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 PHI BETA KAPPA

           NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION     

      THE GAMMA ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA    

                        Association Chartered June 14, 1946     

                               March 2021

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Eight Scholars and Four Teachers Honored. May, 2020

Awardees have made Videos of their “Annual Meeting Talk”

Without an Annual Meeting at which to present our awards, we asked the awardees to make a video of their acceptance talk. These are now available on the YouTube via our website. Go to https://www.pbknca.com/, then use the menubar at the top, click on Scholarship, or Teaching. There are links by most awardees that go to the YouTube videos.

From the President

 We hope everyone has avoided the COVID, but wish returned health to those who have been ill. I am writing this prior to what would have been, in “normal times,” our annual Presidents’ Weekend retreat at Asilomar. I am so disappointed that the Pandemic has caused us to have to cancel this very special event for the first time in the 34 years that we have been having the retreat. But Asilomar Chair, Deirdre Frontczak, reports that we have a reservation with Asilomar for Presidents’ Weekend 2022 and hope that life may have returned to a semblance of “normal” by then.

First Vice President for Programs, O’Neil Dillon, offers Zoom programs, virtual visits or lectures (see page 2). Sign-ups for these will be available on our website, pbknca.com, and in our newsletter. Membership Chair, Pat Kenber and Communications Officer, Ray Hendess, have been working since September on a new website/database program. Read all about it on page two and renew your membership if you haven’t done that yet. Pat has also suggested that if you have interest in being on a committee in the future, check out the committee descriptions on page three and then indicate your interests by logging in to your profile on our website (pbknca.com/Sys/Login/). Teaching Excellence Chair, Melissa Stevens, reports that she has a fabulous lineup of professors, and their materials are being evaluated by the committee. Claire Coleman reports that the Young Professionals will reconvene in a month or so to discuss future events.

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Committees

3

Events

2

ΦBKNCA Board

5

President’s Letter

1

Website

2

Our entire Board of Directors has volunteered to re-up for the 2021-22 year. I give my sincere thanks to all of our Board members for their service during the 2020-21 year. If you should have a yen to serve our Association in the future as a Board Member, please let me know at mltg@aol.com. We can probably match a job to your interests and qualifications. There are also opportunities for one-off activities (at this time of year I’m thinking Audit Committee) and helping with tours/visits, perhaps actual but definitely virtual.

Mary Turner Gilliland, President 2011-20

Upcoming Events

  "The Fight for Racial Justice, then and now”

A two-part series on Racial Justice.

March 13th and April 17th, 2021

The Reverend Jim Richardson, the final speaker at Asilomar 2020, will present an updated and compelling view of Abolitionist times from his own family history.  This presentation will be followed on April 17th by

The Honorable Lise Pearlman, who is an award-winning author and documentary film director.

Details:

This is a two-part presentation by PBKNCA members on the topical subject of Racial Justice.

Jim Richardson will present a history of his abolitionist family and their activities followed by Lise Pearlman, who will start with the Huey Newton trial’s groundbreaking results and bring us up to date on pivotal issues, and cases, affecting Racial Justice in the Criminal Justice system.

“THE ABOLITIONIST’S JOURNAL, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY FAMILY" James Richardson, PBK, M.Div. (Theology), Dean, Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento 

Methodist pastor George Richardson (1824-1911) left behind a 334-page journal richly detailing how he and his family used their home on the Underground Railroad to assist escaped slaves; his service as the white chaplain to an African American Union regiment in the Civil War; and then after the war, his family’s struggle to found a college for the formerly enslaved in Texas. The college was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan, chased out by the city of Dallas, and then reestablished in Austin where it thrives today as Huston-Tillotson University. His journal has prompted a decade-long search through family archives -- yet raises questions about how a family’s deep commitment to emancipation faded and disappeared in succeeding generations. 

James Richardson is a former senior writer with The Sacramento Bee and the author of several books on California politics, including an acclaimed biography of the politician Willie Brown, published by the University of California Press. His newest book project heads into a new direction, exploring his family roots in the anti-slavery abolitionist movement of the 19th century. Richardson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UCLA and has a Master of Divinity degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. He is an Episcopal priest and is currently the interim Episcopal Priest (ret), Sacramento.

Topic: "The Fight For Racial Justice, Then and Now, #1"

Time: Mar 13, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87314623628?pwd=U1c2QVJJYi9FY0ZmUXVxcTV3QTNOQT09

Meeting ID: 873 1462 3628

Passcode: 830391

“AMERICAN JUSTICE ON TRIAL: 1968,2020 AND BEYOND” The Honorable Lise Pearlman (ret.)

Lise Pearlman is an award-winning author and documentary film producer. She will speak from her work on a 2016 book “American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton.”

The outcome of this landmark trial has impacted the fight for racial justice in an ongoing way.

Topic: "The Fight For Racial Justice, Then and Now, #2"

Time: Apr 17, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86701229782?pwd=b1VwdWxWNTVSTisvM3JmZlVFMWs0QT09

Meeting ID: 867 0122 9782, Passcode 495814

O’Neil Dillon, First Vice President – Programs

PBKNCA announces our new website/database at pbknca.com

A Quick history of our website and database

Twenty-five years ago, we launched our first website. It contained four pages. Our current website contains about 150 pages! Over the years, we have created new websites as the technology and our skills have advanced. Last month, we made public our most sophisticated website yet – using the technology from the Canadian company, Wild Apricot. This is the first website that we haven’t written ourselves, and as such will not require a lot of technical skill to handle.

Similarly, we have moved from pencil-and-paper bookkeeping, to spreadsheets, to various databases, and since 2007 to a Microsoft Access database that we created to manage the membership records. We’ve gone from membership payment by check, to PayPal online; newsletters sent with self-stick labels we received from the National Society to email addresses and the choice of online or hardcopy newsletters; sent by mailing lists emailed from the Membership Chair to the Newsletter Chair; and now in the days of Covid-19, Have transitioned to Zoom for our meetings and events.

Payments are instantly credited to the member’s account when paid online

Dues and contributions to our Scholarship, Teaching Excellence, Endowment and General funds are instantly credited to the member’s account when paid online, without an administrator having to enter the data of nearly 1000 members manually into the database as before. To pay, a member needs to create a password, then log in. Instructions for creating a password are located on the home page of the website at pbknca.com/Login-Instructions. It is a bit tedious the first time, but if you remember your password, it only takes a few clicks next time. Persons interested in joining the Association are first vetted through the National Society before being approved for membership. Payments can be made online or by check, but to save the Membership Chair a lot of work, we prefer online. Membership runs from January 1 to December 31, and automatically expires at the end of the year unless you update. Automatic reminders are also sent.

Securely accept and credit payments and issue receipts immediately

We now have the ability to securely accept online payments, crediting payments and issuing receipts immediately without having to enter the data of nearly 1000 members manually into the database as before. If desired, members can store their credit card information in the system for quick payment of membership and events.

No email, no problem. Hardcopy newsletters and receipts will be available and checks will still be accepted

Members who do not have an email address or do not use the internet to connect to PBKNCA may proceed as before. Hardcopy newsletters and receipts will be available and checks and other communications by mail will receive the same personal attention they always have.

All our member data lives safely in the cloud which allows our members to access and update their own password-protected profiles

The new system from Wild Apricot incorporates the website, record-keeping, emailing, event management, and the membership database, all in one place in the cloud, that can be accessed by approved administrators in real time. All our member data lives safely in the cloud which allows our members to access their password-protected profiles from their desktop, phone or tablet. Members can enter and change their information, including email addresses.

Directory accessible to members only, who can control their own data

The website is open to the public so Phi Betes and others can find us and learn about our programs, but we have restricted items such as the searchable directory to established members only. Each member can control what information is available to other members. A member can reach out to other members without seeing their email address via a blind mailing system (similar to that of LinkedIn or Facebook). The recipient, of course, will know who is trying to contact them, and can reply or not, as desired.

Events and registration

Once we get back to in-person events, all events will be listed on the website as before, but registrations and payments will go directly to the database without manual intervention, and the Program Chair will have instant access to the sign-up list.

Wrapping it up

Does this sound like we’re enthusiastic about the new system? You bet! Although we have been working what seems like 24/7 since September to get this set up, future membership and website work will be so much simplified that maybe you will be willing to take over when we retire.

Patricia Kenber, Third Vice President – Membership and Ray Hendess, Communications Officer

Connection, Community and Contribution - PBKNCA Committees

Your membership dues, donations and event fees support our Scholarships and Teaching Excellence Awards. As a member of a committee, you will make new connections by cooperating with other PBKNCA members to determine where our money goes and how we can bring members together for rewarding experiences.

For most committees, involvement is generally for a small part of the year, so committee commitments are easy to fit into your life.  The Audit/Finance Committee meets once to do the Audit in late Winter while the Scholarship and Teaching Excellence Committees meet only to review applications in the Spring. The Program Committee is generally planning on a quarterly basis and only Membership and Newsletter Committees involve a more continuous commitment. Committee Chairs are voting members of the Board of Directors and only they are required to attend the Board Meetings and the Annual Meeting in May. Terms are for one year, running from July 1 to June 30.

So, log in to our new website at https://pbknca.com/ and update your Member Profile with your Committee Interests. Committees are supportive of new members and training is provided as needed. Committee Chairs are always looking for new faces and new ideas. Sign up now to let committee chairs know you are interested in joining when there is an opening.

 Patricia Kenber, Third Vice President – Membership

Committee descriptions

Audit/Finance

Meets with the Treasurer annually to audit the finances of the Association and assure that the Association complies with Federal and California codes, and with its own bylaws regarding awards and procedures. One member needs to be versed in audit procedures, but other volunteers are only needed to contribute their critical thinking skills.

Only the Treasurer is required to attend Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Communications and Newsletter

Responsible for producing a newsletter, using reports by Board members, which is distributed by email and hardcopy, and for managing email communications to inform the membership and provide outreach to potential members.

With the move to the Wild Apricot membership management system a high level of computer skills is no longer needed beyond a comfort with simple spreadsheets, website design using the easy-to-use Wild Apricot, a similarly easy-to-use emailing program and logical approach to interrogating the membership database. Templates are provided to support program and other event planning and communications needs.

The Communications Officer chairs the committee and is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend and report to Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Membership

Responsible for maintaining the membership records of the Association and for ensuring that applicants for membership are qualified. Most dues and donations are handled automatically by the Wild Apricot system, only payments in checks and cash need to manually entered and acknowledged. The committee keeps national PBK updated with changes in member data, and acquires a list of potential members in Northern California from them.

The committee chair is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend the Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Nominating

All work of the Nominating Committee is focused on the preparation of a slate of nominees for elective members of the Association Board and the five elected members of the Nominating Committee to be presented to the membership for election at the Annual Meeting in May. Responsible for contacting current Board members to inquire about their interest in being nominated for another term of office, and for finding replacements for those retiring. A willingness to call others and discuss the requirements of the respective positions is essential.

The committee chair is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend the Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Program Committee

The Program Committee is probably the best way to meet the most people in the Association. Responsibilities include planning and hosting events, informing membership of upcoming events and coordinating with the treasurer to fund and pay for activities.

The committee chair is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend the Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Scholarship

Responsible for the review of about 25 scholarship applications and recommendation for awards. The committee meets two or three times, in person or on-line, in the Spring to review applications. Members receive all relevant documents to review ahead of the meetings.  Newcomers to the committee receive copious support from experienced members.

The committee chair is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend the Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Teaching Excellence Committee

Responsible for the review of about 10 Teaching Excellence nominations and recommendation for awards. The committee meets two or three times in person or on-line in the Spring to review applications. Members receive all relevant documents to review ahead of the meetings.  Newcomers to the committee receive copious support from experienced members.

The committee chair is a voting member of the Association Board, expected to attend the Board meetings as well as the Annual Meeting in May.

Patricia Kenber, Third Vice President – Membership


 ΦBK Board, July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021
 
 Mary Turner Gilliland, President
    Menlo Park, (650) 321-9966, Mltg@aol.com
 O’Neil Dillon, First Vice President – Programs
    Berkeley, cell 510-207-8761, oneilsdillon@gmail.com
 Joanne Sandstrom, Second Vice President – Scholarships
    Oakland, (510) 339-1352, joannes@berkeley.edu
 Patricia Kenber, Third Vice President – Membership
    Danville, (925) 838-2296, kenber@sbcglobal.net
 Duncan Missimer, Treasurer
    Mountain View, (408) 368-0835, Duncan.missimer@ieee.org
 Susan Jenkins, Corresponding and Recording Secretary
     San Jose, (408) 532-6550, sjenkins4@yahoo.com
 Deirdre Frontczak, Asilomar Chair
    Santa Rosa, (707) 546-4238, dfrontczak@santarosa.edu
 Amanda Sanyal, Chapter Liaison
    Campbell, (650) 520-5419, a_derry@yahoo.com
 Ray Hendess, Communications Officer
    Petaluma, (707) 763-2072, rhendess@gmail.com
 Melissa X. Stevens, Teaching Excellence Chair
    Rocklin, (530) 933-1550, pbkteachingexcellence@gmail.com
 
The editor thanks Dr Larry Lerner for proofing this newsletter

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