![\"Suzanne](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ohatnick.jpg\")
When longtime peace advocate Suzanne Hubbard O\u2019Hatnick \u201967 received a letter congratulating her for being selected as a recipient of Hollins\u2019 Distinguished Alumnae Award, she felt profoundly uncomfortable. \u201cAnything I have accomplished has been with the work, collaboration, and devotion of others,\u201d she wrote in an email. \u201cI guess it seemed . . . presumptuous to single me out when so many are involved . . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hatnick studied the list of previous winners, which includes business leaders, prominent scientists, and writers, and wondered, genuinely, whether someone had made a mistake by including her.<\/p>\n
But then she came to reunion. O\u2019Hatnick had not kept in touch with her Hollins friends, but when she found herself on campus she sensed an instant connection with them. \u201cEvery single classmate who came back, I felt could be my best friend,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Little by little, O\u2019Hatnick\u2019s embarrassment dissipated at being acknowledged for what she describes as her \u201clong, hard slog\u201d toward social justice. \u201cUltimately, I thought it was kind of sweet,\u201d she says of the award.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Hollins with a degree in French and a minor in Spanish, O\u2019Hatnick joined the Peace Corps and taught in a Peruvian fishing village. Back in the United States, O\u2019Hatnick took a job directing the International Visitors Center of Maryland, a nonprofit that coordinated programs for international visitors. She so enjoyed seeing people from dramatically different cultures sit down together and find common ground that she kept the job for two decades.<\/p>\n
Eventually, O\u2019Hatnick found herself thinking more and more about the reasons people sometimes failed to resolve conflicts. She stepped down as director to take on a new adventure: international conflict resolution. O\u2019Hatnick completed training with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an organization that promotes peace and equips small teams to work in conflict zones.<\/p>\n
CPT asked O\u2019Hatnick to go to Bosnia where she worked to help reintegrate refugees. She continued her efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, off and on, from 1996 to 2000. \u201cI discovered that listening was the greatest skill I practiced,\u201d O\u2019Hatnick later wrote about her experience.<\/p>\n
When she returned to Baltimore, O\u2019Hatnick continued her activism, working as the former Maryland Legislative Coordinator for Amnesty International USA, and as a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture Action Fund.<\/p>\n
She found herself outraged at the Abu Ghraib <\/em>prisoner abuse scandal, which took place during the Iraq war, and that led to concern about how prisoners are treated in this country. O\u2019Hatnick founded the Interfaith Action for Human Rights, which, among other endeavors, pushed the Maryland legislature to pass bills that required the state to publish data about the use of solitary confinement.<\/p>\n Back when she was just starting her career in Peru, O\u2019Hatnick firmly believed she could save the world. \u201cI\u2019m a little more humbled now,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I can do my part, and we all can.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1977, Granade became the first female prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Southern District of Alabama. In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed her as a lifetime U.S. District Judge, making Granade the first female federal judge in southwest Alabama.<\/p>\n No doubt, Granade will go down as a trailblazer but, as the article asserts, she\u2019ll also be forever associated with her 2015 decision to strike down Alabama\u2019s ban on same-sex marriage. \u201cI did what the constitution required me to do,\u201d Granade says of that case.<\/p>\n It was a decision that prompted some to label Granade a \u201cliberal judge,\u201d a description Granade wholeheartedly refutes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was a prosecutor the Republicans thought I was a Democrat,\u201d Granade says. \u201cThe Democrats thought I was a Republican. I\u2019ve never been a political creature. It wasn\u2019t surprising to me that people thought I think differently than I do. I just do my best to follow the law as I can interpret it.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating from Hollins with a degree in history, Granade received her law degree from the University of Texas. Her father was a lawyer. Her grandfather was a prominent judge.<\/p>\n \u201cI really didn\u2019t have any great ambition to be a lawyer,\u201d she says. \u201cIt just seemed like the natural thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Granade, who places herself firmly in the introvert camp, says she thought she\u2019d take a job where she was hidden away in an office to research and write. \u201cBut the first case I ever tried, I loved it,\u201d Granade says. \u201cLitigation was it for me. It\u2019s kind of like being in a play. You don\u2019t have to ad-lib it all. You have a set of facts dictated by the case. You simply have to use your brain to produce the facts to the witnesses and explain the cases to the jury. It\u2019s an intellectual exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n Even now, having spent many years holding a gavel, Granade sometimes yearns for her attorney days.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a prosecutor is a lot more fun,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are many times when I have wanted to come down off the bench and show the lawyers, \u2018Now this is how you do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Donaldson planned to become either a veterinarian, like her grandfather, or a doctor, like her father. \u201cI just always really liked math and science,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Medicine won out at Hollins where Donaldson majored in chemistry. Her future solidified her senior year when she worked with Harriet Gray, now professor emerita of biology, mapping octopamine of insect ganglia. Donaldson remembers Professor Gray watching her work and saying, \u201cYou dissect well. Maybe you\u2019ll be a neurosurgeon.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Gray\u2019s words stuck. When Donaldson attended Indiana University School of Medicine, where her father had gone, she took a neurosurgery rotation as early as possible in her third year. She stayed at Indiana University School of Medicine for her neurosurgery residency.<\/p>\n Today, Donaldson practices with Indianapolis-based Community Health Network where she focuses on surgical management of complex spinal disorders, neoplasms of the brain and spine, trigeminal neuralgia, hydrocephalus and peripheral nerve entrapment. Her patients frequently praise Donaldson for not making them feel rushed during office visits.<\/p>\n \u201cI take a very personal approach with each patient,\u201d Donaldson remarks in a video about her practice. \u201cMany times for a problem there\u2019s a surgical option, but there may be nonsurgical options as well. I try to collaborate with patients, review all of the options for the particular problem, [and] try to get them the best treatment they can have.\u201d<\/p>\n Donaldson is especially enthusiastic about the future of her profession. She talks enthusiastically of deep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure that treats several disabling neurological symptoms, such as the motor symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s. \u201cThat field is just really about to take off,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are some other things that aren\u2019t ready for prime time yet, but there is so much going on for paralysis and Alzheimer\u2019s. The future is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n A few days after Graves returned home to Mississippi, however, she read a report released by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). It found that low-income Americans will approach LSC\u2014funded legal-aid organizations in 2017 with an estimated 1.7 million problems\u2014issues such as domestic violence, disability access, and housing conditions\u2014but will receive limited or no legal help for more than half of these because of a lack of resources. \u201cThat was a stunning statistic,\u201d says Graves, who has dedicated the bulk of her legal career to expanding access to civil justice.<\/p>\n Both the acknowledgement from Hollins and that sobering report, she says, pushed her\u2014in different ways\u2014to work even harder in her post as executive director of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, which was created by the Mississippi Supreme Court to achieve goals such as increasing funding for delivery of legal services to Mississippi\u2019s poor and working to reduce barriers to the state\u2019s justice system.<\/p>\n Marshall, who majored in political science and Spanish at Hollins, initially dreamed of a career in corporate law, but her career goals changed a few years after graduating from Hollins when she took a job as an academic counselor for Virginia Tech\u2019s Upward Bound program. There, she worked to encourage at-risk high-school students to attend college.<\/p>\n In her third year at the University of Virginia School of Law, Graves received the Powell Fellowship in Legal Services. The honor provides an annual salary while the recipient works in public-interest law. Graves used the fellowship to work at the Mississippi Center for Justice in Jackson, Mississippi, where she represented children and families navigating the special education system. After then spending a few years practicing at private law firms, Marshall took a job as executive director and general counsel of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, which partners low-income individuals who need help with domestic matters with volunteer attorneys.<\/p>\n While her current position shares that same mission of helping poor Mississippians gain access to attorneys and courts, the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission operates more as a think tank and focuses on big-picture ideas, according to Graves.<\/p>\n When talking about her work, Graves is upfront about the fact that Mississippi came in last in a state ranking of the degree states use best practices to ensure access to justice. She immediately follows up that fact, however, with a discussion about solutions, about how to get her adopted state on the right track. She talks about efforts the commission is making to support people with limited English and people with disabilities who are accessing the justice system. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of work to do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n After graduation, King took a position with TESSA of Colorado Springs, which works with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. There, King worked for a project that examined community responses to homes where domestic violence and child abuse occurred simultaneously. \u201cWe looked at all of the major systems and how they responded to that co-occurrence,\u201d she says. \u201cIt became really clear to me that often the person with the most power in a situation was the prosecutor. . . I had been thinking about law school prior to that, but that really solidified it.\u201d<\/p>\n During her third year at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, King interned at the First Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office in Jefferson County, Colorado, and knew she wanted to start her career there. \u201cIt was a fairly competitive office to join,\u201d she says. \u201cIt had a reputation as being well paid with a high quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n King spent a year clerking for a judge until a deputy district attorney position opened in the D.A.\u2019s office. She began by prosecuting misdemeanors and later moved to felonies. In both cases, King took a special interest in cases involving women and children. \u201cI was always very drawn to working on the sexual assault pieces and the domestic violence pieces that came through my docket,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n King went on to work in the juvenile unit, a position she found rewarding because it allowed her more flexibility to be proactive, looking at ways to use community resources to keep children from behind bars. In the position, King met victims of sexual trafficking. \u201cThey were committing survival crimes,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n And so, when the founder of the newly formed human trafficking unit stepped down, King was given the job. During her yearlong tenure, King made a special push to examine housing and rehabilitative options for victims.<\/p>\n All along, she could feel the work taking an emotional toll. \u201cI personally don\u2019t believe anyone can turn it off,\u201d King says. \u201cEveryone has kind of a shelf life for how long they can be exposed to that and still be a high functioning partner\/spouse\/parent.\u201d<\/p>\n Following reunion, King accepted a position as a part-time magistrate, which will allow her to spend more time with her two small children. \u201cThe type of cases I\u2019ll be presiding over are serious, but they don\u2019t really tip the horror scale in the same way,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n As an ambitious person, King says she found it difficult to accept she wanted a life that looked different from the one she planned out at age 30. \u201cIt takes a lot of work sometimes to realize you can change things and survive and excel,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Alumnae profiles by Beth JoJack ’98<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n William Woolfitt M.A. <\/strong>\u201903 had two fiction pieces selected for inclusion in \u201cThe Best of Small Fictions of 2017\u201d anthology: What the Beech Tree Knows<\/em> and Hatchlings<\/em>. The Best Small Fictions<\/em>, beginning in 2015, is the first contemporary anthology solely devoted to honoring the best short hybrid fiction published in a calendar year. Woolfitt currently teaches creative writing and literature at Lee University.<\/p>\n Marcia Thom Kaley M.A.L.S. \u201914<\/strong> has joined the board of directors for Sweet Briar College. Thom-Kaley has enjoyed a 25-year professional career on the operatic and musical theater stages. She is currently also an assistant professor of music at Sweet Briar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Suzanne Hubbard O\u2019Hatnick \u201967 \u2014 2017 Distinguished Alumnae Award Winner When longtime peace advocate Suzanne Hubbard O\u2019Hatnick \u201967 received a letter congratulating her for being selected as a recipient of Hollins\u2019 Distinguished Alumnae Award, she felt profoundly uncomfortable. \u201cAnything I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-7527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-web_only","tag-summer-2017"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7527"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7579,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527\/revisions\/7579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"divider\"](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wave.png\")
<\/p>\nCallie Virginia \u201cGinny\u201d Smith Granade \u201972 \u2014 2017 Distinguished Alumnae Award Winner<\/h3>\n
![\"Callie](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/granade.jpg\")
A lengthy 2015 profile on Callie Virginia \u201cGinny\u201d Smith Granade in The Birmingham News<\/em> makes the case that Granade\u2019s legacy was on track to be \u201cshattering glass ceilings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nJill Wright Donaldson \u201992 \u2014 2017 Distinguished Alumnae Award Winner<\/h3>\n
![\"Jill](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/donaldson.jpg\")
Jill Wright Donaldson had already accepted a spot at the University of Florida, but she couldn\u2019t stop thinking about the friend who told her Hollins would be a perfect school for an avid rider like her. Donaldson decided to make the trip from her central Florida home to Roanoke during the spring break of her senior year of high school. \u201cI toured and really, really loved it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nTiffany Marshall Graves \u201997 \u2014 2017 Distinguished Alumnae Award Winner<\/h3>\n
![\"Tiffany](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/graves.jpg\")
Tiffany Marshall Graves \u201997 felt proud as President Nancy Oliver Gray spoke about Graves\u2019 law career before naming her as one of the winners of the Distinguished Alumnae Award during this summer\u2019s reunion. The award recognizes an alumna who brings distinction to Hollins and to herself through outstanding career performance and\/or participation in community, national, or world affairs. \u201cIt was affirming and motivating,\u201d Graves says of the recognition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nAlexis Davis King \u201902 \u2014 2017 Distinguished Young Alumna Award Winner<\/h3>\n
![\"Alexis](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/king.jpg\")
As a political science major at Hollins, Alexis Davis King \u201902 envisioned a career helping women and children.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nJob Well Done<\/h2>\n
![\"Neely](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/towe.jpg\")
Rev. Neely Towe \u201963 <\/strong>was an honoree at the Greenwich Leadership Forum (GLF), an organization that provides a setting for men and women executives looking to explore how their faith can be used as a compass in decision-making, ethics, and leadership. Towe was a founding members of the organization. She served as pastor of Stanwich Congregational Church in Greenwich, Conn., from 1987 to 2007. In 1990, Towe became the first woman senior pastor for any denomination in Greenwich and surrounding Fairfield County.<\/p>\n![\"Holly](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/hendrix.jpg\")
Holly Hendrix, \u201975 <\/strong>was named one of the top 200 Women Advisors by\u00a0Forbes<\/em>\u00a0in 2017. Hendrix is a senior vice president for investments with UBS Financial Services Inc. She started her career as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in 1977, and then joined PaineWebber in 1985. Her bicoastal practice, HSG Wealth Management Group, specializes in advising high net worth individuals, families, and small corporate clients in the areas of estate planning, liability management, asset management and retirement planning.<\/p>\n![\"Leslie](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/lane.jpg\")
Leslie Blankin Lane \u201979 <\/strong>(center, front)\u00a0<\/em>has been inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame. During her four-year career at Hollins, she led the program to its first Virginia State Division II Championship as a senior in 1979. That year\u2019s team also finished as the national runner-up in the USWLA\u2019s Collegiate Championship. Lane was also a member of the U.S. Women\u2019s Program, playing on the 1981 U.S. Touring Team to Australia and the first World Cup team in 1982. Lane earned All-World honors as a midfielder in 1982 as Team U.S.A. claimed the gold medal in England. She has previously been inducted into four Halls of Fame, including the inaugural class for\u00a0Hollins College, and most recently, the U.S. Lacrosse Philadelphia\/Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter\u2019s Hall of Fame in 2014. Lane was inducted into the\u00a0Hollins\u00a0Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.<\/p>\n![\"Clark](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/morris_clark.jpg\")
Clark Morris \u201992 <\/strong>(right)\u00a0<\/em>was appointed Acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama on March 11, 2017. Morris has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 19 years and served as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the last three years. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Hollins and her law degree from the University of Alabama.<\/p>\n