By Jonathan Laurence '98
More than 450 class officers, representing Cornell graduating classes from the 1930s to the 1990s, convened at the Marriott Marquis in New York City this past week end for their organization's 91st annual mid-winter meeting.
During the two-day conference of the Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO), class officers young and old attended reunion-planning and fund raising workshops, heard updates on campus life from Susan Murphy, vice president for stu dent and academic services, and were introduced to President Hunter Rawlings at a Saturday luncheon.
CACO, formed in 1905, is a federation of dedicated alumni whose activities assist class officers in building class spirit and in bringing their fellow alumni closer to the univer sity. Officers are elected during their senior years and serve five-year terms.
Carolyn Chauncey Neuman '64, CACO president, described the association's goal as that of "building bridges between generations of Cornellians and deepening our understanding of each other."
The themes of many of the weekend's
workshops clearly echoed Neuman's description. With titles ranging from "New Class Officer Orientation" to "Connecting Generations of Cornellians," the mini-courses shared the common purpose of en couraging alumni allegiance to the university, even decades after graduation. Such devotion is manifested in the payment of class dues, the attendance of reunions and the orchestration of class gifts.
Though the duties of class officers do not change with time, the challenges faced by the officers of one class year are likely to be different than those faced by the officers of another. For example, while officers of the 1970s generally reported high percentages of active alumni, class leaders of the 1990s lamented that some classmates had been unresponsive to mailings and announcements. This, said one alumnus, can be attrib uted to the fact that many recent graduates are still in school or in the course of moving around the country. Such problems were addressed by members of classes from six decades over the course of the weekend. New and creative suggestions for reaching out to fellow alumni were presented as officers brainstormed for new and more effec tive methods of keeping in touch, ranging
from traditional telephone networking to e-mail communications.
During the conference's kick-off session on Saturday morning, Dick Keegan '49 implored audience members to stay abreast of their classmates' activities.
"Communicate with your class. Communicate! Listen to your class. Create a sound class plan and move on it," Keegan advised. A three-time class president, Keegan empha sized, "there is much to be done, much to be accomplished for our Cornell."
President Rawlings, in the city for the Board of Trustees meeting, gave the CACO keynote speech after a well-attended Saturday luncheon in a ballroom at the Marriott Marquis. He recognized the work of the devoted Cornellians who had volunteered their time on behalf of the university.
"As a new president, I am honored to have such a large and active group of class officers," he said.
Introduced to a standing ovation, Rawlings tied together the goals of his new administration with those of CACO.
"We feel we need to build better bridges across the campus. CACO is a very impor tant part of this bridge-building process," Rawlings said.