Alumnae Volunteer for New Advisory Board

As St. Paul’s School marks a half century of coeducation, it has formed a volunteer Alumnae Board of Advisors to collaborate with an internal planning committee of faculty and staff in the execution of a yearlong commemoration.

 

Entitled “Her Purpose: 50 Years of SPS Women in the World,” the celebration will honor the SPS girls and women of today who are contributing to a greater good by uplifting their families and communities through their personal and professional leadership and commitment. Several virtual events are being planned for the year, with a culminating in-person celebration scheduled for Anniversary Weekend (June 10-12, 2022).

 

The alumnae board will meet monthly to offer feedback on programmatic proposals and recommend alumnae speakers, panelists, and women to profile. Nine alumnae have volunteered, including two of the first 19 girls to enroll at SPS: Julia Jordan Alexander ’72, Sally Carroll Keating ’72, Liz Overton Robbins ’79, P’17, Laurel Daniels Abbruzzese ’86, P’19,’22, Caroline Gilman La Voie ’88, P’20,’21, Lucy Stringer Rojansky ’99, Lindsay Deane-Mayer ’04, Ellen Alexander Greer ’07, and Katie Martell ’10.

 

Keating, part of the first cohort of SPS girls, says she appreciates that the advisory board represents every decade of SPS women, each with its own sociocultural backdrop, and looks forward to offering her perspective as well as hearing from others in the coming year.

 

“No matter what avocation or vocation has been pursued by a St. Paul's School alumna, I hope to see a pattern emerge from their stories that shows a common thread of confidence, compassion, competence, and support of others,” Keating, a retired nurse practitioner, says. “These stories will highlight the phenomenal contributions SPS girls and women have made. And, in my mind, as the School increasingly demonstrates the value of diversity and inclusion, the School strengthens and remains relevant.”

 

“I am proud to be a St. Paul’s School alumna,” adds Abbruzzese. “I believe that it is through active engagement that we can help the School grow and live up to its mission.” Abbruzzese says she joined the “Her Purpose” alumnae board in large part to ensure that the honoring of 50 years of coeducation at SPS “is as inclusive as possible and recognizes a diverse group of graduates, including those who have followed nontraditional paths as well as the obvious leaders and high achievers. … I hope that alumnae who have not been connected with the School recently may see this as an opportunity to reconnect.”

 

Lucy Rojansky concludes, “I hope that through mutual trust and respect, our stories will be recognized as integral to the School’s identity, our achievements can be shared by the School, and how we live in the world can be a testament to this institution that strives to be the best version of itself.”