“Alma, On Her Own Terms” (Alumni POV, November/December) was a lovely article about a member of the Brown community whose contributions included working in the community garden, attending Commencement each spring, and mentoring (at least one) Brown student. Alma is described as a teacher, a storyteller, a lifelong learner, and a role model. The subtitle, however, is confusing. “Wisdom,” it reads, “sometimes comes from the most unlikely source.” I scoured the article for an explanation, and found only one: she did not graduate from Brown and her only experience in higher education was secretarial school. I am tempted to conclude that the message of this article is “even people who lack prestigious degrees can be wise.” But, surely, this is not what was intended!

Elizabeth Bennett ’10
Fort Collins, Colo.