By Tommy Bourgeois
As I file this column, Nancy Ross and Bill Carmean, who set out on September 7, are in the third week of their trek along El Camino de Santiago, the 500-mile journey retracing the path of pilgrims who have for centuries walked from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. Among the throngs in whose footsteps these hardy adventurers travel is our own Megan Baldrige, who made the pilgrimage with her sister Molly ’76. Look for an update in my next installment.
Michael Loui, who is both Dale and Suzi Gallagher Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue and professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois, sends word he’s winding down his distinguished academic career: “I am progressing gradually toward full retirement. I completed a five-year term as editor of the Journal of Engineering Education in 2017, and this year I was named Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education. I plan to step down from classroom teaching in 2019. So eventually I’ll be retired from both Purdue and Illinois.”
Mic and Jean Fleming, visiting from Portland, Oregon,treated me to a leisurely breakfast in downtown L.A. last July. Jean, who is VP of communications and digital strategy at NWEA, an educational nonprofit (and, as Jean Shields, is a published poet and novelist), was in town to attend a conference, and Mic was playing the tourist and spending time with his son who lives in West Hollywood. As a retired human resources executive and a Vietnam combat veteran, Mic has been providing volunteer guidance to incarcerated men, including former armed services members, preparing for release and reentry into the work force. He kindly e-mailed this report on his local Yale club activity, including a kernel of advice for those of us in the job market: “This year I have been involved with the launch of career-centered workshops by the Alumni Association, spearheaded by the Yale Club of Oregon and Southwest Washington. In February, I presented ‘Leading Your Life and Career: Tell Your Story with Your Resume.’ My copresenter was Rob Greenly ’83MBA, who is the former director of leadership at the MIT School of Management. Just over 50 alums participated in person and online. You can Google Yale Club of Oregon A2A Career Event to see video on YouTube. At the end of June, I led ‘A2A Speed Networking’ with behavioral therapist and career coach Christina Avellan ’10. For those of you still in the race, our main point was that networking is about building relationships, not completing transactions. Both events were organized by club president Dr. Xiaoyan Huang ’91, who ensured a refreshment spread worthy of the best tailgate. Look for these workshops coming soon to your area.”
Congratulations to Wendy Goodman-Thum, whom the North Hollywood–based Actors Workout Studio has named playwright-in-residence for its 2018–19 season. Wendy, who’s also at work on a documentary (reported on in my May/June 2017 notes) about the birth of the Yale women’s swim team, set against the backdrop of the early implementation of Title IX, writes: “I’d wanted for some time to write about the first women swimmers in dramatic form, as well, so this has provided a serendipitous opportunity. The confluence of memory streams inspired a story starting in the fall of 1973, using four of the original varsity swimmers along with Coaches Phil Moriarty and Ed Bettendorf as characters. It’s set in an America agonizing over Richard Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre and other Watergate crimes, celebrating (or ruing) Billie Jean King’s victory over Bobby Riggs, and the advances mandated by Title IX. These events take place in a rapidly evolving Yale that served as the foundation for so many of the dramas that unfold before us today. This play has been driven by research for my documentary (with the superb work of my fellow Saybrugian Fred Cantor), along with first-hand accounts from the swimmers and divers, other athletes, coaches, and Yalies of note, including the current team, plus amazing help from Phil’s daughter, Ellen Moriarty. I was put in touch with her by team captain Bonnie Jackson Kestner ’74, who called me right away when the Yale athletic department sent out notice that I wanted to make the documentary. Other teammates and friends who have made my work a joy include Peter Wells ’60; Vicky Morgan Amon ’73; ’76ers Anna Ranieri, Rosanne Marcus Riddick, and Charlise Brown Whiteside; Tamara Ogorzaly and Laurie Doyle ’77; Nancy Cahill ’79; and last but not least, our wonderful classmates Elizabeth Moore, Nancy Ross, Lori Laitman Rosenblum, and Guy Stone.”
Finally, it is my sad task to report that Macletus Marie Dejoie-Smith died peacefully on July 22 at Passages Hospice in her native New Orleans, from complications arising from a year-long battle with cancer. At 62, Macletus was the youngest member of our class, and at 19, she became the youngest student ever admitted to the clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley. Despite our common residency in Pierson and our shared hometown roots, I regret to say I barely spent any time with Macletus, but I am deeply struck by the role she played as a trailblazer in the New Orleans of the civil rights era—particularly in its Catholic community—and in the early days of coeducation at Yale. She was one of three Dejoie siblings among the first to integrate St. Frances Cabrini Elementary School, and was among the first African Americans to attend Mount Carmel Academy, where she earned her high school diploma at age 15. A dual major in psychology and Afro-American Studies, she served as liaison between the Afro-American Studies major and Black Students at Yale (BSAY). After obtaining her doctorate, Macletus worked for decades as a clinical psychologist in Washington, DC, while living and raising her daughter Gabrielle in Silver Spring, Maryland. She returned to New Orleans in 2010. Just before her 2017 diagnosis with esophageal cancer, she passed a national licensing exam to become a medical psychologist. True to her roots, she counted cooking for family gatherings as one her great loves. Her obituary in the Times-Picayune noted, “Her kindness, sharp wit, generosity, and love of family will be sadly missed.” In addition to Gabrielle, survivors include Michael Smith, her husband of 38 years; her mother Macletus Terrell Dejoie; siblings J. A. Blaine Dejoie III and Kristen Wilson; and in-laws Charles and Maggie Smith. We extend our deepest condolences to her family and all who will miss her.
As always, I welcome your news. Please don’t be shy.