Oct 1999

Without question, one of the highlights of our 30th Reunion was the “Mid-Course Correction” program, an idea conceived and successfully implemented by classmate Macon Cowles. Since we have space and not so much news this month, I asked him to write a brief report on the session, for those who did not have the opportunity to participate. Therefore, allow me to present Macon.

On Saturday afternoon, about 80 people gathered for the session entitled “Mid-Course Correction.” Many of our classmates told about the significant changes that are going on in their lives and those of their families. While it is impossible to summarize the discussion, which was wide ranging, it brought forth concerns faced by many of us at midlife: career changes, some self-directed, others caused by being fired; meeting the needs of aging parents; communicating ethics and values within a broadcast-hot media wasteland; living and working consistent with one’s core beliefs; building community in the places where each of us lives; and others.

There was a freedom of expression within this group that was extraordinary, fostered by caring listeners with an important connection to one another. Some were interested in identifying public interest projects which class members could work on together, giving something important back to the communities that have sustained us. Others were interested in discussing personal, family, and career issues, because we have a lot that we can learn from sharing our beliefs and experiences about these common problems. Classmates at this gathering asked themselves the questions that they would hear William Sloane Coffin put in his sermon at the Sunday Service of Remembrance: “Maybe I’m ‘successful’ but am I valuable? I’m making money but am I making a difference? Are my relationships deepening, or are they to be numbered among the casualties of a life devoted too much to getting and spending?” And finally, “Am I being true to the best I learned at Yale?”

At the end of the hour, many people were searching for a way to extend this discussion, which only just began. Everyone in attendance found a warm and welcoming audience for the many questions raised and the stories that were told — a rarity in our culture. We had only scratched the surface on what was a fine, warm, spring day — New Haven at its very best and most beautiful. And the people who attended this session? We were at our best as well: speaking from the heart, and listening with respect and empathy to the life experiences of our peers at work and at home in the world. — Macon Cowles

Among more regular items, Tom Walsh wrote from Memphis where he and wife Jean “keep an empty but proud nest.” One little Walsh, daughter Courtney Walsh Marsh, has flown the coop by way of Smith College to the Yale School of Nursing, where she recently began the nurse midwifery program. Their other daughter, Meredith, is currently a Smith student who just finished her junior year abroad in Florence.

Tom hisownself is senior counsel with Ford & Harrison LLP, a national labor and employment firm, where he helped write a brief that resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision on the Americans with Disabilities Act in June. His e-mail address, if you want to add it to your, what? Cyber-dex, is (twalsh@fordharrison.com).

If you’re in an adventurous mood, or if you just plan to be in the neighborhood, Rick Lussen will be in Melbourne, Australia, until next July. He will be teaching there on a teaching exchange program, and, I’m sure, will be well stocked with Fosters. You can e-mail him at (Rick.Lussen@wesley.vic.edu.au).

Finally, on a personal note, I was proud to be associated with a wonderful summer program organized by the Louisville alumni. Yalies raised more than $50,000 to bring 33 Yale students to Louisville for summer internships. Most of the students worked with nonprofit organizations, but they were treated to a comprehensive indoctrination of the community. The idea was to expose Yalies to Louisville in the hope that some of them might choose to live and work here. You might have read a small blurb about it in theWall Street Journal, which chose to take some cheap shots at the community by quoting the students out of context. All 33 drafted a letter to the editor protesting the misimpression the article created and emphasizing how impressed they were with the program and the community.

In any event, it was a terrific experience for the alumni as well as the students. We were able to spend some time with a nice cross-section of today’s students, and it became obvious that the admissions department is doing a wonderful job. If any of you are interested in organizing a similar program in your community, I will put you in touch with the organizers here.

That’s all for now. Until next month, write if you find work.