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Commencement Speaker Announced

Last night, Senior Class Officers Kate Leonard and Mariana Vanin had the honor of making the big announcement: this year’s Commencement speaker will be Melissa Harris-Perry—professor, political expert, and MSNBC host. 

The announcement was part of Senior Soiree, an annual tradition that reveals the Commencement speaker—a highly-guarded secret up until last night—and formally begins the countdown to Commencement (56 days and counting!). Senior Soiree also marks the mid-point in the Senior Gift Campaign. This year’s class hopes to achieve 75 percent participation.  After witnessing their enthusiasm and energy last night, I have no doubt that they can do it!

I am continually impressed by how our Commencement speakers are selected each year. It is a thoughtful process, driven by students. It goes without saying that their selection this year is a fabulous one. Dr. Harris-Perry is a distinguished academic and political expert, and she is an engaging speaker. I look forward to welcoming her to campus in May.

Defining Leadership

Wellesley’s Division of Student Life is launching an exciting initiative, The Wellesley Blueprint for Leadership, to engage the campus community in an important conversation on leadership.

At Wellesley, leadership isn’t just another buzzword. But what do we mean when we talk about leadership? This initiative will begin to explore the leadership qualities that are inherent in a Wellesley education.

I look forward to this dialogue and to seeing the outcome of this yearlong initiative.

Women’s Colleges for All

I feel strongly that we need more women in public leadership roles. After all, the global challenges of the 21stcentury must be addressed by women and men alike—they are too substantial to be handled by only half of our talent pool.

As I have blogged about before, Wellesley is helping to address this disparity through The Women in Public Service Project, an important new initiative with our sister colleges and the U.S. State Department.

I recently had the opportunity to write an opinion piece for The Washington Post on this very topic.

Celebrating Alumnae Achievement

Last night was a wonderful night to be at Wellesley. I joined the Alumnae Association in recognizing and celebrating three amazing women—Susan McGee Bailey ’63, Wendy Gillespie ’72, and Mary Jeanne Kreek ’58—who are the recipients of this year’s Alumnae Achievement Awards.

Each award recipient receives an oak-leaf broach, presented by the President. Here, Wendy Gillespie '72 receives her pin.

The award ceremony is always an inspirational event. I love to hear the stories of the women who receive the Alumnae Association’s highest honor, and to see so many alumnae–including past award winners– return to their alma mater for the event.

Last night was the perfect example of the power of a liberal arts education. Where else will you find on the same stage a gender and public policy scholar, an award-winning viola de gamba player, and a physician who pioneered treatment for addictive diseases? Despite their diverse interests and professions, there was a common theme among the three honorees last night: they each spoke about the twists and turns, the unexpected intersections that their lives took once they left Wellesley. As students, none of them could have imagined that their lives would have turned out the way they did.

It’s a theme I hear echoed so often from our alumnae and I hope it’s one that our students will take to heart: It’s okay to be insecure about the future so long as you trust your dreams and follow your passion.

Love at Wellesley

I am celebrating Valentine’s Day today by perusing the love letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning. The collection of the letters of these poets, which Wellesley has owned and housed since 1930, has just been digitized and made available online, thanks to a collaborative project between Wellesley and Baylor University.  The formal announcement was deliberately planned for Valentine’s Day.  (The AP reported on this love story, and it has since appeared in various national news media outlets.)

Handwritten – and beautifully written – love letters, made available for everyone to enjoy through 21st century technology.  Romance is not dead. It has just been updated by Wellesley.

Musings

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to give advice to your younger self? Hindsight is, of course, 20/20, but it’s still an interesting assignment to ponder. I recently had the opportunity to think about—and write about—this very topic in an ongoing series, “Letters to My Younger Self,” published by The Daily Muse.

I was honored to be able to contribute my advice, and to be included among such distinguished women.

Fifty by ’50: Women in Public Service Project

Clinton, Albright, Lagarde, Steinem.

These are just a few names that have become synonymous with extraordinary leadership – women who made the commitment to shaping a better world, and whose efforts have led to a world that is newly open for more women to lead. And there are so many more. Last week, more than 700 of those women gathered with Secretary Hillary Clinton ’69 and the Women in Public Service Project’s founding partner colleges—Wellesley, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and Smith. We joined together to kick off our collaborative effort to foster the world we envision: a world in which political and civic leadership is 50 percent female by 2050.

Presidents, faculty, students and other representatives from the sister colleges convened in Washington D.C. to help the Secretary launch the project. Some of the world’s most influential women joined us: Madeleine Albright ’59, the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Florence Chenoweth, Liberia’s first female Minister of Agriculture; Gloria Steinem, prominent author and activist; Valerie Jarrett, White House Senior Advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls; and Afitete Jahjaga, the first female President of Kosovo.

The Project is gaining momentum and support and was covered by CNN, Bloomberg News, and USA Today.

I mentioned in my interview with USA Today that as a scientist, I see our efforts to be like dropping a seed crystal onto a Petri dish. A seed crystal is a small beginning, but when you drop it into the right environment, it will spread rapidly, creating many new crystals. Our conviction is that by providing emerging young leaders with the tools, the networks, the training, and the support they need to lead, the process will self-perpetuate, enabling more and more strong women leaders to emerge.

We, the founding partners, see this as only the beginning. We expect many others to be involved. I hope other institutions and individuals will step up to the challenge and join us in investing in the leadership potential of women all over the world.

London Calling

I’ve just returned from an inspirational weekend in London, where I had the pleasure of hosting about 150 incredible Wellesley women who came from 13 countries for two days of exchange and dialogue, as well as a chance to reconnect with the College and each other.

One of our most distinguished alumnae, Madeleine K. Albright ’59 joined us as our special guest, and she shared her extraordinary insight on the increasing role that women are playing in advancing democracy. I had the opportunity to talk about the expanded role that I believe Wellesley will play in this complex century, and about the contributions that our graduates can and will make toward shaping our shared future all around the world.

All European alumnae were invited for opportunities to network with each other, hear from Wellesley’s faculty about current global issues, as well as learn from the perspectives and experiences of recent Wellesley graduates. The discussions were lively and impassioned.  There was a panel about the powerful impact of social media on world affairs by Wellesley and London School of Economics faculty, which was moderated by Carla Robbins ‘74, Deputy Editorial Page Editor of the New York Times.  Four recently graduated Wellesley Albright Fellows gave an illuminating panel presentation of their experience at Wellesley and following graduation. Both panels and the audience discussion afterwards were examples of the exchange of brilliant Wellesley minds at work.  I loved being there to hear it.

The past weekend is only the beginning of our efforts to expand Wellesley’s global presence—and to celebrate our connections with alumnae around the globe. It was also confirmation that Wellesley women are ready and able to address the international challenges that face us all—in large part, by engaging with each other, by putting their minds together, and by inspiring each other to develop the world’s next big innovative and multidisciplinary solutions.

(Photo credit: Bill Knight)

Visiting Japan Women’s University

Greetings from Tokyo, where it is a sunny autumn day. This past Saturday, I had the privilege of receiving the first honorary degree given by Japan Women’s University, where I addressed students, faculty, and alumnae on the 110th anniversary of this distinguished institution.  I also enjoyed the opportunity to meet with many Wellesley alumnae in Tokyo.

This is my second trip to Japan; the first was a visit guided by my former postdoctoral students, who had returned to Japan after completing immunology training at my laboratory at Yale. This time I had the good fortune to be led by Yoshiko Arikawa, President of Japan Women’s University, where I was given a tour of the campus, strolled the spectacular Izumi Float Garden, visited an analytical chemistry lab class, and enjoyed tea with young women who will be studying at Wellesley as part of our international exchange program. In the past few days I have been moved, as I was the first time, by this beautiful city with its magnificent history, and by the enduring spirit of the people I’ve met.

As I said in my speech, I have been struck by the similar philosophies, educational principles, and convictions shared by our two institutions. We are geographically separated, but Japan Women’s University and Wellesley College are sisters in our mission. The commitment to educating women has transcended any of our cultural differences throughout the last century. When Jinzo Naruse opened Japan’s first women’s university in 1901, he wanted to revolutionalize education for women in Japan—and, in turn, women’s freedom and opportunities. Similarly, soon after the visionary Henry Durant opened the doors to Wellesley in 1875, he declared, “The higher education of women is one of the great world battle cries for freedom, for right against might.” Our links are very direct.  Jinzo Naruse spent time at Wellesley College in the late 1800s, and he was inspired by what Henry Durant had accomplished.  He returned to Japan and founded JWU.

I also noted in my speech that Japan Women’s University and Wellesley College share an important history of educating women who make a difference in their communities and the world—but we share an even more important future. In these complex and perilous times, we need great leaders. And in the 21st century, women will have to be full partners leading with men, active designers and architects of a new, global society. The world’s leadership core emerges from the educated, from those who are lifelong learners. Wellesley women and the women of Japan Women’s University are among a core group who will take the lead to make the world a better place.

On my final day in Tokyo, just a few days before Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the partners we have in institutions like Japan Women’s University. I am thankful to President Yoshiko Arikawa for the kindness she has shown me during my time here. And I am inspired by the better future I can envision, which will be made possible thanks to the voices, perspectives, and ideas of the women we will send out into the world. Together, our institutions will continue to work to provide the great women leaders that are so desperately needed.