Class Colloquium 11: Richard Breitman – Refugees & Immigration, 1930s and now

Class Colloquium 11: Richard Breitman – Refugees & Immigration, 1930s and now

ByArthur Segal

Some say that the challenges we face today resonate with what the country faced in the 1930s, specifically about refugees wanting asylum in the US.

One of the jewels of our Class, Richard Breitman, has made a career writing. researching and teaching about that period. 

Register today for Class Colloquium 11, set for July 14th (Bastille Day!) at 2:00 pm EDT for a presentation and rich Q&A, where Richard shares some observations about that period of American History — and converses with you about what it means for us today. Click through to learn more!

Rock & Revolution: How The Electrifying Sounds Of Our Youth Transformed America

Rock & Revolution: How The Electrifying Sounds Of Our Youth Transformed America

ByWayne Willis

Register for the next Class Colloquium about how our music galvanized support for then-radical goals like an end to war, Black Power, women’s liberation and even “sex, drugs, rock & roll.”

Professor Angharad Davis, who created and taught the “Music and Revolution” course last year, will share highlights for this special alumni-oriented session, to be held Thursday, May 20 at 4 pm ET (register now). It’s being offered by the Yale Boom group (classes 67-73) and hosted by ’74. The [very enjoyable] pre-event assignment is to listen to a Spotify or YouTube playlist that Davis created for her course.

Commencement … the beginning, not the end

Commencement … the beginning, not the end

ByWayne Willis

“Yale teaches you how to learn,” we were fond of saying about our undergraduate experience.  “Yes, I learned a lot about _____, but mostly I learned how to read and think critically, express myself competently and learn new things.”

Commencement … a funny word for the end of college.  Yet, it really was the beginning of the LIFELONG LEARNING, a project we continue even today.  And Yale is still there, helping with a wonderful smörgåsbord of educational opportunities for alumni.  See the full menu at YAA’s Learn Online page.  Here is a summary:

Class Colloquium 10: Frank Shorter

Class Colloquium 10: Frank Shorter

ByArthur Segal

Save the date!  April 28th, 2:00 PM (ET).  Better yet, register now!

We are excited to announce the 10th Class Colloquium in our popular ongoing series.

For our guest, Classmate Frank Shorter, the number 10 surely conjures thoughts of the  10,000 meters, an event he ran to train for The Marathon.  No, not the marathon of questions we’ll pose to him, but the Olympic Marathon which he ran and won, in Munich on September 10, 1972.

Start and/or Improve Your Ability To Play Bridge

Start and/or Improve Your Ability To Play Bridge

ByWayne Willis

Here’s a great way to socialize … and exercise your brain: Learn Bridge and take it to solid, intermediate levels in just 10 weekly lessons!

Classmate David Howorth, certified by the American Contract Bridge League for both face-to-face and online teaching, is offering bridge lessons to any classmates who are interested.

Sign up here before March 28st.

Brian Dowling & Calvin Hill: The Re-Scheduled Class Colloquium; Sign Up Now for 2/23!

Brian Dowling & Calvin Hill: The Re-Scheduled Class Colloquium; Sign Up Now for 2/23!

ByAdmin

“In sports, it’s all about how you get up when you get knocked down,” said Brian in our original planning call.  “Dealing with adversity is the coin of the realm.”

Well, after getting knocked down by technical issues in December, the dynamic duo will reconvene and try again on February 23rd at 3:00 PM EST. Register now!

Class Colloquium 8: COVID Update, Jan. 27, 2 pm EST

Class Colloquium 8: COVID Update, Jan. 27, 2 pm EST

ByArthur Segal

Classmate Ken Davis, MD, CEO of Mt. Sinai Health System in New York, presented the very first Class Colloquium in April when COVID was crushing New York.  With the “second wave” of the pandemic raging and vaccines arriving, it’s time for an update from the frontlines.  Ken will be joined by classmate Ira Berkower, MD/PhD, Principal Investigator in the FDA’s Immunoregulation Lab, and an expert on vaccines. 

The next and 8th Class Colloquium is set for 2 pm EST on Wednesday, January 27th, for Class of ’69 only. Register now to attend!

Class Colloquium 7: Brian Dowling & Calvin Hill – the Student-Athlete, 1965-2020

Class Colloquium 7: Brian Dowling & Calvin Hill – the Student-Athlete, 1965-2020

ByWayne Willis

Two of our most iconic classmates, Brian Dowling and Calvin Hill, thrilled us as students and graduated into the ranks of professional sports and successful careers.

Join them and your Yale classmates on December 9th for a Zoom discussion of the evolving role of the student-athlete at places like Yale — and at the Division I colleges where nationally competitive sports are more dominant features of campus life. Needless to say, a LOT has changed over the years!

Be sure to register in advance (do it now!) for the 12/9/20 event, 4 PM Eastern.

Bill Stanisich painting selected for the de Young Open exhibition

Bill Stanisich painting selected for the de Young Open exhibition

ByWayne Willis

Bill Stanisich, a lifelong San Fransisco artist and educator, has had one of his paintings chosen for exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.  The painting is entitled Massacre Orlando Pulse Bar.  It commemorates the 2016 hate crime in which 49 souls were killed and 58 wounded, the deadliest single mass shooting to…

Class Colloquium 6: Akhil Amar: The Presidency, the Vice-Presidency, and the Constitution

Class Colloquium 6: Akhil Amar: The Presidency, the Vice-Presidency, and the Constitution

ByArthur Segal

On October 28th at 1:30 pm Eastern, Yale Law Professor Akhil Amar will present trenchant observations about the Executive Branch and his recent research into the Vice Presidency and the Constitution.  With a possible electoral crisis in November, having his views and live Q&A may be especially salient.

Join us on the 28th and see why Professor Amar won the DeVane Medal for teaching as well as the Sterling chair for scholarship.   Register in advance now.

Lifelong Learning, New Offering. Are You In?

Lifelong Learning, New Offering. Are You In?

ByWayne Willis

“The main thing I learned at Yale,” I heard more than one classmate say at the reunion, “is how to learn.” Other key features mentioned were the breadth of delicious subjects we had no clue about and a commitment to lifelong learning. “Commencement is not the end,” Kingman said at our graduation.  “It’s the beginning,…

Class Colloquium 5: Professor Daniel Markovits, The Meritocracy Trap; September 30th

Class Colloquium 5: Professor Daniel Markovits, The Meritocracy Trap; September 30th

ByArthur Segal

Professor Markovits’ provocative bestseller, The Meritocracy Trap, compellingly argues that the Meritocracy system, which began with our generation and governs the period of our own Yale Admissions, has become a system with unintended negative societal consequences.

This Class Colloquium will be our first with a speaker from the Yale Faculty. He will challenge bedrock meritocratic assumptions, and he promises to include some “two-way dialogue.”

Register in advance for the event; details will be emailed to you.

Announcing Exciting New Features for Yale1969.org

Announcing Exciting New Features for Yale1969.org

ByWayne Willis

Now that COVID constrains travel and large social events, your Class Council and Class leaders today announce some exciting new features supporting onlne sharing among classmates:
* New Home Page.  Check it out!
* Newsletter.  More frequent and simplified. 
* Class Colloquia.  These have been very popular; three more are coming in the Fall.

This is the first step in evolving this Yale1969.org website from a “magazine” format (mostly articles), to more of a “community center” where sub-groups of our Class can connect and extend/maintain […]

Have We Been Missing Some Troublesome Long-term Trends at Yale?
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Have We Been Missing Some Troublesome Long-term Trends at Yale?

ByThomas Hood

I fear I have been blinded for a period of years by my institutional affection and great memories from noticing what appear to be some disturbing long-term trends at Yale. The much-publicized recent campus culture issue involving hate speech vs. freedom of speech and similar matters of a quasi-political nature are only marginally related, if…

Class Colloquium 2 Video: Yarmuth on Policy and Politics

Class Colloquium 2 Video: Yarmuth on Policy and Politics

ByArthur Segal

A highly successful second Class Colloquium featured John Yarmuth reporting on the current situation in our Congress … and then fielding questions from classmates on a broad variety of issues.

On a Wednesday afternoon in June, John presented some prepared remarks on the Congress’s failure to address some long-term issues he is concerned about:  AI (especially automation unemployment), climate […]

1969 Gets TWO Delegates to YAA

1969 Gets TWO Delegates to YAA

ByWayne Willis

Our own Harold Mancusi-Ungaro (’69 MC, ’73 MD)  has been elected as a YAA delegate at large for 3 years beginning July 1, 2020.  This is in addition to the representative for the Class of 1969, Ken Brown.

Harold is no stranger to the alumni governing body.  He served as our Class of 1969 delegate to the AYA (predecessor of the YAA) from 2014-18.

He’s also been active for many years in the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine.