Archive for category: Welcome Letters

Cornell Homecoming took place last weekend and we celebrated three Notable Class of ‘74 members!  Cornell Trustee Emeritus Mort Bishop of Oregon, Class President Dale Lazar of Virginia, and Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN) former chair Randy Rosenberg of Long Island all received the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award.  This prestigious award honors alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary service to Cornell through long-term volunteer activities.  Congrats to Mort, Dale and Randy—well-deserved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday afternoon of Homecoming, the Classes of the 70’s hosted a pre-football-game tailgate.  Thanks to classmate Walter Scott for yeoman work staffing the grill and for sharing his amazing Big Red Football motor home!  The Cornell football team lost to Yale in a close game, 30-24, but Schoellkopf Stadium was full of Cornell alums of all ages who were happy to be back at their alma mater for the weekend.  More Homecoming photos are on the Class Facebook page.  Just search Facebook for Cornell 1974 and click to join.  It’s one more way to keep in touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This—our 45th Reunion year—is all about participation: coming to Reunion in June, supporting the university, paying class dues.  If you haven’t yet paid your 2018-19 dues, now is the time. You’ll receive Cornell Alumni Magazine which is a great way to stay in touch with all that’s happening with Cornell and Cornellians, especially in this, our Reunion year.  You may pay on-line here or by check.

Happy Fall!

Sincerely,

Bill Howard

VP Social Media

bill@billhoward.com

Happy mid-summer!  Hope you are finding time to relax with friends and family in places that bring you joy.  Ithaca weather has been hot-hot-hot.

Our class started the summer with a barbecue dinner in Ithaca for 35 classmates and friends attending Cornell Reunion.  Many took in lectures, tours and concerts while also catching up with classmates.  Reunion co-chairs Shelley Cosgrove DeFord, Cris Cobaugh and Bob Baldini checked out sites for our 45th Reunion NEXT June (2019.) You’ll learn more about Reunion plans in September.

 

We have a busy year ahead.  Two events are already in the works.  At Cornell Homecoming on Saturday September 22, the Classes of the ‘70s are hosting a joint tailgate party.  With the football game starting at 3pm, the tailgate lunch will begin around noon.  More details will be shared shortly.  Looking ahead to 2019, on Friday evening February 8 our class will co-host a reception in Boston.

 

In Cornell news, a big project to add 2,000 new beds and five on-campus buildings was announced this spring/summer.  Cornell plans to provide on-campus housing to all sophomores and perhaps eventually require sophomores to live on campus.  (Freshmen already are.)  The university will also increase undergraduate enrollment.  New dorms will be built on North Campus; the three-year construction project begins next year.  Read the Ithaca Journal article here.

 

Finally, if you have not yet paid your Class Dues for the 2018-19 year, please do so today!  Duespayers receive the terrific Cornell Alumni Magazine—a great way to keep up with campus life, academics, alumni, current students, groundbreaking research and more.  We’ve kept dues amounts the same as last year.  Not sure if you’ve paid?  Contact Jodi Sielschott Stechschulte at Jodisteck@gmail.com.  You may pay on-line here or by check.

 

Hope to see you at a class event this year and at Reunion in June 2019.  You’ll be hearing regularly from our Class and Cornell over the next 12 months.  For now, enjoy the rest of summer!

Happy Spring!  Although the new season has been slow to arrive in Ithaca (and much of the US), students return this week from Spring Break with only five weeks of classes left.  Do you remember sprinting to Finals Week when you were at Cornell?!?

Looking ahead to warmer weather, we are organizing a class dinner at Reunion THIS YEAR, on Saturday June 9 in Ithaca, at the home of classmates Kristen Rupert and John Foote.  Yes, our 45^th Reunion is still one year away.  However, our Reunion co-chairs will be in Ithaca this June scoping out dinner venues, caterers and activities.  Local classmates and class officers will also be there.  Please join us!  Any alum may attend Cornell Reunion: you can register as a non-reunion year (NRY) alum, attend events, and stay in on-campus housing.  Details are here.  The link to register for the class dinner on Saturday is not available yet.  But, if you are interested in attending or have questions, contact Shelley Cosgrove DeFord at scdeford@gmail.com.

This summer also offers an opportunity to take one-week classes on campus through Cornell Adult University (CAU.)  You and family/friends can choose among cycling, wines, astronomy, literature, politics, hip-hop, golf, gorges, yoga and more.  CAU classes run from July 8-August 4 and accommodations are on campus.  Click here for more information.

You recently received a letter encouraging you to pay your class dues for 2018-19.  Dues help pay for class communications, events, reunions and more.  As a dues-payer your receive Cornell Alumni Magazine as well as discounts on some Cornell services.  Our class has held the line on dues amounts again this year–classmates pay only $60 or $30 with no magazine.  And if you pay by April 13, you’ll receive $150 off the coast of a CAU course.  If you are on dues auto-renewal, your credit card will be charged in July.  To pay dues by check, visit our class website here.  To pay dues on-line, click here.

Hope to see you at Cornell Reunion in June or another Cornell event soon.

Sincerely,

Dale Lazar

President [Notable] Class of  ’74

Dsl36@cornell.edu

Hope your new year is off to a good start.  Students are back at Cornell after winter break and spring semester classes began last week.  A snowy December has given way to a relatively snow-free Ithaca in late January.

We thought you might enjoy an update from our CU ‘74 Scholarship recipient Wendi Gonzalez of North Carolina, Class of 2020 in Art, Architecture & Planning.  Many classmates have donated money to this scholarship over the past 20 years.  We–and Wendi—thank you for that support.  Her note is below.

A couple of additional items….  We are co-hosting a Classes of the 70’s Party in Philadelphia on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:45pm.  Learn more here.

We are beginning to plan our 45th Reunion, June 6-9, 2019.  We’re reaching out for ideas on how to make this reunion the best ever for our Notable Class.  Please send ideas or suggestions to Shelley Cosgrove DeFord, Reunion Co-Chair, at scdeford@gmail.com.

Here’s Wendi’s letter:

Hello Everyone!

My second Fall semester was just as amazing as the other two, if not better because now I feel like I know what I am doing. I started off receiving the toughest professor for our studio class (I promise I am not exaggerating). In fact, by the end of the first month my entire class agreed that she was the hardest to please. However, the work our section produced was incredible.

I am happy to say that my other classes went great as well. I was taking Building Technologies, which helps me become a ‘safer’ architect, which follows regulations and code. In my Structural Systems class I learned how to make my building stand (although there is always going to be an engineer to help us). I learned how to analyze buildings and integrate this into my own design in Analysis. And last, but not least my team and I built a 9-foot column for our Special Topic: Forms of Making class.

I really enjoyed my third semester at Cornell! I cannot believe time went by so fast, but I plan to make the best of it!

Sincerely, Wendi

Hope to see you at a Cornell or class event in 2018!

Sincerely,

Dale Lazar, President [Notable] Class of  ’74

Hope your fall is off to a promising start. The still-Notable Class of 1974 is organizing two October events—one in Ithaca, one in Boston. 

Cornell Homecoming, ’70s tailgate, Brown football. Our class and others from the ’70s (also ’69) will host a tailgate Saturday, Oct. 21, near Friedman Wrestling Center from noon to the 3pm kickoff of the Brown football game. All free: sandwiches, Cornell apples, beverages. To register for the tailgate (also see who’s coming), click here. 

Homecoming weekend features a fine arts tour on campus (highly recommended), a faculty lecture on The Hidden Value of Detective Fiction by English Prof. Caroline Levine, a virtual or in-person 5k (run it anywhere), and a fan festival with music and rides. Most events are Saturday. A laser light show and fireworks is Friday 7 pm.  To register for Homecoming (separate registration from tailgate), click here. 

Our Final 65th Birthday Party, in Boston.  Sunday, Oct. 29, 5-7:30pm, classmate Nancy Maczulak Fisher is arranging a ’74 reception at Brass Union in Somerville, 70 Union Square, for classmates and friends. Hors d’oeuvres, birthday cake and balloons are free; drinks are not (sorry). Come celebrate our 65th year in style!  No RSVP required.  Questions? Email Nancy at fishernancy5@aol.com.

In other very big news, the Cornell Tech Campus opened in NYC to much fanfare Sept. 12. Dignitaries, alumni, staff and students celebrated the completion of three key buildings—the Bloomberg Education Center, the Bridge (for collaborative initiatives), and the Residence—and the move of 300 graduate students and 30 faculty from temporary quarters at the Google building in lower Manhattan to Roosevelt Island. Cornell Tech is a partnership with Israel’s powerhouse Technion Institute of Technology (four Nobel prizes since 2004) to create the tech-focused grad school designed to attract and host start-ups, graduate students, researchers and industry. Read more about this transformational program in The New York Times here.  Check it out for yourself: Take the 59th Street tramway or subway (F train) over to Roosevelt Island.

Enjoy this fall season. I look forward to seeing you at a Cornell event soon.