It is August, the last month of summer. In just a few weeks, we will be welcoming students and faculty back to campus, and greeting our newest class—the purple Class of 2018.
In anticipation of this, I am starting to prepare my remarks for Convocation, the ceremony that marks the start of our new academic year. And I need your help! My talk this year will concern the relevance of a women’s college today. I would love to hear from students and alumnae: What does Wellesley mean to you?
I invite you to include your thoughts in the comments section below, or via Twitter: @hkbottomly.
From the perspective of an older person, attending Wellesley insured that I would have, all through these many years, bright & intelligent people in my life… They carried over from the actual college years when we were together – students in one’s crowd(s) & in various activities & in departments where we shared classes… They were a constant with which one could touch bases if one chose to… They were & are thinking people… as is evident as we exchange views & provide support on the W58 Sister List, Susan Klee’s excellent invention… This, more than I can explain, has been reassuring… It is not to suggest that intelligence does not exist outside Wellesley… Nor that people whose strengths are in areas not particularly intellectual are second rate… It is only to note that there was – & is – comfort to be had in having Wellesley thinkers & doers as part of one’s life… as friends, as acquaintances, & as – shall we say? – instructors…
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Now, I cannot resist reprimanding you for referring to August as the last month of summer… Lopping three weeks & some days of September from summer does strike me as a bit high-handed… & some of us so cherish summer, we don’t want to hear of it being reformatted… We need it all… even if we are proud grads of Wellesley…
Thanks for your comments–just what I was looking for.
As for summer, you are correct, of course. I use a more subjective definition, or perhaps a more academic one. For me, fall begins when the first year students arrive.