By Jill Goetz
The music of George Gershwin, the words of George Bernard Shaw and the dedication of a new hall on campus are just some of the pleasures awaiting the more than 5,500 alumni and guests expected to visit Cornell on Reunion Weekend, today through Sunday.
Two highlights of Reunion will be the Spencer T. and
Ann W. Olin Lecture by former Texas Gov. Ann W. Richards
on Friday at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall and the State of the
University Address by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings
on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Bailey Hall. Admission to both
Richards' and Rawlings' lectures is limited
primarily to alumni and guests with tickets.
However, members of the public will be admitted
into Bailey Hall 10 minutes before each lecture to claim remaining seats.
Richards was first elected to public office in 1976, defeating a three-term incumbent for a seat on the Travis County Commissioners Court. Six years later she became state treasurer, the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas in 50 years. Many Americans best remember her for her riveting keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
During her tenure as governor from 1990 to 1994, Richards instituted reform in public schools, spurred Texas to lead the nation in corporate development and increased opportunities for women and minorities to hold state office. Now a senior adviser with a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, she remains a strong advocate of civil rights, economic justice and public education.
Other Reunion events will include:
·"Yours in Hot Haste: G.B. Shaw on Acting, Directing and Just About Everything Else," a lecture by Ann Ferguson, the Bernard F. Burgunder curator for George Bernard Shaw and Theater Arts Collections, Thursday, 4:30 p.m., in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall; coincides with a major exhibit of Shaw documents in the Exhibition Atrium of Kroch Library.
·The Class of '67 forum, "Beyond 100: Living the Good Life," on Friday from 11 a.m. to noon in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall, featuring lectures by Carol Devine, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, on "Our Daughters, Ourselves, Intergenerational Strategies for Reducing Breast Cancer Risk," and Gerald F. Combs, professor and director of graduate studies in nutritional sciences, on "Cancer Prevention by Selenium: New Possibilities Raised by Four Decades of Cornell Nutrition Research." Introductions and welcoming remarks will be made by Cutberto Garza, director and professor of nutritional sciences, and by Rawlings. The forum celebrates the dedication of Kinzelberg Hall, adjacent to Savage Hall, named for Cornell trustee Harvey Kinzelberg '67, his wife, Linda, and sons Scott and John '94. The dedication ceremony will take place immediately following the forum.
·"Mostly Gershwin," a dual piano concert featuring Cornell music faculty David Borden and Edward Murray, Friday at 9 p.m., and Saturday at 8 p.m., Barnes Hallauditorium; tickets are not required. (See story, Page 16.)
·Exhibit in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art of architectural drawings, renderings and models by the late architect Vuko Tashkovich '62; exhibit opens Friday at 4:30 p.m.; other exhibits in the Johnson Museum during Reunion include "Uncommon Quilts: Treasures of the New York State Historical Association" and "The Tale of Genji: Splendor and Innovation in Edo Culture."
·Iroquois social dance; will include dance instruction and drumming, Saturday, 2 -- 4 p.m., in Helen Newman Hall gymnasium; donations requested; sponsored by the Native American Alumni Association.
·Tours of EcoVillage at Ithaca, Friday and Saturday, 3 -- 5 p.m.; sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy; sign up at CRESP booth in Barton Hall; transportation provided.
·Reunion Run; members of the community are welcome to join this annual event and can register for the 2- to 5-mile course at Barton Hall on Friday, June 6, from noon to 3:30 p.m.; other athletic events during Reunion Weekend include tennis and golf tournaments, a campus bike tour, an alumni baseball game and canoeing and horseback riding.
The focus of many Reunion festivities will be on alumni whose classes end with a "2" or a "7." And the prize for the Class of '22 member who will be traveling the farthest to return to campus is almost certain to go to Mary Porter Durham -- coming all the way from her Court Street home in Ithaca -- because the only other living member of her class isn't expected to make it to his 75th Reunion. Durham, a 97-year-old graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, is the widow of the Rev. George Durham, Ag College Class of '21. A Methodist minister, he was a university chaplain at Cornell from 1923 to 1942 and later at Northwestern University. After the Rev. Durham retired in 1964, the couple returned to live in Ithaca.
For more information about Cornell Reunion activities, call the Office of Alumni Affairs at 255-2390 or visit the Reunion Web site at http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/news/reunion/reunion.html.