61 A cold
January weekend marked
the first
CALC
annual meeting in
Boston
.
The Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference, now in its fourth year, is an
outgrowth of the previous CACO Mid-Winter Meeting, and combines various alumni
organizations into a single 800-person event.
Despite being involved
in our class activities for several years, I had never
attended this annual meeting. The pull of
Boston,
though, was strong. Not only is my wife a native, but I began my
IBM
career in
Boston
and met my wife there as well. That and the presence of the New England
Genealogical Society sealed
the deal.
The event
was outstanding. Our class enrolled 17
members and spouses for three days of renewing friendships and attending to
class affairs. The conference generated
enthusiasm across the group and demonstrated professionalism in all
aspects. At check-in, the entire
Marriott staff was attired in Cornell rugby shirts setting the tone throughout
the hotel. Undergrads attended and
helped with registration and support and added a needed injection of youth and
vigor.
Our first
day featured
a guided
visit to the
Museum
of
Fine Arts
organized
by Marshall and
Rosanna Romanelli Frank
. In the evening, we dined
as group at nearby
Lucca
’s, joined
by Robert and Judith Melzer and
Lewis
,
MD
’65, and Anne Klein Rothman. Stuart Carter, BArch ’62, my longtime
friend and fraternity brother, attended
the entire meeting commuting from
his home in
Arlington
,
MA
.
Saturday morning marked
the annual ’61 class meeting, chaired
by
Peter Greenberg
and Sue Rand Garrett. Pauline Sutta Degenfelder presented
the current plan for our 55th reunion.
Jay Treadwell
has accepted
the invitation to join Pauline and
Doug Uhler
as a reunion co-chair. Jay’s presence is most welcome following his
outstanding work on catering for our 50th celebration. Larry Wheeler, our webmaster, and his wife, Margaret, attended
from
Houston
(and won the long distance award). Larry posted
Pauline’s report and the Treasurer’s
Report on our class website. Vice president
David Kessler
also was
present and represented
continuity, having attended
more annual officers’ meetings than
any other classmate. Finally, a thank
you to Jon Greenleaf for designing
our class logo, capturing the theme “Looking Back…Going Forward” also posted
on our website.
Concurrent
sessions were run throughout the weekend covering a variety of topics involving
alumni affairs and broader based university issues. I attended Greek System Update: Responding to the President’s Challenge. I found I was in complete support of the
changes needed to bring the fraternities and sororities into the 21st century. The thrust to revise is far
better than other institutions' actions to remove Greek organizations. Tragedies are unacceptable. Saturday breakfast featured the presentation
of the Vanneman Outstanding Class Leader Award, this year going to Bob Persons ’48 who has labored long
and well as their class correspondent. Coincidently I met by chance another Vanneman award winner, Jim Hanchett ’53. I knew Jim from undergraduate years when he
was my chapter advisor.
President
David Skorton gave a rousing mid-day address about the present and future of
the university. His commitment to
Cornell – to be recogniz
ed
as a top-ten research university in the world – reflected an overall pursuit of excellence
across a wide range of endeavors. Coupled
with a wry sense of humor, President
Skorton convinced
the sell-out crowd that Cornell is, indeed
, a great institution moving forward
in a demanding world. The evening’s “Go
Big Red! Tailgate Dinner” was greeted with hearty appetites and an urge to
follow the men’s hockey team on a live telecast in the Grand Ballroom. Food and drink stations catered
to all tastes from Tex-Mex to the
Cornell Dairy Bar. All-in-all, a good
night for entertainment and fellowship.
Sunday’s
concluding event following breakfast, From
Citizen Kane to The Simpsons: Cornell University in Popular Culture elicited
smiles and laughs from an
enthusiastic audience. Did you know that Ed Marinaro ’72 finished
second in the Heisman Trophy voting
to Pat Sullivan from
Auburn
U.
? Also revealed
was the final report on how the Pumpkin was placed
on
McGraw
Tower
…but the story is much too long and complicated
for this column.
As we check
ed
out and prepared
to head for the airport we reflected
on the myriad small things that,
done well, highlight an event. From the
complimentary Cornell portfolios to the gift of the book “Cornell University”, to the lobster rolls for lunch - even to the
lapel buttons for a wide range of Greek and affinity groups - the attention to
detail and excellence put the
CALC
meeting in a special category. Next year the event is again in
Boston
and there is a reasonable chance we
will return.
In closing, I
met with Adele Robinette, class notes
editor
and associate publisher of
CAM
, to discuss this column and our way
forward. Adele is a great help to this
correspondent and is always ready to lend her skill and expertise in submitting
the column. The electronic world and
social media are changing some of our
traditional means of communication…such as the Class Notes form we have relied
on for many years. We have a group identity, Cornell Class of ’61,
on Facebook. We would encourage any
suggestions to improve our ability to contact all of our classmates, so let us
know your thoughts for enhancing the process. We enjoy reading and publishing your exploits
and you can always e-mail us at
Doug Fuss
, dougout@attglobal.net; or
Susan Williams
Stevens
, sastevens61@gmail.com