Garnet Sages: David Cohen '77, former chief of staff to Philadelphia's mayor, spoke at the Sages reunion dinner on Alumni Weekend. Associate Dean Gil Stott attended as a special guest.
Austin, Texas: Bob '52 and Dagmar Strandberg Hamilton '53 hosted a poolside gathering at their home, with help from Cathy Horwitz '96 and Andrés Zuluaga '94.
Boston: Young alumni attended a potluck barbecue at the home of Isa Helfgott '94 and Noah Novogrodsky '92.
Cleveland: Jeff Zinn '92 led Swarthmore runners Jeremy Williams '93, Scott Kane '93, Albert Kim '93, Rohit Malhotra '95, and Bernhard '93 and Christina Saunders Sturm '91 in the Revco-Cleveland Marathon. Jeff encouraged Swarthmore spectators to pledge money to the College for every mile completed.
Metro NYC Connection Chair Debbie Branker Harrod '89 created the quarterly Artist Newsletter, in which Swarthmoreans list upcoming performances and exhibits. The first edition featured performances by Harriet Zinnes (mother of Alice Zinnes '77), Marcy Gordon '78, and Paula Allen '82. Deb also coordinated housing for Swarthmore engineering students and alumni who displayed their hybrid electric car entry at the South Street Seaport before heading down the Atlantic coast in the Tour de Sol. Jim DiFalco '82 offered a night at the movies with the New York Film Buffs, "a group of serious movie lovers."
Philadelphia: Jim and Dena Jacobson Dannenberg '54 organized families for a tour of the Crayola Factory and Museum. Outgoing Connection Chair Martha Salzmann Gay '79 welcomes her successor, Jenny Rickard '86, who will start coordinating events in the fall.
Metro DC/Baltimore: Swarthmore alumni, parents, and friends provided housing for members of Swarthmore's hybrid electric car team in the final leg of the Tour de Sol (see Metro NYC).
Regional Swarthmore events are volunteer run, with support from the Alumni Relations Office. If you'd like to organize an event in your area, please contact Katie Bowman '94, assistant director of alumni relations, at kbowman1@ swarthmore.edu or (610) 328-8404.
Look for the latest information on upcoming alumni events and activities around the country on the Alumni home page: www.swarthmore.edu/Home/ Alumni.
October 3 and 4
Homecoming Weekend '98 is scheduled for Oct. 3 and 4. This will be an opportunity for alumni and parents to sample College events, to enjoy the campus at its autumn best, and to help welcome Peter Alvanos, Swarthmore's new football coach.
The College welcomes nominations for recipients of honorary degrees at Commencement in June 1999. Criteria used by the Honorary Degree Committee include:
• Distinction, leadership, or originality in a significant field
• Someone on the ascent in his or her career, or at the peak of achievement
• Ability to serve as a role model for graduating seniors, and to speak to them at a major occasion in their lives
• Preference, but not requirement, that there is an existing affiliation with the College.
The committee prefers to recognize less honored candidates over those who already have received many honorary degrees.
Alumni who wish to make a nomination are asked not to inform the individual that they are doing so. All nominations will be kept confidential. Biographical information, and a persuasive letter addressing the criteria, should be sent by Friday, Oct. 2, to the Honorary Degree Committee, c/o Vice President Maurice Eldridge, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1397, or e-mailed to meldrid1@swarthmore.edu.
Swarthmore's 17,000 alumni are an enormous resource for the College, its students, our own communities, and our fellow graduates. In the past year, alumni again responded enthusiastically to many requests for help. Examples of service abound.
For a week in January and March, about 150 alumni and parents provided externships for students, giving them an exposure to possible career opportunities. Others opened their homes to the students so that cost would not prevent anyone from participating.
Career support marked another volunteer effort when about 50 graduates attending Black Alumni Weekend and the Alumni Council meeting in March joined 70 students at the second annual Alumni-Student Career Networking Dinner. It was organized by the Career Planning and Placement Office in cooperation with Alumni Relations. Students questioned alumni on the value of various majors, grad school options, job searches, and the juggling of work and family responsibilities.
Alumni in several cities provided housing last summer, and are again this year, to enable students to take volunteer internships or low-paying jobs. This generosity not only offers a home away from home but can also stretch the limited funds available from the College for summer research. Provost Jennie Keith has encouraged the Alumni Council's effort to expand this program.
Alumni volunteers have represented Swarthmore for years at college fairs, in prospective student interviews, and at "yield receptions" for accepted students. Dean of Admissions Robin Mamlet met with Council this spring to explore more ways that alumni can help her office extend its outreach to additional cities, schools, and students.
Members of the Alumni Council volunteered to participate in the subgroups of the long-range planning process described in President Al Bloom's letter to alumni in April, and the Council was able to serve as a sounding board for preliminary ideas from some of the groups.
As reported regularly in these pages, service projects organized by regional Connection volunteers draw alumni who like to meet old and new friends while serving their community. Among them this year were a trail maintenance work party on a mountain near Seattle, the City Year serve-a-thon in Boston, Christmas-in-April in Washington, D.C., and a Habitat for Humanity project in Philadelphia.
Service to other alumni also motivates us. Washington-area volunteers organized about 50 graduates into a book club that met monthly in sections to read books from a syllabus developed by Phil Weinstein, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English. Last month he went to Washington to present a concluding lecture and lead a discussion for the combined sections, proving that faculty can match alumni in generosity.
Alumni again gave their time and energy as class agents, class secretaries, reunion coordinators, phonathon volunteers, Connection chairs, Managers, Alumni Council members, and more. The Alumni Council each year recognizes outstanding service to the College through the Joseph B. Shane Award and, starting last year, it honors alumni for unsung service to their own community through the Arabella Carter Community Service Award.
This month at Alumni Weekend, the Shane Award was presented to Margaret "Mickey" McCain Ford '43 of Hockessin, Del., and Ken Matsumoto '58, of Tokyo. The Carter Award was given to Stokes '51 and Mary Jane Winde Gentry '53 of Williston, Vt.
One point stands out as I talk with the organizers of volunteer activities: Most people who are asked to give their time do so and are happy to be asked. The challenge is to take better advantage of this generosity and offer more opportunities to those who want to contribute. In the coming year, the Alumni Council will try to help meet this challenge.
- Jack Riggs '64
ALIGN=right>President, Alumni Association
The Alumni Records Office will send a mailing to every Swarthmore graduate this month to confirm or update information for the 1998 Swarthmore College Alumni Directory. For the first time, the directory will be produced both in a soft-cover edition, to be distributed free of charge, and an on-line version. If there's sufficient demand, a CD-ROM also will be available. Alumni who don't receive the mailing should contact Alumni Records at (610) 328-8435, or e-mail alumni-records@swarthmore. edu.
Alumni under age 30 are invited to apply for the Luce Scholars Program, which funds a year in Asia. Candidates must have no previous career interest or academic concentration in Asian studies, and little or no exposure to East or Southeast Asia. Applications are due Monday, Nov. 2. Information is available from Tom Francis, director of the Career Planning and Placement Office: phone (610) 328-8352, fax (610) 328-8549, or e-mail tfranci1@ swarthmore.edu.
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