Lisa Miller, Ph.D.
A professor of psychology and education, Dr. Lisa Miller ’84, this year’s Class of 1952 Speaker for Religious Understanding, described the connection between happiness and spirituality among children and adolescents. Such spirituality may come from organized religion, nature, or an activity like yoga or music. Dr. Miller directs the Clinical Psychology Program at Columbia University Teachers College and founded the Spiritual Mind Body Institute—the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology. Her innovative research into the quantifiable effects of spirituality on...
Read MoreArmond James
Armond James encouraged students to learn from their failures and spend time outside their comfort zones, urging them to become involved in politics. Mr. James—a 2014 congressional candidate for Pennsylvania and teacher in the Philadelphia public school system—visited campus in honor of Black History Month, sponsored by the student club Onyx. Mr. James was born and raised in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, and credits his parents for providing him a strong foundation, and teaching him about hard work, respect and the importance of education. Mr. James graduated from Temple...
Read MoreWhen Clutter Gives You Joy
by Mary McCutcheon ’65 That infernal book by Marie Kondo has been on the best-seller list for months. I haven’t read it. I haven’t opened its cover. I haven’t touched it. I haven’t even seen a copy, but I am already barricading my mind against its painful message: decluttering. When I first arrived at Milton in 1962, I had one Samsonite suitcase (no wheels), a portable typewriter, and a copy of Webster’s Sixth Collegiate Dictionary. Aside from children’s books and teddy bears, the only other thing I owned was my nascent and growing collection of airline vomit bags. These...
Read MoreLet Us Snap Your Style!
And they did. During a break between classes, on a game day, in the depths of winter, Milton students shared the looks that make them feel good. Predictably, denim makes a solid showing, along with khakis — but so does so-called “elevated activewear,” neat and comfortable pants, tees and jackets that work for class and field, and tout the Milton logo. On their feet: Converse and Vans, iconic L. L. Bean boots, work boots unlaced just so, and classic black high boots topped by socks. Plaid is the rage and “groutfit” is the Milton name for the gray sweat ensemble. Backpacks,...
Read MoreHungry? Here’s One Solution. Helson Taveras ’14 and Israel Moorer ’16
Helson Taveras, a sophomore at Columbia University, strides along West 116th, the heart of campus, passing students whose lives he has already helped to change. At an institution with a $9.6 billion endowment, students are hungry, and Swipes is a solution. Last spring, Helson and his friend Julio Henriquez watched classmates turn to Facebook to connect with other students who had extra meals on their meal plans, asking for an opportunity — coordinating times and locations — to be “swiped” into a campus dining hall. The two were well aware that financial aid packages often...
Read MoreThe Big (Green) Room Ophelia Wilkins ’97
“I have always loved making things, craft-y sorts of things,” Ophelia says, “clothes, furniture, pottery — I was really into ceramics at Milton, for instance.” Slight and strong, both understated and definitively stylish in a textured black-on-black dress (“I wish I’d made it, but I didn’t,” she says), Ophelia explains how and why every detail matters in what she’s “making” today. An architect with the firm Kuth Ranieri in San Francisco, Ophelia is working on creating a space where ideas will ignite, and moving nine companies of designers and contractors to work...
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