SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE MAGAZINE POLICY the Magazine Aims to Present Interesting, Back to School Events 3 Thought-Provoking Material
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FALL 2017 VOLUME 87 NO. 2 Meredith Jung-En Woo the College’s 13th president Dear Alumnae and Friends: utumn at Sweet Briar is nothing less than spectacular. The early morning view from Sweet Briar House, looking south across campus toward the Blue Ridge Mountains, is of a gentle mist hugging the mountain range. It is October, and the temperatures Aare beginning to dip, even as humidity remains unusually high. We can thank the trees for the “blue” in Blue Ridge—they release isoprene that deepens the hue. As shades of yellow, orange, and red begin to emerge, I am reminded that there is both a science and an art in the turning of the leaves, a combination of environmental science, biology, chemistry, physics, human psychology, and visual arts. This cycle in nature drives internal reflection. It is a temporal landmark of change and in particular new beginnings. This fall, the College embarked on its own set of changes and new beginnings. As you know, in September the College announced that our faculty are designing a new core curriculum focused on leadership and three centers of excellence dedicated to addressing contemporary problems in our increasingly complex global society. We recognize that much like the art and science of the autumnal season, the liberal arts must be increasingly interdisciplinary, collaborative, and interdependent. With your support, Sweet Briar will continue to produce women of consequence, as the College has done for over a century, by preparing students for a world that is now more diverse, global, and with power and influence more decentralized and multitudinous—a world that needs more Sweet Briar alumnae. Very sincerely yours, Meredith Woo President VOLUME 87 NO. 2 Contents New Branding 2 SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE MAGAZINE POLICY The magazine aims to present interesting, Back to School Events 3 thought-provoking material. Publication of material does not indicate endorsement France Awards the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor to of the author’s viewpoint by the magazine Claude Becker Wasserstein ’82 4 or College. The Sweet Briar College Mag- azine reserves the right to edit and, when Sweet Work Weeks 8 necessary, revise all material that it accepts for publication. Contact us at any time. Meet Our New Students 12 MAGAZINE STAFF Fletcher Oak Lives on in Academic Mace 13 Phyllis Watt Jordan, editor Meredith Woo: Envisioning the Path Forward 14 Jane Dure, editor The Plan: Academic Repositioning and Tuition Reset 18 Clelie Steckel, director of annual giving/ Sweet Briar Fund, managing editor Living with Art Initiative 19 Nancy Marion, lead designer With a Scholarship and Her Upcoming Autobiography, Cassie Foster, photographer Anna Chao Pai Pays It Forward 20 Contributors: Jennifer McManamay, Janika Carey, Sarah Clement, Amy Campbell Stewardship of Campus Lands Lamphere, Fran McClung Ferguson, Lorie Teeter Lichtlen, Ethel Ogden Burwell, Translates to Student Learning 22 Patty Snodgrass Borda Mullins, Eleanor Honors Summer Research 2017 24 O’Connor, and Amy Leigh Campbell Thank You for Being a Friend 26 Contact information Office of Alumnae Relations Curating the Senate: Through the Eyes of an Art Historian 28 and Development P.O. Box 1057 Sweet Briar, VA 24595 Capturing the White House in a Souvenir Spoon 30 (800) 381-6131 Going, Going, Gone for SBC! 31 Meredith Woo, President Talbots Joins the Cause 31 FIND SWEET BRIAR ONLINE Women of Consequence 32 sbc.edu Departments: On the Quad 6 In Memoriam 35 Class Notes 38 At Reunion, from left: Elizabeth Kistler ’88, Christina Lytle ’88, Lezlie Pinto ’87, Kristen Lowrey ’87, Heather Buerger ’88, Jill Stryker ’87, Pam Barkley ’87 Find your At Sweet Briar College, you’ll uncover everything that makes FIERCE. you amazing — and own it in ways you never thought possible. Meet our students at sbc.edu/fierce This fall, A contemporary blue now complements Sweet Briar’s pink and green colors, Sweet Briar launched while high-impact photography and “Find your FIERCE,” compelling messages announce to a new marketing the world: We educate women who campaign and fresh are smart, confident, unafraid to take on big challenges, and who lead look, to update our lives of consequence in their homes, unique brand. communities and in the world. 2 SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE sbc.edu HOUSTON CHICAGO DALLAS KNOXVILLE ATLANTA BOSTON NEW JERSEY CENTRAL OHIO BACK TO SCHOOL EVENTS DS A CHARLOTTESVILLE DC/NOVA MPTON RO MPTON A SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE | SBC.EDU 3 H ON SS BE R A OSC France Awards the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor to Claude Becker Wasserstein ’82 4 SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE n October, Claude Becker Wasser- young Parisienne at Sweet Briar, as a for- on those skills. She spent 10 years at CBS stein ’82 received the Chevalier of the eign correspondent and producer for CBS News, notably covering the Iran-Iraq war Legion of Honor, one of France’s highest News, and as the wife of one of the most from Dubai and the conflict in Northern awards, at a ceremony at the French well known bankers in the world. Claude Ireland from Belfast, before moving to IEmbassy in New York. continues to rely on them now, as a mom New York as a producer for the program Pinning the insignia, French Ambas- looking at college options for the children “48 Hours.” There, she covered societal sador to the United States Gérard Araud in her care and as an angel investor looking issues, including poverty and gun control, said, “A thoroughly global citizen, Claude for ways to make the world a better place. and won an Emmy Award for a segment Wasserstein has demonstrated a strong With an American mother and a on healthcare. commitment to international and Fran- French father, Claude was raised in a cozy What else did she get from her expe- co-American relations and has consistently Paris suburb and the French school sys- rience at Sweet Briar? She lists, rapid fire: served as a bridge between our two cul- tem. She arrived at Sweet Briar to connect deep friendships, analytical capabilities, tures. We are extremely pleased to recog- with her American roots. Her mother had and an appreciation for art in all forms. nize her outstanding achievements, which heard about the College from a women’s “My art history teachers at Sweet Briar have been profoundly charitable and have association in Paris, where it was known were more demanding than those for my served to foster dialogue between France for its academic excellence and Junior Year master’s studies at the École du Louvre or and the United States.” in France program. The college’s small size Sorbonne,” she says. “They taught me to The ambassador highlighted organi- and rural location provided a safe setting analyze works from multiple perspectives, zations for which Claude has been an for a young woman to start discovering the to try to understand the influences, the active fundraiser—the Met International world. context and the artists’ objectives. That Council, WNET Channel Thirteen, The At Sweet Briar, Claude majored in art approach served me as a journalist and Brick Church Summer Steps Program, the history, minored in math, and learned to continues to serve me as an investor.” King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, live with classmates from the Middle East Claude’s company, Fine Day Ventures, Jordan, and the American Hospital in Paris and South America, as well as from Europe focuses on disruptive technologies with Foundation, among others. He also noted and across the U.S. “Sweet Briar was very potential for positive social impact. To that she has spearheaded many of her own diverse and cosmopolitan for a small wom- date, it has stakes in 50 startup compa- initiatives aimed at enhancing various en’s college,” she notes. “It’s a place where nies, in fintech, medtech, energy and communities. interesting people come together.” aerospace—“sectors with the potential to “Both the U.S. and France are pro- She adds, “Coming from Paris, I had to reshape the world,” as Claude puts it. foundly lucky to have someone like you adjust to a different culture and learn how Like most alumnae, Claude realized who is so devoted to supporting charitable to navigate among people with different how important Sweet Briar was to her efforts in the community,” Araud said. backgrounds and perspectives. It broad- when she heard about the planned closure. Indeed, speak with Claude for any ened my own perspective and made me “I thought, ‘This can’t happen!’ Sweet Briar length of time and the words you’ll hear interested in the wider world.” is such a great college and more relevant most are “analysis,” “engagement,” and She also learned to ask questions than ever today, when women are still “impact.” These are her hallmarks, her and express her thoughts—something fighting to be treated equally. It’s a place approach to life, her strategy in business. not encouraged in French schools—and where your voice counts and you can help They are qualities she cultivated as a subsequently built an international career shape the future.” Sweet Briar is such a great college “and more relevant than ever today, when women are still fighting to be treated equally. It’s a place where your voice counts and you can help shape the future. SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE” | SBC.EDU 5 QUON THE AD NEWS AND NOTES AROUND CAMpUS New Computer Science Program Receives Accreditation The Southern Association of Colleges able to accomplish that as well. I am science majors include engineering de- and Schools Commission on Colleges happy to say that we are all set.” sign, which features some Arduino pro- (SACSCOC)—the regional accrediting The College began working early gramming and a team-based approach body for higher education institutions in 2016 with Harvey Mudd College—a to problem solving, as well as calculus in the South—has notified Sweet Briar’s leader in STEM education among and statistics.