WDCSA Newsletter – June 2020

This month’s newsletter is available for download in PDF format.

WDCSA COVID-19 Update

Due to the evolving COVID-19 outbreak and an abundance of concern for the well-being of our community,  The University’s senior leadership has recommended that all large events be cancelled or postponed.  

As a result, the WDCSA Board has decided to cancel all WDCSA events until June and will reassess the need for further cancelations in late-May. We will communicate when events have been rescheduled and regret any inconvenience this change of plans may have caused.

In addition, our monthly board meetings will be held virtually until further notice.  See below for the May meeting details.

We are going to take this time as an opportunity to brainstorm fun activities and events for the DC-area Stanford Community. If you have any ideas for events, do not hesitate to reach out to the WDCSA Board!  

To learn more, reach out to WDCSA President, Patricia Arty, patriciaarty@alumni.stanford.edu, WDCSA Vice President, Stephanie Tan stephanie.tan@stanfordalumni.org, or departing WDCSA Vice President, Ingrid Jernudd, ingridj@alumni.stanford.edu

Thank you,

Patricia, Ingrid, Stephanie, and Jasmaine
WDCSA Board

Events Calendar

  • June 12 – WDCSA Election Voting Deadline
  • July 13 – Baltimore Book Club Discussion

Upcoming Events

Baltimore Book Club Discussion

Monday, July 13, 7:30 pm

Google Meet: Everyone will be emailed a link to join the meeting a few minutes before

Our July selection is The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission that Changed our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Calahan. From NPR book review: “In 1973, psychologist and Stanford University professor David Rosenhan published a journal article that shook the world of psychiatry to its core. ‘On Being Sane in Insane Places’ was the result of a study in which eight people without mental illness got themselves admitted to psychiatric institutions – Rosenhan wanted to see whether mental health professionals could actually distinguish between psychologically well people and those with mental illness. They could not … Rosenhan’s study had an outsized effect on psychiatry; it was ‘cited to further movements as disparate as the biocentric model of mental illness, deinstitutionalization, anti-psychiatry, and the push for mental health patient rights.’ The study was undoubtedly influential. Unfortunately, Cahalan claims, it was also likely fatally flawed.” The September selection is The Lady in the Lake:  A Novel by Laura Lippman.

Questions/RSVP: Helene Myers, Ph.D., P’14, at cedarhouse@comcast.net

WDCSA Elections

WDCSA’s officer elections are currently underway! WDCSA is a volunteer organization led by a team of four officers: President, two Vice Presidents, and Treasurer. We are currently voting on candidates for two offices, Vice President and Treasurer, for a term of two years, May 2020 – April 2022. Only members are eligible to participate in elections. Voting ends Friday, June 12 at 5pm EDT.

Stanford in the News

  • Stanford’s virtual celebration of 2020 graduates scheduled for June 14th. The university’s virtual celebration of graduates is scheduled for the same day as Stanford’s postponed Commencement. But it won’t be a substitute for that venerable tradition. Stanford will hold an in-person graduation when state and county COVID-19 restrictions make gathering on campus again possible.