Former students flock to campus

The event kicked off with lectures by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson GS ’86 and FBI Director Robert Mueller III ’66. Mueller and Jackson were presented with top awards for University alumni for their careers in public service: Jackson received the James Madison Medal, and Mueller the Wilson Award. Jackson’s lecture, which focused on the role of women in science, demonstrated to some alumni a change in the University’s academic priorities.

“They have tremendously increased the focus on science and engineering,” John Clearwater GS ’66 said. “When I was here, it was mostly a gentleman’s school for liberal arts.”

Alumni and their families were also welcomed with activities like the workshop “Navigating the College Admissions Process” by Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye and a demonstration called “Fiery, Energetic and Colorful Chemistry!” by chemistry department Lecture Demonstrator Kathryn Wagner.

“I took my grandkids to the chemistry demo, and they didn’t think that much of it, but they really enjoyed the Outdoor Action rock climbing,” Arch Davis GS ’69 said.

During a lunchtime reception, Jackson and Mueller were honored alongside Jacobus Fellowship-winning graduate students Richard Baliban, William Cavendish, William Deringer and Andrew Huddleston as well as Pyne Prize winners Ann-Marie Elvin ’12 and James Valcourt ’12.

“I think listening to the Madison medalist and the Woodrow Wilson School award winner was so inspirational, “ Debbie Godfrey GS ’84 said. “You get to see, especially with the undergraduates who got the Pyne Prize, excellence in full display.”

The annual service of remembrance was held in the afternoon, honoring deceased University alumni, faculty and staff members.

Alumni remarked on a variety of changes in the past few decades, most notably the construction of new buildings and the switch to a co-ed institution. One alumnus noted that becoming co-ed dramatically increased the University’s athletic reputation.

“The biggest change was girls came in and that made us number one in total sports for the last 20 or 30 years because the men are lucky in winning one half, sometimes less [of their championships], but the women always seem to win two-thirds or closer to three-quarters. So as a university, we’re winning around two-thirds, for which the girls are totally responsible,” Russell Culin ’56 said.

Culin also noted that while the University has improved overall in sports, it has declined in specific sports.

“We had a football team when I was here,” Culin said. “I think we had one good quarterback in the last 15 years.”

While the admittance of women was a big change for the University, Davis said he thought it happened remarkably late.

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“I went to a public undergraduate school that had admitted women in 1798, and when the administration was like ‘We don’t know anything about the education of women,’ I would just scratch my head and be like ‘What?’”

Besides admitting women, the University is also much more ethnographically diverse than some alumni remember.

“When I was here, there were really no women and not that many foreign students,” Clearwater said. “I think that’s something in the mission statement that they added, beyond the service of the nation.”

The alumni day events included a video screening on the designs for Lewis Library and Whitman College, both of which opened within the last five years.

“The architecture is amazing,” Anne Hoskins GS ’86 said. “Every time I come back, the University has been progressing.”

Davis also remarked that the University seems to have more money now than it did when he was here, given all the free seminars and food available.

“In the ’70s, it was so bad they stopped cleaning the windows,” he said.

Alumni also revisited the sites of special memories and recalled favorite experiences while on campus. Michael Petrov GS ’97 said he remembered meeting his wife on campus and getting married, while Clearwater recalled President Lyndon Johnson’s visit for the dedication of the Wilson School.

Tyson Gilpin ’65 remembered the pranks he and his friends played in Holder Hall, including locking the radio station in and hiding all the radio company records. He also remembered his attempt to steal the bell clapper.

“I tried to get the bell clapper, and I was the only one caught, so I had to see the Dean of Student Life, who I knew had done worse things than I had done,” Gilpin said.

Gilpin added that the high quality of education has stayed constant since his time here.

“My sister didn’t go here, but she stole all my Civil War course books, and she’s the president of Harvard,” Gilpin said. “She was inspired by my books.”

Culin shared Gilpin’s positive attitude toward the University.

“Every time I come back, I realize it’s an even more outstanding university than I thought it was,” Culin said.