The summer 2026 issue of the Quarterly is on the way and should be hitting your mailbox soon—but you can check it out online now! Visit quarterly.mills.edu.

When we conducted our most recent reader survey, a number of respondents asked for updates on particular members of the Mills faculty. Much to our surprise, the tenures for most of them overlapped in the 1990s! So, for the “Catching Up With…” column in our spring issue, we found quite a few.

For our spring education theme, we returned to a previous topic: pandemic effects on the classroom. Now that everyone's back to in-person instruction, how did teaching remotely help educators and administrators improve learning outcomes for students of all abilities? Click below for the story.

Back to School?

These Mills-affiliated educators take stock of the state of learning post-lockdown Words By Rebecca Bodenheimer It was six years ago when the world came to a screeching halt, sending everyone home …

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It’s no exaggeration that the history of the Children’s School and education programs at Mills in our spring issue was a monumental undertaking! The first mention we could find for a formal education program was in the 1898 Mills College catalog. quarterly.mills.edu/held-in-high...

“Held in High Esteem”: The History and Legacy of Education at Mills

Words by Allison Rost Is it even possible to capture the magic of teaching education at Mills into one story? We’re certainly going to try. We count at least 1,600 living graduates of graduate educ…

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One week from today, on Thursday, May 7, family and friends of the late Professor Emerita of History Marianne Sheldon will gather at the Mills Hall fountain to come together and share stories, as well as to dedicate a bench and a tree in her memory.

Spring is here...in more ways than one! Our latest issue is online at quarterly.mills.edu. Click over for stories about education and previous faculty members, a letter from Mills dean Beth Kochly, and an excerpt from an alum's latest collection of short stories—and much more.

Kate Swartz-Means ’08 is many things: a volunteer archeologist, an illustrator (including for @millsquarterly.bsky.social), a hostess for Mills alum events, and a tobacco researcher—a path she started while working on a health psychology project in the quiet of Mills Hall at night.

We thought about posting these last week, but we didn’t want them to get confused as an April Fools’ prank. These 1960s/70s advertisements for hormone therapy were all too common, treating menopause like an affliction to be cured. (Thanks to @eblinglibrary.bsky.social for the ads!)

Before graduating from medical school, Suegee Tamar-Mattis ’95 participated in street patrol groups walking the Castro. Early in her years of practicing osteopathic medicine, she worked with the Sonoma County Indian Health Project and founded a transgender clinic in that area.

The value of medical research cannot be understated, especially in this day and age. In the winter 2026 issue, we spoke to three Mills alums who work in that space. Click the link below to read the article!

Doing the Research: Mills Alums on the Forefront of Science

Words by Sarah J. Stevenson, MFA ’04 When medical research makes headlines, the news can be sensational: the discovery of a deadly disease, for instance, or finding a new cancer treatment. As for t…

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Now online: the winter 2026 issue! This edition is themed on medical and scientific research, featuring Mills alums who put hours into pushing forward treatments for everything from cancer to depression to menopause. Check it out at quarterly.mills.edu.

Our thanks to Angélica Navarro ’21 for her gorgeous illustrations in our fall 2025 feature “The Business of Giving Back”! She created the likenesses of (in order) Idalin Bobé, MBA ’13; Vanita Lee-Tatum, MBA ’13; Charlene Harrison ’96, MBA ’08; Naima McQueen, MBA ’18; and Joanne da Luz, MBA ’13.

Mechanical engineer. Management consultant. College professor. Social entrepreneur. Darcelle Lahr, MA ’17, EDD ’18, has held a variety of different jobs, but they’ve all led her to a life spent helping those the system has left behind through “transformative social action.”

The fall 2025 issue has landed! This issue is themed on social entrepreneurship (and how it's interpreted among Mills alums!). Spoiler: a quote from Professor Darcelle Lahr, MA ’17, EDD ’18: “I see social entrepreneurship as the vehicle through which individuals and communities can build hope.”

Wrapping up our coverage of the summer issue as we prep to put the fall edition online brings us this pic from 1917. When we decided on a performing arts theme for summer, we knew that we had to include an image illustrating the deep roots they have on the Mills campus.

Samantha Lake ’17 was originally going to major in computer science at Mills—that is, until she tried out a campus theater workshop. Years later, after switching programs and trying out film acting, she finds herself a puppeteer in Los Angeles, working at the renowned Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

It’s only natural that our cover story for the summer issue is Commencement 2025!

Commencement 2025

Teddy Johnstone’s undergraduate speech | Lyssa King’s inspiring return to Mills | Bent Twigs Photos by Ruby Wallau On a damp Sunday morning in late April, something that was inevitable …

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Now premiering: our summer issue! Visit quarterly.mills.edu for coverage of Commencement 2025 as well as a variety of Mills alums who make their living in the performing arts.

The research process for the spring Throwback, about alum memories of going off-campus for extracurricular activities, took us to the Oakland History Center. At the link below, read recollections about "The Ave," as well as other memories about going off to Berkeley and San Francisco.

Throwback: The Ave…& Other Off-Campus Locales

THE ORIGINAL Mills campus originally stretched much further southwest than current borders show—nearly all the way down to Foothill Boulevard in East Oakland. When the College sold off that tract o…

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The surreal world of “The Sims” includes a score of jazzy, New Age-style piano pieces that Vice in 2018 said is “likely one of the most widely heard album-length collections of music to be released so far this century.” The composer, Jerry Martin, earned his MFA at Mills in 1981.

The Sound of Sims

Soundtracking one of the most enduring computer games Words by Jessica Lipsky JERRY MARTIN, MFA ’81, isn’t a gamer, but his influence has been felt—and most certainly heard—by a generation of compu…

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Looking for something to read over the long weekend? Try “It’s About Women in Gaming” from our spring 2025 issue.

It’s About Women in Gaming

Ten years ago, Gamergate attempted to silence and malign women finding a foothold in the video game industry. We spoke to Mills alums in the field to see how things have (and haven’t) changed. Word…

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Professor Cliff Lee began teaching in the Mills School of Education in 2019, and he now also instructs future video game developers through his joint appointment with Northeastern’s College of Art, Media, and Design, building off his dissertation on teaching programming at an East Oakland school.

It’s happening!!!...later than we’d expected, but spring 2025 is finally online. Visit quarterly.mills.edu for features about gaming, looks back at off-campus hotspots and the origins of fencing at Mills, and celebrations of the season through photography and poetry. Print edition arrives soon!

Mills Quarterly

The alumnae magazine of Mills College

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Elwin Cotman, MFA '12, is on this list! Cotman's book of short stories, "Weird Black Girls," came out in 2024, and he has a novel scheduled for release later this year. Congratulations!

NPR@npr.org · last yr.

The awards, which come with a $50K purse, have helped launch the writing careers of many now well-known authors, including Colson Whitehead, Ocean Vuong, Alice McDermott and Jia Tolentino.

Thanks to the Mills College Art Museum for allowing us to feature the work of Professor Emerita Hung Liu in our winter issue! Tomorrow at noon PDT, join Museum Director Stephanie Hanor for a virtual tour of MCAM’s 100-year history. Register here: eventregistration.northeastern.edu/event/7315a5...

For the winter 2025 issue, we caught up with members of the Mills cross-country teams from 2009 to 2011. One of our newest columns checks in with a different student group from over the years and sees what sticks with them even now: quarterly.mills.edu/legacy/catch....

Catching Up With…

Catching Up With…: Cross-Country 2009-2011 Cross-country at Mills navigated a tough course as the Aughts came to a close. The team reached the national championships in 2009 under the coachin…

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The website www.poetsreadingthenews.com is the brainchild of Elle Newton '12. She began the project in 2016 after finding herself dispirited by increasing numbers of mass shootings in the U.S. With input from writers from around the world, the site's offerings are more and more poignant these days.

These gorgeous, hand-drawn illustrations by Kate Swartz ’08 accompanied our winter 2025 feature on alum authors who have found comfort or catharsis (sometimes both) through their writing.

“With self-publishing, you can protect your voice!” . When we spoke to alum authors who put out their works beyond the traditional paradigm, this is what we heard. In our latest issue, they spoke about the journeys they took—and we outlined terms and processes that aspiring authors should know.

Even in this era of book bans, Young Adult (YA) literature is exploding in popularity—and according to Mills alums who are YA authors and fans, the topics that have made these titles controversial to some also draw readers of all ages.