Aug 1999

Thirtieth Reunion

Maybe if the campus were always as beautiful and the weather as glorious as they were during the three days of reunion, all of us would have found a way to stay around New Haven. Alas, as we know, that must have been a mid-life mirage, and while Woody Collins and Walt Cummingsdeserve credit for a nearly perfect three days of activities and conditions, it clearly was the turnout of classmates that made the 30th so remarkable.

For the 300-plus members of the Class of 1969 and their families, Memorial Day weekend was truly memorable. From the class dinner featuring Reed Hundt‘s wry commentary, to Macon Cowles‘s “Mid-Life Correction” discussion, to campus tours, toWilliam Sloane Coffin‘s Sunday sermon, to (of course) the class golf outing, there was much to do and talk about. And in an unmistakable sign that we are growing up a little bit, we actually pulled ourselves away from the bar to take advantage of the Collins-Cummings agenda.

There was still plenty of time for plain old catching up, and we did lots of that, although it appears that we have been keeping up with each other fairly well on our own. There was a great deal of conversation about the class e-mail network, which has enabled many of us to touch base, even if it means eavesdropping on the electronic dialogue of others. And now that there is an alphabetized list of all classmates’ e-mail addresses — thanks to the on-line efforts of several computer literates — we may actually be able to communicate one-to-one between now and the 35th.

Our conversations seemed decidedly different from those at past reunions. There was not so much “What have you accomplished?” and much more “How are you . . . really?” We are mellower, smarter, and I think, nicer than we have ever been. We may not have passed the baton quite yet, but we are not running this lap so quickly. We are, it seems, slowing down enough to smell the roses.

Okay, enough advertising for the development office. Which, by the way, must absolutely love the Class of ’69. Our $11-million-dollar-plus reunion gift doubled the average 30th effort, sustaining and enhancing our record as Yale’s most generous and, apparently, appreciative class. And to think we were ready to cut Yale off for not bringing women to campus.

Borrowing from Billy Crystal, I must say you all looked mahvelous! You seemed to have recovered from the ingestion of all those questionable substances. And although several of us griped about being next to the 50th Reunion class instead of a younger bunch, it was somewhat comforting to notice that the Class of ’49 looked pretty good, too. I don’t think many of us will hesitate to return in 2004.

But we don’t necessarily need to wait that long. Rob Shlachter has organized a mini-reunion in the Columbia Gorge just outside Portland, Oregon, October 8-10. Write him at (rshlachter@ssbls.com) or call him at 503-227-1600 for more details. I hope to be there as your intrepid reporter, and maybe to check out the Oregon putting surfaces. Adios.

Those who attended (*guest): Adams*, Anderson, Aronson*, Ashburn, Bachman, Baum*, Beinecke*, Bemis*, Benson, Berkeley*, Bernblum*, Billick, Bogaty, Briney, Brock, Brown, Bruns, Buck, Castelli*, Chopivsky, Cobert*, Coddington*, Collier*, A. Collins*, R. Collins, Cowles, Culver*, Cummings*, Curchack*, Devoe, Dixon*, Drost, Earley, Emmons*, Farren*, Feigenbaum*, Field*, Fisher*, Flynn*, Franks*, Frazzini*, Freeman, H. Fuller, T. Fuller*, Galligan, Gascoigne*, Gazzoli, Georgiades*, Goldsmith*, Gottshall*, Green*, Greenberg*, Groome*, Gustafson*, Hart, Haworth*, Healey, Heller*, Henderson*, Herbert, High*, Hoban*, Holahan*, Hood*, Howorth, Hudak*, Hundt*, Hurwitz*, Huttner*, Ibsen*, Igoe*, Johnson*, Jorde*, Kang*, Ketner*, Klebanoff, Knight, Knoblauch*, Lannamann*, Lawler*, Lawson*, Lazarus*, Lehr, Lenck, Leonard*, Lerman, Livingston, Lozier*, and Lussen.

Also: Mackoff*, Madden*, Malamud, Malsin, Mancusi-Ungaro*, Martin*, McAuliffe*, McGuire*, McNamee, Menaged*, Mills, Mimms*, Mischner, Moon*, J. Nelson, K. Nelson*, S. Nelson*, Newman*, Nilsson*, Nitkin*, J. O’Leary, J.G. O’Leary, Osgood, Ousley, Palmer*, Pfeifer*, Platt*, Plyer, Pollack*, Powers, Pressel*, Raish*, Rechter*, Reed, Resnicow*, Richardson, Riehle*, Rogers*, Rosen*, Rosenbaum*, Rosenblum*, Ross*, Russell, Russell-Shapiro*, Sacerdoti*, Sando*, Schiffer*, Schneebaum*, Schnier*, Schwarzman*, Schweitzer, Segal, Seiver, Shlachter, Silver, Simon*, R. Smith, T. Smith*, Sokolowski*, Sprole*, Stiles*, Stretch, Suttle*, Tan, Thomas, Thompson*, D. Tucker*, R. Tucker*, Tufaro*, Van Dyke, Vaughan*, von Turk*, Waldman, Weber*, Weinstein*, Weiss*, L. Wheeler, R. Wheeler, Wickwire*, Wiener*, Williams, Willis, Wise*, Wittebort, Wolf*, Wolfe*, Yarmuth, Yee*, and Zamcheck*.