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Alumnae Award Acceptance Address 2004
By Patricia Parnie Purcell Wahlen '66
What a great honor to be
here this day on this stage. I was flabbergasted when I got the call from
Patti Callahan ‘79 telling me I had been selected to receive the Alumnae
Award this year. To join the incredible group of women who are listed
in your program is probably the most humbling thing that has ever happened
to me. Thank you Patti, and thanks to Nell Mohn ‘80 and the entire Alumnae
Award Committee.
It is also a real honor to
be on this stage with President Lisa Marsh Ryerson, Wells’ only alumna
president. I have had the privilege of working with Lisa since October
when I was elected to the college’s board of trustees and can tell you
we could not have a more diligent or devoted leader, or one that was more
fun.
I am delighted to be here
today with my partner, best friend, and husband Walt - a major contributor
to my professional success. I am also with two special Wells friends: my
dearest college friend Fiona Morgan Fein ’65 and Sue Pollard Jones ’78
who worked for me as a student at Wells and as a colleague at Goucher College.
Sue went on to become alumnae director here at the college for most of
the 1990s. It is heartening to see classmates, friends, and former faculty
and staff colleagues, who go back far enough to remember me at my most
mischievous.
I only wish my children could
be here, but my daughter Beth in San Diego is eight months pregnant with
our second granddaughter, and my son, Hap, in Durango, Colorado, was not
able to get away.
My first recorded connection
with Wells goes back almost 80 years. In April of 1925, after he visited
Aurora, my grandfather, Harold Helmer, wrote to President Kerr Duncan MacMillan:
“Let me say here, that I was deeply impressed with Wells College, and its
surroundings. I had picked it out several years ago because of my understanding
that it was a small college with splendid surroundings and I have found
everything to be as I had heard.”
He goes on to say how it
is his hope that his oldest daughter, Elaine (my mother), and her younger
sisters, Virginia and Caroline, would attend. That is, indeed, what happened:
mother, Class of ‘29, Gina ’31, and Casey ’35. How I wish they were here
today. From earliest childhood I heard stories about their wonderful times
at Wells and their enduring friendships with classmates.
So Wells was always high
on my list of colleges. Interestingly, what most impressed me when it came
time to decide on where to go to college was a picture in the viewbook
of the basketball teams in uniforms. Those of you who predate Title Nine
will remember that in high school even for intercollegiate sports we wore
“pennys” over our gym clothes, only the boys had real uniforms. I figured
a place that honored its women with uniforms was the place for me.
Though I had heard much about
what Wells was like, when I arrived here from my home in California I had
never seen the place and had absolutely no idea how incredibly beautiful
it was. I was picked up by Oliver Weber in the evening at the Syracuse
airport and so arrived in the dark. Imagine my surprise and delight the
next morning when I gazed upon the front lawn of Main and saw Cayuga Lake.
And I have been very much
a part of the place since then: my incredible education, my first job in
my lifelong career, my marriage to the local mail carrier, my children,
born and raised here, and even one year teaching sixth grade at Southern
Cayuga Central School. I have lived in many parts of the country, but Aurora
is the only place I would call home.
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A Wells Education
What is so special about
a Wells education? Those of us who have experienced it applaud it and what
it did for us, but what made it so special?
I think the essence is that
as students we mattered. And we mattered in two ways: What we did in the
classroom mattered and somehow we understood that what we did with our
lives mattered.
As students, we were encouraged
to believe that the only reason for the existence of the faculty and the
administration was to educate us. This singleness of mission underscored
the importance of each of our educations. There was no place to hide in
our small classes. As the only philosophy major in my class, it was very
intense, believe me! Even as we sometimes struggled, our professors were
our cheerleaders encouraging us to open and stretch our minds. They taught
us how to think. They gave us tools that equipped us for anything.
And in this place we received
the conviction that what we did after Wells needed to matter. Our education
was preparation for service: a primary core value of Wells, professional
as well as voluntary.
Habere et dispertire. To
have and to share.
Philanthropy
And this leads me into a
word or two about my chosen profession. I have had the incredible privilege
of spending my life in philanthropy, about which much has been written.
To strip it to its most basic level, I believe that philanthropy makes
the world a better place by relieving human suffering, by providing solace
and beauty, and by advancing civilization.
Because someone gave, we
have great museums, libraries, orchestras, colleges, hospitals, welfare
agencies, cathedrals, and the list goes on and on. I would go so far as
to say all great institutions in this country flourish as the result of
philanthropic support. I consider myself very lucky to be spending a lifetime
in this endeavor.
Likewise, philanthropy provides
one of life’s greatest satisfactions to the giver. I have repeatedly been
thanked by donors for the opportunity to provide meaningful gifts that
in turn made their lives more meaningful. Permit me to share just one example
of this with you:
While at the University of
Maryland, I was contacted by the dean of the nursing school. An alumna
wanted to give something back to the place that had educated her, but neither
she nor the dean knew how to identify or structure a gift. The alum had
been a nursing student on full scholarship and had risen through the ranks,
ultimately establishing three nursing homes. Long story short, what had
begun as a vague notion resulted in the establishment of the first endowed
chair of nursing at the university. For the donor, the gift was the most
significant thing she had ever done. As Pablo Casals noted, “The capacity
to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.”
I have often been asked how
it is that I could possibly spend my life asking for money (a pastime that
most people try to avoid like the plague), and I always reply that it has
been my great privilege to spend my life seeing the finest people at their
finest hours. Writer and lecturer Frederick Buechner wrote, “Vocation is
that place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
Fundraising is my vocation.
As Walt and I continue our work consulting with a variety of orchestras,
museums, schools, and other non-profits in this world where so many things
seem so wrong, we are heartened daily by the wonderful world of giving.
To each of you who is a donor I say, “God bless.” And to each of you who
is also an asker I say, “You are indeed special.”
Wells College and music have
been the greatest influences in my life. It is worth noting that I wrote
my senior thesis in philosophy on “The Meaning of Music,” never dreaming
I would someday make my living through music. Ironically, while at a crossroads
facing the choice between becoming a full-time fundraiser or returning
to my original occupation of teaching, my decision was made during the
concert at the dedication of the then new music building – Barler Hall.
As I listened to the beautiful music in the lovely, new surroundings, I
realized there was no better way for me to spend my life than by enabling
such things to happen. And so I decided to make fundraising my life’s work.
It is also worth noting that
when I first began my development career at Wells, the grand dame of the
board of trustees was Helen Milliken Nash ‘14 of Cleveland, Ohio. Helen
Nash was the daughter of Julia Severance, Wells Class of 1885, herself
a trustee from 1912 to 1934. It was the Severance family that, more than
any other, gave impetus to the founding of the Cleveland Orchestra and
for whom the orchestra’s renowned concert hall is named - a magnificent
example of philanthropy.
When I arrived here in September
1962, a poem my mother had written was waiting in my mailbox for me. I
would like to conclude with a quote from that welcoming poem:
Wells has a magic, mysterious spell.
You walk through the hall. I’m there as well.
You have new buildings, books, new rules,
Yet new things rarely change the schools.
The values you seek, the heights you reach,
No one on earth can ever teach.
Wells opened the world to our womanhood.
We decided essentially, life was good.
In his founding address on
July 23, 1868, Henry Wells stated that he hoped the college would grow
and prosper to become a place where “the mind of woman can be developed
to the full scope of her capabilities, that she may more fully fill the
high position for which her Creator intended.”
None of us ever fully fills
the high position for which we were intended, but I do know Wells prepared
me in a way that no other institution could have.
I humbly give thanks to this
place for giving me a life so fulfilling.
- Delivered Saturday,
June 12, 2004, Phipps Auditorium, Macmillan Hall, on the Wells College
campus in Aurora, New York.
The Alumnae
Award Committee is actively seeking nominees for the Wells College Alumnae
Award. The Award honors Wells women of high achievement in professions
and careers, in volunteer and community work, in service to their alma
mater, or in some combination of these endeavors. Only living alumnae are
eligible, and no alumna may nominate herself. Both graduates and non-graduates
are considered alumnae. Points to be considered in making a nomination
are as follows: quality of performance in her field of creativity, continuity
of effort, leadership skills, willingness to accept responsibility, recognition
by her community, and loyalty to Wells. Please bear in mind that the research
process is lengthy and not all candidates who are reviewed will receive
the award. Hence, your nomination must remain confidential. The Alumnae
Award is a significant honor. Its meaning lies in selecting those who have
been uniquely empowered by their undergraduate experience – those who see
their Wells education as providing a special foundation or sense of direction
and whose subsequent contributions reflect distinction on them as well
as the college.
See the 2003 Award
recepient
See the 2002 Award
recipient
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