CLASS OF 1965 | 2015 | ISSUE 3
Dear Classmates, Spent a memorable day in Middletown and New Haven earlier this month. Wes football alumni were asked to be part of a morning meeting with recruits and their parents. This was organized by new head football coach Dan DiCenzo to show prospective students and their parents the kind of support and mentoring that are provided to players by alumni. The students and parents I met were impressive and they seemed impressed by the commitment of alumni to the football program and to the players.
Then I was pleased to participate in a Salute to Service luncheon and program for veterans, including a large contingent of vets from Middletown (it was Middletown Day—free admission for all). Also, on the field were the Posse Students, current undergraduates who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, attending Wesleyan under a special program. Then, prior to the game, led by a colorful band of bagpipers, this rather diverse crew of veterans took to the field to be recognized by a large crowd.
How different from the mid-to-late ’60s!
The football game was exciting, as a very young Wesleyan team was edged out by a talented Middlebury squad 28–25. But, watch out, despite losing 26 players to graduation (most of them starters) the Cards have lots of talent, great coaching and spirit. They will continue to be tough to beat.
This day was wrapped up at Yale Field in New Haven, when the baseball Cardinals were hosted by the Bulldogs in a night game to commemorate the 150th anniversary of their first-ever intercollegiate baseball game—Wesleyan at Yale in 1865! Wesleyan lost that one, but won the 2015 edition 6–3 in 10 innings!
Speakers included Yale Law School graduate Faye Vincent, former major league baseball commissioner, Wes baseball coach Mark Woodworth ’94, and Jim Dresser ’63, who along with the president of Yale, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Prior to the game, all Wesleyan and Yale former players took the field to be recognized, and the Cardinal players returning outnumbered the Elis four to one. Included in that group were Pete Sipples ’64 and Bill Needham ’63, and it was a pleasure to reminisce as we watched an exciting Cardinal victory. (Very similar, in fact, to our come-from-behind win on that field, 10–9, 51 years earlier!)
Glad to have the following to report:
Fred Newschwander wrote a wonderful letter to the editor on Foss Hill memories, appearing in the magazine issue prior to this one. (If you missed it, you can find it online at magazine.wesleyan.edu/2015/09/15/foss-hill-memories/.)
Dick Travis wrote a thoughtful note and it was good to hear from him. He is professor emeritus, health sciences, James Madison University, Harrisburg, Va.
Carl Hoppe from Beverly Hills, Calif., writes: “My wife, Diane, and I are taking four weeks off to have time at the beach and then travel to Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. We continue to have busy practices when we are in town, which is usually. Our youngest is out of the nest, having just graduated from Vassar. She got a job with NIH eight days later—we got a raise! (She was accepted at Wesleyan, but turned it down.) The older two girls are long gone outta here and well established. Despite a few more bodily glitches, I still manage to get out for tennis two to three times a week. Life on the left side of the map is good.”
Grant Parr writes: “I certainly enjoyed seeing so many of my classmates at our 50th Reunion. A particular treat was getting to know some classmates even better than when I was on campus…. Continue to work part time as physician-in-chief at the Gagnon Heart Hospital at the Morristown [N.J.] Medical Center. In late August and early September I spent several weeks fly fishing with friends and at a dude ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with my family. Helen and I will spend a good bit of the winter in our second home in Boca Grande Fla. Life is good!”
Mike Borecky is a full-time staff physician with the Department of Justice in NYC, providing care to 3,000 inmates. An important and demanding job, to say the least! He wrote a humorous note about a bizarre Western Civilization course we took as freshmen. Yes, Mike, I remember it!
Bill Brown writes: “It was great to see everyone, though lots of people did not attend. The weather, food, and drinks were great. Peter Kelman and I still e-mail occasionally. A best-selling book when we arrived in 1961—was Black like Me. It told of the racial tensions in the South at that time. A sitcom on TV today made reference to that famous book—which sold five million copies. I was reminded of our trip to Tuskegee in March 1963. The other 11 Wesmen stuck together for meals—and attended meetings in that town—to discuss racial problems. I was criticized for mingling with the Tuskegee students and attending their student activities. But, looking back after 52 years, I’m glad I did. I still remember students and events. And the ideas we shared from two different parts of America. Are things any better in 2015? That’s a question Peter has asked, in a recent e-mail.”
PHILIP L. ROCKWELL | prockwell@wesleyan.edu