Dr. Theresa O’Keefe is a 1985 graduate of St. Michael’s College with an Honors BA in Religious Studies. She co-founded the Alumnae Initiative for Women (AI4W) with Brenda Sweeney (8T4) and Rita-Marie Hadley Jenkins (8T5). The AI4W’s purpose is to enrich the experiences of all St. Mike’s women through advocacy, leadership, and philanthropy. Theresa is a Professor at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her wife.
Over the past few years, I have had a great time working with Rita-Marie Jenkins Hadley (‘85) and Brenda Sweeney (‘84) to develop the newest alumni affinity group, The Alumnae Initiative for Women (AI4W). Although separated by many miles (they live in southern Ontario and I in Boston, Massachusetts) and our time together on the campus was so long ago (almost 40 years!), we are each still the young women who met at St. Joe’s all those years ago and so much more! In an effort to honor the gift we received from our time together at St. Mike’s, we want to ensure that women today and into the future also have a great experience at St. Mikes. In the process of dreaming up and hammering out a plan for the organization, we have really enjoyed meeting regularly, mostly via video conference but also face to face.
At this point, we are eager to invite other alumnae to join in the process and have fun. For my part, I am taking the lead on organizing the AI4W’s Conversation Series.
The vision behind the series is to create opportunities to “listen in” on a conversation among alumnae. Each Conversation will be focused on an interest the women hold in common– something that has become their life’s work. Rather than a lecture (there are enough of those at university), something more informal, but moderated. The common denominators among the women are the chosen theme and their membership in the wide St. Mike’s community. Otherwise, they will represent different generations, backgrounds, and entry points in the topic. As we envision it, the topics could range from politics, to literature, to science, to art, to business, to banking, to the environment, to religion, to…you get it. The possibilities are as wide as the gifts of the talented women who have passed through St. Mike’s!
These conversations will be an on-campus event, perhaps paired with a little refreshment. Suddenly, it’s a fun opportunity to catch up with friends, network with people, and even enrich the opportunities for current students. This is getting exciting, isn’t it?
The AI4W piloted the idea at the Spring 2023 Alumni Reunion, as the final element in “The Day of Learning,” which had included lectures by SMC faculty. The “Conversation on the Writer’s Life” featured three St. Mike’s alumnae, who each shared their experiences of writing and publishing fiction and poetry. They were novelist Natalie Jenner (1990), whose Bloomsbury Girls (2022) and The Jane Austen Society (2020) have been international best-sellers; poet Kate Marshall Flaherty (1985) whose books of poetry include Titch (2023) and Radiant (2019); and Laura Rock Gaughan (1986), whose short stories have been published in literary journals as well as her collection Motherish (2018). All this was moderated by Laura, who is also the Executive Director of the Literary Press Group. As expected, it was a lively and entertaining discussion about their writing processes, how writing shapes their lives and identity, and the challenges of publication. By all accounts, it was a highlight of the day’s programming.
The Conversation series is a simple and engaging format that we envision offering up to four times a year, tied to existing campus events in March (International Women’s Day), June (Spring Reunion), September (Grad Week), and November (Convocation). Each Conversation would be themed to the expected audience for those events.
I need two or three St. Mike’s women to join me in envisioning and executing future Conversations. I imagine a regular schedule of video calls across the year to plan a year’s programming. Since I live so far from campus, it would be best to have people in Ontario, to facilitate hosting the events (with SMC staffers) and be more aware of St. Mike’s alumnae who are doing interesting things and living interesting lives.
Interested? Curious? Please reach out to me through the Advancement Office with your inquiry. They know how to reach me, then we will go from there. I look forward to meeting you and having a conversation!
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