Class News

Jim Rogers '64 gives generously to underwrite reunion attendance

December 22, 2018

Jim Rogers has made a generous gift to help underwrite attendance at our 55th Class Reunion. He intended his gift to be anonymous, but we persuaded him to let us publicize it in the hope that it will encourage greater attendance. 

Jim asked that a portion of his gift be used to underwrite attendance by surviving partners (widows) of departed classmates. It has always been our practice to invite surviving partners to attend at no cost (i.e., reunion fees and residential college housing costs are waived), but as the number of widows increases, Jim’s gift will help us do more outreach. 

Jim’s gift also enables us to extend another historical practice to encourage any classmate to apply confidentially for financial aid, in case reunion fees and housing costs are a barrier. Such classmates need only contact the Yale Alumni Association, in total confidence. Contact information will be provided when the registration packet goes out in February. No classmates are informed of these contacts. For those that request it, the assistance comes in the form of waiving reunion fees and residential college housing costs.

These two initiatives on Jim’s part will go a long way toward making our 55th Class Reunion as inclusive as possible. Thank you, Jim!

While on the topic of surviving partners, we also want to acknowledge and thank Jan Truebner (widow of Pete) for chairing the reunion committee that contacts surviving partners. Jan is ably assisted by Nancy Upper (widow of Dennis). We thank both Jan and Nancy for this service to the Class of 1964. Jan emailed: “Jim Rogers’ generosity makes it much more of a reality for the surviving partners of 1964 departed classmates to attend the 55th reunion.” Nancy added: “The generosity of Jim Rogers draws surviving partners of 1964 departed classmates closer to Yale by enabling our attendance at the 55th reunion.”