THE HARVARD CLASS OF 1960 and THE RADCLIFFE CLASS OF 1960 CELEBRATE OUR 64TH REUNION
Our 64th Reunion, as members of … and participants in the Harvard Crimson Society, as well as alumni of the Harvard College and Radcliffe College Classes of 1960, gathered in Cambridge on Thursday and Friday, May 30 and May 31, 2024. The experiences we had on those days were delightful and rewarding … or shocking in at least one instance. Oh, would that there had been more of us in attendance!
CRIMSON SOCIETY DAY, MAY 30, 2024
Those classmates who came included Heidi Fiske, Ron Goodman, Joe Hurd, Tim (and Julie) Leland, Henry (and Jean) Marcy, Mary-Gene Hartmann Myer, Richard Saval, Carol Snyder Boulukos, Lionel (and Vivian) Spiro, Liia Annus Vilms, Frances Trumbull Little Webb and Steve Weddle. Unfortunately, truth be told, we did not all see and interact with each other; lots of reunions and lots of events … and “difficult” instructions/directions ... prevented.
We had lunch in the large tent near the entrance to the Science Center (not, due to the, then fleeting, rain and cold, in the scheduled Holworthy tent). Steve, Richard, Lionel, Vivian and Jean and I shared a table with two reunioners from other classes. Steve Weddle and I had an engaging discussion with Harvard’s Interim President Alan M. Garber who was amiably making the rounds.
Following lunch, Professor David J. Malan took us on an awesome tour from basic binary math to the future of AI. Those of us sitting around Lowell Lecture Hall’s open floor, left littered with chunks of a torn phone book (computerized search methodology was being demonstrated), attest to Professor Malan’s energetic “caper”. Professor Malan (A.B. '99, S.M. '04, PhD '07) is Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science. He teaches Computer Science 50 (CS50 AP (harvard.edu) which is among Harvard University’s largest courses, one of Yale University’s largest courses, and edX’s largest MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), with over 5.2M registrants. All of his courses are freely available as OpenCourseWare.
Next, Dr. Lisa Wong (AB '79 and M.D. from NYU), Co-founder and Associate Co-Director of the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School (Promoting the arts and humanities at Harvard Medical School | Harvard Magazine), provided us with her reflections on empathy, music, health and education. Specifically, Dr. Wong is devoted to healing our community via music while simultaneously healing the patient and the healer. Notably, the Arts and Humanities Initiative is developing a process whereby “arts” are prescribed (that is, normally as with any “medication”). In addition to being a pediatrician at Milton Pediatric Associates and an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Wong is past president and a current violinist in the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble of Boston’s medical community. In 2012, she published “Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine” in collaboration with writer Robert Viagas. Intriguingly, at the end of her presentation, Dr. Wong, with her daughter Jenn, performed a violin duet of Jay Ungar’s haunting and lyrical “Ashokan Farewell” (which I play to myself a couple of times a week when rehearsing).
The evening featured the clam bake dinner – hey!, overcooked steak (yes, I will strongly suggest to the HAA that plastic knives just don’t cut it) as well as lobsters, corn on the cob, potato, salad, libations, dessert, etc. … and clams! On a fairly delightful evening, we were under a tent near Phillips Brooks House, … absolutely enjoying each other’s company!
THE THIRD ANNUAL HARVARD ALUMNI DAY, MAY 31, 2024
The morning began with a perversely absorbing and entertaining talk – regarding the state of our democracy -- by Alexander Keyssar (AB '69, PhD '77), the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy. Dr. Keyssar has specialized in the exploration of historical problems that have contemporary policy implications. His book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (2000; revised edition, 2009), was named the best book in U.S. history by both the American Historical Association and the Historical Society. Dr. Keyssar's latest book is entitled Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? (2020). After being entreated by his classmate introducer to be positive, he began by commenting that he would have to delete all the “nots” from his talk (and, perhaps, add some “nots” in appropriate places). A litany of concerns followed – after all, well over 200 years is a VERY long run for a democracy. Yet, Dr. Keyssar ended by opining “the good people are not just going to roll over and play dead”.
Lionel and Heidi took turns holding our “1960” sign as we paraded into Tercentenary Theater for the 154th annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association (Bing Videos – see approximately 28:57 – 29:13 and 37:10 – 37:45), chaired by Ty Moore.
The meeting opens at about 1:12:15 of the video, with Ty’s introduction of Sarah Karmon, our always approachable and responsive Associate Vice-President and Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association, and her remarks (at about 1:31:56 of the video) and Ty’s introduction of Interim President Garber @ about 1:41:24 and President Garber’s speech at about 1:42:50. Here is where shock transpired. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protestor, Brittany Drake, rushed across the stage shouting “For the baby monkeys, for the animals in the labs; Harvard, shut down the baby monkey labs now” before dumping a container of gold glitter on President Garber’s head. (The glitter attack against Garber was part of PETA’s yearslong campaign against experiments involving monkeys in a Harvard Medical School laboratory run by Professor Margaret S. Livingstone.) Garber first appeared confused and surprised (where was security?), but quickly took the attack in stride and calmly said “I hope that Harvard will always continue to be a place where free speech continues to thrive.” Far less surprisingly, near the end of Garber’s speech, a group of pro-Palestine protesters unfurling banners and chanting for Harvard to divest from Israel strode down the main aisle ... to boos from the audience.
Harvard medals were awarded to Scott A. Abell ’72, a university alumni leader for more than 30 years; Katherine “Katie” N. Lapp, Harvard’s executive vice president from 2009 to 2022, and M. Lee Pelton, Ph.D. ’84, a longtime Harvard alumni volunteer. (See 2:04+ of the video.)
The principal speaker of the day, award winning actor Courtney B. Vance, proceeded to challenge us all (see 2:11:50+ for the speech on the video.): “I’m called in this life to be kind,” Vance said. “And that is what I’m challenging all of you here today, as we ask ourselves, ‘But is it right? Every now and then, there comes a time in all our lives when we must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but we must take a position because it is right. Is this that time for us?” A few minutes later, he concluded: “Let’s try harder to be people of our words—young people are watching. And remember: whatever you’re going through, it has come to pass. It has not come to stay.”
Finally, after the HAA Annual Meeting, we enjoyed the traditional Tree Spread at the Crimson Society tent near Phillips Brooks House.
PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING US IN EARLY JUNE (tentatively, June 4 – 6) OF 2025 FOR OUR 65TH REUNION!
