Tanner Conference to celebrate 10th anniversary next week

Next week the Tanner Conference will celebrate its 10th anniversary, showcasing Wellesley in the world and highlighting student achievement off-campus. The conference was founded 10 years ago thanks to the generosity of Estelle “Nicki” Tanner ’57, trustee emerita, who worked with Professor of Sociology Lee Cuba and Executive Director of the Center for Work and Service Joanne Murray. Tanner, who will be attending this year’s “Tanner at 10,” not only has a long history of involvement with philanthropy but also sees women as indispensable in this arena.

A trustee for 18 years, Tanner said that her philanthropic contributions to Wellesley were informed not so much by her days as a student but rather the perspective she gained from being on the Board of Trustees. “I learned about Wellesley by watching how Wellesley operated at a time when things were changing…when the world was in flux,” she said. Rather than being a solidly fixed establishment, Tanner thinks of Wellesley as a thinking institution—in her mind one of Wellesley’s greatest strengths.

“The Board of Trustees is thoughtfully appointed to reflect as much as possible the diversity of the country and the world,” Tanner said. A majority of trustees throughout the college’s history have been alumnae, though not all are women.

While attending Wellesley, most students don’t give much of a second thought to the operations of the board, or perceive them as an aloof body. Tanner admits, “There’s a lot of misinformation about what trustees do.” Trustees are not paid for their work. “Trustees are expected to be contributors of what are called the three ‘W’s’: work, wisdom, and wealth,” Tanner said. The last term refers to the expectation for trustees to be philanthropic to the institutions of the boards that they serve on.

Tanner believes that Wellesley College, and other similar educational institutions, are ideal recipients for philanthropic gifts, regardless of how the economy affects both donors and their benefactors. “The argument doesn’t change whether the economy is good or bad,” she said. “I believe this wholeheartedly: that an educated woman is a force for good. [If] you educate a woman, then you educate a family, a community. It’s a major ripple in a major stream. [Education] is the best investment. And you don’t even have to care about women—you just have to care about the world.”

The original idea for the Tanner Conference arose when Tanner was a trustee and co-chair of a college fundraising campaign, which garnered national attention for its impressive scope and results—unexpected for a relatively small liberal arts college. Interestingly, the campaign raised questions among institutions of higher education about the significance of women’s roles in philanthropy. Fittingly, amid the ongoing discussion of philanthropy and women’s involvement, Tanner thought about what she could contribute to the community of women at Wellesley.

“My biggest concern was that Wellesley was becoming a very expensive place to get an education,” Tanner said. “Some magic happens with students and other students, with students and teachers, with teachers and teachers, that mix to create an institution, that I would say, is worth the money, because it provides an education for life.” With this dynamic exchange already occurring, Tanner’s challenge was “a question of: How do you make visible the magic that happens at a liberal arts college?”

Tanner approached Lee Cuba and Joanne Murray with what she termed, initially, a very messy idea. Cuba suggested a conference along the lines of the Ruhlman Conference, hosted each spring, which likewise showcases a variety of student work. Tanner and Cuba’s concerns, however, were how to expose the off-campus experiences of Wellesley students, which would usually be confined to passing conversation in dorm hallways or classrooms. Thus the Tanner Conference was established with mission to provide “a venue for students and alumnae to reflect critically upon, analyze and share their off-campus experiences with others in the College community.” “The first year was wonderful,” Tanner recalled. “The second year there was a leap in the number of students who applied.” She joked, “The enthusiasm built by the fifth or sixth year [was] bad news for me. The room would be too crowded and I would have to sit on the floor. But the crowds…were just tremendous. It’s been a very exciting thing for me. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

This year, “Tanner at 10” features the usual vast array of topics. Presentations will run under sessions titled everything from “Science Goes Global” to “Storytelling Through Bricks and Mortar.” Panels this year include “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Yes, But They Taught Us Some Surprising Lessons!” and “Eat, Play, Love: Building Networks Among Future Leaders of Southeast Asia.”