Class Notes
July/August 2014
by Tony Lavely
By tradition, this column focuses on our recent reunion. In the next issue, we will return to news of classmates' activities. Check our Class Website for more details and more pictures (upload your photos to www.wetransfer.com). And check the Website occasionally, since columns appear two months earlier than in the printed magazine.
If you were one of the 401 classmates who attended our 50th Reunion (thanks to Tony Lee and his attendance team for their efforts), there will be very little in this column that you don't already know. If you were unable to attend, we missed you. So start planning now to attend our 55th Reunion in 2019!
The weather was splendid and gave us ample opportunity to explore the many new buildings on campus. Chief among them were Evans Hall (made possible by the generosity of Ned Evans) and Kroon Hall (made possible by the generosity of Rick Kroon). While the two new residential colleges are still in an early stage of construction, there will be one entryway named for the Class of 1964, made possible by generous donors in the Class.
The Reunion Committee — led by Tri-Chairs Chris Getman, Waldo Johnston, and Pete Putzel — organized a superb program. Here follows a summary of activities organized by and for our Class. Yale also presented many interesting reunion-wide programs and events.
Pre-reunion events included a golf tournament on the acclaimed Yale Course organized by Neil Hoffmann, dinner at Mory's on Wednesday night with honorary classmates Jock Reynolds and David Swensen, a special panel on "Governance of Non-Profit Organizations" led by Hank Satterthwaite, and a tour of the expanded Yale Art Gallery, led by Jock Reynolds. Throughout the weekend, we visited displays of classmates' books and art, organized by Waldo Johnston, in Sterling Library and Davenport College.
The "official" reunion program commenced on Thursday afternoon with a panel called "The Legacy of our 1960s," moderated by Howard Gillette, with Steve Bingham, Gus Speth, and Nick Danforth as panelists. Later, Jim Duderstadt moderated a panel on education, "Yale: The Next Fifty Years," joined by panelists Len Baker, Terry Holcombe, and Waldo Johnston.
On Friday, Bob Kaiser moderated a discussion with John Ashcroft and Joe Lieberman, called "Did We Blow Our Chance?" that focused on Washington politics over the last fifty years. Later that day, Stephen Greenblatt took us from the past to the future with the theme "Age is Unnecessary: Shakespeare and the End-of-Life Story."
Appropriately, this was followed by a moving memorial service for departed classmates in Battell Chapel, organized by Don Edwards and led by Stephan Klingelhofer. Among other departed classmates remembered were Hal Schwartz, Jack Cover, John Butler, and Jim Bowers, who died since the previous column. Their obituaries and remembrances may be found on our Class Website.
Later, we gathered for our Class dinner in Commons, where we were joined by President Peter Salovey and Marta Moret. Paul Balser presented Yale with our Class Gift of $73.5 million, among the largest in Yale history. Twelve Class Council members for terms ending in 2029 were elected along with Class Officers for the next five years. Six classmates were recognized with the AYA Class Service Award. Please see the Class Website for the names of Officers, Council members, and Class Service Award honorees.
On Saturday, Ed Massey organized a fast-paced series of fifteen classmate presentations, "A Kaleidoscope of Passions." A summary and visuals of all presentations will be posted on our Class Website. Throughout the reunion, we were also entertained by the singing of our very own 1964 Whiffenpoofs. Thanks again to Larry Crutcher and his editorial team for an outstanding Reunion Book and to Sam Francis for keeping us so well informed via the Website.
Please send me your impressions of the reunion and upload any photos or video (less than 30 seconds) you took to www.wetransfer.com. Also, please send any classmate news for future columns and let me know if you would like to write an entire "guest" column in the future.
Addendum: The week after our reunion, I received the sad news that Mac Deford's son, Benjamin, died unexpectedly on June 2nd in Rhinebeck, NY. Benjie was a graduate of Bard College.