Warm Memories of Cold Times, RED Talk Redux Reminder, CAU Summer

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It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating our 50th Reunion in the warmth of our campus and our friendships.

And now it’s February!  And I never care what that Groundhog says, it is the longest, shortest month of the year.  Living on or near the Equator for a few decades, I am not a fan of cold, snow or ice.  But then I saw this wonderful article and it brought back warm memories of cold times at Cornell.  Dashing Through the Snow, in Vintage Style shows the fun, the beauty and the challenges we all remember from our snowy years on the Hill.  This is the just the latest showcase in Glorious to View, a montage of vintage Cornell photos.  Take a look at all of them and those memories will warm you up.

Another way to warm up in this cold February is to join classmates for a webinar on Wednesday, February 12 at 8 pm ET.  Corey Earle ’07 will give an encore presentation of his “Look Back” talk that kicked off our RED Talks during our 50th Reunion.  These talks were such a big hit that we will be bringing more to you over the coming months and years.  Register here for “Look Back”.  And check our Class website for more RED Talks information.

Need another break from winter?  This July, escape the ordinary through CAU Summer.  Cornell Adult University (CAU) invites you for the summer. “Let your story unfold amid the vibrant energy of Cornell’s campus.  Each course is a chapter, each experience a discovery.  With no exams or deadlines, CAU is learning for the joy of it–because your story should be as expansive as your curiosity.”   Just click here to start your summer adventure.

Hope your new year, both calendar and lunar, is off to a good start and will be happy and healthy.  And hope to see you at the webinar.

Keep warm and be well!

Class of ’74 “Look Back” Webinar by Corey Earle Feb 12 at 8pm ET

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The [Notable] Class of 1974 is off to a great start in 2025!

One of our 50th Reunion highlights was the talk by Corey Earle ‘07, Cornell’s unofficial historian, about Cornell during our time on the Hill.  Corey covered Vietnam, protests, the draft lottery, streaking, Ed Marinaro, Walter LaFeber, Jennie Farley and more. His slides included ads for the North Forty and Triangle Book Shop, posters for campus concerts by Aretha Franklin, Sha Na Na, Jethro Tull & others, Sun articles, and photos. Corey is presenting a free webinar for our class on Wednesday, February 12th at 8:00pm EST.  He will reprise his 50th Reunion presentation and include some new topics.  Click here to register. If you have questions or suggestions for Corey, send those to John Foote ‘74.

ICYMI, as of January 1st, the new Cornell provost is Dr. Kavita Bala, previously the inaugural dean of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, where she was also the lead dean of the Cornell AI Initiative. You can read more about her impressive background here.

When you were very young, you may recall watching the “Adventures of Superman” TV show which ran from 1952-58 in B/W and later in color. (“Look! Up in the sky!  It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!”) But I always thought it interesting that when the character wasn’t a superhero, he was a newspaper reporter who “fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!” As you know, one of our classmates got to play this part in the movie version.  Now the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which captures the superhero and the man, has its television premiere on CNN Sunday, February 2.

Finally, as the new year begins, we’d like to hear from you about what our Notable Class of 1974 might do for you in terms of programs, offerings, services etc.  We’ll be sending out a survey this spring, but in the meantime, all ideas are welcomed and encouraged.

A New Class of ’74 Voice–Meet Bill Walker

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Happy New Year!

For those who were able to attend, I hope that you enjoyed (and still vividly remember) our 50th Reunion in Ithaca with all of the attendant activities.  Events such as the RED Talks and opportunities to connect or reconnect with classmates including John Williams, founder, owner and winemaker of Frog’s Leap Winery (hopefully you also tasted some of his wines that were being poured) and other myriad choices for involvement kept us entertained all weekend.

In the event that you are wondering, yes, this is a new “voice” that you have not previously heard from on this channel.  You also may not have heard that I have accepted the request to fill the VP of Membership role, responsible for leading the membership related activities for our class.  Just like Costco has done with the price of their hot dogs, we continue to hold the annual membership dues at the same level year after year – $30 for an individual and $35 for a couple (both in the Class of ’74). More on that in another message.

Here is a list of current class dues payers.   If your name is not on the list but you think that it should be, please reply to this message and let us know and we will check the records.  And if you want to pay your dues for this year (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025) right now while you are thinking about it,  just click here.

In past years we have sponsored or co-sponsored many events for Class of ’74 members and are now in the process of developing plans for more activities involving our class including some that will encompass some of the surrounding classes (’72, ’73, ’75, etc.).  You should soon be receiving a survey that is being sent to all of our class members.  We hope that you will respond so that you can let us know what types of activities that you would like to see going forward as this will assist us in the planning process.

If you did not receive this message directly, it is likely that we do not have your current contact information.  Please send a message to me that  includes your name, preferred email address and contact information so that we can update the records.

We endeavor to keep the lines of communication open so we hope that you will stay in touch – and be on the lookout for the upcoming survey.

Happy Holidays–Looking Back on our 50th and Forward to Many More!

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It’s December, when we traditionally look back at all that we did this year.  And it was a seminal one for the Notable Class of ’74, as we celebrated our 50th Reunion with a record turnout in June.  We’re told that many Cornell classes tend to slow down after their 50th, but, as you surely know, that will NOT be true for us.  We are already looking ahead to our 55th in 2029, and our 75th in 2049. (I was honored to be my mother’s “plus one” at her Cornell 75th in 2010.)

But before we close out this year, let us mention that Classmate Bruce Mainzer was excited to attend the recent Cornell women’s basketball game versus Northwestern in Bruce’s hometown of Chicago.  Our Class of ’74 Scholar Summer Parker-Hall (who is from Chicago) scored her first double-double of the season (16 points & 14 rebounds).  Bruce says, “So proud of my Highland Park, IL neighbor—Cornell played tough getting within 3 in the final minutes of the game before Northwestern pulled away.”  Read about Summer’s exciting play in her hometown here.

 

And earlier this fall, a group of Class of ‘74 leaders participated in Cornell’s annual Trustee-Council weekend on campus.  Pictured, left to right: Jim Irish, Dale Lazar, Andrea Glanz, Jaclyn Spear, Mary Berens, Tom Piwinski, Kristen Rupert & John Foote.

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Meet our New Christopher Reeve Scholar–Ashley Alexander

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In early November I enjoyed the best Cornell Performing Arts experience of my life: the premiere of Orlando’s Gift, written and directed by Cornell professor, David Feldshuh.  It’s an amazing script and was brilliantly acted.  The choreography, set and costumes added a great deal to the story.  I owe this memorable experience to our current Christopher Reeve ’74 scholar*, Ashley Alexander ’25, whom I recently met at a reception hosted by classmates John Foote and Kristen Rupert.  Wow!  You’ll read in her bio that Ashley is entrenched in theatre activities at Cornell.

 

My name is Ashley Alexander. I am a senior at Cornell University double majoring in Government and Performing Arts. I bring both talent and dedication to my studies and extracurriculars in the College of Arts and Sciences. I was born and raised in New York City. My parents were both born in Guyana, making me a proud first-generation college student. At Cornell, I have contributed to both on-stage and backstage roles in productions such as “Desdemona”, “Family Copali”, and “Orlando’s Gift”. Known for my kindness and hard work, I am a familiar face at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, where I not only take my classes but also hold a student job and spend countless hours in rehearsals.

My ambitions post-graduation include securing an internship at a production company, television studio, or courthouse while continuing to audition for film and theater roles. My ultimate dream would be to one day perform on Broadway or star in a major television show. In my day to day life as a student at Cornell, I find moments of joy by shopping at the Cornell Store and studying with my peers at Olin Library.

 

*The Christopher Reeve ’74 scholarship was started in 2005 by several of our classmates working with the College of Arts and Sciences.  Recently, the newly appointed Dean of the College, Peter John Loewen, told a group of visiting alumni that support for College scholarships is a top priority; my ears immediately perked up, knowing that some of our classmates continue to support this scholarship in memory of Chris.  If you would like to contribute to this scholarship click here.

Class Scholar Summer Parker-Hall ’25 Leads CU Women’s Basketball as they Open the Season

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This coming Monday the Big Red Women’s Basketball team tips off its 2024-25 season.  While you might not think this is a big deal, it is!  The team is led by our Class of 74 Scholar*, Summer Parker-Hall, who is a senior and plays forward.  Summer hails from Chicago and is studying communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.I

n a recent note Summer said,

For my senior year, my academic hopes are to take fun classes that interest me, as I’ve completed all my requirements, and to finish academically on a great note. As I prepare for life after graduation, my dream is to work with a WNBA team in areas like marketing, business operations, or analytics.

 On the basketball court, I’m recovering from a shoulder injury after tearing my labrum last season. I’ve spent the off-season in physical therapy, and now I’m excited to be healthy and play under our new coaching staff for my final season at Cornell.

It’s bittersweet that this is my last year, but I’m staying in the present, savoring every moment at Cornell and how beautiful Ithaca is. I feel incredibly blessed to be here, and I wouldn’t change a thing if I had the chance to do it all over again. Looking forward to seeing you at some games.    

 Go Big Red, 

Summer 

For those of us who had the opportunity to meet Summer at Reunion (she was one of our fabulous student clerks),  Summer epitomizes the best of Cornell—smart, committed, and fun.  Try to catch a game or two.  (Cornell Women’s Basketball Schedule)

Go Big Red!

* Our Cornell Class of 1974 Scholarship was started by Bob and Joan Saltsman Oelschlager in honor of our 25th Reunion.  Through donations by many classmates since, this scholarship has helped seven undergrads through their Cornell journey and they have all made us very proud.  In honor of our 50th Reunion, our class gifted this scholarship $10,000.  If you would like to contribute to this wonderful scholarship here is the link.  Summer is pictured here with classmates John Foote and Kristen Rupert.

Memory Book Deadline Oct.30; Pres Kotlikoff Speech; Meet New ’74 Pres

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Good news for you procrastinators–the Memory Book is still open!  Make your page, edit your page and publish your page until October 30th.  Don’t be left out of the fun.  Please note that pages in draft form need to be “published” to be included in the book.

Immediate Past President Shelley Cosgrove DeFord recently introduced me, Jim Schoonmaker, as our new Class of ’74 President.  I thank her and all our previous Presidents for their terrific leadership of our Class, and I am honored to follow in their footsteps.  We are indeed a Notable Class!

I feel that you and I already know each other: first, because I was the Saturday morning DJ at WVBR during our junior and senior years, and second, because for the last 10 years I have been one of our Class Correspondents, first in print and then online, and thus have had the privilege of sharing your stories with our fellow classmates.  This has given me a unique insight into who our Class is, what you have done, are doing, and plan to do, as we continue our journeys, individually and together as Cornellians.

Personally, I’m proud to be a Cornell son (Ethel ’35) and father (Annalise ’14).  Here in the DC area, I am a current Board member and former officer of the Cornell Club of Washington, where I work very closely with several ‘74s, and look forward to doing so with you.  For more about me, check out the Memory Book or LinkedIn.

I returned to campus for Homecoming and joined our small but engaged group of classmates for our pre-game event.  Many thanks to Lou and Roberta Bandel Walcer for planning the fun event.  And, despite the rain, it was great to be at Schoellkopf to watch the Big Red get the victory over Yale!

Last week, CornInterim President Michael Kotlikoff gave his first State of the University address to hundreds of alumni on campus for Trustee-Council meetings.  He spoke about how Cornell’s founders succeeded in establishing the university in 1865 despite long odds.  And he stated that Cornell is committed “to educate citizens to think for themselves, and live together; and to value truth.”  Read more about the address here.

If you are in the NYC area Thanksgiving weekend, join classmates from the Classes of the ’70s for a pre-game reception before the Frozen Apple Cornell vs. Quinnipiac men’s hockey game.  The party is Saturday, November 30, at 5:30 pm.  For details and registration click here.

Lastly, I joined a group of about 30 Cornellians from the Cornell Club of Washington DC to view Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.  Whether you knew Chris at Cornell or just followed his acting career (I saw him on campus in Waiting for Godot), this documentary shows what a super man he truly was.  The film is now in theaters and will soon be streaming on AppleTV and Prime Video.  Be sure to catch it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the fall!  It’s certainly beautiful in Ithaca!

Class of ’74 Memory Book Deadline is October 15th–Don’t Miss Out

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Don’t miss your final opportunity to create your page in our Class of 74 50th Reunion Memory Book.  It’s free and easy.  You’ll want to be able to access this rich treasure trove of information about our notable classmates for years to come.

There are only four days left for you to create or edit your page.  Our contract with the vendor ends on October 15.  That is a firm date.  After that date, no changes or updates can be made.  The Memory Book will be accessible to all classmates who have created a page.  However, there will be no access for classmates who have not created a page.

Almost 600 classmates have provided info for the Memory Book.  Please join them in creating your own page.  Do it now!

Here is the link to get started.

Keep those memories alive!

Thanks for the Memories–Let’s Keep Making More!

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Being our Class President for the past 5 years has been a true honor, culminating with our 50th Reunion.  Undaunted by COVID and world events, we came together, as our Class always does, and showed up big for our 50th, breaking records, doing new things, having fun and making new friends and new memories!

At our Saturday Reunion dinner, I asked everyone who helped, in any way, to stand up and be celebrated–this included our Reunion Chairs and their team, our Affinity Leaders and Chairs, our Memory Book Chairs, our Fundraising Chairs, our emcees and Bill H. for the Saturday evening show, our RED Talkers, our Class Correspondents, our Membership Chair, the WVBR people, all the classmates who reached out to friends about Reunion, and non-Cornell spouses who worked hard too.  Almost every one of our 600 diners were on their feet.  That’s teamwork!  That’s notable!  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

That evening our Class gifted me a beautiful watercolor, Cornell Oak, by Susan Booth Titus.  I LOVE it and look at it often; it fills me with such joy.  As so much of our campus has changed, this view will always be my view of Cornell.  (Read more about this special tree here.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing the baton, I would like to introduce our new Class President, Jim Schoonmaker.  Jim has been one of our Class Correspondents for the past 10 years and has been very active in the Cornell Club of Washington D.C.  As a Cornell student, Jim worked for WVBR which led him to a lifetime career in broadcasting at several companies, including joining CNN at its infancy.  Jim organized the amazingly fun WVBR live broadcast dance party at our Reunion.  With Jim’s leadership and with classmates like you, we can look forward to the next five years and an amazing 55th Reunion.  So please welcome Jim as our President!

As Jim takes on a new class leadership role, please know that I am not going anywhere.  As Immediate Past President, I will continue to help manage the class website and our ongoing communications.

Finally, I have one last request.  Cornell sent a short, very generic Reunion survey but we’d love your opinion on our Reunion–likes, dislikes, ideas, in your own words.  Please send comments to me.  We will compile them, read them, share them and use them to plan our 55th!

A heartfelt thank you for the memories!  Let’s keep making them!  And be sure to read the many P.S.’s below.

PS:  Memory Book submission deadline is October 15.

PPS: Poor audio at our Friday Reunion dinner prevented you from hearing remarks from classmate Lois Bennett and me.  Our theme was remembrance, connection and celebration, and a very well-deserved award was made to classmate Bill Walker.  You can read our remarks here.

PPPS:  Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story documentary, selected screenings.

PPPPS:  Homecoming Pre-Game Meet-Up and Tour of the Center for Life Science Ventures.

Closing the Books on our 50th Reunion

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As promised, here are the last four links to those wonderful RED talks from our Reunion.  Even if you were there you could only go to one and they were all so good!  So we wanted to share as much as we can so everyone can see the talents and passions of our classmates.  Can’t wait for the 55th!  These final four, all Cornell professors, have shared their research and passions with so many students at our alma mater.

Don’t Breathe the Air! Indoor Air Can Be 100 times More Polluted Than Outdoor Air presenter Cornell Professor Emeritus Joe Laquatra ’74 has been conducting research on indoor environmental air quality since 1986 and is focused on improvements that can result in healthier indoor environments.

Rebels: Jews and the Roman Empire presenter Barry Strauss ’74, a best-selling author, historian and Cornell Professor, talked about Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire in ancient times and how they still shape our world today, 2000 years later.

The Love Bug: What Fruit Flies Tell Us About the Molecules of Life and Love presenter Mariana Wolfner ’74, Cornell Professor of genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary biology in CALS, talked about how fruit flies reveal the genes and proteins essential for fertility in insects such as mosquitoes that transmit the Dengue and Zika viruses.

Hits & Flops from a Tree Fruit Entomologist’s Playlist: The Journey of a Bug Guy presenter Cornell Professor Emeritus Art Agnello ’74 describes himself (not necessarily in this order) as a tree fruit extension entomologist, amateur trumpeter, home winemaker, and travel buff.

Our 50th Reunion was right in the middle of the Cornell campaign To Do the Greatest Good.  We just got the final numbers and wow did our Class step up!  Raising almost $58 million from 779 donors and 96 Tower Club gifts, our class set a new 50th Reunion donor record and exceeded all our fundraising goals.  Our last minute challenge to get 774 donors was successful and our Class gifted $10,000 to our Class of 1974 Scholarship.  Many thanks to our Chairs, Andrea Glanz, Jim Irish and David Miller and all of you who gave–we sure did our greatest good!  (Class of 1974 Donor Honor Roll)

As we close the book on our 50th, don’t forget to make (or edit) your page in our Class of ’74 Memory Book.  The DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15th.

If you are back on campus for Homecoming join our Class of ’74 Pre-Game event.

And don’t forget about the selected screenings of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story–even the trailer is a tear jerker!  Consider getting together with Cornellians in your area for this.

Be well and stay tuned for my final email as our Class President.