DID YOU KNOW?
Our Class symbol, the Griffin, is a marvelous mythical creature! It has an aerial head and a bestial body and is said to watch over kings’ gold as well as the green gold inherent in our forests. Its wings and talons are like those of an eagle, while its body, tail, and back legs are like those of a lion. Very strong and wise, griffins have often been used in heraldry and crests. In Greek and Roman mythology, they were connected to sun gods. In pre-Islamic Iran, the griffin was seen as a symbol of ascension, and new rulers in the early Islamic period used it to convey power. In literature, griffins are featured in The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Dante’s Divine Comedy, and they have had significant roles in films such as Witchcraft and Rebel Moon.
What a good match, the Class of 1965 and the griffin: strong and wise and powerful!
We thank our classmate, Susan Throckmorton, a world-renowned paper cutting artist, for creating this fabulous image of our griffin.
Class Read: The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science
We are excited to announce that Kate Zernike, the author of our Class Read, The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science, will be joining us at our 60th reunion!
"In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted to discriminating against women on its faculty, forcing institutions across the country to confront a problem they had long ignored: the need for more women at the top levels of science. Written by the journalist who broke the story for The Boston Globe, The Exceptions is the untold story of how sixteen highly accomplished women on the MIT faculty came together to do the work that triggered the historic admission.
"The Exceptions centers on the life of Nancy Hopkins, a reluctant feminist who became the leader of the sixteen and a hero to two generations of women in science. Hired to prestigious universities at the dawn of affirmative action efforts in the 1970s, Dr. Hopkins and her peers embarked on their careers believing that discrimination against women was a thing of the past—that science was, at last, a pure meritocracy. For years they explained away the discrimination they experienced as the exception, not the rule.
Only when these few women came together after decades of underpayment and the denial of credit, advancement, and equal resources to do their work did they recognize the relentless pattern: women were often marginalized and minimized, especially as they grew older. Meanwhile, men of similar or lesser ability had their career paths paved and widened." (Source: Women's & Gender Studies, MIT, 4/26/2023)
Nancy Hopkins was born in 1943, which makes her the same age of most of us in the class of 1965.
Buy the book in print, Audiobook, Kindle, or borrow it from your library, prepare your questions for the author and get ready for a great discussion!
