Yale Boom Hosts Dementia Discussion
Wayne Willis, Editor of Yale1969.org, writes:
The video recording, the transcript, and the chat log of the recent zoominar on Alzheimers, Dementia and Palliative Care are now available on YaleBoom.org.
While you're at YaleBoom, check out the other excellent online programs archived there. Sign up for their mailing list to be notified of future productions.
Thanks to the Yale '69ers who periodically produce these informative events, and to Andy Kaufman and Bill Primps for getting us '71ers involved.
Class Notes for November-December 2021
Class Secretary Andy Kaufman writes:
Kudos to Ralph Dawson, one of this year’s Yale Medal award winners. As Yale’s announcement of Ralph’s award reminded us, Ralph has been a leader for both our class and the broader university community from our earliest days on campus. During our first year, he was one of the organizers of a groundbreaking symposium, “Black Studies in the University.” He subsequently played instrumental roles in the creation of the African American Studies Department at Yale and, as moderator (president) of the Black Student Alliance at Yale, in the establishment of the Afro American Cultural Center (“the House”). He lobbied for coeducation at Yale, and his leadership in maintaining calm on campus during the 1970 May Day demonstrations was evident to all. Ralph has remained active in alumni matters since graduation, organizing mini reunions for Black alumni, participating in student recruiting efforts, providing continuing support for the House, and regularly joining in our Class’ activities (including his very thoughtful essay in our 50th Reunion Class Book). Ralph joins eight other classmates who have previously been recognized as Yale Medal winners: Frances Beinecke, Bob Bonds, Phil Boyle, Roslyn Meyer, Don Nakanishi, Kurt Schmoke, Vera Wells and Alice Young.
Richard Skolnik and Gregg Gonsalves (an AIDS activist, MacArthur Fellow and an associate professor in both the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale Law School (adjunct)) are spearheading an initiative urging Yale to make a transformative commitment to the Yale School of Public Health. In September 2020, Richard and Gregg sent a letter to Yale to this effect, which was signed by more than 100 university alumni involved in medicine and public health. This was reported in the Yale Daily News. Richard and Gregg recently had an op-ed piece in the Yale Daily News, further "pushing" Yale to invest urgently in the School of Public Health. The value of public health research and training is certainly underscored by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, and Richard hopes that classmates and other alumni will consider directing their Yale contributions to benefit the YSPH. Richard previously served as the Director for Health in South Asia at the World Bank and an instructor of global health at The George Washington University and Yale. In addition, he directed a Harvard AIDS treatment program for three countries in Africa, authored the 4th edition of “Global Health 101,” and is the instructor for the Yale/Coursera course Essentials of Global Health.
Rick Merkt reports that his semi-retirement along the Connecticut River continues quite nicely, even in the "Age of Covid-19." “I ran for the New Hampshire House last year, but the district leans the other way. At least I don't have to drive to Concord in the winter. Then I was drafted to be Republican County Chairman here in Cheshire. It's a good position, because it keeps one informed as to what is going on politically in the Granite State. Better active than bored.” Along with a group of civic leaders, Rick’s wife Suzanne and he have co-founded Lionheart Classical Academy, a new public charter school in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The school will offer a “classical education reminiscent of what students received in public and private schools many years ago.” They expect the school’s application for a state charter will be approved late this year. Beginning with grades kindergarten through 5 and then expanding to 12th grade over the next few years, the school will afford every student in the Monadnock region an opportunity to receive the benefits of a classical education on a tuition-free basis. This feature, plus recent school-choice legislation in New Hampshire, will expand the range of educational options for families, regardless of ability to pay. Suzanne, Rick and the other co-founders “recognize that survival of a free and responsible society depends upon a sound educational system to produce well-rounded citizens accustomed to critical thinking. It is our aspiration that Lionheart Classical Academy will not only provide such education to young people, but also serve as a model of educational reform for others throughout New Hampshire and all of New England.”
On a sad note, Hugh Scott sent word that Larry Goldfarb died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack on August 24. Larry was a member of Ezra Stiles College, and he graduated with our class in 1971. Before Yale, Larry attended St. Louis Country Day School where he played football, basketball, and baseball and served as editor in chief of the school newspaper and class president (Larry, Hugh and George Guernsey were classmates there). At Yale, Larry rowed on the freshman crew and participated in several of the Ezra Stiles College intramural teams throughout our college years. After Yale, he spent a year as a producer/director (with Max Baer, Jr.) making a full-length film about a boys camp. Hugh recalls that while the movie was not a commercial success, Larry was very proud of it. Larry spent his subsequent career in the family real estate development business with his father and older brother in St. Louis. In addition to his family, his many passions included music (he was a bassist, classical pianist and composer), writing, fishing, travel, politics and sports. We send our condolences to Debbie (his wife of 41 years), their 5 children and 10 grandchildren.
Rich Kenney submitted a note addressed to “The Class of 1971” expressing “much appreciation for the efforts of many.” He specifically mentioned Phil Boyle, Stu Brogadir, Chris Conty, John Dancewicz, Harry Levitt, Ellen Marshall, Dick Caples, Karl Fields, Bob Bruner, Kurt Schmoke, Eric Schned, Andy Sherman and Bill Primps.
Planning continues for our on-campus, in person 50th Reunion celebration, to be held in Davenport College next June 9-12. Reunion co-chairs Lupi Robinson and Bob Bruner and Attendance Recruiting chair Bill Porter are coordinating a terrific program (including our traditional dancing to the Bales-Gitlin Band). In lieu of formal class panel presentations (we did that already in our virtual reunion programming last spring), we want to offer opportunities for classmates to gather and engage in small discussion groups to explore topics that you would find of particular interest. To that end, Lupi and Bob are soliciting suggestions for discussion. If you have ideas, please send them to Lupi, Bob or me.
Class Treasurer Bill Primps has sent out his annual solicitation for our Class Treasury. We rely on our Class Treasury to defray class expenses, including for the upcoming Reunion activities, so your support is very important to us. Please contribute if you can.
I close again with my open invitation to join our monthly Zoom class gatherings if you have not already been participating. We meet from Noon to 1pm ET on the third Thursday of each month in groups of approximately 12-15, and we shuffle the groups each month so that participants have the opportunity to engage with a different cohort of classmates each time. These informal sessions are a terrific opportunity to connect and reconnect with classmates and to discuss issues of interest to the groups, both weighty and mundane, and -- based on the enthusiasm of our participants over the past 18 months -- we are confident that they will contribute momentum for our in-person gathering next June. Please send me an email if you would like to participate, and I will add you to the invitation list.
Cheers,
AMK
Ralph Dawson Honored by Yale
Excerpted from YAA press release:
Since its inception, the Yale Medal, the highest honor presented by the Yale Alumni Association, has been presented to more than 300 individuals who have shown extraordinary devotion to Yale’s ideals and demonstrated their support through extensive, exemplary service to the university and its schools, institutes, and programs.
Like their predecessors, this year’s recipients have made significant and lasting contributions to Yale – as volunteers, fundraisers, trailblazers, and difference-makers, rallying the alumni community to support the university, supporting students to achieve their very best, and guiding a new generation of alumni leaders to continue Yale’s tradition of service.
The 2021 Yale Medalists are Ralph Dawson ’71, Thomas S. Leatherbury ’76, ’79 JD, Neil A. Mazzella ’78 MFA, Kevin P. Nelson ’92 MPH, and Lise Strickler ’82. They will be officially honored in a special ceremony to be held virtually later this year.
Ralph Dawson ’71
Dawson is a seminal figure in Yale’s history, a student activist who transitioned to alumni leader, working tirelessly to create a better, more inclusive university and blazing a trail for all who came after him. His work began early, when as a first-year student he teamed with upperclassmen to organize Yale’s groundbreaking symposium, “Black Studies in the University.” Subsequently, he played a pivotal role in the creation of Yale’s African American Studies Department and became a key member in – and the eventual moderator (president) of – the Black Student Alliance at Yale, working with BSAY’s leadership to push for the creation of the Afro American Cultural Center (“the House”) and lobbying the university to allow women as undergraduates. He also was instrumental in maintaining calm on campus during the 1970 May Day demonstrations. Dawson has extended his involvement as an alumnus, organizing mini reunions for Black alumni, staying active in Class of 1971 events, and participating on alumni panels to inform admitted students about the benefits of attending Yale. Notably, he raised money and awareness to spur the landmark renovation of the House in the early 2000s and has been a regular contributor at House events. A loyal friend and dedicated mentor, he has remained active in both the alumni and undergraduate communities, supporting students to make the most of their Yale experience and working to ensure that Yale is its very best as an institution.
Your Yale classmates congratulate you, Ralph!
Yale 1971 Reunion Gift Sets High Mark
Our 1971 Class gift agents write:
Our Class made history fifty years ago as the first coeducation Class in Yale College, and today we announce the legacy we have created in honor of our 50th Reunion. When we began this campaign, we set our sights on raising $9 million in honor of our 50th Reunion. At the time, we weren’t really sure what to expect, having embarked on this campaign while still in the throes of the pandemic and before the rollout of vaccines. But spurred on by your tremendous generosity, we exceeded our $9 million Reunion gift goal, and as a result, our Class has cumulatively raised over $100 million for Yale since graduation! Since we exceeded our goal so early on, we set our sights on a new goal: raising $26.1 million, which would exceed our Class’s largest previous Reunion gift to Yale. We are delighted to share that our Class raised $28,431,437 – our Class’s largest Reunion gift to Yale, in honor of our 50th Reunion!
The celebration does not end there. In addition to raising our Class's largest Reunion gift to Yale, we exceeded our $710,000 Alumni Fund goal, raising $1,120,225 in unrestricted giving for our 50th, joining only six other Classes that have reached the $1 million milestone, and placing our Class third for the highest 50th Reunion Alumni Fund Class Gift
These remarkable achievements reflect our shared devotion to Yale and the strength of the friendships forged there. You have helped to ensure that our Yale will play a formative role in the lives of students for many years to come. We are extremely grateful for your continued support of the university, and our class.
We look forward to properly celebrating our shared history and shared legacy on campus next spring. In the meantime, best wishes for a healthy and happy summer.
Ruth Jarmul, Kurt Schmoke, Hugh Scott, and Alan Seget
50th Reunion Gift Co-Chairs
Kathy Murphy
50th Reunion Gift Co-Chair & Alumni Fund Co-Chair of Agents
Dick Caples
Alumni Fund Co-Chair of Agents
50th Reunion Set for June 9-12, 2022 in New Haven
Andy Kaufman writes this most-welcome note:
Dear Classmates,
Yale has announced that our in-person, on-campus 50th Reunion will be held on June 9-12, 2022 in Davenport College. Please note that hotel reservation blocks at advantageous rates will open on Wednesday, November 3rd at noon ET. Click here for current YAA information on all reunions.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Cheers,
Andy Kaufman
Class of 1971 Secretary
"On My Graduation from Yale" by Mitch Garner
On our recent Class Zoom, Mitch was kind enough to share this poem he wrote a half-century ago on our graduation day:
On My Graduation from Yale
Here we stand, the relay of youth,
Passed to a world we learned to know
Like tender flow’rs of pristine Truth,
Brilliant in their scholarly glow.
Bacchanalian enrapture,
The mellowed wisdom of ages,
Was ours to savor, to capture,
In the legacy of sages.
Gourmands we were, we drank our fill
And then some, garnering each sip’s
Treasure vigilantly until
Fate would chance to unprime our lips.
Take now the challenge of the world!
Drunk in your learning, press ahead.
Pass on their dreams, courage unfurled—
Share the vintage of mentors dead.
June 14, 1971 - Mitchell E. Garner
A First Look at How We Changed
"We moved on from whatever we had been; we studied, hitched up, and bred; we pursued more than one career; we polarized; and we retired South and West." So opens this fascinating essay -- excerpted from our upcoming Classbook -- by Class demographer Rick Cech, the principal researcher for our 50th Reunion survey.
Read the rest here: YALE 71 50TH Survey Narrative
1971 Whiffenpoofs - Virtual Time Travel Concert
Jeff Fortgang writes:
Recognizing that the Class of 1971 50th Reunion has necessarily become an exercise in extreme social distancing, and in place of the class dinner concert we have given at every reunion thus far, the ’71 Whiffenpoofs offer you a virtual concert of two videos (Maggie Blues and the Whiffenpoof Song). These renditions feature, as if by magic, our 1971 voices attached to our 2021 faces with a few nostalgic images thrown in. Enjoy!
Maggie Blues https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QPEuF2P32O2dzbVb_veKBZCdEZjKGuO8/view?usp=sharing
Whiffenpoof Song https://drive.google.com/file/d/18JeWZJS8Iwb1xWKAQXFMSHQxKYx_YrWG/view?usp=drive_web
Enjoy!
Class of 1971 Service of Remembrance
Dear Classmates and Friends,
The Committee for the Class of 1971 Service of Remembrance invites you to join us to view the service on May 9, 2021 from 11:00–11:30 am ET. The registration link is below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1dtzCKxEStGY8PSJAbb0Kw
You may also stream the service on demand at your convenience at
We hope you will join us in remembering and honoring the 150 members of our class who have died. The service celebrates their lives, and the times we shared, through videos, music, and vintage photographs. It beautifully evokes our Yale experiences and the dear friendships that were the fruit of our time there. It also invites reflection on the great mysteries of life, and death, through readings, poetry, and imagery.
This multimedia presentation is the fruit of months of work, and we know it will make this virtual reunion more personal and meaningful for you. One classmate who previewed it described it as “one of the most moving tributes to the departed that I have ever seen.” We hope very much you will also reach out to friends and family members of those classmates who have died and share the links to the service.
Remembering our time at Yale and celebrating our dear departed friends has refreshed in all of us on the committee a deep sense of gratitude. It’s been a blessing preparing this service together. We hope you will take the time to participate in this communal act of remembering.
Sincerely,
The Committee for the Class of 1971 Service of Remembrance
Bliss Williams Browne (Chair)
Preston Athey
Bob Bruner
Anne Ghory-Goodman
Michael Kline
Elwyn Lee
Kurt Schmoke
Jeremy Stone
Barbara Twigg
Lupi Robinson (ex officio)
Three Big Reasons to Attend the Yale ’71 Reunion
Bob Bruner writes:
Two years ago, Lupi Robinson and I agreed to co-chair the 50th reunion of our class. We wanted to give something back to classmates who had made our time at Yale so rich, to honor our shared experience, and to discover who we all are today. The value of such ends seems obvious to me. Yet the most frequent question I have heard begs why one should attend a reunion.
The questioners may have attended few, if any, of the previous reunions, lost touch with classmates, don’t think any of their friends are coming, live at great distances from New Haven, recoil from big lawn parties, and/or have moved on from an identification with Yale ‘71. Their demurrals resonated even with me over the years. And yet our 50th warrants an exception: of all the reunions, this is the big one, traditionally the best-attended, and for many of us, the last one. Whether or not you’ve attended a previous reunion, this is the one you should make an extra effort to attend.
Aside from the novelty of the 50th, three stronger three reasons call us to the reunion.
Make friends. That is, make, renew, and rediscover friends. Research finds that regular engagement with friends is an attribute of people who age well.[1] Friends and acquaintances enrich us. The pandemic has taught us all the costs of social distance. Rather than the CDC’s six-foot prescription, I mean the loss of the kind of connectivity with others that enriches our lives in things great and small. As we are already finding, our peers are passing away. Sustaining a circle of friendship takes constant care, much like tending a garden. The problem of making new friends is finding some common frame of reference on which to build a bond. Shared experience is one of the best foundations for new friendship. And the transformation during college years is a durable shared experience. In the hundreds of hours of calls, Zooms, and meetings for the reunion, I’ve met incredibly interesting classmates, whom I never really knew back then. These are people I want to get to know better. A great reunion is first and foremost about making friends. The lawn parties, dinners, and hoopla pale in comparison to the conversations you will have, the one-to-one chats and small-group gatherings where you connect with people and insights in ways that will move you.
Make meaning. Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist at Yale during our time there, argued that the central task of people in old age is to look back, judge what has or has not been accomplished, and draw fulfillment or acceptance about the life so lived.[2] I think a reunion can help with that task—not mainly in reminiscing about college days, but in connecting those days with what followed. We all have changed since graduation. What role did the college experience play in that growth? The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said that you can’t step into the same river twice: no one at age 71 is the same person he or she was at 21. How have we changed? The gift of a reunion is to illuminate some insights.
Make a society. Surveys document the American declines in social trust, in the acceptance of norms, and in the extension of respect to one another.[3] These declines are associated with declines in participation in purely civic and social organizations, such as bridge groups, singing groups, fraternal and religious organizations, and charities[4]—to the list I would add alumni gatherings. Such organizations build trust and social capital, as Robert Putnam described In Bowling Alone.[5] The decline in social trust and social capital has two bad consequences. The first is a weaker sense of well-being. Strong social capital appears to have greater effect on a sense of personal well-being than great wealth or good health.[6] Second, at the level of communities and nations, weaker social capital can impair effective market exchange and the mobilization of resources necessary to produce public goods[7] such as clean environment, justice, and defense. To attend the class reunion is to take a step in building social capital and strengthening the social fabric.
By now, you have received email and snail-mail announcements about our 50th reunion. The Covid pandemic has restructured—but not thwarted—our intentions. To “attend” reunion entails both (a) joining virtual gatherings on May 1, 2, 8, and 9, 2021, and (b) coming to our in-person reunion at Yale in late spring 2022 (dates to be announced).
Join us at the Yale ‘71 reunion. Make friends. Make meaning. And make a society.
Robert F. Bruner
Endnotes
[1] The famous study of Harvard graduates cites the avoidance of social isolation in addition to not smoking, avoiding alcoholism, and sustaining healthy weight, regular exercise, and stable marriage, among others. See George Vaillant, Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development.
[2] See Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society.
[3] See https://www.aei.org/politics-and-public-opinion/does-america-have-a-trust-problem/.
[4] “The Space Between: Renewing the American Tradition of Civil Society,” United States Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Dec. 18, 2019 https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/analysis?ID=78A35E07-4C86-44A2-8480-BE0DB8CB104E
[5] Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, New York: Norton, page 183.
[6] Helliwell, J. F., Aknin, L. B., Shiplett, H., Huang, H., & Wang, S. (2018). Social capital and prosocial behavior as sources of well-being. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. DOI:nobascholar.com.
[7] Durlauf, Steven N., and Marcel Fafchamps, (2004) “Social Capital,” Working Paper 10485, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w10485/w10485.pdf.