Barnard College - Mortarboard Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 9 text:

5 Michael I. Sovern, A.B., L.L.B., L.L.D. Seventeenth president, Columbia University Inaugurated September 28, 1980 succeeding William J. McGill

Page 8 text:

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1981: One of the greatest joys of serving as Acting President is being able to congratulate you on your graduation from Barnard. Having fulfilled Barnard ' s degree requirements, you should feel proud of what you have accomplished — of having satisfied the tests of a rigorous undergraduate liberal arts program. You should go forward armed with the sense that you are well prepared for the next stages of your careers and confident of your ability to meet life ' s future demands. You should be buoyed too, by the realization that Barnard ' s alumnae have and will distinguish themselves in a variety of ways and that you now join the ranks of a proud and successful group of women who will be your friends and colleagues for life. While your experiences at the College are necessarily individual, you also share a common experience. You have been blessed with college years in a world of relative peace, though not necessarily tranquility. Yours were the years of economic pressures, energy shortages and most recently of Americans being held hostage in Iran. I cannot foresee what the future shaU bring, but I know that your Barnard experience will shape your approach to future events. We hope that you will cherish your years here, and that you will continue to learn from and hold fast to the intellectual and human standards which the College seeks to foster. We hope too, that you will remain interested in the College and that you know that the College shall maintain its concern for you. Most of all, we wish you peace, happiness, good health, good fortune, and personal success. Sincerely, Ellen V. Futter Acting President

Page 10 text:

Who can say what new horizons Ue before us if we can but maintain the initiative and develop the imagination to penetrate them Chen Kornreich Editor-in-Chief, Mortarboard 1981 Transition periods offer the mind an opportunity to delve into the past and decide upon the future. Graduation for most Barnard women does not symboUze a termination but a capricious time of conversion. Senior year and the interval until the adult world begins, be it with entrance to the career world or family life, lends itself to reflection: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? As Barnard graduates we share some roots and experi- ences. We were part of the mosaic of Morningside women, part of the pencil-pushing academic environment. As Barnard scholars we encountered the frustration of being a member of the vanguard of women yet the insult of lack of support from our male allies east of Broadway. On one hand we experienced being part of the seven sister colleges; yet, on the other hand, the metaphor of the ivy tower tempted and haunted us. We are expected to pursue traditionally male careers with success yet to remain feminine in line with the archaic patriachal definition. For us the fruits of knowledge proved to be sweet yet sour. We were urged to change ourselves and move beyond the structures of the female world to a wider one. Barnard proved to be the perfect setting for this personal change; yet when we tried to stimulate a wider revolution we discov- ered opposition from the university at large. It was, is, and will be our challenge to catalize society to incorporate women as equals to men both in the domestic and worldly spheres. Our greatest feat will be to find the goal at the end of society ' s maze, to develop and integrate the ideals we learned and the growth we experienced at Barnard into the real world beyond Barnard ' s gates. We entered Barnard as diverse and varied individuals; we graduate as a unified composition who like a kaleide- scope, presents within its circle a multitude of patterns. 6