Fall 2023 Updates
Convocation 2023
On September 18, 2023, a rainy, stormy day, Sara Marks and Roz Gordon braved the downpours and represented our class at the opening of the school year.
Book Club Opening
There is room for one more class member in the Class of 62 Book Group. We have 14 women now. We meet monthly on the second Tuesday at 2 pm on zoom. Books are chosen by group members. Books are fiction and non-fiction, new and old. Monthly online discussion is led by person who chose that months book. Questions? Contact Marcia Stecker Weller at marcia4815@gmail.com.
Images from China
Ancient mask, munitions factory
ALMOST LOST:
Reviving a Cabaret Written in the Terezín Ghetto in 1944
For the 21st Century Stage and Screen
By Naomi Patz
I had fallen in love with the theater long before I took Howard Teichmann’s marvelous playwriting course in our senior year, but it was definitely a highlight of my Barnard experience. And yet my career took me elsewhere – mostly writing and editing Jewish texts, and becoming founding national director of two fulfilling Israel-Diaspora programs. The first was the North American Jewish Forum, a partnership between young leaders here and in Canada with counterparts in Israel (and later in Europe as well). The second is Partnership 2000 (now Partners ToGether), which matched community federations in this country with regions in Israel for shared economic, academic, social, medical and Judaic programming. Through that work and my husband’s and my volunteer activities, I have spent a great deal of time involved with Jewish communities in various parts of Europe and, of course, in Israel. Although over the years I wrote parodies and cantatas and other scripts for synagogue use – especially in our own congregation, of which my husband was the rabbi for 37 years – it is only relatively recently that I have returned to my first love. This essay describes how it came about and where it is taking me.
This essay is expanded from an earlier version that appeared with the same title in the Holocaust Theater Catalog published by the National Jewish Theater Foundation (htc.miami.edu). For more information on THE LAST CYCLIST, see www.thelastcyclist.com.
I’ve been obsessed for the past 23 years with a daring comedy called THE LAST CYCLIST that was written in a Nazi concentration camp. I first presented it in 1995 as a short, one-act reading. A few years later, I expanded it into a full-length play and have had the privilege of seeing it staged by students in high schools and on college campuses, in community theaters and for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial) observances around the country over the ensuing years. The script was translated into Spanish for a production in Mexico City, which is being reprised this year in a street theater format. In 2013, just after our class’s 50th Barnard reunion, there was a well-reviewed three-week run of the play at the West End Theater in Manhattan; I contributed a poster for that production to our exciting “bring and brag” display. (I don’t remember the actual title of the impressive sharing of classmates’ accomplishments.)
THE LAST CYCLIST has been on the syllabus of courses dealing with “genocide and the performing arts” at Tufts, Drew, the University of Kansas and Indiana University Southeast. It is studied by graduate students at universities around the globe and will be performed by students at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee in 2019 in cooperation with the Holocaust Education Resource Center there. I am in conversation with a theater director in Bangalore, India who is hoping to produce the play there because he feels that it speaks to the issues and needs of the political/social situation in Bangalore. Earlier this year, a graduate student at the University of Arts in London created a “speculative design proposal” for THE LAST CYCLIST as her final degree project. And so on.
Learn more about Naomi's new book in the Spring 2020 Class Notes
- Janice Wiegan Lieberman has just published a new book. Congratulations!“Clinical Evolutions on the Superego, Body and Gender in Psychoanalysis”(Routledge, 2018).
This book contains a series of papers I have written in the past 25 years that include my observations of how changes in values and norms of behavior in “the world out there” have influenced what I hear in my consulting room. I have observed “a new superego”. Deception abounds and often goes unpunished. I have observed an increase of greed and envy and an enhanced emphasis on the body and its appearance. Relationships are found and maintained using technology. Many feel lonely, empty. There are parallels for this in several artists’ lives and in their work. I write about the clinical dilemmas I face and how I have resolved them in working with today’s patients.
Other books: “The Many Faces of Deceit: Omissions, Lies and Disguise in Psychotherapy” and "Body Talk: Looking and Being Looked at in Psychotherapy” both published by Jason Aronson.
All three can be purchased on Amazon.
- JOAN THOMSON KRETSCHMER WRITES FIRST BOOK
My book, YONA: Discoveries, Doorways and Musical Superpower has been published by Joshua Tree Publishing. The official date was May 13, my birthday. YONA is a superheroine whose power is MUSIC. She can stop people from fighting and alter human behavior just by thinking about music. She is the superheroine we all need!!! Or could use . . .
I am very excited to send a musical superheroine out into the world, after spending several years writing. The website is joankretschmer.com, and the book will be available on Amazon, etc. The publisher is sending me books to autograph.
We meet Yona at age 10, an unwanted, scorned child, discovering her unique talents and beginning to exercise her special gift, the power of music. Multi Tasker is her dramatic, magic-wielding piano teacher with his Flights of Fancy, a flying piano. Her new friend, Ulysses, is a ten-year old boy who finds an abandoned, dilapidated trunk and its colorful, ebullient occupant, Gene E. Tasker arranges for them to attend The John Brook Summer Music Festival, where they live and study in the historic mansion donated by Mrs. Goodnkind, a wealthy, benevolent role model. Daily lessons include trips and exciting adventures as well as Doorways to Understanding, a series of entryways to learning about creativity, life, nature, the arts, and values. Music, art, talent, generosity, fear, positive thinking, leadership, science, the beauty and complexity of Mother Nature, the Moon, alleviating suffering, good and evil are the tip of the iceberg of their unique curriculum.
I envision presenting her story in the current novel in various additional formats and versions. The tale lends itself to animation, small, single "adventures" of Yona (her trips to concerts at New York Philharmonic, to the MAGIC FLUTE and other operas at the Metropolitan Opera, etc.) and cartoons. Hopefully a new generation of kids can learn about music - - and much more - - through Yona's activities. While Yona, our superheroine, is being trained to utilize her abilities and assume responsibilities to help others and fight evil, the first volume touches on the music of Mozart and Beethoven, a way to educate the reader as well.
Inauguration of President Bielock
On Friday, February 9, 2018, Barnard College formally inaugurated Sian Leah Beilock as its eighth president. The ceremony was held at Riverside Church.
- CONVOCATION 2019—SEPTEMBER 10A bit of pomp and circumstance is good for the soul.
47 classes were represented
I volunteered to march for the class of 1962 at Convocation. It was a wonderful experience. Carol Miles, Class of 1963, and I chatted while waiting to march. Susie Pringle
USE GOOGLE TO ACCESS THE FOLLOWING CONVOCATION SEGMENTS
- An Overview of Convocation. https://barnard.edu/news/barnard-celebrates-convocation
This is the keynote speech by Sheila Nevins. DO NOT MISS THIS!
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nakLpBrzNJ8 -- begin at 32.28
She tells a personal story about a luncheon with her Mother at Chock Full of Nuts at 116th St. and Broadway. She was a Barnard sophomore at the time. It was a life-changing event and her profound message still resonates with me.
- This is President Beilock’s welcome to the entering class and a short speech about the state of the College—very informative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nakLpBrzNJ8 -- begin at 23.20
THE CLASS OF 2023
This year, Barnard remained one of the most selective colleges in the United States. The College received a record-breaking 9,320 applications and selected 11.7% of those who applied — the lowest admission rate in the College’s history. Of the 1,099 students admitted this year, 58% — 636 students — chose to enroll.
“We are so very excited to welcome a new class of talented, intelligent, and capable young women to Barnard,” said Dean of the College Leslie Grinage. “Each student in the class of 2023 has already accomplished wonderful things, and we look forward to being a part of their journey, celebrating their great achievements while at Barnard and beyond.”
Barnard’s incoming class hails from across the country and world, with 12% of students calling 35 different countries home — Brazil, China, France, India, and South Korea, among them — and 44 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C. On record as the most diverse class ever, with 48% of our U.S. students self-identifying as students of color, the Class of 2023 will complement our diverse campus community and the larger eclectic and vibrant one that makes up New York City.
Among their ranks are scholar-athletes, such as Michaela Davis-Pedlar, who is a two-time NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) All-American with a passion for science and math. Incoming students also include many first-generation students who just became the first in their family to attend college; they are inspired by activism and bring a wide array of interests and talents, from playing the cello to being members of feminist clubs and medical societies. The seeds of leadership skills are already growing throughout the Class of 2023, as some have won women-in-science awards, founded a coding exchange, and interned in an endocrinology clinic.
DO YOU LIVE IN THE NY METROPOLITAN AREA?
Consider attending convocation in September.
Here are some reasons you should attend.
A bit of pomp and circumstance is good for the soul.
Riverside Church is a gem.
The music is lovely.
The march of the classes is very nostalgic.
The enthusiasm and excitement of the new class is palpable.
The speakers are very informative.
President Beilock talks about the state of the college.
The guest speaker is usually outstanding.
The reception back at Barnard includes wonderful cookies that have just come out of the oven.
You may see some classmates.
It’s great to come back to Barnard!
- An Overview of Convocation. https://barnard.edu/news/barnard-celebrates-convocation
Can it be?
Our 60th class reunion is coming up next year.
A Message from our Class of 1962 Reunion Chairs
Believe it or not it’s almost time for Janice Lieberman and I to meet later this Spring, to outline our 60th reunion at the end of May 2022. I would like all classmates to feel free to volunteer to be on the reunion committee, which will involve being asked to work on one very small part of the project.
This year’s reunion will be virtual only. Hopefully, by 2022 Barnard will be able to arrange a reunion that will be available both in person on campus and online via one of the virtual mechanisms we have become accustomed to during the pandemic. We know that a lot of women who live far away would prefer attending remotely and we will do our best with the college to make that happen.
These are some of the reunion committees classmates may volunteer to work on:Reunion Class Booklet
Show and Tell display in lounge area
Thursday evening cocktail party
Friday lecture
Friday class dinner
Saturday morning panel discussion
Saturday afternoon art event
Saturday College Dinner (just to make sure we can all sit together).
All the other events are totally run by Barnard. We have found in the past that the more volunteers we have, the better the event is for our class.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Marcia Stecker Weller (at right with dog Shari)Janice Lieberman (at left leading a museum tour)
Marcia Weller represented our class as she carried the 1962 banner
You can view a video of the full ceremony at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPllgcc5EkE
If you like Pomp and Circumstance, we encourage you to watch the entire program, which lasts one hour and forty-five minutes! If not, we strongly recommend beginning at one hour and five minutes to hear President Beilock’s exciting plans for Barnard.
The inauguration of Sian Beilock as the eighth president of Barnard College was held Friday afternoon, February 9, 2018, in Riverside Church. I proudly represented the class of 1962 at the inauguration, wearing an academic robe and carrying a large 1962 banner. I waved to immediate past class presidents Karen Charal Gross and Deborah Bersin Rubin as I happily marched down the aisle with alumnae from classes 1938 to 2016, including one new baby in a sling, one little girl holding her mother’s hand, and one woman pushing her mother’s (class of 1938) wheelchair.
I learned how to pronounce the new president’s name: See’-ahn. Bee’-lock. I learned about her academic background and how highly she is regarded by academic colleagues. I saw her mother and young daughter. And I saw her: she is clear-eyed and statuesque, while wearing three-inch heels, and a large college medallion. And I heard her speak about the wonderful plans she has for Barnard in math and science, greater community involvement and more partnerships with other city educational institutions. She was very impressive and inspirational.
On leaving, we all received blue winter hats celebrating the day, as we walked to the overcrowded Diana Oval for refreshments. Mrs. MacIntosh was Barnard’s first formal president and Sian Beilock is now our eighth. She is very modern, scientific, young, well-educated and forward-thinking. It was a great honor to be there representing our class. I think Barnard is very lucky to have her.Marcia Stecker Weller, February 10, 2018, New York City
