowering women and our commitment to
building a diverse community that is a laboratory
for learning and leadership in a diverse world.
Educating women to pursue their highest
aspirations is at the heart of Agnes Scott's mission.
As I said to the class of 2010 at Orientation, my
first impression of Agnes Scott and the reason
I fell in love with it is that this is a school for
smart and feisty women. Now, 1 have long felt
that feistiness itself is an underappreciated moral
virtue. But what has struck me over the past
weeks and months, from my conversations with
faculty, staff and students, is the moral passion
that animates our shared commitment to women's
education. We continue to see strong evidence
that women's colleges have an edge in educating

women for achievement and leadership, that
single-gender environments encourage women to
speak up, to pursue diverse fields, including non-
traditional ones, and to gain confidence to pursue
their dreams after college.^ The women and men
of Agnes Scott's faculty are devoted to the cause
of helping our students learn, thrive and succeed.
But the moral ambition that infuses Agnes Scott's
mission goes deeper even than this. The college's
founding mission was to educate women "for the
betterment of their region." Today, we live in
a world where regional and global boundaries
blur, a world of persistent gender inequality in
which, according to the United Nations, women
constitute two-thirds of the illiterate people
around the world, do two-thirds of the world's
work, produce half of the world's food, receive 10
percent of the world's income and own 1 percent
of the means of production.'

In such a world our world there is a
moral urgency to the education of strong, feisty
women with the skills and values to tackle
the global challenges of our times. This is the
ambitious moral vision underlying the colleges
tagline, 'The World for Women." It is, perhaps,
an outrageous moral ambition to think that a
small liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia, can
help make a dent in the complex
network of social, cultural and
educational constraints that make
women, in the words of Care
International, the world's greatest
untapped natural resource. But
outrageous ambition is nothing new
to Agnes Scott College."

One of the distmctive
strengths Agnes Scott brings to
this task is also my third example
of our moral ambition: our com-
mitment to building a diverse community that
is a laboratory for learning and leadership in a
diverse world. As Hong Le '08 put it so cleverly in
a PowerPoint presentation about diversity on our
campus, that while programming around diversity

2 David Hoc-kema, Gim/iiis Rules imlMoi.il Comimimty (Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman and LittleHeld), pp, 126-27
i David Broolis, 'The Organization Kid," The Alt,mlk Mot\thly ,
Vol.287, No. 4 (April 200 1).

4 Paul D. Umbach, lillian L, K.nzie, Auden D. Thomas
Megan M. Palmer, and George D K.uh, Women Students
at Coeducational and Women's Colleges: How Do Their
Experiences Compare?" (National Survey ot Student
Engagement, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary
Research, 1996). See also http://newsinfo.iu. edu/'newy page/
normal/ii705-html.

5 United Nations, Jlic WorU's Women 2000: TroiJs ihJ Suitistici-
Available at http;//unstats. un.org/UNSD/demographic prod-
ucts/indwm/wwpub2000,htm. See also Richard H Rohhins
Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism iLondon: .Allyn
and Bacon 1999), p, 354, and Oxfam America, "Equality for
Women, available at http;//www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/
issues_we_workon'equality_for_women.

6 I borrow the phrase "outrageous ambition " from the late
senator, governor and university president Terry Sanford, who
used it to characterize his vision for Duke University (and
noted that it is good to have outrageous ambitions for the
institutions we love).

18 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

has a price tag, be it large
or small, the opportunity
for Agnes Scott students
to form friendships and
build community within
and across multiple forms
of diversity race, cul-
ture, nationality, religion,
sexual orientation and
socio-economic status is
priceless, in the past
decade, under President
Bullock's wonderful leader-
ship, Agnes Scott made
extraordinary strides in
this regard that put us in a
distinctive place nationally
among women's colleges.
But success at building
a "priceless " community
does not come automati-
cally we have to work
to ensure that our class-
rooms, dorms, campus
spaces and organizations
welcome, nurture, and
challenge all members of
the student body, and that

we are making it possible for talented students of
diverse backgrounds to come to Agnes Scott and
succeed. What has struck me, once again, is the
honesty and moral commitment that faculty and
staff bring to this work. If we can get this right we
will have a crucial story to tell that colleges and
universities across the country and around the
world need to hear.

So, what makes Agnes Scott a life-transform-
ing place? An important part of the answer, 1 am
suggesting, is the moral ambition that infuses our
distinctive approach to honor, to the education of
women and to diversity. What unites all three of
these ambitions is their deep link to our core mis-
sion of liberal education, in a wonderful reflection
on the goals of a liberal education, historian and
environmental studies scholar William Cronon
argued recently that the purpose of a liberal edu-
cation is "to nurture the growth of human talent
in the service of human freedom" and "to nurture
human freedom in the service of human com-
munity."' Liberal education both liberates and
connects reflecting the same dance between
freedom and responsibility, critique and commit-
ment, diversity and unity, that informs all of our
shared efforts to liberate minds and shape charac-
ter. As Cronon puts it, liberally educated people

7 William Cronon, "Only Connect: The Goals of Liberal
Education," The American Scholar Vol. 67, No. 4 (Autumn 1998).
Available at https://www.aacu.org/issues/liberaleducation/
cronon. cfm.

IN SUCH A WORLD OUR WORLD THERE IS A MORAL URGENCY TO
THE EDUCATION OF STRONG, FEISTY WOMEN WITH THE SKILLS AND
VALUES TO TACKLE THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES OF OUR TIMES.

"have the intellectual range and the emotional
generosity to step outside their own experiences
and prejudices . . . thereby opening themselves to
perspectives very different from their own." They
understand that they "belong to a community
whose prosperity and well-being are crucial to
their own and they help that community flourish
by giving of themselves to make the success of
others possible."

That, 1 think, is a wonderful description of
the moral ambitions that have shaped Agnes
Scott from its beginnings and that continue to
chart an inspiring course for us in the future.

Lest I make everything sound a bit too cozy,
however, let me return for a moment to Elizabeth
Curry Winn of the class of 1907, who noted

"there was a general feeling of rejoicing, as well as
much criticism." Criticism is crucial to the pursuit
of our morally ambitious goals. A community
of integrity, an innovative incubator of women's
leadership for a diverse world: these are ambi-
tions we need to engage with and argue over. And
so, as we begin a new academic year, and as many
of you begin your careers as college students or
faculty, I invite all of you to affirm, rejoice in, but
also to engage and, if necessary, criticize, the
moral ambitions of this beloved and priceless
community.

Thank you,- may we all have a wonderful year!

Elizabeth Kiss is presidmt oj Agnes Scott College.

FALL 2006 19

Profiles

A Girls Reputation

Agnes Scott doesn't have athletes it has scholar athletes, and new leadership has
placed the athletic side on a course to be on par with the academic, by victoria f.stopp'oi

"Coach Bobbie"

Agnes Scott's stellar academic reputa-
tion is a known fact, but until recently,
its athletic reputation wasn't much
for conversation. However, under the
leadership of Joeleen Akin, athletic
director and basketball coach for a short three
years, the Scottie snarl is being heard throughout
the Southeast.

This past year's basketball team had the best
season in the school's history, winning 15 games
to 1 3 losses the previous record of most wins
was six with an opportunity to play for the con-
ference championship. The soccer team snapped
Maryville College's 34-game winning streak, the
swim team finished fourth at the Atlantic States
meet and the cross country team won the confer-
ence championship for the second year in a row.
Three coaches, including Akin, were named Great
South Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in
their respective sports.

"1 never thought we'd get this competitive
this quickly," says Cue Hudson, vice president for
student life and community relations and dean of
students. "Joeleen exceeded my expectations. She
has a remarkable passion for athletics and aca-
demics and the willingness to work very hard."

Perhaps most important in Akin's leadership
repertoire is her commitment to academic excellence.
"She built a really aggressive recruiting center
for scholar athletes who expect a quality athletic
program," says Hudson. "She totally understands
that academics come first."

No kidding. Just ask the basketball player
who was benched for bragging about procrasti-
nating on a class paper or the athletes required to
attend study hall.

"I implemented mandatory study hall for all
first-year athletes and returning athletes with a
cumulative GPA below a certain number," says
Akin. "All first-years are to attend study hall in
the library a certain number of hours each week.
I hear rumblings about this. But if they're making

a financial investment for a college education
and being a student athlete, I want to assure each
parent I am providing each athlete with the best
environment possible. "

akin's road to athletic director was shorter
than anyone expected. Two weeks after accepting
ASC's associate athletic director position in 2003,
the athletic director resigned, leaving Akin to hire
tennis and swimming coaches and a basketball
assistant. At home, things were busy too Akin
and her husband, Charles, were still new parents
to their four-month-old daughter, Bobbie.

But she quickly adapted.

"One of my first projects was to market athlet-
ics internally and externally," says Akin. "Some
programs we implemented were 'guest coaches'
at home contests and marketing home contests
by using A-frame signs, table tents in the dining
hall and yard signs outside residence halls. We
want to participate in more community service
programs in Decatur and plan to work with
Clairmont Oaks Senior Living and a local elemen-
tary school this year."

Akin isn't shy about her support for athletics
and the campus-wide benefit offered by ample
recreation opportunities.

"1 would love to see a true campus recreation
center and locker room enhancements included
with the next capital campaign. All the coaches
at Agnes Scott have passion and enthusiasm, and
the enthusiasm is contagious. We want the entire
school and alumnae to be proud of athletics, win
or lose, and I am seeing more and more pride
among all the parties. "

Akin balances her work life by spending time
with her family, playing golf, running and lifting
weights. Her husband is a loyal fan who fights
cross-town traffic every home basketball game
to watch the Scotties. And, intentional or not,
daughter Bobbie may be a Scottie in training.

"She can sing the fight song and has watched

20 AGNES SCOTT the MAGAZINE

For the glory of Agnes Scott

Cheer, Cheer, Cheer, for 01' Agnes Scott.
Scottie Spirit, that's what we've got!
When we play, we play to win
finding the strength that lies within.
We never stumble, we never fall.
We toughen up and give it our all!
When we yell, we yell like he
For the glory of Agnes Scott!

many basketball videos with me before she falls
asleep at night," says Akin. "I think she knows the
game of basketball better than 1 do. Bobbie loves
attending the other sporting events because she
can be right beside mom. The soccer team calls
her Coach Bobbie."

THE COMMUNITY IS SHOWING APPRECIATION for

Akin's changes, too. Students are responding by
supporting their friends with excitement and
creativity.

"School spirit is at the highest level ever,"
says Akin. "A group of students formed a student
spirit committee and each committee member
represents a certain sport. They are in charge
of helping market home games and spread the
excitement. The students have formed a pep band
that plays at some home contests, and we have
an exciting group of cheerleaders. We even have
a fight song now that two of our students wrote,
and we encourage our athletes go to the student
section after every win and sing it with them."

Once-empty spectator seats are now filled
when Agnes Scott women compete.

"There was not a lot of interest in athletics on
campus or in the community when I arrived," says
Akin. "A core of fans attended athletic events, so
taking attendance was easy. On-campus aware-
ness, excitement and enthusiasm for athletics
have grown. Two home basketball games sold out.
More than 400 Girl Scouts attended a home game
against Maryville College, and 400 Glenwood
Elementary students took a field trip to the game
with Oglethorpe."

A native of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, Akin

honed her recruiting and marketing skills
at Kansas State University, North Carolina
State University, UNC- Wilmington, Auburn
University and Georgia Institute of Technology.

"The biggest progress for athletics was recruit-
ing," says Akin. "Since 1 had coached on the
Division I level and worked at Division I for more
than 12 years, I understood the recruiting process
and knew we could recruit quality scholar athletes
to Agnes Scott."

Current athletes are key to recruiting.

"The class of 2008 helped bring in 3 I first-
year students," says Akin. "Our second year of
recruiting, the class of 2009 helped bring in 24
first-year students. The class of 2010 has helped
enroll 31."

Underscoring her successful development of
Agnes Scott athletics is her commitment to stu-
dents as well-rounded people. As a coach, some-
times that means tough love.

"I love my team, although they hate me most
of the time (during season anyway)," says Akin. "1
love watching these young women grow, develop
and mature each year 1 want to do the best job
possible to make sure the athletes at Agnes Scott
will be ready to face the real world when they
graduate."

Akin's vision for athletics makes the difference.

"We want athletics to reflect the college's aca-
demic reputation, and the exciting part is that we
are moving closer and closer to that vision."

Victoria F. Stopp 'oi,jonner Offce oj Communications
intern, holds a Master of Fine Arts in non-fiction
creative writing from Goucher College.

"All the coaches
at Agnes Scott
have passion and
enthusiasm, and
the enthusiasm
is contagious.
We want the
entire school
and alumnae
to be proud of
athletics, win
or lose."

FALL 2006 2 1

Profiles

Connecting Trade
with Conscience

Begun by a woman 60 years ago, the fair trade
movement has captured not only the heart and soul
of an Agnes Scott woman, but also her professional
efforts and commitment, by kathy mckee '87

TO LEARN MORE

Fair Trade Resource
Network: www.fair
traderesource.org

Fair Trade Federation:

www.fairtrade

federation.org

United Students for Fair
Trade: www.usft.org

Catholic Relief Services:
www. crsfairtrade. org

Ten Thousand Villages:

www.tenthousand

vitlages.com

People literally make gravel by the side
of the road."
For Jacqueline DeCarlo '87,
this image from her expedition to
Madagascar testifies to the human
need for meaningful work.

"They dig up big chunks of granite, which
they carry up a hill to the road. There they pound
granite into gravel and hope to sell piles of the
gravel to passersby," says DeCarlo. "But this is not
a busy road and lots of people are selling the same
things: gravel or fruit. The attempts at income
generation are amazing."

The products people grow or make and the
reasons those products thrive or fail in the mar-
ketplace are paramount concerns for DeCarlo.
Within the burgeoning global fair trade move-
ment, DeCarlo has made a mark as an educator
and organizer.

After five years directing the Fair Trade
Resource Network, DeCarlo is adviser for the fair
trade programs of Catholic Relief Services. "Our
goal is to help Catholics in the U.S. live their
faith in solidarity, and fair trade is a significant
component of our economic justice work."

The trip along back roads and through the
villages of Madagascar called Red Island for the
color of its soil gave DeCarlo an opportunity
to evaluate the potential for trade development in
handcrafts and spices.

DeCarlo's faith is integral to her professional
journey. Raised Catholic, DeCarlo found a differ-
ent spiritual home in the Society of Friends after

moving to Washington,

DC. One of Quakerism's principle tenets

led her to fair trade in the late 1990s.

"I was exploring voluntary simplicity and
other movements that examine the place of
consumption in one's life," says DeCarlo. "Part
of that exploration included a nine-month sab-
batical in Central America where 1 lived and
worked alongside people who wanted to achieve
a standard of living locally comparable to the one
1 enjoyed in the United States. They helped me
understand people need trade in their lives. How
we go about our trading relationships is what can
make a huge difference."

MANY AMERICANS GET THEIR FIRST TASTE of fair

trade through a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar.
DeCarlo's first encounter came while standing in
the groves of a coffee cooperative

"I've witnessed fair trade's impact on peoples
lives. It's a partnership that helps producers, hut
it also benefits consumers. Fair trade breaks down
impersonal exchange into a story of how a prod-
uct can bring people together."

According to the Fair Trade Federation crite-
ria for fair trade include paying a fair wage in the
producer's local context, offering advancement
opportunities and promoting environmentally

22 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

sustainable practices.

DeCarlo enthusiastically points
out that fair trade traces its origins
to the insight and ingenuity of one
woman, Edna Ruth Byler. "It started
as a vision of woman to woman soli-
darity," DeCarlo says. A Mennonite
volunteer working out of her basement,
Byler brought the products of Puerto
Rican seamstresses to women in sewing
circles in Pennsylvania in the late 1940s.
Byler's craft sales grew into Ten Thousand
Villages, the largest fair trade organization
in the U.S.

As fair trade expands, it remains true
! to its roots. According to the Fair Trade

Federation, fair trade businesses return
up to a third of profits on annual world-
wide sales of $400 million to producers in
developing countries. A significant number
of those producers and the owners of fair
trade businesses are women.

"Women have to be front and center in
order to change lives and improve conditions,"
says DeCarlo.

HONOR COURT PRESIDENT and Dana Scholar,
DeCarlo graduated from Agnes Scott with a
major in sociology and a certificate in elemen-
tary education. She later moved from teaching
social studies into the not-for-profit field focus-
ing her energy on international, social and eco-
nomic justice concerns.

When Agnes Scott launched its Global
Awareness Program in 1986, DeCarlo joined the
inaugural group traveling and studying for six
weeks in India and Nepal.

"It was an unsettling experience," she recalls.
"I had romanticized the countries, but when sur-
rounded by masses of hungry, dirty people con-
stantly begging, 1 felt repulsed."

DeCarlo was getting her first, tough lessons
in global economics.

"Frankly, I shrunk back from the dynamic of
20 or so white people plopped down in another
country to study it and observe its tremendous
suffering. I took the actions of desperate people
almost as a personal affront," says DeCarlo.

Subsequent work with refugee populations in
war-ravaged Croatia and Rwanda brought her full
circle. Facilitating solutions in coordination with
local groups, rather than merely observing, she
experienced a dynamic shift.

"Refugees are some of the most vulnerable on
the planet. Interacting with them compels acting
on conscience, which pushes you past the level of
stereotypes and allows you to connect authenti-
cally to other human beings," notes DeCarlo.

As executive director of Fair Trade Resource

Network, DeCarlo directed that organization's
consumer education on fair trade. Another
accomplishment for DeCarlo came in September
2005 with the first international Fair Trade Futures
Conference in Chicago, for which she served as
lead organizer.

MENTORING YOUNG ACTIVISTS ranks high on
DeCarlo's responsibility list. Student activism,
according to DeCarlo, has been essential to the
growth of the fair trade movement. "On the heels
of the sweat-free movement, the next wave of
activism for college students concerned about
economic justice is fair trade. Student demands
for large food service providers to make shifts
in their business models have led to other com-
panies taking notice. Students are creative and
positive. They aren't acjainst something,- they are
for something."

DeCarlo shares her experiences and stories in
her forthcoming book. Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide.
Its publication is slated to coincide with World
Fair Trade Day in May 2007. One success story
she highlights is that of Kuapa Kokoo.

Kuapa Kokoo, a cooperative of cocoa farm-
ers in Ghana, is a founding partner of the Day
Chocolate Company, known for its Divine
Chocolate brand. This summer DeCarlo attended
Kuapa Kokoo's Annual General Meeting and
observed the association's election of leaders.
Women members were prominent.

"The Kuapa women are hardworking farmers
They have a cash crop, but otherwise basically
grow what they and their families eat," DeCarlo
explains. "Throughout two days in election meet-
ings, they appeared stoic." When the difficult
deliberations concluded, the mood changed.

"Once the winners were declared, the women
led all the participants in a celebration of singing
and dancing punctuated by calls of 'pa pa paa,
'which means 'best of the best' in Twi."

Speaking to a Unitarian Universalist congre-
gation in Delaware, DeCarlo emphasized how
consumers in the global North can transcend the
boundaries separating them from producers in the
global South. "We engage in an economic elec-
tion every day. Our daily choices about how to
spend our money constitute an exercise of power.

"When we make conscious decisions about
how to spend our money on items that don't
depend on the exploitation of human labor, the
destruction of the environment, the homogeniz-
ing of culture, we are voting for the kind of world
we want to live in, and we are engaged in creating
that world."

Kathy McKee '87 is an essayist and playwright living
in Atlanta. Her latest play, Pollywog, spotlights a
young woman's solo swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

Fair trade is
an alternative
way of doing
business-
one that builds
equitable,
long-term
partnerships
between
consumers in
North America
and producers
in developing
regions.

FALL 2006 23

Long before forensics became a hot field, Susan Morton '71 was there. For 35 years,
she's been earning a reputation among an elite group of forensics document examiners.

"Here I am in my
dotage, in my
sensible shoes,
and, all of a
sudden, I've
been overcome
by coolness."

Court TV" people woo her. Hollywood
is hot on her heels. These days, every-
one wants a piece of Susan Morton '7 1 ,
forensic document analyst for the San
Francisco Police Department's crime
lab. But she's too smart, too cynical, and too
grounded to let it faze her.

Thanks to the popularity of prime-time dra-
mas like "CSI" and its many clones, interest in the
forensic sciences has grown The College Board
lists forensic science as number 10 in the fastest
growing occupations for college graduates and
predicts a 36 percent growth in the job market
from 2004 to 2014.

"Here I am in my dotage, in my sensible
shoes," says Morton, "and, all of a sudden, I've
been overcome by coolness."

She's so cool that a midseason ABC series,
"The Evidence," based one of its main characters
on her. After working with the producers, answer-
ing their questions, showing them what she does,
she was less than flattered when she watched

the pilot episode of "The Evidence" in March
and immediately recognized herself and even
some of her actual quotes in the persona of
"quirky" and wisecracking forensic scientist Dr. Sol
Goldman, played by, to her shock and horror, not
Sally Field or Kathy Bates, but Martin Landau, "it
was drivel, " she says of the short-lived show.

Morton admits to watching a few "true
detective," reality-based shows on the Court TV
network, and she has even been featured on a few
of them. But for the most part, she has "politely
brushed off all offers" that have come her way
from Hollywood. "The movie people come and
want to pay big bucks to hire you as a consultant.
They won't take your advice, they'll do utterly
stupid things, and your name will be on it."

She hasn't come this far for that to happen.

MORTON GREW UP in West Point, Georgia. Her
dream of attending Agnes Scott was almost
dashed when her father died unexpectedly. She
did manage to go to Agnes Scott, where she

24 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

earned a degree in biology with a concentration
in botany and a minor in chemistry. During
Morton's sophomore year, Sandra Bowden came
to the college as a biology professor. "I thought
she was a prospective student," Morton says of
the influential teacher who remains a close friend.

Bowden remembers Morton as an "analyti-
cal" student with a great sense of fun. "But she's
very serious when it comes to ideas and human
values things that really matter," she says. "She
cares deeply about truth."

In addition to the strong science background
Agnes Scott gave her, Morton's experience in
Blackfriars also serves her well in her career. On
stage in Dana, with no amplification, she had to
learn to project her voice a skill that has been
"very useful in courtrooms," she says.

Morton didn't give much thought to what
she would do after graduation. She simply took
the first job she was offered, a training position at
the Georgia state crime lab, where she testified all
over the state. "I've been to courthouses without
indoor plumbing," she notes.

After fulfilling her obligation to the state,
she went to work for the postal inspector in San
Francisco. Though she had only been west of the
Mississippi once in her life, she rented an apart-
ment over the phone and drove cross-country to
a place she'd never been and she stayed at that
job for 22 years. "It was a very good gig," she says
of working in a top-notch lab and honing her
document-analyzing skills while helping put away
gangsters and other criminals for mail fraud.

SEVEN YEARS AGO, shc left the federal job and the
almost non-stop travel it required, to join the San
Francisco Police Department Crime Lab. There,
she handles smaller cases (although one did
include 5,000 documents) mostly consisting of
elder abuse, embezzlements and homicides.

"Criminals are stupid," she says. "They write a
lot of incriminating letters out of jails."

One recent case is stranger than fiction
(or prime time). Morton testified in the murder
trial of a man who shot and killed a prominent
research doctor at a San Francisco medical school.
The young man, who had been in and out of jail
for petty theft, knew the doctor his mother
had worked as the doctor's assistant for years. He
had gone to the doctor's home to ask for money,
gotten into a scuffle and shot him.

But while he was waiting for the doctor to
come home, he had helped himself to some cher-
ries, spitting the pits onto the floor. Crime scene
investigators said the home was immaculate
except for the cherry pits which could have
been the reason for the argument that led to the
shooting. Although he was caught driving the
dead man's stolen car, the killer's lawyers tried to

convince the court that he was insane.

Which is where Morton stepped in, armed
with notes he'd written to another inmate that
were "very cogent." The judge ruled that while
he was sane at the time of writing the notes, he
was not so at the time of the hearing. The "cherry
picker" was sent to a mental institution.

One of the tools she uses can detect writing
on a tablet even when the paper it was origi-
nally written on is gone. She once found a bank
robber's resume, complete with his home address,
work history and references, on the note he'd
handed the teller.

"Bank robbers have to be the dumbest life
forms on the face of the earth," she says. "They
take the stupid cake. They're lucky to get over
$ 1 ,000, they almost always get caught thanks to
surveillance cameras, and they go to jail forever."

HER CAREER CONSISTS OF hundreds of other
true-life tales. There's the one about managers
of a money-vault company who were having an
affair and managed to steal $ 1 2 million after filing
false reports here and there. They're doing time,
but Morton says the money is hidden out there
somewhere waiting for them. And then there's
the Federal Aviation Administration case in which
a company that serviced small planes could no
longer afford to employ a certified mechanic. The
owner simply forged the mechanic's signature in
flight log books when maintenance was due. "A
couple of planes were ready to fall out of the air,"
Morton says. "F^e nearly killed people, just for
greed." F^e's also in jail.

Morton's sharp sense of humor helps keep her
sane. When she says she hates lawyers, you don't
quite know if she's joking or not. And, apparently,
neither do they. Recently she had an opportunity
to tell a roomful of them exactly why she hated
them. "It was better than having the doctor tell
you you're too thin and you need to eat more
fried food," she says of the experience. FHer audi-
ence of lavk^yers loved the abuse. "They're so
arrogant, they think you're talking about every-
one else," she says incredulously. "In fact, I think
they're going to invite me back next year!"

Away from the crime lab, Morton relaxes by
digging in the dirt in the yard of the two-bed-
room, "pre-World War 11 fixer-upper" she shares
with Tiki the green parrot and Earl Grey the cock-
atiel. The birds are fascinated with the phone, so
when it rings she sometimes has to "incarcerate"
them in their "slammers."

Although she's serious about solving crimes,
Morton seems to maintain her cool by never tak-
ing herself too seriously.

Michelle Roberts Matthews '91 is a freelance writer and
editor who lives in Mobile, Alabama.

The College
Board lists
forensic science
as number 10
in the fastest
growing
occupations
for college
graduates.

FALL2006 25

Staying

on Track

For many, navigating the college

experience runs fairly smoothly with
only minor glitches along the way. For an increasing number, however, mental
health problems are formidable blocks and make the college's role in student
mental health a closely scrutinized issue across the country, bylisaashmore

Viewed through the lens of nostalgia,
college life seems idyllic. Freedom,
new experiences, friendships,
romance, opportunities and slipping
the parental leash flood students,
especially the first year.

The reality is that an increasing number derail.

"I believe 1 8 to 25 can be the toughest years
of your life." says Cue Hudson '68, dean of students
for 21 years and also currently vice president for
student life and community relations. The first
staff member Hudson hired when she was named
dean of students was a personal counselor

Suicide is second only to vehicular accidents
as the leading cause of death for college students.
Nationally, the number of students reporting
serious mental illness has risen substantially.

According to a 2004 study of 339 college
counseling centers in 47 states, Canada and
Australia, 92 percent of those institutions had
an increase in students coming to counseling
already on psychiatric medications. Another 85
percent reported an increase in clients with severe
psychological problems.

Agnes Scott's Associate Dean of Students
John Lucy sees the same trend here.

'There's definitely an increase and probably
an increase in acuity and severity," he says. This
is caused partly by more students receiving treat-
ment and diagnosis earlier, thereby making

Suicide is second only to veiiicular accidents as
the leading cause of death for college students.

college possible for students who, perhaps a
decade ago, wouldn't have been able to attend.

However, the same study found that greater
use of on-campus counseling seems to have
yielded good results: when clients were asked
to evaluate their experience, 56 percent said

counseling helped them to stay in school; 60
percent said it helped them academically.

For each of two years in a row at Agnes
Scott, 60 students have withdrawn by gradua-
tion. The percentage of those withdrawing for
medical or psychological reasons was 35 percent
in 2004-2005; the next year, nearly half (46.7
percent) of withdrawals during the academic year
were for medical reasons. The deans say most
were for psychological illnesses.

In recent years, Hudson has driven a manic
student for emergency psychiatric hospitalization
and taken a gun away from another

Sometimes it takes a person in authority
saying that the point where it is no longer possi-
ble to continue without help has arrived, because
the student is in no shape to recognize what
needs to be done, she says.

Seeking a Balance

Several recent national court cases that have risen
from how colleges have handled suicidal students
have administrators seeking a balance between
helping foundering students while maintaining
equilibrium for those who have invested heavily
in the best education they can afford.

"I find working with all students satisfying
andjoyfijl," Hudson says. "But I especially find
that helping people who are struggling with some
of the tough issues, particularly psychological
issues, very rewarding."

But since an Massachusetts Institute of
Technology student set herself on fire in 2000,
colleges have been increasingly uncertain as to
how to best treat a student who may be suicidal.

In the case of Elizabeth Shin, M.I.T was
cleared in the $27 million wrongful death civil
case filed by her parents. However, the suit
against individual administrators settled out of
court for an undisclosed figure.

In August, Hunter College in New York
settled a 2004 case where a suicidal student

FALL 2006 27

returned from the hospital to find her dorm locks
changed; a security guard watched as she packed
to comply with the school's expulsion, based
on an attempt to take her own life by overdose.
(Although she herself had later called 911 for
help.) In addition to paying her $65,000, the
school also said it would change its policy on how
to treat suicidal students.

A just-settled case most colleges have
been watching involved George Washington
University. Student Jordan Notts friend com-
mitted suicide by jumping out a dorm window
while Nott and others outside the locked door
tried talking him out of it. Later in 2004, Nott
had suicidal thoughts and sought treatment at the
school's hospital; he was prescribed an antidepres-
sant and went back to school.

Depression manifests itself in a variety of
forms not going to class, isolation, overuse of
medications and eating disorders.

In less than 48 hours GWU issued a letter
barring him from campus. It also said he faced
disciplinary charges that required him to with-
draw or face suspension and/or expulsion. He says
he was penalized for being depressed and seeking
treatment; he's also said he believes the school's
stance will make other students wary about seek-
ing treatment.

Walking A Fine Line

While Agnes Scott has had a good track record
for recognizing and treating mental health
issues compassionately, those cases have the
college and most of higher education trying
to stake out a policy that recognizes each case
and student vary, while not leaving itself open to
lawsuits for acting too harshly, too soon or not
soon enough.

Agnes Scott has made several changes
designed to help students seek and receive ade-
quate treatment and to better track how students
fare after an emergency withdrawal.

This fall, the college required universal stu-
dent insurance coverage through a mandatoiy fee.
While initially unpopular because of the student
cost, the goal is to provide adequate coverage for
mental health treatment that doesn't put the
student in a Catch-22 should she have to with-
draw for medical reasons.

"It is the student's health policy," Hudson
says. "So if she feels she needs therapy, she has
her own policy that will allow her to receive
therapy."

The policy assures 1 2 months' coverage for
students, including those who feel they need
to withdraw, Lucy says, even while they aren't
attending classes. Under the previous arrange-
ment, students covered by parents' insurance were
sometimes dropped if they withdrew because they
were no longer full-time students. Withdrawal
also meant they were no longer able to receive
treatment at the Student Health Center because
they weren't enrolled anymore.

The college has also hired more counselors
and this fall opened a new Wellness Center that
provides easier and expanded access to health
services and personal counseling. For students
who require more intensive treatment, the college
has a consulting psychiatrist and refers students
who need frequent professional counseling.

In light of recent court cases, though,
Hudson finds herself a little more cautious.

"Colleges are trying right now to walk this
fine line between, 'Are you able to function or do
you need a different environment? And if you're
able to function how much support do you need
to succeed?"' she says.

Hudson also hews to advice received
decades ago.

"A wise psychology professor told me when 1
started this job, 'We are a higher education insti-
tution, not a psychiatric institution,"' she says.

"You have to realize someone has to function
both behaviorally and academically in an environ-
ment of higher education, " Hudson says. "And
if she can't function there, she needs to go and
do whatever it takes to heal and be able to come
back "

Lucy agrees that while administrators need
to be compassionate and vigilant, they also must
balance potential impact on other students.

"Agnes Scott's a
hard school, academ-
ically intense," Lucy
says. If a student has
emotional problems,
that will reflect

soon in the class- .^

room. The flip side? ^1

Hudson says profes-
sors are huge allies at
Agnes Scott in help-
ing clue the dean of
students office when

a student is having trouble. Depression is by far
the single most prevalent psychological illness
students present. Depression manifests itself in a
variety of forms not going to class, isolation,
overuse of medications and eating disorders.
High-achieving, intense women are particularly
prone to eating disorders. While the number of
ASC students who suffer from an eating disorder

^

28 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

are not that many, intervention and successful
treatment are hard.

A Titanic Wave

At a small women's institution, students tend to
circle the wagons when someone on their floor is
ill, says Lucy. "Everybody's kind of stirred up so
that's the other piece we have to think of the
impact on the community. "

For example, self-cutting has become much
more common, but the way those students exhibit
or hide their behavior varies. "One person may be
doing things that are not the greatest response to
emotional pain, but they're kind of managing it,
versus the student who's doing it and stirring up
the whole environment. Now you've got room-
mates worried or people watching it. We get sto-
ries about groups of students almost setting up a
vigil to kind of watch them," he says.

"Suicide's impact campus-wide is the most
difficult emotionally for colleges to handle. It's
every dean's worst nightmare," Hudson says. "If
you do want a balanced approach, you want to
look at the individual, you want to look at the
community and then, the North Star is we are
an educational institution. You just have to keep
that as your guiding principle.

"Those students who generally come in, up
front, to us and say, 'I'm in recovery, I have been
addicted to alcohol, or I'm recovering from an
eating disorder' . . they generally succeed very
well," Hudson says.

"If I can give advice, it is absolutely get it
documented present it to the disability coor-
dinator or to the counseling department. Be up
front with your illness and find out what support
and resources colleges have. Colleges treat this
with great confidentiality, so there's not an issue
in terms of the whole campus knowing about your
illness," she says.

Lucy says at a smaller school where most
students pass each other every day and a professor
sees a dozen students in each class, it's harder to
fall through the cracks or into isolation.

"Parents are the biggest allies in terms of
giving information to help us do early interven-
tion," Hudson says. Pay attention to changes in
communication if a student is prone to e-mail
or phone often and that suddenly stops, find out
why. If it's benign and just part of easing into
adulthood, great.

"If there's a change in behavior that says the
student is becoming more isolated or withdrawn,
or she's lost a lot of weight or she's gained a lot of
weight there are lots of clues parents can give
us. They have the 1 8-year history and we don't,"
Hudson says.

"The first semester is so traumatic, I don't
know any other word to use," Hudson says.

"Parents are too involved in everyday decisions
while students need to gain autonomy. So many
new things are coming at them new relation-
ships, parties where lots of things are offered that
maybe they should or shouldn't get involved with,
the stress of academics, time management. This
can just be a titanic wave."

"You Saved My Life"

The college is working to make medical with-
drawals less stigmatized and have less academic
impact.

While the student who withdraws is expected
to take a full semester off, her grade point average
won't be affected. Also, re-enrolling is much less
challenging than the initial application.

To reapply, the student must examine and
articulate her understanding of what led to the
need to withdraw and what she's done to deal with
it, such as evidence of treatment and counseling,
handling the demands of a job, completing classes
elsewhere or sometimes more individual emo-
tional strength training. One student trained for a
physically challenging competition.

Sometimes it may be years before she returns.

Hudson recalls an experience from about
four years ago. A Woodruff Scholar who had first
attended in the early '90s approached Hudson
after the student Honors Signing Ceremony.

"She said, 'You advised me 1 needed to with-
draw and to really get some serious psychological
help,"' says Hudson. "The student then burst into
tears and told me, 'You saved my life. I wanted to
thank you.'"

Pay attention to changes in communication if
a student is prone to e-mail or piione often and
that suddenly stops, find out why.

"That's very affirming to me most students
we advise to leave want to come back and do
come back," Hudson says. "Some of them are able
to succeed and some of them are not."

At graduation, Hudson is the' dean who
hoods each student as she crosses the dais. For
those students who've struggled, it's more than
just a gesture. "When they come across that stage,
I'm their biggest cheerleader."

"They're not always success stories, so I
would not want to leave that impression," she
says. "But the ones that do make it are hugely
rewarding and satisfying."

Lisa Ashmore is senior writer/editor in the Office of
Communications and editor o/Main Events.

FALL 2006 29

World View

Lessons from the Other
Side of the World

^^^^S^ The classroom experience was only part of the education in her
yearlong study abroad. But, then, moving into unknown territory
is nothing new for this Woodruff Scholar.

BY MELANIE S. BEST '79

WOODRUFF SCHOLARS

The Irene K.Woodruff
Scholars program is for
women beyond the
traditional college age
who wish to pursue
education objectives
in a program suited to
their individual needs.
Students enroll in regular
courses and meet the
same degree require-
ments as other under-
graduates. Since 1975, the
Agnes Scott program has
offered more than 400
women the opportunity to
pursue a liberal arts edu-
cation while balancing the
demands of a career
and family.

To learn more about the
Woodruff Scholars
program, go to;
www.agnesscott.edu/
admission/p_non-tradi-
tional/students.asp.

If Chanda Kay Atkins '07 had any doubts
beforehand, the 'D' that emblazoned her
first English paper of the term dispelled
them: attending university in New Zealand
was going to be quite different from life at
Agnes Scott.

Atkins had arrived at the University of
Canterbury in Christchurch in July 2005 to begin
a year of study abroad. She and her family of five,
who accompanied her, had already learned that
relocation to an English-speaking country did
not translate into similar lifestyles, world views or
household habits. In this context, getting socked
with a low mark on a class assignment seemed less
confounding than it might have otherwise.

Simply the prospect of undergoing these tri-
als would have cowed most people. But Atkins is
more indomitable than average. After all, she had
returned to college at Agnes Scott as a Woodruff
Scholar at age 3 1 , while managing a busy home
life with a husband and four young children.

Her determination to earn a college degree
is fueled by the same motivation that propelled
Atkins to seek a junior year abroad: a resolve to
break with the past and pave new ground.

ATKINS' WORLD, FROM BIRTH until halfway
through high school, was circumscribed by her
Appalachian surroundings in McCreary County,
Kentucky.

"My family was poor and not educated, " Atkins
explains at least until her dad set an example

and started college at age 40. "I want to end that
cycle for my children, to show them what it's like
to be prosperous and have a good education. '

She married at 18 after finishing high school
in Georgia, where her family had moved. Within
a few years, she had two children. However,
Atkins began deviating from her family pattern by
taking college courses, enough to earn her a year
and a half of credit when she entered Agnes Scott.

Atkins, a political science major planning for
law school, applied a similar dogged spirit to her
study-abroad goal. "I have a real sense of fairness,"
she says. "If a college like Agnes Scott has a study
abroad program, why shouldn't older students be
eligible?"

Jennifer Lund, ASC's director of international
studies, cheered on Atkins' pursuit of an overseas
study opportunity. "If you do this, you can pave
the way for other Woodruff Scholars with young
children," Lund told her.

While Woodmff Scholars indeed study
abroad, they do so in smaller proportions than
traditional-age students and generally for a semes-
ter rather than a full year. Two Woodmff students
besides Atkins attended college overseas last year,
one in South Africa, the other in Ireland.

But Atkins stood apart in taking along her
family. "Other students in the future will be
inspired by Chanda's example, " says Lund

Atkins focused on university options in New
Zealand, a destination that had special meaning
for her oldest children, C.J. , 12, and Kendra, 10.

30 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Their father was a New Zealander who died in
a road accident on an icy Montana highway in
200 1 , after he and Chanda divorced and she had
remarried. He had shared custody of C.J. and
Kendra and remained close to the family.

Financing the experience was another hurdle
to be surmounted, particularly given that Atkins'
husband, a mortgage broker who works from
home, would not be able to ply his trade from
Christchurch. Despite the pending financial hard-
ship, Chris backed her plans 1 00 percent. "He's
my number one advocate," she says.

"1 had to scratch and fight for all the aid 1 got,"
Atkins recalls. "It was tough and confusing" and
didn't come together until three weeks before
departure, after she and Chris had rented out
their house for the year.

THE CROWN JEWEL of her financial package was her
Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship. Sponsored by
the U.S. State Department, Gilman Scholarships
are awarded competitively to American students
traditionally underrepresented in study abroad.
Atkins was among six Georgia students to win a
Gilman in fall of 2005.

"For me, the year in New Zealand wasn't
about making me globally aware but about seeing
myself through a mirror," Atkins says.

Self-awareness crystallized right away, in
response to a cold apartment and high electric-
ity bills. The Atkins family had left Atlanta at the
height of summer and deplaned in the middle of
winter, in a place where central heating is lacking
and energy conservation a way of life.

"First, I realized I'm spoiled," Atkins says. The
family paid dearly to learn why every neighbor
hung laundry on the line to dry. "Our first month's

utility bill was $800." After that, the clothes dryer
was mothballed and shower time curtailed

She also learned that New Zealand's slow
pace, while family-friendly, discomforted her
intensely. "For the first few months, I felt panic.
We were on an island in the middle of what
seemed like nowhere."

But some aspects of life in Christchurch were
a welcome relief from the intensity of home: the
absence of crime and violence,- the ease of walk-
ing and biking to most destinations,- the palm
trees and other lush vegetation that thrive there
and draw people out of doors.

That 'D' in English stood out as the low point
of Atkins' performance at Canterbury, but it was
just one of many signs of a non-nurturing, sink-
or-swim academic culture. The English profes-
sor gave her final paper a 'B' but advised Atkins
to reconsider her decision to attend college.
"They're not into your personal growth, " Atkins
says of the professors there.

MORE ENLIGHTENING for Atkins were Canterbury's
political science and international law courses.
Even in her major concentration, professors
were unavailable for help outside the classroom,
teacher-student interaction was discouraged in
class and no allowances were made for late papers
or missed assignments.

Class at Canterbury, as at other universities
in the New Zealand and British systems, means
a two-hour lecture in a large auditorium, with
students confined to listening and note-taking
mode, or a one-hour lecture followed by group
discussion. But attendance is not mandatory and
the lecture text is posted later on a Web site. A
course's only requirements are assigned papers

"Take the

risk! It's a

stretching,

growing,

stressful,

enjoyable

experience."

FALL2006 31

World View

Tasman
Sea

AucMand^^^

1

MmW

V

i

^Km Wellington
NEW ZEALAND

ABOUT NEW ZEALAND

Location: Oceania, islands
in tiie South Pacific Ocean,
southeast of Australia.

New Zealand is a nation
of islands, including
two major islands and
multiple small ones. The
northern one contains the
capital, Wellington the
world's southernmost
capital and the country's
largest city, Auckland.
Christchurch is located on
the less populous south
island.

Geographic coordinates:

41 00 S, 174 00 E

Area comparison: about
the size of Colorado

Population: 4,076,140
Ouly 2006 estimate),
about one million less
than metro Atlanta

Languages: English and
Maori, both of which are
official

Source: CIA World Factbook

and the final exam.

"At Canterbury, if you hand in a paper
five minutes late, you get a zero. No excuses
accepted," says Atkins.

While she missed the personal touch of ASC
professors, Atkins relished the chance to study
subjects from a non-American viewpoint.

"New Zealand is big on how political deci-
sions impact the individual. Their perspective is
completely outside American nationalism. I'm a
total patriot," she insists, noting that a number
of family members serve in the U.S. military.
"But my Human Dimensions In Politics course
taught me to look at things objectively, to real-
ize that when the U.S. makes a certain decision
whether in Kosovo, Rwanda or Iraq it causes
hurt to the local population."

Fellow students and professors, many from
other nations in Asia and Africa, voiced harsh
opinions of Americans, mostly spurred by discus-
sions of the war in Iraq.

"1 found people quite hostile and judgmental,'
says Atkins. "At first it was offensive, but 1 learned
a lot about how others view our country and
our culture." These debates gave Atkins a deeper
understanding of the war and fed a desire to
pursue peace studies and international affairs.

"International law is now my goal for law
school," she says, "not necessarily to practice it
but to work at a place like the U.N."

WHILE NEW ZEALAND FOSTERED Atkins' self-knowl-

edge and sharpened her professional focus, as an
agent of change the country had an even greater
impact on her oldest child, C.J.

C.J. and Kendra attended Christchurch
public schools while 5-year-old Tre and 3-year-
old Amber, after a few months of preschool,
stayed home with their dad. (Atkins pulled them
out because viral meningitis was a threat.)

For C.j., New Zealand offered freedom to
transform himself. "FJe turned into another per-
son. FJe blossomed," says Atkins.

In Buford, C.J. had been a poor to middling
student, and Atkins even tried homeschooling
him. In New Zealand, he gained confidence,
related well to classmates, turned in good aca-
demic performance and picked up the New
Zealand accent.

Atkins attributes these changes to the schools
and teachers. Classes are small. Students wear
uniforms and most carry their lunches only
healthy food, Atkins discovered, after her chil-
dren were chastised for their cookies. The schools
provide students more free time, including 90
minutes for lunch, and fewer organized activities.

"It was a step back in time. It was the way
school was for me growing up," says Atkins.
"Teachers are not afraid to teach. They get to
know their students and are really hands-on "
sometimes uncomfortably so, as Atkins found out
when she received a phone call from C.J.'s teacher.

"She told me she would have to ask C.J. to
apologize to his class," Atkins recalls. That morn-
ing he had refijsed to join in an early-morning
swim because the water was too cold. "'I can't
allow one child to run the class', the teacher told
me. She was not apologetic about her stance."

As she reflects on this collective adventure,
would Atkins recommend it to other families?
"Only if you're stable, since it comes with many
stresses and challenges. If we weren't strong as a
family unit, we wouldn't have made it "

But no ambiguity tinged her advice to other
students: "Take the risk! It's a stretching, growing,
stressful, enjoyable experience. And it can get you
into other people's lives in a wav nothing else can."

AlcliiMjf S. Best '79, a freehina jounutlist livm^ iii Hobokat,
N.J., specializes in iiitenuitioiial business and culture.

32 AGNES SCOTT THE MAGAZINE

Agnes Scott College

Dear Agnes Scott College Community,

We reaffirm our commitment to the enduring value and power of women's colleges and to Agnes Scott College's
historic mission, rearticulated in 2002, to "educate women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the
intellectual and social challenges of their times."

When Agnes Scott was founded in 1889, it was a countercultural enterprise to provide women with an outstand-
ing liberal arts education. Today, women's colleges, and private liberal arts colleges more generally, confront new
challenges. Students face a bewildering array of choices in the higher education marketplace, and the lure of coedu-
cational institutions and of state-subsidized public universities can make it difficult for women's colleges to get the
attention of young women and their families.

But the truth is, women's colleges are extraordinary incubators of achievement. A study released in July by Indiana
University's distinguished Center for Postsecondary Research concluded that women's colleges have an edge over
coeducational institutions in supporting and empowering women in an intellectually challenging environment.
Women's colleges encourage high aspirations and provide an optimal setting for active and collaborative learning
that leads to success in subjects across the curriculum, including those traditionally dominated by men, such as
science, math and engineering.

At the same time, there is growing evidence that women students at coeducational colleges and universities con-
tinue to face subtle pressures that impede full equality of opportunity. This was the conclusion, for example, of the
Duke Women's Initiative, a 2002-2003 study that found women's intellectual and personal confidence dropped over
the course of their undergraduate years. By contrast, women's colleges build self-esteem and nurture a strong and
feisty sense of self, preparing women to be leaders in a coeducational world.

The evidence for the continued relevance and importance of women's colleges is clear. Our challenge is to get this
message out to prospective students and their families and to continue to enhance Agnes Scott's national and inter-
national reputation as an outstanding liberal arts college dedicated to the education and empowerment of women.

As we embark on a new strategic planning process, we believe Agnes Scott is poised to build on the achievements of
the past century, and particularly those of the past decade, to successfully navigate these challenges. Research con-
ducted by Hood College in 2002 concluded that three attributes were essential to the success of a women's college:
steady enrollment, large endowments and an urban or semi-urban location. Agnes Scott scores high marks in each of
these categories:

Our enrollment has grown by more than 50 percent since 1995,-

Our endowment of approximately $300 million remains one of the largest in the country for a college of our
size, ranking 29th in the nation in endowment-per-student,-

Our location in the thriving urban area of Decatur and Atlanta is a wonderful asset for our students, who can
benefit from dual degree programs with Emory and Georgia Tech, world-class internship opportunities, and
cultural programs.

Agnes Scott is ready to pursue its historic mission as a women's college with redoubled energy and (in the words of
Terry Sanford) "outrageous ambition."

Please help us spread the word about the value of a women's college education. We look forward to working with all
of you on an exciting and ambitious plan for Agnes Scott's future.

Sincerely yours.

TV^^uIA'/jT

Elizabeth Kiss Harriet M. King '64

President Chair, Board of Trustees

Edited version of an e-mail distributed Sept. 11, 2006. For complete text go to the Agnes Scott newsroom at www.agnesscott.edu.

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The ASC community enjoys meeting President Kiss following Opening Convocation. To read her speech, see page 16.