It’s that time again. Time for final exams, end-of-year parties, and planning for summer. Time for selling textbooks and purchasing graduation regalia. Time to call the storage unit company while packing up the contents of dorm rooms and apartment complexes. Time to say good-bye to friends and professors for the next few months. Time to see Mills College Class of 2009 off into the “real” world.
It’s also that time when we reflect on the past year, celebrating our triumphs while looking ahead and thinking of ways to make next year even better. 2008-09 has been a year of tremendous highs and deep lows, a veritable mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s reminisce.
During the fall 2008 semester – the Department of Public Safety re-located to a larger space in CPM, while the Women’s Health Resource Center finally found a home in the Cowell Building.
The Institute for Civic Leadership was reinstated last fall after a great outcry at its cancellation last spring, but the Women’s Leadership Institute will be discontinued, and its director, long-time Mills icon Daphne Muse, will be leaving the College at the end of the semester.
The politically active among us invested massive amounts of time and effort into Obama’s campaign and the fight against Propositions 4 and 8.
On Nov. 4, history was made as we witnessed the election of our country’s first black president, and in January, a contingent of Mills women traveled to Washington, D.C. to witness an unforgettable inauguration.
Obama’s presidency has been off to a rough start as economic crisis continues to rock the nation and most recently the swine flu reaches almost pandemic-level status.
Our community has also experienced the weight of violence, fighting against the injustice of the death of Oscar Grant III at the hands of BART police officers Jan. 1, and the slaying of four Oakland police officers and their killer March 21.
This year saw the near completion of a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program for our feral cat population, the creation of the Reuse Depot, the kick-off and beginning stages of the DSL Narratives Project, and the transformation of Café Suzie into a highly popular creperie.
Within the last few weeks, some significant changes on campus included the passing of the initiative to secure AC Transit bus passes for all students next year, at the cost of a slight raise in student fees.
The College also signed a contract with Kaiser Permanente that will bring a Health Center to the Mills Campus, complete with a nurse and physician on-site five days a week.
Now it’s down to the wire: finals are right around the corner, and for the Class of 2009, it’s two weeks and counting.
So much excitement is behind us, with much more to come, and the Campanil plans to be there to cover it all.
Until August, we bid you farewell.
