President's letter

President’s Letter December 2023

Greetings to you all at this busy and happy time of the year.  Your class officers met via Zoom on Nov. 27 for a delightful conversation in which we reviewed past events and began to plan for the coming year.

Scarlet Letters continues to inspire us, thanks to the tireless efforts and talents of Claudia Bushman and Sheila Monks.  They are willing and eager to continue in their editorial roles, but they need material to work with.  Please send them your writings, drawings, musings, critiques, photos, anything that you know or even suspect may be of interest to our classmates.  Or even if you don’t know or suspect, let them be the judges!  Email addresses are claudia.bushman@gmail.com, and smonks341@gmail.com.

The same must be said of our website.  Toni Liebman has been, and still is, a tireless and talented manager. Please send items to her about your hobbies, your volunteer work or anything else at toelieb@aol.com. 

Our secretaries, Bev McCoid and Toni Caviness, are continuing to send notes of condolence to the families of deceased classmates.  This can only be done, however, if they have a verified notice of the classmate’s death from the college.  This is where we can help.  If we have verifiable information about a death, such as a local obituary notice, or a local organization’s notice, please notify Emily Carey in the college alumnae office, ecarey5@wellesley.edu, or by telephone at 781-283-2398, and she will get in touch with Bev and Toni.

It is wonderful to report that our two scholarship funds are healthy and helping to support students who need financial aid.  The following figures were reported as of June 30, 2023:

            Coretta Scott King Fund: Market Value, $2,199,228.32; Estimated Income Distribution available for FY24, $84,840.87

            Maud Hazeltine Chaplin ’56 Endowed Scholarship Fund: Market Value, $432,485.32; Estimated Income Distribution available for FY24, $16, 693.88

Forty-four  classmates including 10 Durant Society Members have made gifts to Wellesley since the start of FY24 (July 1, 2023) totaling $92,483.00,  Our donor percentage stands at 20.7%.  Thanks to you all.

We had a lively and productive discussion about planning another series of Zoom mini reunions next spring.  There was a very positive response to the Zoom minis of ’23, organized by Vice-President Maya Pearcy, and hosted by her and Web Manager, Toni Liebman.  We hope to build on that enthusiasm in planning the next round over the months of March and April, 2024.  Current thinking is that we will spread the Zooms over more time, perhaps the entire months of March and April, and provide plenty of advance notice and clear directions for signing up.  Watch for the first notices which will come to your email addresses, and make your plans to join in.  Several classmates participated in more than one session last year, and that may be possible again, but with preference given to those who can attend only one session. 

Please let us know what we can do to help you feel more connected to our class and to our college.  That is the purpose and commitment of your board of officers. You can contact me directly at djasmoore@gmail.com  or by phone at 603-998-6484. I am always happy to hear from a classmate!

With all best wishes for a healthy, happy holiday season and new year.

Anne Sinnott Moore, President

Writing for your Board of Officers:

Marian “Maya” McGrath Pearcy, Vice-President:  Beverley Baldwin McCoid & Joan “Toni” Gallicchio Caviness, Co-Secretaries: Toni Holland Liebman, Web Manager: Margaret “Polly” Shaw Dean, Class Representative: Jane Kentnor Dean, Special Gifts Representative:  Claudia Lauper Bushman & Sheila Owen Monks, Co-Editors “Scarlet Letters”