{"id":26305,"date":"2024-11-18T22:36:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T22:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=26305"},"modified":"2026-03-17T21:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:03:20","slug":"you-said-on-building-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/you-said-on-building-community\/","title":{"rendered":"You Said: On Building Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last winter, we asked alumni to share updates about their lives and\/or how they are making their communities better. Sandy (Siegel) Bly \u201962, Cynthia Holley Brewster \u201964, and Marcia Mittelsted Maguire \u201958 responded to our question. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst, I would like to keep alive among the Mac community the memory of Dr. J. Huntley Dupre. To many younger Macites Dr. Dupre is probably known just as a person for whom a hall is named. However, to those of us who knew him he was a true inspiration. His world view, his sense of moral justice, his encouragement of his students\u2019 efforts, made a deep impression on me my freshman year, when I luckily enrolled in his \u201cHistory of Western Civilization\u201d class. My admiration for him led me to take several more classes from him and major in history. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also was very involved in international activities at Mac, forming friendships with several international students, including Kofi Annan \u201961. During my senior year I was one of twelve American students lucky enough to be picked to participate in an American studies seminar with the twelve international journalists in the first World Press Institute. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt following in Dr. Dupre\u2019s tradi- tion of world service, upon graduation I spent two years in Peru in the fledgling Peace Corps. During my service and shortly thereafter I received a couple of letters of appreciation and encouragement from Dr. Dupre, letters I have kept to this day. Upon returning home in 1964 I earned my master\u2019s degree in Latin American studies. With my fluency in Spanish and thanks to Bob Dassett, I returned to Mac to teach Spanish from 1968 to 1970. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remainder of my teaching career was in Spanish and in teaching English to refugees and immigrants from over thirty countries. I believe I owe my career path to Dr. Dupre\u2019s influence as well as to Macalester\u2019s atmosphere of internationalism and social justice. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a postscript: I am extremely proud of how Macalester has continued to grow in diversity, justice, and international service.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/span><\/em>Sandy (Siegel) Bly \u201962 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am president of the Board of Trustees of the Fair Housing Resource Center serv- ing four counties in Northeast Ohio: Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga, and Trumbull. We have a great staff that works to promote equal housing opportunities for all persons, and advocates for diversity through education and involvement of the public, governments, and the business community. We operate a landlord\/tenant hotline service, and an in- take complaint service for victims of housing discrimination. We are certified by HUD as a Housing Counseling agency providing counseling on foreclosure prevention, predatory lending, home financing, and repairs. We enforce the Fair Housing Act and HUD\u2019S Equal Access Rule.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/span><\/em>Cynthia Holley Brewster \u201964<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI live at Marsh\u2019s Edge, a senior living community on St. Simons Island, Ga. I am active in our recycling program, learning about the warming permafrost, and tending my seven-year-old Meyer lemon tree which produced over 100 juicy lemons last December.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/em>Marcia Mittelsted Maguire \u201958<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How are you making your communities better?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1077,"featured_media":26307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[122],"class_list":["post-26305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-human-rights-and-humanitarianism","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t