Groove is in the Heart Yoga, May 22nd

Among the many wonderful events we have planned for our 15-year reunion attendees is an Anusara-inspired yoga class with Amy Reed, '05. Amy is my yoga teacher and she is *very* special, magical even. On the exact 15-year anniversary of our commencement, we will gather at Studio Helix in downtown Northampton for a "Groove is in the Heart"-themed yoga experience. I hope you can join us for this afternoon of open-hearted yoga practice.


2:30-4pm, Friday, May 22nd at Studio Helix in Thornes (downtown Northampton). "Groove is in the Heart" Anusara-Inspired yoga class led by Amy Reed '05. Free to members of the class of '94 and guests. (Children over 13 permitted.) All equipment will be provided. All levels, from complete beginners to instructors, are welcome. Even if you are pregnant or have an injury or physical limitation, please receive our invitation to come. Even just sitting or lying on a mat, experiencing your breath, is yoga. And to do yoga in a room full of Smithies is particularly powerful. (I know because I do it every week!) :-)

No special clothing is needed, although wearing something you can bend, lie down, and move in comfortably is best.

You do not need to RSVP, but to get a sense of numbers, it would be helpful if you dropped me a note to tell me you plan to come (and whether you'll bring a guest). Our yoga supplies are limited, so if you have your own and can bring them, please do. They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. (E-mail me at graychase at gmail.com.)

Our yoga equipment is provided by the college and we will need a volunteer or two to help transport it from the gym to downtown and back again, before and after class. There's a special surprise in it for you. Let me know if you'd like to sign up.

"Anusara" means, "flowing with grace," "going with the flow," and "following your heart," which is one of the reasons we've chosen it for our Groove is in the Heart reunion. It is considered "heart-oriented" yoga, and students are often instructed to do their poses from the inside out.

Anusara was founded by John Friend in 1997, three years *after* we graduated, which feels sort of amazing to me. It seems like it must have been around forever, and yet...not even as long as we've had our diplomas.

For those of you new to yoga, despite its emphasis on "grace," yoga is not a religion. It has elements of philosophy and spirituality, but it does not seek to conflict with or necessarily replace any organized faith. It is purely life-affirming, loving, and balancing. As essential as breath. When we practice being open to grace, we can mean many things--you may interpret this as being open to God, for instance--but most simply put, it is the practice of being open to the inherent goodness in yourself.

Anusara yoga teaches us shri (life), satya (truth), svatantrya (freedom). At all times, most importantly, you just bring what you have. You may bring your faith or your struggle; you may bring anger or fatigue; you may bring joy and delight; you may bring grief and doubt. Whatever you have to bring on that day, bring it. Open to it. Love it. And you are doing (Groove is in the Heart) yoga.

If you want to learn learn more about Anusara yoga, this site offers a good description. The official Anusara site is here. And our classmate, Andrea Ferretti, is an editor at Yoga Journal, a magazine and Web site which serve as an excellent resource for curious or aspiring yoginis.

Tour the first building on campus named after a corporation

During reunion, the college is offering "hard-hat tours" of the under-construction Ford Hall. Currently scheduled to open in January 2010, the building will be the largest in all of Northampton and was vehemently opposed by residents of Northampton.

President Carol Christ blazed ahead, however, and demolished an entire neighborhood of historic homes and the only naturally occurring affordable housing in Northampton--which also had the benefit of being walkable to town, thus reducing greenhouse gases and encouraging a walking and biking lifestyle.

The college has also built a newly opened and operational co-generation plant, which alumnae can tour on Friday May 22nd. Tours require preregistration through the AASC Reunion Resources Web site (not yet available).

Participants in either tour are urged to wear comfortable shoes because there will be lots of walking and stairs to climb. Hardhats will be provided on the Ford Hall site.

View photos of the Green Street neighborhood before it was demolished by Smith here.

Reunion Specifics

Kirse writes: For all those inquiring minds, here are our campus space assignments for our reunion in May! See below for some early details.

Reunion housing

For those who are staying in the dorms, we have been assigned Comstock/Wilder, and will be eating breakfast in Cushing/Emerson.

Last year's cost for three nights in the dorm was $135, which includes breakfast. (We assume this year will be roughly the same.) Our class headquarters will be in the Comstock Living Room.

Reunion dining
Friday's cocktail hour/dinner will be held at Davis Center, outside on the lawn if weather cooperates, and will feature a family-friendly BBQ menu ($35 per person).

Saturday's cocktail hour/dinner will be at the new Campus Center, a lovely buffet meal with something for everyone ($40.50 per person). And yes, don't get us started on how stupidly expensive that is--the college that we all love can be a bit inflexible when it comes to its catering
price structure.

(Naomi says: If you feel irked by the limited dining options presented to us at every reunion and/or the steep cost, drop a note to Samantha Pleasant at the AASC SPLEASAN@email.smith.edu and let her know! The Class of 1999 and I fought hard for more affordable and family-friendly options--like a pizza party--at the training, but we were completely shot down by the powers-that-be at the AASC who cling to the notion that all alumnae want a formal, expensive, three or four course sit-down dinner or buffet as their class meal. Maybe if they hear from more people, they will change their tune?)

Class meeting (with elections)
Our Saturday afternoon class meeting will be held at class headquarters (Comstock).

Get registered
Reunion registration materials should be arriving in mailboxes by the end of February/beginning of March. Be sure to try to beat the early bird deadline at the end of March to save a little money.

Class fees
In addition to whatever housing and meals that you choose, there will be a $40 class registration fee. Any questions about logistics or any other reunion-related matters--feel free to e-mail us at
smithreunion1994@gmail.com.

Miscellany
As always, you can search this site using the search box above. Previous posts cover things like childcare and the search for new class officers--who will be elected at reunion. You can also find a list of the people who have told us they are planning to attend reunion by clicking the link to the right.

Danielle Drumke '95 Remembered in "Glamour" Magazine

Amy V. Smith '94 wrote recently to tell me that she'd read a beautiful article in Glamour magazine (of all places!) about Danielle Drumke, who many of you knew at Smith.

I ran right out and bought a copy and the essay written by Danielle's sister, Mila, is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. You'll find it beginning on page 239 of the September issue of Glamour. And yes, Smith College--and Danielle's bulging scholarship fund--are mentioned! [The image above was nabbed from Danielle's Web site.]

Even now, her friends and family unite around their love for Danielle at her Web site.

Below is an excerpt from her Updates page (11.15.00):

>>>Big discounts: Naomi Graychase shares a recent story
On November 2, I was out at Club Q, the big, all-girl club that happens once a month here in the city. I should have been, but I wasn't at all surprised to see Danielle there. I wimp out on Q if I have so much as a blister, and there she was, fresh from brain surgery, standing at the bar. She greeted me as enthusiastically as ever. She looked great, although a little puffy. Later, she removed her baseball cap to show me her fuzzy head and tremendous scar. It looks like a shark bit her.
She'd already been waiting for a long time for the bartender to notice her. I have no idea what his problem was, but he waited on people to her left and to her right and wouldn't even acknowledge her. Someone else may have gotten upset. I'm sure she was tired, and all she wanted was a freakin' Gatorade. But she never lost her cool. She started cracking jokes about how if we told him she had brain cancer, maybe he'd give her some service. I suggested that she carry a small sign around with her from now on for just that purpose--she'd never have to wait in line for the bathroom or be ignored by a bartender again. She told me a story about going to Ben and Jerry's the night before her surgery. "I told them I was having brain surgery the next day," she said, "and they gave me a discount." "A discount?" I shouted over the music. "Yeah." I thought about this for a minute. "How much is the discount for brain cancer at Ben and Jerry's?" "Fifty percent," she said with a grin.
In the end, Danielle got some other girls to buy her Gatorade from a different bartender, but she got it, and made friends in the process. For me, it was an amazing experience, a slice of Danielle's life. She came out to a dance club, even though she was recovering from major surgery and facing the prospect of radiation in the next few days. She cracked jokes and made me feel completely at ease, demonstrating so clearly that on a day to day basis, having a sense of humor, a generous heart and a love of life and music will draw caring, supportive people and little miracles to you. I feel blessed to know her and to witness, even at a distance and in glimpses, her strength, honesty and most importantly, good humor.>>

Not long after Danielle was diagnosed, I wrote to the Alumnae Quarterly asking them to let me write a story about Danielle and the phenomenal outpouring of love and unity that her illness inspired among hundreds and hundreds of Smithies. They turned down the story idea. I plan to write to them again and ask that they reconsider. It's a shame it won't have happened before Danielle passed away, but her story is glorious--and raised more than $100,000 for Smith! If you believe the AQ should run a story, please take a minute to let them know that. I'm going to drop Mila a note and see if she retained the re-print rights to her essay...perhaps the AQ could run it. (If they've run one and I missed it, someone tell me!)

You can submit an idea to the AQ here.

Are There Too Many Women in IT?

A contributor to another site run by my parent company, Jupitermedia, wrote this opinion piece about women in IT fields. I'd love it if any of you who disagree with his position--or could offer him some insight about your experience in IT--would drop him a line.

The column is at: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/11067_3746501_1.

To reach him, click on his byline.

Smith Alumna is Superdelegate

While I'm supporting the other Democractic candidate and therefore disappointed in this news, I still thought it was exciting to read that a Smithie is a superdelegate: Lauren Wolfe '05, who is now a student at Detroit Mercy Law School, will be casting her superdelegate vote for Barack Obama.

I should probably mention that Kirse is drinking the Obama Kool-Aid, so she'll be happy.

Details below.

THE CAPITAL TIMES, WI, May 14, 2008
Obama snags another Wisconsin superdelegate
On the basis of a poll posted on YouTube.com that asked young people to tell them to commit either to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, Smith alumna Lauren Wolfe, College Democrats of America (CDA) president and Awais Khaleel, CDA vice president -- say in their capacity as superdelegates they will vote for Obama at this summer's Democratic National Convention.

Women Battle "Macho" Culture in Science and Tech Professions

This article from last Thursday's NEW YORK TIMES, discusses a study by the Center for Work-Life Policy to be published in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review, which paints a portrait of a macho culture in the science, engineering, and technical professions, where women are outsiders, and where those who do enter are likely to eventually leave.

Engineering has risen to become the fifth most popular major among Smithies. Smith is the first and only U.S. college to offer an all-women's engineering program.

The new Ford building, the location and size of which I strongly opposed, has struggled to find funding and is not yet completed. It is the first building on campus named after a corporation. It will be the largest building in the entire city of Northampton. It will be the permanent home of the Smith engineering program, as well as home to other sciences.

Perhaps if it does help women to obtain a stronger and more permanent foothold in engineering and the sciences, it will have been worth the terrible price Northampton and the Smith campus have paid for its construction.

Related post:

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

I don't know if the author of this piece is a Smithie, but she exudes a Smithie spirit. This opinion piece was published today by one of my colleagues at Jupitermedia. If you have a career in IT, have friends that do, or you have some other career that combines geekdom and creativity, this is worth a read. (It's also relatively short.)

Enjoy.

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

Naomi's Thrift Blog in the Press

I write a blog called "Thrift" that is a "clear and simple guide to saving money."

I discovered today that it was referenced in a feature story (part of a six-part series) by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram on March 23rd.

If you'd like to read the article, click here.

Marjane Satrapi to Speak at Smith April 3rd

Marjane Satrapi, whose autobiographical novel about the Islamic Revolution, “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood,” was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated animated film of the same name, will speak at Smith College at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 3. More info here.

A Room Full of Women of One's Own

Twice a week, I take a yoga class at Smith. The classes are included in my alumnae gym membership, and while it's a stretch to leave work in time to make the 5pm start, I am deeply committed to them and have only missed them when truly sick or severely injured. (I even returned to class just three weeks after severing my ACL and bruising a bone. Turns out this was a bad idea, and I suffered for it, but you can get a sense for how important it is to me to go. I couldn't walk, but I believed I could do yoga.)

I began taking the classes in the fall of 2006. I had been very sick for a few years, but was finally feeling well enough to make it through a one-hour beginners class once a week. In the beginning, I hated the yoga. I hated my teacher, a bubbly Smith alumna who seemed way too perky for her own good.

But even amidst my stifled rage and irritation and frustration, what I loved about the classes-- immediately--was the experience of being in a room full of women. And not just any women, Smith women. While there are occasionally men, and may or may not be students in the class who don't identify as "women," the dominant experience is one of being among women, in a room of our own. This, I realized, is not something we get to experience all that often after we graduate from Smith. I hadn't realized how much I missed it, until I sat down that first day, tired and sore, on my mat and felt the uplifting comfort of it wash over and through me.

Yoga on its own is special, especially this yoga--anusara yoga--which is very heart-centered. Love, joy, and acceptance are central elements of the practice. But yoga at Smith--with a Smithie teacher--it's difficult to describe to those who haven't felt it. I can breathe better when I have this in my life. I breathe better just thinking about it.

When we were undergrads, this was the water we swam in. Since leaving school, unless we joined a nunnery or went to teach at a same-sex school, we had to adapt to a different kind of water. There have been plenty of times when I was in the full company of women; but, particularly after having spent so much time alone since moving back to Northampton, returning to that space and being with those women for an hour every week--it had tremendous healing benefits. Like a fresh water fish seeking refuge from a brackish new environment, I have returned home, and when I enter that Smith room, my gills fill up with the best and freshest oxygen imaginable.

It is my hope that some of us might come together to practice yoga for an hour with my teacher at Smith during reunion. I'll ask Kirse to put it on the survey in April, to see if there's any interest. Until then, I hope that wherever you are in your life, you may find access to a room full of women of your own--whether it is through a shared religious practice, music, service, support, or any of the other myriad things that bring us together. Namaste.

Hillary Clinton for President

If you live in Vermont, Texas, Ohio, or Rhode Island, I'm sure you've been inundated by proponents for all the candidates in today's primary. In general, I like to leave people alone when it comes to their voting decisions, but I feel so strongly about today's potential result, that I wanted to take a moment and express my sincerest hope that you and (and everyone else you know in these states) will vote for Hillary Clinton today.

I voted for Hillary because when I told my grandfather that I'd gotten into my first choice law school a few years ago, he said, "Women should be teachers." And when my mother wanted to be an engineer, my grandfather told her, "Women should be teachers. " I want my grandfather to see a woman President in his lifetime. I want my four-year-old niece to see one, too. I want them both to know that women can be teachers, if they want, but that they can also get law degrees and become world leaders.

There are a hundred other reasons why I believe Hillary Clinton is the best choice for the Democratic nomination, but rather than subject you to such a long list, I'll just say I think she will serve our country well.

I love going to the polls and I hope you'll enjoy your trip there today as much as I enjoyed mine on Super Tuesday.

A Female Presidential Candidate

The Boston Globe ran an interesting article today about the predicament Hillary Clinton is facing as a woman running for President. The writer of the piece articulated many of the same frustrations that I articulated in a note to friends, asking them to consider candidate Clinton, that I wrote just before Super Tuesday.

Regardless of your political leanings, you may find the article interesting.

Read the Globe article, "Clinton's Struggle Vexes Feminists" here.
Read my e-mail on the subject here.

If you are a Hillary supporter, you can get yourself a free bumper sticker. Go here to find out how. I didn't want to stick a bumper sticker to my car, so I just taped mine to the window. :-)