Dear Classmates,
Thanks to everyone who made our 45th Reunion so successful and so much fun. For those of you who attended, it was great to see you all; and for those who could not be there, you were missed. Our reunion dinner at the University Museum was a huge success with record attendance. The class seminar, the women's breakfast, and the class picnic were outstanding, with record attendance as well. The Affinity Committee members did a terrific job of reaching out to classmates, and the attendance numbers reflect the positive effect of their efforts.
Our $4.1 million gift to the University was also a Penn 45th reunion record thanks to the efforts of our outstanding Gift Committee members and the generosity of nearly 400 classmates. All individual giving goals were surpassed, four new named scholarships were established, and over $170,000 will be added to our Class of 1961 Scholarship.
A special recognition is due to the eight members of the Reunion Steering Committee who devoted their time and effort over the past year to making our 45th Reunion a success. The members of this committee worked tirelessly on behalf of our class and deserve our appreciation. They are: Nancy Peters Ryan, Binnie Schuman Donald, Pedie Killebrew, Dick Silverman, Peter Eustis, Jon Greenawalt, John Gamba and Bruce Cummings.
As we were planning the reunion, we anticipated that when our classmates got together -- reacquainting, reminiscing, reliving, renewing and re-connecting -- our 45th reunion would be a special weekend to remember. With the participation of everyone from the Class of 1961, it was indeed memorable.
I am pleased to announce that at Homecoming in October, our class was awarded the 2006 David N. Tyre award for Excellence in Class Communications. This award was established in 1989 and is presented annually to recognize outstanding communications by an alumni class. I accepted the award on behalf of all members of our class at the Alumni Award of Merit Gala held in the University Museum.
Our Class of 1961 Scholarship student, Melinda Gilbert, graduated from Penn in May. We now have TWO new student recipients: Abigail Moore from Sea Cliff, New York and Reid Rothenberg from Fort Worth, Texas. Thanks to the generosity of all of you, our class scholarship will have a new market value of about $760,000.
During the coming year I hope you will all stay in touch with Penn and each other. Please keep your contact information updated. And I encourage everyone to mark your long-term calendars now for May 2011, when we will all get together again -- for our 50th Reunion.
Best regards,
Will Derby, C'61, WG'65
Class President
