Sixteen (16) Harvard ’60 classmates attended the luncheon at the Quincy House Senior Common Room on Thursday, December 4, 2014. Those in attendance included David Chapin, Ken Deitch, Ron Goodman, Hank Keohane, Gerry Levenson, Fred Leventhal, Henry Marcy, Joe Murphy, Tare Newbury, Jack Reardon, Jerry Rogoff, Richard Saval, John Strand, Ed Tarlov, Steve Weddle, and David Wizansky.
Prior to lunch, the Quincy House Administrator, Krystle Petrie, and a Quincy House senior and elected representative to Harvard's Undergraduate Council, Brett Biebelberg, stopped by to welcome us and to answer any questions we might have. A lively discussion ensued. Most of the questions and comments pertained to the educational experience at Harvard today as compared with our educational experience in the late 50s. Krystle and especially Brett convincingly posed that similarities are swamped by huge differences -- collaboration amongst students and amongst students and faculty, interactive class sessions, interdisciplinary studies with undergraduates and graduate students co-mingled. a less parochial perspective, pervasive entrepreneurial endeavors and the prevalent use of sophisticated technology.
Immediately after lunch, each classmate was provided an opportunity to speak to the group about important developments in their lives. Amongst broadly diverse comments, we mourned recently deceased colleagues and spoke of family gatherings at Thanksgiving and of grandchildren.
Anne Gotfredson, a Harvard Senior Associate Director who leads the Academic and Development Coordination Department, provided some of us with a very interesting tour of McKinlock Hall (Leverett) after lunch. The 40 minute tour was arranged by Evan St. George, our 55th reunion class gift liaison with the Harvard College Fund. The renovation and upgrading of McKinlock, originally built in 1925, is a precursor to the renovation/upgrading of the river houses. The Dunster House phase is currently underway. Clearly, much creative thinking has gone into the project's every detail -- from preserving the original interior woodwork to installing all sorts of forward looking technology to creating useful student-oriented spaces, etc. etc.
