Vassar Reunion Recap for Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6

My first night sleeping in a dorm room bed in 5 years netted four and a half hours sleep. Not having an alarm clock, I left the shades open to ensure that the sunlight would wake me up. I awoke at 8:00 A.M. and then took my first shower in a dorm room bathroom in 5 years. Jay Briar complained that my blog posting about Friday didn’t have any details on the bathrooms so I’ll make up for it here by saying it had very good water pressure. By 9:00, I was ready to go. Ben was also up so we went to the college store. On the way, we met some elderly alums and talked about the Japanese elm trees in the quad. Even though the store had only been open for 15 minutes, it was already very crowded. I made three purchases. A Vassar Alumni sweatshirt. A book about the history and architecture of Vassar’s buildings. And a book about how Vassar spurned Yale’s offer to merge and became a co-ed school in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Those two books will certainly keep me busy for a while. As I was waiting on line, I stood next to a woman who said that she flew in all the way from Saudi Arabia to attend reunion. That’s amazing.

I left the store and ran into Jon Gans and Emily Jacobs in the retreat. I wasn’t sure if they would be coming so I was very happy to see them. (I am going to be in their wedding party next year) Pictures were taken with them as well as with ADK and Stu in the retreat. I saw Marguerite Mugge too. (Not Marguerite Moreau though. She was supposed to attend but couldn’t at the last minute) Then it was back to Davison to drop off my new purchases and to get ready for the Alumni Parade!

All the classes lined up for the parade on the path in between the Chapel and Main. Each class was adorned with banners and balloons in our class colors. Lots of pictures were taken and I had the honor of holding the Class of 1999 banner, along with Becky. The parade started with Fran, her dog, a band and then a golf cart driving the lone member of the Class of 1929. Think about that... 1929. If she was 20 when she graduated then that would make her 95 today. Amazing. More golf carts followed with members of the Class of 1934 and 1939. Then other classes followed, marching behind. Standing on the sidelines, all of us cheered for them and they in turn cheered for us. Many of them looked at us and said “You’re so young!” or “Look, there’s men!” Don’t forget, Vassar was originally an all-womens college so it was great to see all of the alumni from that era. The Classes of 1948 and 1949 marched together because the classes were very small, as World War II prevented many women from leaving home. One of the alums that I spoke with earlier in the quad went over to me and we gave each other a high five. Then we saw the Class of 1974 with a banner proclaiming that they are Vassar’s first fully co-ed class. As we cheered for all of the classes ahead of us, it became our turn to march. But since we were the tail end of the parade, there was no one left to cheer for us! Thankfully, Graham Campbell and Pedro Amador broke away from the group and ran along the sidelines yelling “Yay! 99!”

The parade made its way to the new athletic building next to Walker. Inside there is a new gymnasium that was set up for a rally. Our class was assigned the side bleachers. Two huge video screens were set up next to a stage. What followed was a presentation announcing how much each class gave to the college. The Class of 99 gave the most money for a 5-Year Class in 28 years, as our gift was around $17,000. Thanks to Annie Thottam and Carolyn Brooks for their hard fundraising efforts. The 50th Reunion Year class gave over $2 million! And the total for all classes was over $9 million. Amazing. After those announcements we were shown a very sentimental video combining footage from Vassar at the turn of the century, with that of the 1950s, and with that of the present day. Everyone got a little emotional during it; a testimony to how well the institution is loved by its alumni. Many people, myself included, said during the weekend that we would love to drop everything and do another 4 years all over again. Finally, the rally concluded with a singing of “Gaudeamus”, the traditional scholar’s song.

After that event they were giving out box lunches, but I wasn’t interested so I went back to the Retreat and consumed a roast beef sandwich, just like they used to make it. Then it started to drizzle and, since there was some downtime, I decided to check out some of the new renovations. I went into Noyes, my home for three years, to see the renovated Jetson Lounge. I also checked out all of my old rooms to complete the nostalgia trip. Then I went into Jewett, which was completely gutted and beautifully redone. It doesn’t even resemble a dorm anymore; it’s like a hotel. Melissa Walker said that her old room is now a stairwell. Andrij Dobriansky said that his old room is now a study hall. The halls, walls, windows, furniture are all impeccable and if I lived there I’d be afraid to touch anything! I wonder if this is their idea in renovating all of the dorms.

After my self-guided tour I went back to Davison to catch up on some rest. I tried to nap for a half-hour but who can nap during reunion? So I chilled on the front steps of Davison, talking to Matt Newton, and waving to all of the late arrivals including Jill Cadre. Ben soon came by and to end our boredom, along came a golf cart being driven by a reunion staffer. She asked if anyone needed a ride so Ben and I said “Sure!” She told us that she had 20 minutes left in her shift and would drive us around campus for that long. Turns out that our host was Emma Angevine’s younger sister from the Class of 04! So we sped through campus and checked out the new South Commons facilities. Along the way, we saw older alums slowly making their way around campus. When we asked them if we could take them anywhere, most declined. I think they wanted to prove to themselves that they could still walk around campus, unassisted. Finally some alums did want a ride to the new Center for Drama and Film so Ben and I were kicked out of the cart.

While that was happening, my favorite political science professor, Richard Born, was giving a lecture. I did not attend but Jon Gans e-mailed me to fill me in on what happened. Jon wrote, “So Born's talk was pretty good and wicked funny. The same old antics, clothes, and notes. He was more enthusiastic than I remember... He was like : ‘I wanted to call this talk Delay does Dallas (pause) and Houston and Fort Worth..., but I didn't think they would print it in the program.’ He told Mike Riggs and I to forget all the nonsense he said in class about ticket-splitting, the decline of political parties, etc. He said he was wrong.” So basically, my political mentor just openly admitted that everything he taught us was wrong! Can’t beat that one. After that class, Austin Brown invited Mr. Born to attend the Class of 99 cocktail reception in Raymond. Born’s response was “Well, I don’t know if I’m really supposed to go.” Austin convinced him though! More on that later.

Anyway, after Ben and I were kicked off the golf cart, I made my way back to my room to change for the President’s reception for donor societies. I was invited since my gift contribution just barely qualified me as a Cornaro Fellow. So I put on some nicer clothes and made my way over to Fran’s house. She had a big tent set up on her lawn and the first person I recognized was Ken Wong, from the Class of 2000. Ken said that even though it wasn’t his reunion he decided to come up to campus for Fran’s donor reception. ADK and Stu then made a beeline in my direction as there weren’t too many 99ers there so we have to stick together. A gin and tonic and a red wine were consumed. We waited on a receiving line to pay our respects to Fran and I had a nice little conversation with her. She said how much she appreciated the large turnout of our class. (Almost half attended) I mentioned how well organized the parade and rally was and how nice it is for the different generations to have the opportunity to interact. Fran then encouraged us to go inside of her house and look around. So we did, admiring her artwork and books. In one room we saw her TV and personal video collection. Amusingly, Adam Sandler’s “The Wedding Singer” was included. I then went back into the reception and met up with Jill and Annie Thottam. We hung out for a little while and then made our way over to Main.

Each parlor on the second floor of Main was being occupied by various small receptions. I peeked into the Faculty Parlor and saw some people I recognized so I went inside and started saying hello to people. I then asked one person what this reception was for and he said that it was the Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association. To which I said, “Cool! I’ll see you later then!” Heh heh, can’t have any rumors going around now! Jill, Annie and I then visited the reception for the Latino/Latina Alumni Association. We caught the very end of some speeches and then partook in some festive fruit.

At that point I made my way up to the 3rd Floor of Main to see the room that I lived in during my senior year. I also checked my e-mail at the computer cluster and that was when I found out that Ronald Reagan had passed away. It would become a big dinnertime conversation topic that night.

Back to Davison to watch the Belmont Stakes. The room was packed with members of our class and the Class of ’89. I still can’t believe that Smarty Jones lost. He had it! During the race I chatted with former Davison residents, Megan Marks and Adam Perrelli. Megan was quite devastated when Smarty lost. Many were. Then it was over to Raymond for the Class of ’99 reception. All I can say about that one is – nothing says Vassar better than red wine in a paper cup. The room was packed and it was a bit difficult to move around. I did see Mr. Born though as he accepted Austin’s invitation and attended. We had a nice conversation as he remembered where I was working and whom I used to work for. Austin then invited him to go golfing with us at the 10-Year Reunion.

After that it was on to the Saturday night dinner. Each class had a tent set up outside of the dorms. Ours was on the lawn in between Chicago Hall and Joss. This was a sit-down dinner and they checked for tickets this time. (Good thing too since we spent $35 on em) The dinner consisted of a choice of chicken, tuna or pasta, with potatoes & veggies, a salad, cheesecake, and yes – red or white wine. So that marked my third red wine in three consecutive receptions. Reunion Chair Michelle Laredo got on the microphone and got cheers when she said “Don’t worry. I won’t be asking you for any money.” Becky Corona then got on the mic and acknowledged the efforts of her fellow class officers - Marivel (applause), Jill (applause), and me (the room ERUPTED in applause). I don’t mean to sound cocky – on the contrary I was very humbled by it. I couldn’t get over the overwhelming reception I got from my classmates and I’m very thankful for it. Becky then said that we are accepting names for new officers and anyone who is interested should contact her. I suppose we’ll have an election via the mail or something. As for me though, I am officially retired!

After dinner, there was yet another fireworks display. This one emanated from off-campus. Coincidentally there was a street fair going on in Poughkeepsie. After lingering in the tent for a while, a bunch of us made our way back to the Davison MPR to relax. Gabe, Jonty and I ordered chicken parms from Naps, thus fulfilling my eating goals for the weekend. We also watched the end of the NHL game and the news coverage about Reagan. The night died down after that. Some people went back to the Acrop (I couldn’t even look at food anymore) so I visited the Mug for literally five minutes before getting sick of it. So it was back to the dorm to hang out until 2:30 A.M. at which time I called it a night.

Slept for seven and half hours uninterrupted. Woke up at 10 and at 11 made my way over to ACDC for the brunch. It was so surreal to be walking to ACDC again with a group of people. Serious deja vu. The selection of brunch foods wasn’t as impressive. Stephanie went into the main dining area to get some cereal and an employee bitched her out because it wasn’t “part of the brunch.” Stephanie said, “I paid $15 and you won’t let me eat CEREAL?” The worker conceded but that was just ridiculous. Anyway the brunch was a somber affair as everyone was saying goodbye to each other. Before I left though, I checked out the new second floor of ACDC which is now the new Students Center. Very nicely designed.

The weekend then ended as Ben drove Jess and me back to the train station. Jess and I finished our trip the way we started – on the Metro North.

All in all, a great weekend. Thanks for reading this very long recap!