News & Events

A Proclamation from Emma Willard School Honoring the 90th birthday of the School’s dear friend, Irene Mennen Hunter

Whereas, Friday, the fifteenth day of February, two thousand eight, marks a significant milestone in the life of Irene Mennen Hunter, Emma Willard Class of 1935; and

Whereas, she has served her alma mater for more than seven decades with extraordinary intelligence, grace, and aplomb, presiding over the Alumnae Association, chairing the Annual Fund, a capital campaign, and her 40th and 50th reunions, and serving as alumna trustee, trustee, and honorary trustee; and

Whereas, Irene Hunter and her husband, Bing, entrusted Emma Willard School under the leadership of Principal William Moore Dietel to educate three of their daughters; and

Whereas, five current students share with sixty alumnae the title “Irene Mennen Hunter Scholar,” a designation made possible by a magnificent scholarship fund and one that celebrates their leadership on Mount Ida and portends their leadership in the world beyond; and

Whereas, every EW student for the last ten years has studied science in the innovative Hunter Science Center (even though the young and academically talented Irene Mennen managed to elude Miss Weaver and the science curriculum of the 1930s); and

Whereas, generations of EW students have learned from the extensive photographic teaching portfolios provided by Irene Hunter; and

Whereas, Irene Hunter’s wisdom, sound judgment, and philanthropic leadership were celebrated with the awarding of the Clementine Miller Tangeman Medal in 2006;

Therefore, with great fanfare and celebration and gratitude, be it proclaimed that February 15, 2008, is Irene Mennen Hunter Day on Mount Ida.

By order of the Board of Trustees,

Mariana Stroock Leighton ’55
Chair

Adopted February 9, 2008