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No ordinary ordination On Sunday, December 6 at 3 pm at the First Churches of Northampton, Dean of Religious Life Andrea Ayvazian (above) will celebrate her ordination into the Christian ministry. Rev. William Sloane Coffin, a noted social justice activist who has spoken at MHC and a family friend of Ayvazian and her partner, Michael Klare, will be the guest preacher. In addition to Ayvazian's writing her own service of ordination, other unusual features of the service will include the laying of hands on Ayvazian by the attending clergy, who may number as high as two dozen.

Among those participating in the celebration from campus will be Dean of the College Beverly Daniel Tatum, Associate Professor of Religion John Grayson, Markeisha Miner '99, Jen Horton '99, Courtney Craig '99, Ivy Tillman of LITS, Dilrukshi Fonseka '00, Dean Ruth Bass Green, Rabbi Donna Berman, and the Protestant Council of Deacons. For Ayvazian, the day will complete ten years of following her call. The MHC community is warmly welcome to attend the ceremony; the church is located in downtown Northampton, across the street from Cha Cha Cha.

'Name that foal' contest Earlier this semester, CSJ broke the news of the unexpected--but welcomed--pregnancy of Saucey, one of the College's quarter horses. She's due sometime in December or January, and the Equestrian Center staff wants to be prepared with good names for the new arrival. He or she will be the first foal born at the Equestrian Center.

So the Equestrian Center and CSJ invite all members of the campus community to submit names for colts and fillies (that's boy and girl horses, for non-equestrians) in the "Name That Foal" contest. The prize isn't a tuition waiver or extra week's vacation (you wish!), but the new foal will actually be christened with the winning name, promises Joanne Bonano, director of the Equestrian Center.

Since determining Saucey's "due date" is an inexact science--Bonano says equine prenatal care isn't equal to that for humans yet--all contest entries must be submitted by the last day of classes, December 15. Send suggested names for the new foal to jbonano@mtholyoke.edu.

NEWMAC kudos for two student-athletes Ninani Coyne '02 has been named the 1998 New England Women and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Rookie of the Year in tennis. Coyne, who is from Botswana, was the only MHC player to win her first-round match at the New England Championships. She beat MIT's number-one player, avenging a loss in a dual match at the beginning of the season. "Ninani continues to establish herself as a strong and promising player in the NEWMAC," says her coach, Aldo Santiago. "She plays very well under pressure and is a very knowledgeable player."

Meredith Garey '99 of Edgecomb, Maine, has been named to the 1998 New England Women and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference team. Garey qualified for the team by virtue of her top-ten finish at the NEWMAC Championship meet in October. Garey finished seventh overall at that meet, covering the 3.1-mile course in a time of 19 minutes, 46 seconds. For the second straight year, she has finished first on her team at every meet this season. She finished fifth overall at the Seven Sisters Championship held at MHC earlier this fall, and won the 1998 Mount Holyoke Invitational. "Meredith is an outstanding athlete and competitor," said her coach, Tina Lee. "She rightfully takes her place among the best in New England."

This is the first season of competition in the NEWMAC, which was formerly the New England Women's 8 Conference before voting to add Springfield College and the United States Coast Guard Academy last spring. Member institutions are Babson College, Clark University, the Coast Guard Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Author, Author Professor of English Corinne Demas, who writes under the name Corinne Demas Bliss, has a new book out for the younger set. "Snow Day," the sequel to Demas's "The Shortest Kid in the World," is part of Random House's Step Into Reading series for first- through third-graders. The story revolves around a girl named Emily, her difficulty developing a topic for a school report, and her adventures with a new friend during a day off from school due to snow. Demas, who has published several other children's books, an adult novel, and two short story collections, has also taught a seminar at Mount Holyoke on writing children's literature.

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