My wife is a 1965 graduate of the College of William & Mary. She is a very good sport. Me, not so much. For almost 40 years she has cheerfully allowed me to obtain season tickets to our football games and has come along to many Spider games in Richmond and other more far flung places. In return, I agree to take her to Williamsburg for the game on alternate years and to functions involving her college class. This past weekend was the investiture of Robert Gates as the new Chancellor of W&M. I did not consider this a class function and this year argued against any obligation to attend. In the end we took a voteand, of course, I lost by a vote of one to one. The weekend was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Some comments:
1. Dr. Taylor Reveley, President of William & Mary. I couldn't be prouder of the current Pres. at UR, but let me say that The Tribe has an exceptional fellow, as well. I have heard him speak on other occaisions, but he was at his best this weekend. I think that I would actually pay admission to listen to the man. He has a slow, deliberate speech pattern and a deep, resonate vocal quality. When he began his remarks as Master of Ceremonies, we were lured by his eloquence into epecting a powerful, moving message in the style of a Winston Churchill. What we got was a remarkably clever comic routine in a style that combined the laconic, dryness of a David Letterman with the impish, mischievousness of a Stephen Colbert. The guy's a hoot. Albeit, an extremely bright and learned hoot.
2. Robert Gates. You can find exerpts from his talk on the official W&M web site. It was part nostalgia, part humor, part humility and a big part commentary on the failures of our political system. In short, I would say simply say that I have never heard a better speech. He had a job that by its nature recommended keeping a low profile and I had no previous personal opinion about the man. I came away deeply impressed.
3. The Reservation. We stayed with a friend who is on the faculty at the law school. He took us on a tour of the campus which I expected to be nostalgic for my wife and boring for me. I was amazed. We traveled through what is referred to as "The New Campus"... an area that I would guess is larger than our total campus and full of magnificent, new( likely last 10 years) buildings.
I have a neighbor who is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Tech and he took my wife and I on a tour of the Tech campus before Christmas that left me amazed. I concluded that our legislature had found their favorite ivy covered "Son". Let me tell you that W&M has been treated with equal generosity. A giagantic new business school and a myriad of other new structures have sprung up and there are plans for many more in the near future. The expenditures make sense to me on the theory that insuring the quality of our public universities, insures the interest of modern industry in locating in our Commonwealth.
4. The Social Part. They do it right in Williamsburg. When you go to Homecoming there, you are assured of meeting your classmates. The gathering sites for the Classes that have a certain anniversary are printed out and circulated(Generally, big tents near the stadium on game day and a dinner near the campus on Friday or Saturday night).. The turn out for these events is generous. This was not a "Homecoming" event, but as the Honoree was a member of the Class of '65, all of us were seated together at the program and the dinner. Over the last 40 years, I have socialized with the members of my wife's class at W&M on many occaisions.Usually, semiannual. The numbers are large and the bonds among the group have remained strong.
This is, IMO, a major weakness at our university. A group of my frat brothers have in recent years made an effort to rekindle the friendships that were so strong in the early '60s. On our own, we have organized golf trips and wine and dine events that bring us back together. Other than once a decade events that leave a lot to be desired in atmosphere and imagination, the school has not brought us together. I know that W&M is a state school and many of their alums grew up in Virginia, but the group from Class of '65 are today scattered all over the globe. They come back frequently. The weekend was very pleasant and a reminder that our major rival is a worthy one.
This post was edited on 2/5 9:04 PM by tarrantula
1. Dr. Taylor Reveley, President of William & Mary. I couldn't be prouder of the current Pres. at UR, but let me say that The Tribe has an exceptional fellow, as well. I have heard him speak on other occaisions, but he was at his best this weekend. I think that I would actually pay admission to listen to the man. He has a slow, deliberate speech pattern and a deep, resonate vocal quality. When he began his remarks as Master of Ceremonies, we were lured by his eloquence into epecting a powerful, moving message in the style of a Winston Churchill. What we got was a remarkably clever comic routine in a style that combined the laconic, dryness of a David Letterman with the impish, mischievousness of a Stephen Colbert. The guy's a hoot. Albeit, an extremely bright and learned hoot.
2. Robert Gates. You can find exerpts from his talk on the official W&M web site. It was part nostalgia, part humor, part humility and a big part commentary on the failures of our political system. In short, I would say simply say that I have never heard a better speech. He had a job that by its nature recommended keeping a low profile and I had no previous personal opinion about the man. I came away deeply impressed.
3. The Reservation. We stayed with a friend who is on the faculty at the law school. He took us on a tour of the campus which I expected to be nostalgic for my wife and boring for me. I was amazed. We traveled through what is referred to as "The New Campus"... an area that I would guess is larger than our total campus and full of magnificent, new( likely last 10 years) buildings.
I have a neighbor who is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Tech and he took my wife and I on a tour of the Tech campus before Christmas that left me amazed. I concluded that our legislature had found their favorite ivy covered "Son". Let me tell you that W&M has been treated with equal generosity. A giagantic new business school and a myriad of other new structures have sprung up and there are plans for many more in the near future. The expenditures make sense to me on the theory that insuring the quality of our public universities, insures the interest of modern industry in locating in our Commonwealth.
4. The Social Part. They do it right in Williamsburg. When you go to Homecoming there, you are assured of meeting your classmates. The gathering sites for the Classes that have a certain anniversary are printed out and circulated(Generally, big tents near the stadium on game day and a dinner near the campus on Friday or Saturday night).. The turn out for these events is generous. This was not a "Homecoming" event, but as the Honoree was a member of the Class of '65, all of us were seated together at the program and the dinner. Over the last 40 years, I have socialized with the members of my wife's class at W&M on many occaisions.Usually, semiannual. The numbers are large and the bonds among the group have remained strong.
This is, IMO, a major weakness at our university. A group of my frat brothers have in recent years made an effort to rekindle the friendships that were so strong in the early '60s. On our own, we have organized golf trips and wine and dine events that bring us back together. Other than once a decade events that leave a lot to be desired in atmosphere and imagination, the school has not brought us together. I know that W&M is a state school and many of their alums grew up in Virginia, but the group from Class of '65 are today scattered all over the globe. They come back frequently. The weekend was very pleasant and a reminder that our major rival is a worthy one.
This post was edited on 2/5 9:04 PM by tarrantula
