A wonderful post by Julie Stackpole

Julie Stackpole graciously shared these thoughts which were in response to a column in her school magazine.  Thank you Julie!

In reference to President Joan Hinde Stewart's column in the alumni magazine "What Would Jean Valjean Do?":

     I saved the page from the magazine before the rest went into recycling, because it resonated with me and the spirit of the times.  I have not read the novel Les Miserables (yet) other than in 11th grade French class the chapter where Valjean steals the candlesticks and is redeemed for God.  However, like many people I am familiar with the story through the musical, which we saw in London in 1995.

     After seeing the current movie, I ran through my cassette tape of the Broadway show a couple of times as I worked, (it being easier to understand the lyrics than the CD of the movie's soundtrack), and naturally I consequently got the songs stuck in my head.  "Do You Hear the People Sing" prompted musing on how down the ages students, & young hot-blooded idealists, have fought to remove injustices, and all too often are also struck down.  It happened in the first French revolution, in 1832's as portrayed in "Les Miz", in 1848 Italy, in 1917 Russia etc. etc. and continues today.

    My thoughts continued back to my own college experience at Kirkland/Hamilton, thinking about the anti-Vietnam war protesters of 1969-1970, so similar to the outraged young men in "Les Miserables".  I didn't want to spend my time at college in political dissent, although I did join the protest gathering on the Clinton green -- Was that before or after the killing of students at Kent State?  The first Earth Day in 1970 made me feel guilty about wanting to study Medieval literature, and so for a semester, I did consider being an Oceanography major (hard to do in upstate New York) so that I could possibly live on Nantucket as I planned but still help the environment.  In the end, this was trying to fit myself into a hole that was not my peg.  None-the-less, down the years, I have tried to help political, social and environmental causes that I believe in, tried not to lose the inspiration of youth under the muffler of years.  My secondary school's motto was "Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus" "not for school but for life we learn", i.e:  we keep learning throughout life, but also, what we study in school is to help us in life.  

Julie Beinecke Stackpole K'72