Annual board-led events
Our board members and Alum Admission Representative organize the following events on a yearly basis:
Winter
Mary Lyon Tea
- Date: on or around February 28 (Mary Lyon’s birthday)
- Host(s): NorCal and/or Pen Club
- Location: tea house or boba shop
Spring
Pangy Day Admitted Students Social
- Date: late March or early April (Pangy Day)
- Host(s): NorCal Club, Alum Admission Representative
- Location: alum home in San Francisco or East Bay
Summer
Annual Meeting
- Date: mid-June
- Host(s): NorCal Club
- Location: varies
Fog-to-Foliage Committed Students Send-Off
- Date: mid-August
- Host(s): Pen Club, Alum Admission Representative
- Location: alum home in Peninsula or South Bay
Fall
Mountain Day Ice Cream Socials & Hikes
- Date: fall semester (on Mountain Day)
- Host(s): NorCal Club, Pen Club
- Location: varies
Founder’s Day Prospective Students Social
- Date: on or around November 8 (Founder’s Day)
- Host(s): NorCal or Pen Club, Alum Admission Representative
- Location: alum home in Peninsula/South Bay (in recent years) or in San Francisco/East Bay
Board members also host a range of other events and gatherings. Past ad hoc events include, but are not limited to, a group outing to SF Opera (thanks to May Chen ’21), a guided tour of SFMOMA (Liz Kind ’82), trivia night (Katie Wynen ’05), and Lunar New Year celebrations (Eleanor Chang ’78 and Sarah Lau ’07). We’ve also organized a variety of hikes, lectures, and happy hours through the years.
Book Club
Hannah Fairbanks ’03 has been running the MHC NorCal Book Club since September 2020! Join us on the fourth Wednesday of the month to read, discuss, and learn about books by authors of color. Register here for the Zoom link, and view a full list of book club picks here. Meetings are open to alums from the NorCal and Peninsula Clubs.
The book club tries to get together a couple of times a year in person. Usually we meet in the spring at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley. In 2023, we also got together in December for lunch and a viewing of The Color Purple. In 2025, we will be meeting at the Asian Art Museum.
Ad hoc member-led events
All of our members (i.e., MHC alums living in Northern California) are highly encouraged to (co-)lead an event with the Club. If you’re interested in doing so but aren’t sure where to start, check out our list of event ideas. The Board is also seeking co-leads for some of the events we’re planning, so reach out with your general interests and location to see if we have an event-in-progress that would be a good fit. No event planning experience required!
If you have an event in mind, please fill out this Google Form. We can help you promote your event, set up registration, and more, as long as you complete the form at least one month in advance of your proposed date. Additionally, we may be able to help you secure a venue (e.g., by connecting you with an alum who has offered to host events at their home) and to reimburse you for select expenses (e.g., light refreshments). Contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss your event idea.
If you’d like to informally invite alums to join you somewhere (e.g., meet up at the farmer’s market, go see a show), you can directly post to our private, alum-only LinkedIn and Facebook groups. (Reach out to us if you’re not able to access those pages.) If you’d like your event to be posted to our publicly viewable Instagram or Facebook page, fill out our Comms Request form or tag us in your Instagram post/story.
Check out our calendar and social media for upcoming events!