-
-
Menu
-
A Founding is Only the Beginning
On Friday September 7, the Bryn Mawr community gathered in the Graduation Garden for Founders Day—a longstanding tradition celebrating the school's enduring mission to educate young women, and the innumerable contributions of faculty and staff who carry out Bryn Mawr’s founding vision and spirit daily.
This Founders Day marked Bryn Mawr’s 135th birthday, and the ceremony celebrated the evolution and growth of the school. Head of School Sue Sadler spoke about Bryn Mawr’s commitment to telling an authentic story about its founding, and the importance of remembering that a founding is only the beginning.
“Like people, institutions have the power to learn and grow. Our founding is part of the school’s history and identity, and while our founders’ initial vision was limited to girls like themselves, they ultimately opened the doors for all of us,” Sadler said. “The school has changed many times in its 135 years and it will continue to change. Each of us is part of its ongoing growth and evolution. Each of us, in a way, is a founder, and together we carry forth the best of the founders’ mission and spirit as we look toward the future.”
Alumnae and Upper School teachers Dr. Irina Spector-Marks ’04 and Dr. Kim Riley ’79 were this year’s Founders Day speakers. After speaking passionately about their work on the Bryn Mawr History Project and the way Bryn Mawr was when they were students, they closed with a message about the importance of knowing Bryn Mawr’s full history.
“What do we take from the past? What do we leave behind? How do we choose what we wish to emulate and what we wish to reject? And when we are faced with the complexity of living beings, who are never entirely good and rarely entirely evil—how do we choose what we do with their legacy? Everyone’s answers to these questions is going to differ. Some prefer to burn the bridges to their past, others to whitewash over it, still others continue to feel a nostalgic connection while intellectually remaining critical. We’re not here to provide answers for you. What we hope we’ve done is tell you a bit more about Bryn Mawr’s many, sometimes contradictory, pasts. There is not one Bryn Mawr to honor, there are many Bryn Mawrs to try to understand. Then you may choose how you wish to move forward into Bryn Mawr’s future.”
Faculty and Staff Award Recipients
Alumnae STEM Chair: Kate Stratton
Apgar Award for Teaching Excellence: Dr. Alice Waters
Blair D. Stambaugh Award: Jason George
Blanche and A.V. Williams Master Teaching Chair: Vicky Miyamoto
Cynthia Leboutillier Teachership Award: Ciara Green
Elizabeth Sheridan Sinclair Chair in the Fine and Performing Arts: Mary Mullaj
Ella Speer Colhoun & Elizabeth Atkinson Reynolds Fund: Sarah Feiss
Millicent Carey McIntosh Chair in the Humanities: Bethany McAndrew
Patricia A. Dieter Staff Award: Lakia Gary
Robert G. Merrick Sr. Chair in History: Matt Hetrick
"37-45" Award: Debbie Waranch
Below: Head of School Sue Sadler with former Head of School Dr. Barbara Chase
"Each of us, in a way, is a founder, and together we carry forth the best of the founders’ mission and spirit as we look toward the future.” -Sue Sadler
