---

Class of 2001 to Include Descendant of Mary Lyon Christine Sica

Although she also considered attending Skidmore and Gettysburg Colleges, there was really only one place where Christine Sica '01 could enroll: Mount Holyoke. That's because she's a descendant of Mary Lyon, who was the cousin of Sica's great great great grandfather. "I knew we were related a couple of years before I applied to Mount Holyoke," Sica says. "I already knew her name as the founder of the first women's college, but when I mentioned to my mom that we were studying Lyon and other women who were first to do things, she said, 'Oh, yeah, we're related.' "

Sica says her choice of college was influenced by the family connection, "but it wasn't just that. I really liked Mount Holyoke's campus, the people were friendly, and there were a lot of classes I liked," she recalls. Sica visited campus last July and admits she came partly to satisfy her curiosity about the look of the college her relative started. Her final college choice, however, was determined by the fact that "Mount Holyoke is a better school academically [than others at which she was accepted] and offered lots of opportunities with four other colleges in the area," she says.

The Allendale, NJ, native plans to take advantage of her many choices here, including taking classes in English and history and getting involved with the newspaper, radio station, and choir. She's also a pianist and an avid athletics fan. (She played field hockey until a knee injury put her on the sidelines; now she cheers others on.)

Contacted earlier this summer, Sica said she was "really getting excited" about attending Mount Holyoke. "Not many people can say they're going to a college that a relative founded. It's a little bit weird, but it's kind of special. It's going to be interesting." Christine Sica '01--Mary Lyon was the cousin of her great great great grandfather.