Parlour Talk
Grace Wilson Miller '21, 100 years of age and one of Swarthmore's oldest living alumnae, sat in the front row the other night as I spoke to an alumni gathering at Crosslands, a retirement community a few miles west of the College. About 35 Swarthmoreans were in the audience, including one of our most revered: John Nason, president of the College from 1940 to 1953 and an honorary member of the Class of 1948.
My topic was the Bulletin--its history, purpose, and present editorial direction. Several members of the audience were students when this magazine's direct ancestor, then called The Garnet Letter, was launched in September 1935. Its first editor, William Tomlinson '17, president of the Alumni Association, called this new publication "an effort to bring the College and her alumni into a closer relationship through a better understanding of the aims, objectives, and activities of Swarthmore today." This is remarkably close to the stated mission of the magazine today (it became the Bulletin in 1952), which is "to strengthen and extend the positive connections that are part of the Swarthmore experience and to promote a sense of responsibility for the future of the institution."
Historically, this "sense of responsibility" hasn't just meant writing a check to the College when asked. In fact, publication of The Garnet Letter predated Swarthmore's first Annual Fund by almost six years. Clearly, some greater and more meaningful connection was--and is--intended.
President Nason told me later that his predecessor, President Frank Aydelotte, had been through "three big fights" with the alumni in the 1920s and 1930s--de-emphasizing athletics, the institution of the Honors Program, and the abolition of sororities. The inauguration of The Garnet Letter can be seen as an attempt to repair this strained relationship, but it quickly proved to be more. In the newsletter's second issue, Tomlinson put forth a sweeping proposal to involve alumni more closely in Swarthmore's affairs.
The subsequent reorganization of the Alumni Association created the Alumni Council and led to the nomination of alumni representatives to the Board of Managers, reforms that are reflected in the governance of the College today. Every current manager is a graduate of the College, and the Alumni Council remains an active conduit for alumni involvement.
What struck me about my audience at Crosslands, which included six current or former class secretaries, wasn't so much that they are in fine fettle in their 70s to 90s (even Grace Miller walked in under her own power and asked a trenchant question) but how dearly they hold this College in their hearts. My talk elicited questions and stories that showed a fierce interest in Swarthmore and an intense pride in being members of its larger community. I marvel at the bond these Swarthmoreans feel with each other and the College.
It remains our goal that the Bulletin continue to nurture the "closer relationship" that its first editor envisioned in 1935--not just because Swarthmore needs your financial support (which, of course, it does) but because it continues to value your ideas and involvement in the life of this great school.
--Jeffrey Lott
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