On the evening of November 15th, Agnes Scott College hosted a gathering of the Atlanta alumnae of ten women’s colleges, including Newcomb College. Although Newcomb College has no “present,” several Atlanta alums attended the reception
to meet and network with others who support women’s education and to celebrate the past and future of Newcomb College. Carter Flemming, president of Newcomb Alumnae Association, and Allison Raynor, director of Newcomb Alumnae at Tulane
University, attended the reception.

The Atlanta alums supporting TFoNC wore their “Save Newcomb College” buttons and were happy to answer questions about TFoNC and about the expectations for the lawsuit on appeal. Dr. Elizabeth Kiss, President of Agnes Scott College, welcomed everyone with remarks that underscored the value of women’s colleges and the special educational experience and advantages they provide. Citing definitive research on the topic (which can be read in depth at http://www.womenscolleges.org/perspective/nsse-study), Dr. Kiss (pronounced Kish), highlighted the many categories in which women who graduate from women’s colleges consistently and significantly outperform their counterparts who graduate from co-educational institutions. These data and statistics provide further evidence for the imperative to reinstate Newcomb College as Tulane’s historic coordinate women’s college, not only to enforce the terms of Mrs. Newcomb’s will but also to ensure that Tulane once again may afford its women
students the best possible educational experience.

NEWS & NOTES

Betty Ruth Speir, N ‘56, of Point Clear, AL, has published a book of her recipes and poems, Come Cook With Me. The book debuted at the U.S. English-Speaking Union Annual Conference in New Orleans, where Betty Ruth conducted a cooking demonstration and signed books. Her book is available at http://www.gyne.com.

While Betty Ruth, an Ob-Gyn, has published medical texts, this is her first cook book. Her culinary experience includes teaching classes and seminars on food preparation.

Marianne Weinhold Abbott (New Orleans), Sue Todd Bentch (Fredericksburg, TX), Diane Clark (Jacksonville), Brenda Leder (Atlanta), Linda Torrence Muir (Saint Simons/Atlanta), and Ann Timberlake (Columbia, SC), all N ’68, held their latest
reunion of “the Newcomb Six” in Saint Simons Island, Georgia, during the last weekend of October. Over the years, these lifelong friends, who bonded at Newcomb, have met at random times in one of their homes to continue their conversations and the fun they always have together. Each one has contributed to TFoNC and supports its work. During their visits over Low Country meals and touring, they picked up right where they had left off, as usual, and caught up on their lives now: the significant work they are doing, plans for the future, world travels, children and grandchildren, favorite books and the events of the day, as well as their aspirations for saving Newcomb College. For all of them, “Life in the 60’s” was and is a grand adventure!

Please send your latest news and notes to info@newcomblives.com

IN MEMORIAM - Mary Ashley Greene Osterhous

With sadness, we have learned of the passing of one of our staunchest supporters and a frequent donor, Mary Ashley Greene Osterhous, N ’38, of Virginia Beach, VA. Mary Ashley, who grew up in New Orleans, was a frequent and lively correspondent with friends around the world, thanks to email. She wrote often to The Future of Newcomb College about connections made at Newcomb, especially her continuing delightful friendships with the wife of her freshman English professor and others who visited her in Virginia. But mostly she urged us to continue working hard to restore Newcomb, and over time she contributed
handsomely to fund the lawsuit, giving us permission to publish her name, saying, “maybe it’ll stir some of my classmates.” She emphatically signed her name, “Class of 1938 when Tulane was still under honest governance.”

After graduating from Newcomb, Mary Ashley married Louis John Osterhous and became the mother of seven children. Over the course of her career in teaching, she taught at the elementary, high school and university levels — she was a beloved teacher of English and psychology. Fluent in Spanish, she remained a lifelong learner, which is obvious by her use of the Internet despite being in her ‘90’s. Through her support of TFoNC, Mary Ashley (as we fondly called her) established an email correspondence and friendship with another of our supporters, Mary De Vachon, who lives in Nice, France. Mary recalls, “She had a free and pioneer spirit!”

THANKS TO NEWCOMB!

Thanks to Newcomb College, many of us know the value of the Newcomb educational experience in our lives. That experience has been pivotal in our pasts and remains important to our futures. It helped to shape who we are today.

Thanksgiving gifts to TFoNC will be gladly received and used to restore Newcomb College so that others, perhaps our daughters, granddaughters or nieces, will have the opportunity to enjoy that experience as we did and to honor Mrs. Newcomb’s intent that the memory of her daughter, Sophie, would live on through “these girls.”

Giving to TFoNC is easy: WRITE A CHECK OR USE YOUR CREDIT CARD TO MAKE A DONATION. SEND CHECKS TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030

USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION AT OUR WEBSITE. Honorary and
Memorial contributions may be recognized on our website.