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Our class had a small but spirited 45th Reunion in May. We first gathered as a class for the alumni parade:
We had our dinner in the new forum in the newly renovated PAC, now the Frank Center for Public Affairs. A great space!
Thirty-two classmates registered including: Jenny-Anne Horst-Martz, Mark Zitter, Laura Steinman Klapper, Marty Saggese, Art Feltman, Ken Freeman, Susan Thorne, John Usdan, Deborah Ehrenthal, Irwin Gelman, Ed Merritt, Thom Kleiner, Karen Murgolo, Steven Yermish, Joel Tillinghast, Andrew McKenna, Debbie Lipshutz, Carol Bumpus, Frederick Maynard, Julie Burstein, Deborah Dobin Robinson, Kim (Ofria) Selby, Freddi Wald, Walter Calhoun, Amy Rabinowitz, Nancy Stier, Matthew Penn, Jonathan Nimer, Mark Garfinkel, Nancy Rosenberg, and me, Jacqueline (Shanberge) McKenna, though not all were able to attend.
Our class’s first person to register was Carol Bumpus. The folks who traveled farthest were: four from California: Laura Klapper, Mark Zitter, Jonathan Nimer, and Deborah Robinson; and Andrew and Iflew in from safari in Tanzania!
Aside from a delicious dinner and lots of chatting before, during and after, I welcomed the class to our 45th Reunion.
Kim Selby led a memorial minute for those classmates and those in our lives who have passed since we last gathered. Then Kim presented the Wesleyan University Service Award to honor our classmates who have devoted their time, talents, and treasures to support Wesleyan. This year, we recognized four classmates:
Frederica Wald-Sherman: Freddi has been a longtime volunteer for Wesleyan, serving as a WESeminar speaker, regional-event host, and, of course, an enthusiastic member of the reunion committee. She has done thoughtful outreach to classmates to encourage them to come back to campus. Her eagerness to help and obvious love for Wesleyan, as an alumna and parent, has made her a valuable part of the 45th Reunion efforts.
Melissa Stern: Melissa has been a loyal Wes volunteer for many years. She and husband, Jim Friedlich ’79, were delighted that their son, Max Friedlich ’17, also came to Wes, and they have formed a terrific trio of Wes boosters and have been involved with many Wes events over the years, often as a family. Alums have flocked to her art shows, Max’s plays, and Jim’s involvement with panels and other events related to journalism. Melissa also was an effective parent volunteer and did the artwork for the Class of ’80’s regalia T-shirt design for our 35th Reunion that was an all-time favorite.
Karen Murgolo: Karen has been volunteering for Wesleyan for nearly 25 years! She has served as a class fundraising volunteer (twice!), a parent volunteer, a WESeminar speaker, co-chair of the 35th Reunion Committee, and has been active reunion ambassador this year.
Walter Calhoun: Walter has done a phenomenal job reaching out to classmates to reconnect and encourage them to attend Reunion. His enthusiasm and enjoyment of these reconnections have been infectious.
And Jonathan Nimer read a note from a classmate who wasn’t able to attend.
Finally, Freddi reported on our class fundraising results: We blew past our participation goal with 137 donors. That’s a 20% increase over last year! And we raised $332,656 for the Wesleyan Fund, an 11% increase over dollars raised last year. Another fun fact is that we acquired 18 “new” donors—people who haven’t made a gift in over five years. Way to go class!
From the dinner, many of us went over to the tent in Andrus Field to dance well into the night with all the alumni and graduating class.
We are looking forward to a big group attending our 50th Reunion, so put that on your calendars for May 2030!
JACQUIE SHANEBERGE MCKENNA | jmckenna@indra.com