Skimming through the Personal Essays as they came in last month, I noticed how many people commented on their “draft number.” The draft number was established by lottery at the Selective Service System on December 1, 1969. Here is the chart showing what the number was. (Use comments below to share what YOUR number meant to you.)
I’m struggling with getting the Essay done. But I received some good advice and concrete suggestions for breaking through my writer’s block. I share that advice … and some of what I’m seeing so far in other Classmates’ essays.
In November, the Bulldogs have a chance to avenge the 29-29 tie we suffered 50 years ago and to do it in famous Fenway Park. Also, Lang Wheeler and the Reunion Committee are looking into ways to revise Lang’s biennial brunch on the Saturday of The Game, and hold it in or near Fenway. And there may be some other festivities during the weekend. So, Save The Date — weekend of November 17th. And stay tuned!
We broke the Coat & Tie rule. We invited women on campus and triggered co-education at Yale. And now we do it again: Instead of a boring little reunion book, we will have a large, beautiful, full-color book worthy of us. Check out the pictures of the ClassBook, outside and inside, and learn more about how your Personal Essay will fit in.
Here’s a very fast way to see how many folks live on campus, what the student-teacher ratios are, financial aid statistics, the diversity of the student body, where graduates of Yale College go after graduation and other interesting stats about Yale College in a one-page flyer recently published by Yale. It’s a must-read for anyone handling Alumni interviews, and a quick, fun read for everyone else.
Gay or straight, do you have thoughts to share? The 50th Reunion ClassBook will have our “Personal Essays”, but it will also host some “Invited Essays” on topics of broad interest. One of these has a working title, Being Gay At Yale [in the 60s]. Two classmates, artist Bill Stanisich and educator Jeff Horton have agreed to author/edit the essay. They have their own views, and that of people they know from Yale 1969 personally. But they…
Michael Medved, our very own College Bowl champ and now a conservative talk show host in Seattle, has just launched a new podcast series, Great Minds with Michael Medved. Check out the first two episodes in Season One and learn how to subscribe for more.
Tom Guterbock, Ph.D. (SM ’69 and Director of UVa’s Center for Survey Research) gave the reunion committee an interim report on the Class Survey. Feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Sadly, some people are incapacitated and can’t take it. Participation is good so far, but Tom hopes everyone can take the survey before the February 26th cut-off date. Read Tom’s bullet list of what’s he’s seeing so far.
I just finished taking the Class Survey — you know, the one for the 50th Reunion? It will show how we, as a group, have changed over the years. More importantly, it will catalogue what we are doing NOW — and what plans and dreams lie ahead. I can report that the Survey itself is really excellent. It was simultaneously fun and thoughtful. And it’s now ready for YOU!
Julian Fisher has returned to his first love, photojournalism, with an exhibit at Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center (January 13 – June 6, 2018). The exhibit, Trapped in the Middle: Photographs by Julian Fisher, investigates, in photographs and interviews, how growing income inequality in the US affects the middle class, and how they increasingly feel stressed – and trapped. Get a preview of the show here!
Vincent Scully spent virtually all his life in New Haven, as a star student at Hillhouse High School, Yale College, and Yale Grad School — teaching at Yale from 1947 until 2014. A major scholar and gifted teacher, Scully insired us. Read the comments that your Classmates left at the bottom of this remembrance … and leave some of your own.
Discover magazine asked our own Jeff Wheelwright to write about a UCLA study of the aging brain. Given that his own brain is aging, he enrolled in the study and offers a first-hand perspective.
The resulting article was published in the October issue of Discover. It weaves together a report on what is happening, generally, to all of us, and what, specifically, Jeff experienced.
Ever been tempted by those luscious Yale Travel brochures? Exotic places. Magnificient faculty bringing it alive? In the Spring, join our very own Professor Gene Moore (PC) on a tour of Holland & Belgium via river boat. (And act before December 15th, while tix are available only to us.)
Today we launch an entirely new section of the website — everything you’ll need to know about the 50th reunion. Surprise! there are some long-lead-time items that need your attention NOW!
In 2016, a Yale student wrote a 25-page paper for History 134 (“Yale and America”) on Charles Apel (JE ’69). Apel was an “early adopter” of LSD, marijuana, etc., before dropping out in ’67. Cameos by Timothy Leary, Janis Joplin, … and the campus police.
The key to a great experience on this site is great content. And the key to great content is finding great stories. It might be “News” like Matt Flynn’s run for Governor of Wisconsin or it might be “Potpourri” like Tom McNamee’s work protecting Grizzly Bears. We need “stringers” in each college to spot great stories like these.
