Founders' Day Chapel Honors Loomis, Neely, Gould '11, and Morten '76

Young Alumna Meg Gould '11, Head of School Albert Throckmorton, and Light and Life Service Award Recipient Lisa Morrow Morton '76

Young Alumna Meg Gould '11, Head of School Albert Throckmorton, and Light and Life Service Award Recipient Lisa Morrow Morton '76

St. Mary’s Episcopal School celebrated the 178-year legacy at the 2024 Founders' Day Chapel on Tuesday, September 17 at the Church of the Holy Communion.

The 2024 Founders' Day Chapel honored Helen Loomis and Katherine Neely for their faithful leadership of the school. The two are credited with guiding St. Mary's through the many challenges the school faced in the first half of the 20th century including the Great Depression and World War II.

In addition to celebrating the contributions of these inspiring women, the Founders' Day Chapel recognized two Alumnae for their extraordinary contributions to St. Mary's and their community. 

2024 Young Alumna Award Honoree Meg Gould ’11  Advocates for Justice

2024 Young Alumna Award Recipient discovered passion in a St. Mary’s classroom. Meg Gould’s high school passion became her career. 

Today, she works at Chicago-based Loevy & Loevy as a Justice Fellow, focusing on cases involving police misconduct, wrongful convictions, prisoners’ rights, employment discrimination, and excessive force.

But, Meg’s interest in social justice was catalyzed through a Global Issues class at St. Mary’s.

“We picked a topic for the final project about a global issue with a local impact in Memphis that we all really cared about, and I chose juvenile justice in Memphis,” Meg said.

Since then, Meg has continued to find opportunities to fight for the rights of all people, whether in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Botswana or New York City, Charlottesville, and Memphis. For her commitment to service, Meg received the 2024 Young Alumna Award from St. Mary’s at the Founders’ Day ceremony.

Dr. Patti Person Ray ‘65 witnessed Meg’s first spark of interest in human rights in that Global Issues class.

“From the beginning of our class, Meg was eager to explore the various issues we studied, and she was deeply impacted by the injustices she discovered. Her commitment to understanding these injustices went beyond mere interest—she was driven to find solutions,” said Dr. Ray, who now serves as St. Mary’s historian.

“I was just a high schooler when I became interested in social justice issues like juvenile justice, and now I’m a civil rights attorney, representing a lot of people who were wrongfully incarcerated when or around the age they were juveniles,” Meg said. “The full circle of the impact that St. Mary’s leaves on its students is really and truly powerful.”

After graduating from the University of Virginia as an Echols scholar, Meg taught English and math in Botswana and spent her free time volunteering with a locally run refugee advocacy program. When she returned to Charlottesville, she worked in education policy and youth development and volunteered for a prison education program, sparking an interest in law and policy. 

Combining her newfound interest in law and her long-lasting passion for domestic and global human rights issues, Meg knew Columbia Law School would provide her with opportunities in all these areas. 

“At Columbia Law School, I could do all of the things. I had really strong clinical legal experiences in New York City but also all around the world,” Meg said. “I couldn’t decide if I wanted to focus fully on domestic issues or invest in global issues.”

Meg says one of the most memorable experiences during law school was working with AdvocAid and their international partner the Death Penalty Project in Sierra Leone, where the organization and other volunteers aimed to abolish the death penalty.

Gould '11 meeting with the Death Penalty Project and partners in Taiwan in 2023– they wrote an amicus brief supporting a petition in the Constitutional Supreme Court of Taiwan arguing that the death penalty is unconstitutional.

During her time in law school, she also served as the co-chair of the International Refugee Assistance Project, outreach chair for the Human Rights Institute 1L Advocates Program, a Human Rights Law Review staff member, and co-founder of the Paralegal Pathways Initiative, which connects formerly incarcerated individuals with employment opportunities in the legal field.

“It comes as no surprise to me that Meg has gone on to become a civil rights attorney,” Dr. Ray said. “I have always believed she was destined to make a meaningful difference in the world, and I am incredibly proud of all she has accomplished and will continue to achieve in her career.”
Meg’s work, from exploring juvenile justice in Global Issues at St. Mary’s to representing wrongfully incarcerated individuals, always stands on the same passion of caring and advocating for others globally and domestically. 

“I think global and domestic issues overlap and intersect, and I see it in my job every day,” Meg said. “It’s all very fast-moving. The best part of the job is getting to know all of our clients, but it’s hard a lot of days to confront the really horrific injustices that have happened to them. To be their advocate in the courtroom and make their cases the best you can is all that matters.”
 

Light & Life Service Award Honoree Lisa Morrow Morten ’76: Creating Community – and Mascots!

First Light and Life Service Award Recipient has given St. Mary’s her time and creativity, and the Turkey

Lisa Morrow Morten ’76 has a lasting connection with St. Mary’s, where she has generously given her time, creativity, and even the school’s beloved mascot – the Turkey! In recognition of her enduring contributions, Lisa was named the first recipient of the prestigious Light and Life Service Award, an honor given to those who exemplify extraordinary dedication to the school community.

Lisa was the Chair of Alumnae Weekend from 1992 to 2015. She has also served as Alumnae Board president, on the Board of Trustees, and shared her love of interior design while serving on the SMS Beautification Committee. Yet, her most memorable contribution dates back to her senior year, when she and her class of 1976 introduced the Turkey as our mascot.

Before the Turkey, St. Mary’s mascot was a hoop-skirted Southern Belle. But Lisa and her friend Crissy Garrett Haslam ’76 wanted something fun and new, inspired by Memphis University School’s short break from the owl and replacing it with the buzzard.

“We wanted to make turkeys fierce. We’d read they were smart, and even Benjamin Franklin had wanted them to be our national bird,” Lisa said. “We thought we would just call ourselves the Turkeys for our senior year, and that will be it. We still laugh about it.” 

Since then, the Turkey has captured students' hearts and even gained national recognition, making it to the final round of voting for the most unique mascot in the country in 2012.

A lifelong creative, Lisa majored in art at Hollins College and has applied her design skills to both the Beautification Committee and planning countless Alumnae Weekends. As the mother of two alumnae, Meredith ’07 and Anna ’11, she has also contributed to the Parents Association.
“I’ve had the freedom to propose the craziest, most fun ideas,” she says, including a cowboy-themed Alumnae Weekend complete with pony rides. “I keep coming back because I love the work and the school.”
Lisa's enduring love for St. Mary’s shines through. “I love this school. That’s ultimately why I come back. I love how I am still friends with my class, the community of parents you gain when your child is a student, and the connection alumnae share,” Lisa said. 

 

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Additional Images

MegGould

Meg Gould ’11, 2024 Young Alumna Award Honoree

Lisa Morten

Lisa Morrow Morten ’76, 2024 Light & Life Service Award Honoree