Class of 1980 Newsletter January 2022

Check out all the updates from Class President Lottchen Shivers and the other officers. Read about upcoming virtual discussions, our class participation, our two Alumnae Achievement Award winners Robin Chase and Darby Dyar, and how to keep in touch right here or via our class Facebook group.

 

January 10, 2022

Dear wonderful classmates,

Happy New Year! We are sending love to all of you as we round the corner into two years of navigating our lives during a pandemic. We look forward to hanging in there together in 2022 and connecting with everyone, both virtually and in person (as Covid allows). 

We already have some plans cooking for this year, based on discussions we’ve had at our two virtual class mini reunions. We will have three virtual discussions this year, beginning with one this Saturday, January 15. 

Virtual discussions: 

January 15 — Families with children and siblings with special needs. Classmate Marcia Saunders Scheiner, founder of Integrate Autism Employment Advisors, a nonprofit that helps employers identify, recruit and retain autistic professionals, and an author on autism employment, will facilitate the call. Classmate Lucille Rossi, who is an active parent in the disability community, will share her expertise. Lucille works on Transition Programs for the Westchester Institute for Human Development (part of the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) and is a member of three Disability Advisory Boards. If you would like to join this discussion, please RSVP here. (Update: View past event.)

April 30 — Retirement. Details to come. (Update: View past event.)

Fall — Aging parents and their care. Details to come. (Update: Date is Sept. 11 and details are here.)

If you would like to lead or co-lead either the retirement or aging parent discussions, or if you have a topic to suggest, please contact Lisa Blank Braun at braun.lisa@gmail.com.

We will also have another general virtual mini reunion for our class. They have proven to be a strong glue for our classmates and boosted our collective spirits. We would love to see classmates who have not been able to join the two earlier virtual mini reunions. We’ll keep you posted on the date.

Local in-person mini reunions in the Boston area have proven to be a real boon when they’ve been possible this past year. We hope that classmates in other areas of the country will take up the gauntlet and host a local gathering, again, Covid permitting. Lisa can help you get things rolling. 

Our class Facebook page and Class of 1980 page on the alumnae website are both terrific ways to stay in touch and share your thoughts, encounters and memories. 

Your class notes have been so amazing to read that Nancy Buck McCormick is planning to post them in their entirety on our class page on the alumnae website, which is private. (She will be in touch for your permission before posting anything.) We encourage you to read these letters. There is a lot happening in our lives and we hope we can all find support in sharing what we’re experiencing and learning. The next deadline for class notes is February 28 for the Spring (May) issue. Please send notes to Nancy at nbmuus@verizon.net. Other deadlines are: May 1 for Summer issue (July), September 1 for Fall issue (November) and  December 1 for Winter issue (February). 

HATS OFF!

Our class participation level in giving to Wellesley is on the rise! In fact, the Class of 1980 was 4th out of 76 classes, with 30 contributors raising $5,211 for Wellesley’s second annual fall Day of Giving to the Wellesley fund in November 2021!

Consider giving — Our goal is to build our class participation every year and get to over 50% participation by our reunion in 2025. We reached 41.8% participation in 2021 and are aiming for 45% by June 2022. A gift of any size, from $1 to $1 million, is counted in participation numbers. For online gifts, please go to wellesley.edu/give to give to the Wellesley Fund, which provides critical and flexible funds that can be used to address urgent needs and seize unique opportunities. Note that once you make a donation to Wellesley, fundraising letters from the college stop until the next fiscal year begins. Wellesley’s fiscal year is July 1 to June 30. 

Volunteer — Can you help with fundraising? If you can donate a few hours a few times a year, please contact Andrea Furey at andreafurey@msn.com. 

STAY CURRENT WITH YOUR CLASS AND CLASSMATES  

Keep up with our classmates in between mini reunions and class notes with our class Facebook page. It’s fast, fun and private.

Keep your contact info current by emailing changes to recordupdates@wellesley.edu. Or make updates yourself by logging into alum.wellesley.edu and clicking “Update your Profile.” (Requires Wellesley username and password.)

KUDOS TO OUR ALUMNAE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Congratulations again to our awesome class and classmates Robin Chase and Darby Dyar, back-to-back recipients of the Wellesley Alumnae Achievement Award. You can watch the awards here: Robin Chase (2021 recipient) and Darby Dyar (2020 recipient). Note: Robin, co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, and a transportation innovator, was also the (virtual) commencement speaker for the class of 2020!

A BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed to our class in joining reunions; mentoring potential new students; sending donations; sharing your news, support, talents and brilliance via our class social media; and giving in many other ways this past year. This kind of outreach makes a lot of difference during difficult times. 

In appreciation and with a big 1-9-8-0-Wellesley rah! — your class officers,

Lottchen Shivers (lottchen.shivers@gmail.com)

Lisa Blank Braun (braun.lisa@gmail.com

Nancy Buck McCormick (nbmuus@verizon.net)

Mary Flannery (maryaflannery@hotmail.com)

Andrea Furey (andreafurey@msn.com)