Cornellians attend Reunion for lots of reasons, but mostly to rekindle friendships that sustained them on campus and continued after graduation.
Alumni reconnect at Reunion 2008
By Susan Kelley
Cornellians attend Reunion for lots of reasons, but mostly to rekindle friendships that sustained them on campus and continued after graduation. At Reunion 2008, Jay Waks '68, JD '71, and Jay Goldstein '68 didn't have much rekindling to do. They've known each other—and have kept in touch—since kindergarten, at P.S. 102 in Paterson, New Jersey. "We lived two-anda-half blocks from each other," Goldstein says. "I ate dinner more times at Jay's house than in my own."
Waks and Goldstein were among the 6,000 people who returned to campus June 5-8 to bask in warm memories—and endure sweltering heat. Members of classes ending in "3" and "8" from all over the U.S. and the world packed Bailey Hall on Friday to hear journalist Claire Shipman give the annual Olin Lecture; she predicted that presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will run a close race in the upcoming election. On Saturday morning, they came back to Bailey to hear President David Skorton tick off the year's accomplishments in his State of the University address: a record number of student applications, conferring the first MD degrees given abroad by an American medical school, developing a new financial aid policy to make a Cornell education more affordable. Throughout the weekend, the outdoorsy crowd toured Beebe Lake by canoe and the Plantations Gardens on foot, while night owls made midnight runs to the Hot Truck. Others attended lectures on subjects from the history of wine in America to an update on investment technologies. The Sherwoods strolled about, providing a capella entertainment throughout.
Waks and Goldstein got together for breakfast, as they often did freshman year. They didn't plan to attend Cornell together, but both got accepted and billeted to U-Hall 1's first floor. "It was purely a coincidence," Waks says. "I requested U-Hall 1 since it housed the 'Barf Bar' restaurant—that wasn't its official name but is an accurate description of its effect on your digestive tract. I liked the idea of getting a quick breakfast without having to go out." As they each made new friends, they continued to drive home together for vacation in Waks's red Volkswagen Bug. After graduation, family and careers left little time for socializing (Goldstein became a dermatologist, Waks a lawyer). Sometimes years would go by before they would reconnect, often at Reunion. "That was our principal face-to-face contact over the years," Waks says.
This year, Goldstein left campus Friday afternoon for his daughter's birthday, and returned on Saturday—just to see Waks. "When we sang the alma mater with the Sherwoods and put our arms around each other, I almost cried," Goldstein says. "And I don't cry easily."
Reunion by the Numbers
Who attended
4,101 alumni
1,300 other adults
631 children
Oldest attendee
Bill Vanneman '31, age ninety-nine
Oldest reunion class — 1933
Eugenia Gould Huntoon of Bloomfield Village, Michigan
Sarah Ellis Ward of Slingerlands, New York
Beatrice Alexander Weingart of Van Glen, California.
First timers
369 alumni attended their class reunion for the first time (including 31 attending their 50th)
Weather report
Average high temperature: 87 degrees
Average humidity: 72 percent
Thanks for the Memories
For my first face-to-face interview as a Cornell Alumni Magazine intern, I was assigned to speak with members of the classes of '33 and '38 during Reunion weekend, record their news during the All-Alumni Affair in Barton Hall, and write their class reports for the next issue. "And," my editor told me, "you'll get a free lunch."
On a hot Friday afternoon, alumni began strolling into Barton, making their way around the informational booths that lined the walls and the catered buffet in the center of the track. I did a lap, scooping up some freebies (pens, key chains, calendars, and the like) and sampling ice cream from the Dairy Bar cart before joining a packed table labeled 1933 and 1938. I was prepared to spend an hour—if that—listening to stories about grandchildren and retirement. But the tales that they shared were full of life and adventure during their time at Cornell.
I could relate to many of their memories, even though so much about the University has changed since then. Bobbi, a woman now living on Long Island, told me about breaking Balch Hall curfew so she could attend fraternity dances. I met women who were still active in their sororities and men who had played hockey on Beebe Lake. (I'm the goalie of the Big Red women's hockey team.) Bea, who was often the only woman in her physics classes, would take the trolley every Saturday with her girlfriends to the department store in downtown Ithaca. She reminisced about delivering newspapers at 4:30 each morning to help pay her tuition—which was only $300 to $400 a semester.
I was so caught up in their stories that I forgot to eat lunch and the buffet was about to close. "Don't worry, you're not missing much," Bea told me as she slid a piece of chocolate cake in my direction. I only had time to take one bite before I discovered that we both live in Southern California. After a lengthy discussion of the state's ideal weather, I looked up to find that the booths and the buffet had been cleared; apart from a few other stragglers, we were the only people left in Barton Hall.
— Jenny Niesluchowski '10