'98 Hubbardite dies while serving in Iraq

From the Boston Globe:
Roselle Hoffmaster, a graduate of Smith College who died while serving in the Army in Iraq, is being remembered fondly today at the Northampton institution. "You couldn't find a more caring or compassionate person. She's a giver. She's the ultimate team person who gave her all," said Carla Coffey, who coached Hoffmaster in cross country and track and field.

Hoffmaster, 32, an Army captain, died last Friday in Kirkuk of non-combat-related causes. She was the First Brigade Combat Team surgeon, the military said this weekend in a release from Fort Drum, N.Y.

Hoffmaster, a native of Cleveland, graduated from Smith with a biochemistry degree in 1998. She was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in 2004. She was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division in July and deployed to Iraq this month. She is survived by her husband and parents, the Army said in a statement. The Army has released no further details on the circumstances of her death. The investigation is still ongoing, said Fort Drum spokesman Benjamin Abel.

Professor Christine White-Ziegler said Hoffmaster was "a real star, just off the charts in terms of her academics." "She was just a very easygoing and approachable person. ... You could see her concern for others," she said.

"It's very sad for the whole Smith community. We're very saddened by her death," said Coffey, the coach.

Remembering Madeleine L'Engle, Smith '41

Madeleine L'Engle, a well known writer of classic children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time, passed away on September 6, 2007.

L'Engle believed that storytelling "... does indeed have something to do with faith. Faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically." In her 1963 Newberry acceptance speech, she mentions that "a book, too, can be a star, explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe." This is why children's stories remain relevant to adults today.

In memory, I posted a tribute to Madeleine L'Engle in my blog here.

Yolanda King '76

Sadly, Yolanda King died Tuesday at age 51. She was a graduate of the class of 1976 and was honored by Smith during our graduation ceremony in 1999.

From the Smith Press Release:
Yolanda King ’76, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King, died May 15 in California. An author, performer, and activist, King is being remembered for pursuing her father’s dream of racial harmony through her words and performances. Throughout her career, she appeared in numerous television shows and films, including Ghosts of Mississippi, Odessa, and King, in which she played Rosa Parks. King, who majored in theatre and Afro-American studies, had returned to Smith on numerous occasions to meet with students and talk about her father’s legacy. In 1989, she spoke to more than 1,000 students on campus about what her father tried to achieve and the problems related to race and equality that remained. In 1999, the college honored her, along with a group of other "remarkable women," for her commitment to empowering people to lead better lives.

Alumnae reflect on Yolanda King - AASC Website
Ms. King's 1989 address to students - AASC Website
Smith College Press Release - Smith.edu
A Remembrance of Yolanda King '76 by Prof. Len Berkman
Yolanda King Was More Than King's Daughter - BlackNews.com
Mourning a friend and an ally - Good as You
Public Memorial Planned for Yolanda King - Washington Post
Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. Dies - NY Times
Yolanda King Blazes Her Own Spiritual Path - WSB-TV Atlanta

Goodbye Molly Ivins

I am sure that many of you heard about the passing of Molly Ivins. She was a brilliant women who was proud and outspoken about her Smith education. At a 2002 round table during Pres. Christ's inauguration she said "...the biggest gift I got from Smith: It wasn't that Smith taught me that women can do anything. Smith taught me to simply assume women can do anything! And as I went forth to conquer the world in 1966, I didn't yet realize what a great gift that [concept] was. It took me a long time -- and I'm still grateful for it."

From President Carol Christ this morning...
I was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Molly Ivins '66, someone I've long admired. Molly was courageous, and she was funny. Those two qualities may not seem related, but, in her work, they were. Through her writing, she gave her readers the boldness to see hypocrisy and absurdity and the resilience to laugh at it. She was one of our country's great political satirists, and she was a gracious, generous lady to boot. The Smith community, and the nation, have lost one of our most insightful and authentic voices.
-- Carol T. Christ, President

Her Last Article: Stand Up Against the "Surge"
Smith College Press Release
2000 Profile on Salon.com
2003 Interview on Salon.com
Remembering Molly Ivins
NY Times Obit
Boston Globe Obit
Texas Observer

Some other great Ivins quotes which only illustrate her ability to balance humor and passion.

"The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging."

"What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority."

"I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth."

"It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America."

"Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for."

"I believe in practicing prudence at least once every two or three years."

"I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas."

On Texas: "I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram column, March 1, 1992)

On Camille Paglia: "Christ! Get this woman a Valium!" (Mother Jones, 1991)

Some Very Sad News

I am very sad to report that Megan Moritz was killed in a car crash on June 1, 2006. Megan was a resident of Morris House and biology major at Smith. After Smith she went on to the University of Iowa Medical School and was in the surgical residency program at Banner Good Samaritan in Phoenix at the time of her death. Further details are here.

If anyone would like to send a card to her parents please send me an email and I will send you their mailing address.