Celebrate Vassar

Vassar Trustee Winston Clement ’09 hosted the event at the Barnes Foundation, where guests were welcomed to the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Terrace for a pre-dinner cocktail hour and enjoyed access to one of the world’s greatest collections of modern and postmodern European artwork. As dinner was served, President Elizabeth Bradley took to the stage to welcome guests. Following her remarks, Wesley Dixon, Deputy to the President and Vassar Board Secretary; Student Philanthropy Council Co-President Dhriti Seth ’24; and Professor and Chair of History on the Evalyn Clark Chair Mita Choudhury held a Conversations @ the Salt Line podcast-esque conversation on Vassar’s teaching style—its emphasis on consulting the source and asking questions. A video in which Meryl Streep ’71, P’08,’13 discusses Vassar’s uniqueness and the importance of giving back was played for the audience. Before toasting to President Bradley to close the evening, Andrea Baldeck ’72 alongside Natalie Nixon ’91 asked the audience to think back on their Vassar experience: “What made your Vassar experience exceptional—who were the faculty, friends, coaches, and teammates who taught you to see something in a new way? What about Vassar still informs what matters most to you?”

Hosts Carol Ostrow ’77, P’09,’15 and Leslie J. Chihuly ’83 invited attendees to explore the Chihuly Garden and Glass galleries during cocktail hour. Guests were privy to a glass-blowing demonstration outside the “hot shop,” where a candy dish was made before the event began. President Elizabeth Bradley’s welcome was followed by Chihuly, who expressed her deeply personal reasons for her support of the campaign and its priorities. Then Chihuly; Wesley Dixon, Deputy to the President and Vassar Board Secretary; Dhriti Seth ’24, Student Philanthropy Council Co-President; Assistant Professor of Drama Peter Gil-Sheridan; and Abby Zorn ’10 discussed Vassar’s commitment to diversity, liberal arts curriculum, and a fearless approach to living and learning.

Kicking off the new year, Kathy Putnam ’75 and Missie Rennie Taylor ’68 hosted the first Celebrate Vassar event of 2024 at the Norton Museum of Art, a beloved West Palm Beach institution. Rachel Benjamin-Alves de Lima ’92, Co-President of the Vassar Club of South Florida, told the audience that she and Co-President Diane Robinson ’91 found themselves looking for ways to reconnect with their fellow Vassar alums during the pandemic, and noted how pleased she is to have made new friends from different alum generations thanks to the club. Wesley Dixon, Deputy to the President and Vassar Board Secretary, hosted an abridged version of Conversations @ the Salt Line with Professor of Religion Jonathon Kahn and Marissa Desir ’25.

The final fall 2023 event was hosted in October by Carol Ostrow ’77, P’09,’15, Peggy Ann Nagae ’73, and Joshua Hinerfeld ’83. About 100 alums, family, and friends of the College attended the event—the largest recent gathering of Vassar alums in Oregon—making new relationships and reconnecting with people they hadn’t known had made the move to the City of Roses. After President Elizabeth Bradley’s welcome, Wesley Dixon, Deputy to the President and Vassar Board Secretary; Assistant Professor of Drama Peter Gil-Sheridan; Sloane Boukobza ’24; and Ryan Durham ’04 talked about the benefits of an exceptional and diverse liberal arts education.