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Not Just Rachel: An Open Letter to Literally Any Other Alumnae

Teri Bradford
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Indigo Baloch
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chatham chapter.
Dear Alumnae, 
 
On behalf of my university and your Alma Mater, Chatham University, I would like to apologize. 
 
I would like to apologize for the success of one woman who graduated 86 years ago being enough to overshadow the amazing things you all have done in the years before or since. I cannot name all of you because the list is absolutely endless. Just about every Chatham graduate is extraordinary. But just to name a few:
 
Patricia E. Kane class of 1966. Ph.D. I’m sorry that as the Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University we don’t sing your praises for being a successful woman. You oversee and research collections of American history. Your story could be inspiring students at Chatham, but we don’t hear of you too often.
 
Kathie Olsen 1974, I’m sorry that I’ve never heard of ScienceWorks, the consulting firm you founded to support science and engineering research organizations. When you were elected Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and the Association for Women in Science, your story should have been written down and shown to every student in the Science field and more at Chatham. 
 
Same goes to Robin R. Means Coleman class of 1991 Ph.D. I’m sorry that as an African American Alumna, you aren’t given recognition. That Chatham doesn’t add your published works: “Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present (2011)” or “African American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor (2000)” in our curriculum like we do Silent Spring. I’m sorry that your BA in communications goes unheard of here. That, if nothing else, you should be talked about in our programs like RISE, a community built to encourage the students of color at Chatham to achieve excellence. 
 
And finally, Muriel Bowser class of 1994. You’re the most heard of within the collection of unrecognized alum. I’m sorry that of the 12 search results on the Chatham website that only two mention you in more than just a list of names. Both of those documents give you only a brief paragraph that does you no justice. It took me a year on my Chatham journey to even hear your name or know anything about you. It doesn’t make it better that it was an angry student who thought you deserved more recognition who told me, and not a Chatham faculty, staff, or administration member. I’m sorry that your excellence as a black woman in politics is going ignored by the university that helped make you into a world ready woman.    
 
I’m sorry that the women and men of our institution don’t hear of you often, if at all, and that you don’t even have the chance to inspire people. For all the community, civic engagement, and diversity at Chatham, we couldn’t even name something after you.
 
Rachel Carson is great. She graduated from Chatham and we enjoy her too. But she is one of many. 
 
With Love, 
A Current Chatham Undergraduate Student
 
If you want to learn more about Chatham alumnae including the one’s mentioned, the Women’s Institute on the second floor of Buhl resurrected some amazing biographies and pictures from the Chatham Archives.
 
Teri is in the Class of '18 at Chatham University. She is a Communications-Journalism major, Editor-in-Chief of The Chatham Post, and president of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. Her passions are writing, leadership, and encouraging people in any way she can.
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Indigo Baloch is the HC Chatham Campus Correspondent. She is a junior at Chatham University double majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism and double minoring Graphic Design and an Asian Studies Certificate. Indigo is a writer and Editorial Assistant at Maniac Magazine and occasionally does book reviews for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She is also the Public Relations Director for The Mr. Roboto Project (a music venue in Pittsburgh) and creates their monthly newsletter. During her freshman and sophomore year, Indigo was the Editor-in-Chief of Chatham's student driven newsprint: Communique. Currently, on campus, Indigo is the Communications Coordinator for Minor Bird (Chatham's literary magazine), the Public Relations Director for Chatham's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, and a Staff Writer and Columnist for Communique. She has worked as a Fashion Editorial Intern for WHIRL Magazine, and has been a featured reader at Chatham's Undergraduate Reading Series and a featured writer in Minor Bird. She loves art, music, film, theater, writing, and traveling.