About 100 classmates and guests congregated for our fortieth reunion. Those who stayed to march basked in the sunshine and the sounds of bagpipes, " Ever True," and cheers of "'62! '62!" proclaimed by the newest alumni of Brown. In the super condensed time of the weekend, we promenaded through a much enlarged Campus Dance, walked through the new Watson Institute for International Studies, heard news of the largest fortieth-reunion gift - over $6 million - in Brown history, shared some themes from our lives after Brown, and brunched in Mrs. Sharpe's garden as we tried to remember who Mrs. Sharpe was. Memory was also tested when the assembly at the class dinner broke into song; everyone seemed to remember every first line, but our performance thereafter was uneven.
Along the way a wallet was lost and found, buses delayed, caps critiqued, and showers endured. Overheard were conversations about a career makeover - teacher to bookbinder; surviving the World Trade Center attacks; teaching The Scarlet Letter to mature students and Macbeth to youthful offenders; and feeling the energy of the rebuilt Providence cityscape.
Themes discussed included the unprecedented growth of women's careers; the importance of mentors; the na"vet} of youth; the possibility of recovery from Brown; and the pride of connection to Brown.
Our accomplishments are not few, and many were recognized as we shared the weekend. The traditional view of reunions holds that these are times to parade. So it may be; but as important, in my experience, is a chance to renew old connections, even as you are discovering new friendships and relationships and remaking the meanings of what went before and what comes from now on.
It was a special time. Dale Burg leads us toward 2007 and another reunion.
40th reunion attendees included:
John Andes, Bob Ashcom, Susan Ball, Ronald Barba, Daniel Barry, Norm Barstow, Henry Biller, Kenneth Blackman, Jim Bowen, Peggy Schruble Buchness, Dale Burg, Roger Campo-lucci, Len Charney, Tris Coffin, Ellen Burrows Conner, Dick Coopersmith, Dolores Capobianco DeLellis, Ronald A. DeLellis, Robert Ebin, Bob Elson, Jane Engeman, John Eng-Wong, Tally Saltonstall Forbes, Don Friary, Alan Grace, Buzz Gralla, Letha Harris, Peyton Howard, Bruce Huffine, Charlie Keenan, Bob Klarsch, Gene Kopf, Roger Krouse, Ernest Lampe, Thomas Lasko, Julia Graham Lear, Stephen Levine, Patricia Lynch Lillis, Ginny Lockhart, Guy Lombardo, Valerie Brenhouse Mace, Walt Meyer, Trudy Balaschak Morgan, Carl Moslener, Joyce Katz Nelson, Kelly Cardall Newsom, Joan Ojala Boudrot, Susanna Opper, Dee Wilcoc Patton, Anne Greenblatt Pepper, Steve Pizer, Michael Reid, Steve Richman, Jon Robbins, Steve Robert, Jack Rohrbach, David Rust, Tom Rutherford, Will Ryan, Robert Saquet, Anne Siviglia, John South, Martha Hill South, Edward Stettner, Ira Tannenbaum, Lukie Tannenbaum, Linda Hoopes Tracy, Nancy Turaj, Al Turco, George Wales, Ralph Watson, Judy Wessells, Jorie Lord Westphal, Eleanor Wilson, and Jane Wong.
