Countdown to Reunion: Catching Up With Rebecca Vernon

Rebecca Vernon, Ithaca, NY 

The picture is me with the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt at the FDR Memorial in DC. I love her! I think she's a Mt. Holyoke woman at heart.

• What are you most proud about accomplishing since graduation?

Probably graduating from law school and passing the bar exam, although surviving four upstate New York winters is also a contender.

• What's your favorite MHC memory?

I seem to remember bowling and playing baseball in the halls of North Rocky first year, using water bottles and a rubber bouncy ball. That was a particularly fun time. I also enjoyed driving to Northampton for the sole purpose of going to Herrell's. I believe Miss Katie MacDonald was my primary comrade on those trips.

• What do you miss most about MHC/the Valley?

Living and learning in a place where I felt 100% comfortable, all the time, surrounded by brilliant and interesting women. Also knitting in class. And Atkins cider donuts.

• What are you looking forward to at reunion?

Seeing some of my favorite people in the world, all at once!  And, if I'm lucky, meeting President Pasquerella.  I love her, if only for her inauguration speech.  (If you haven't watched it, you should!)

• What's the coolest thing you've done since graduation?

Submitting a brief in a court case in India to get the government to take steps to end witch hunting. I collected tons of data about different witch hunting incidents and then argued that it's a human rights violation and India is disregarding its international legal obligations by not passing better laws and properly prosecuting those who engage in witch hunts. Unfortunately, the court dismissed the case, in part because the violations weren't "serious enough." But the Indian NGO I worked with is appealing the decision.

• What's the best book you've read?

After staring at my bookshelf and my Goodreads list, I've decided I can't pick one.  Here are a few favorites: Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi, The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles, Empire Falls by Richard Russo, Buddha's Orphans by Samrat Upadhyay, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery...  Okay I'll stop now.

• How many cities have you lived in?

Two: Nîmes, France, and Ithaca, New York

• What dorm do you wish you could visit for brunch on Sunday?

The Rockies, for fried dough, muffin tops, elephant ears, and smoothies

• Another fun fact:

Last summer I had the thoroughly lovely experience of crashing my mom's mini-reunion with her friends from MHC class of 1974.  MHC women are absolutely marvelous at any age, and it's so much fun to think about my friends and I doing the same thing 30 years from now...

Let '06 alumnae know what you're up to! Email amy.cavanaugh@gmail.com with updates. See you in South Hadley!