A home for alumni
A Message from the Executive Director of the Association of Emory Alumni
By Bob Carpenter
Here is great news. Emory finally will have an alumni center. The Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of the building that is currently home to Scholars Press on Houston Mill Road for this purpose. We will renovate and expand the existing structure to meet the needs of our alumni. The location is good-adjacent to the Houston Mill House and the Emory Conference Center. Best of all, we will dedicate and name the center the Miller-Ward House, in honor of two of Emory's great guiding lights, H. Prentice Miller '27C-'28G and Judson "Jake" Ward '33C-'36G.
An alumni committee, chaired by Association of Emory Alumni President Ellen A. Bailey '63C-'87EMBA, will advise us as we imagine, design, fund, and build the Miller-Ward House. I have shared my imaginings with this group and would like to share them with you.
I believe we need to think of this house as a very public space. It should be a portal to the campus, where visitors are always welcome, where parking is never a problem, where questions are answered on the first phone call, and where alumni immediately recognize the benefits of their membership in such an exclusive society.
What will we do there?
It will be a place for visiting. It should be a natural attraction, a place people will want to use and show off to their spouses, children, and co-workers. It will be a visiting center for alumni, where they can get campus maps, admission applications, catalogs, Evening at Emory brochures, an Emory ID card, and maybe even Emory merchandise! A married couple, both alumni, with their son or daughter in tow, will be able to relax in our study for twenty minutes, sip Coca-Cola, and comment on the pictures on the wall from earlier eras before they head over to the Boisfeuillet Jones Center to begin the admission process. A retired doctor from New York celebrating his fiftieth reunion can plan to meet his former roommate there on the Friday before Alumni Weekend to review the editions of The Campus from their time. It will be a place two young alumnae working in Atlanta can meet before having lunch at the Houston Mill House.
It will be a place for working. It should be the place that most naturally comes to mind when alumni want to be of service to Emory. It will be where our Board of Governors meets, where reunion groups hold their committee meetings, where Annual Fund telephone volunteers gather for an evening of calling, where regional association leaders come for a Saturday training session, and where we hold our Alumni Career Network meetings.
It will also be a place where we can be of service to alumni. There will be computer terminals available for alumni to access the Career Network, change their address, or locate a long-lost classmate. It will be where alumni can learn about our affinity programs and services and sign up for them on the spot, and where they can pick up our travel brochures or sign up for Alumni University (and maybe watch a brief video explaining those programs and others). It will be where the president of our board can hold a business meeting while he or she is in town for the spring Assembly.
It will be a place for celebrating and remembering. Where we hold a reception to honor a significant alumni gift. Where we fete our Emory Medal winners and their families. Where we hold a ninetieth birthday party for Jake Ward. It is where we will display the artwork of our alumni and of the students in the visual arts program. It is where our memorabilia will be on display and where our traditions are held up with pride for all to see. It says we honor our legacy. It should be a place for ritual, where juniors will come to pick up their senior rings and where seniors will celebrate their last days as students and their first as alumni with a yearly "porch party" at the Alumni House and its green swath of a backyard. It will be where the sixty-year reunion group has breakfast on Saturday morning of Alumni Weekend, where emeritus faculty meet with former students in the afternoon, and where the five-year reunion class has a Sunday brunch. It will celebrate all things Emory.
Finally, this house will make a statement. It will say that alumni are essential to Emory's future, that they are part of the family, that they are a precious resource to be honored and nurtured. This house will not be built because the administration was feeling magnanimous, but because the alumni asked for it, pushed for it, raised money for it, helped plan it, and then, when it was done, took possession of it. And they will do all of this because it is their right.
What will it not be? It will not be just another University building holding old files, new computers, and higher ed bureaucrats. It will not be an architectural fantasy of ego. It will not be designed first as an office building and secondly as a public space, but the other way around. It will not be designed to do too many things in inadequate space. It will not be done on the cheap. It will not be a compromise.
These are some of my thoughts. I would love to hear some of yours. Please call me at 404-727-6400, or write to me at the Association of Emory Alumni, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322. My e-mail address is rcarpen@emory.edu.
Bob Carpenter
Executive Director
Association of Emory Alumni
Assembly XVI
"The Soul of the Academy"
Some two hundred and fifty alumni, representing classes from the early 1930s to 1999, recently convened on campus for the Association of Emory Alumni's Assembly XVI, "The Soul of the Academy." The event was chaired by Robert G. Pennington '74Ox-'76C-'81L-'81MBA, a partner in the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding who specializes in commercial real estate and finance. Pennington is a member of the Oxford College Board of Counselors, the Emory Board of Visitors, the Board of Governors of the Association of Emory Alumni (ex officio), the executive committee of the Emory Law Alumni Association, and the executive committee of the Goizueta Business School Partners Program.
During the Assembly, a panel of alumni from different decades reflected on their years at Emory and how the University has changed. Current faculty led roundtable discussions on "Building Community," "Teaching the Next Generation," and "Forming Individuals," and attendees had the opportunity to meet with faculty and administrators from across the University for small group discussions. After helping put together the Assembly's final report, attendees had lunch and watched the Emory baseball team play an exhibition game in Chappell Park. What follows are highlights from Assembly XVI.
"One thinks of the Emory Wheel, the Barkley Forum, the parade of All-Americans in the gym, the Greek system, the Oxford experience (with a special identity of its own)-such are the events, traditions, and organizations that help build our community, fashion our identity, and enable us to grow with a sense of where we've come from and where we're heading. If the soul is the principle of life and if truly human living, as distinct from mere biological survival, involves awareness of a past and a future, then what I've been calling the 'soul' of the University must enrich us with a sense of our past and prepare us to appropriate that future."
--Thomas R. Flynn, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy, from the keynote address of Assembly XVI,
"Does Emory Have a Soul?"
photo by Kay HintonDr. Carol Herron, Arthur M. Blank Distinguished
Teaching Chair and professor of French and Italian, led Assembly delegates in a "Class with a Modern Master Teacher." Herron used a video laser disc, a computer-based slide presentation, the World Wide Web, and special language-teaching software to teach a basic French lesson. "We don't want to ruin what's worked well in the past," she said. "Sometimes with technology we throw out the baby with the bath water because we think we have to use all new techniques. But the power of the visual is incredible."
photo by Ann Borden
Richard Hodges '50C
A lifetime of giving
The recent appointment of Richard Hodges '50C as chair of the Board of Trustees of Senior Citizen Services of Metropolitan Atlanta Inc. was, in his words, "the latest thing in a lifetime of trying to give something back to my profession and the community."
As chair of Senior Citizen Services, a United Way agency, Hodges oversees a thirty-one-year-old organization that provides Meals on Wheels services to some six hundred elderly Atlantans. The organization also operates an adult day care center, a Foster Grandparents program, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and a case management service.
Senior counselor with Knapp Inc., an Atlanta corporate communications firm, Hodges retired from the advertising and public relations firm of Liller Neal in 1991 after a forty-year career with that agency. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Liller Neal before a 1987 merger. Hodges has also given countless hours to leadership positions in civic, charitable, educational, and professional organizations, including the Atlanta Board of Education, the Public Broadcasting Service, the United Way of Atlanta, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce board, the Sigma Delta Chi society of professional journalists, and the Emory Board of Visitors.
"One of my motivations has been to show people in the outside world that people in mass communications are not just superficial, as they are sometimes portrayed," Hodges says. "I've had good, civic-minded employers who for over fifty years have given me the opportunity to serve a variety of organizations."--A.O.A.
photo by Kay Hinton
Travel Opportunities for 1997-98
Alaskan Wilderness and Voyage of the Glaciers, thirteen days
July 21 to August 2Arrive in Vancouver and board the deluxe Cunard Dynasty for a memorable cruise of the Inside Passage. Enjoy up-close views of massive Hubbard Glacier, Misty Fjord, and the Inside Passage with ports of call at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Skagway, and Juneau. This tour also features two nights in Denali National Park, where you'll view the stunning Alaskan landscape from the glass-domed rail cars of the McKinley Explorer. This unforgettable trip will conclude in Fairbanks. From $2,995.
Alumni College of Scotland; Stirling, Scotland, nine days
August 27 to September 4 SOLD OUTAnother brand-new Alumni Campus Abroad program offered through only a select number of universities this year. Spend nine days in Scotland, from your home base at the Stirling Highland Hotel, where your visit will include Edinburgh, Scottish Highland, Loch Ness, The Trossachs, and the Pathways of Rob Roy MacGregor. $2,295.
Wines of the World: Bordeaux, eleven days
October 2 to 12This opportunity to visit well-known wine chateaux and sample their wares will entice wine enthusiasts of every level. Wine tastings and lectures highlight this journey. While in Bordeaux, you'll experience the Dordogne Valley, Sarlat, Graves, Saint Emilion, Medoc, Sauternes, Biarritz, and San Sebastian, Spain. $3,795
New Year's Eve in the Yachtsman's Caribbean/Virgin Islands, eight days
December 27 to January 3Sail leisurely through some of the world's most beautiful waters on the fifty-one-cabin Nantucket Clipper. You'll anchor in secluded coves and marinas in the Virgin Islands of St. John, Jost van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Salt Island, and Norman Island. From $1,950-airfare to St. Thomas extra.
Copper Canyon/Sea of Cortez, eight days
January 11 to 18Explore uninhabited islands, often referred to as "Mexico's Galapagos," aboard the seventy-passenger expedition ship Sea Lion, with a team of naturalists to guide your way. A fleet of Zodiac craft provides you with almost unlimited access. A breathtaking train ride to one of the world's greatest canyons will conclude this incredible adventure. From $1,980-airfare to LaPaz extra.
For travel information, send name, address, and telephone number to: Association of Emory Alumni Travel Program, 1627 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, or call (404) 727-4239. Individual trip brochures will be mailed to interested alumni as soon as they are available, usually six months prior to departure. All pricing is per person, based on double occupancy.
Rebecca Cheney McGreevy '55C
A communications legacy
For thirty years, the Estée Lauder Companies spoke with Rebecca's voice and wrote with her words," said Leonard Lauder, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, shortly after the death of its longtime senior vice president of public relations, Rebecca Cheney McGreevy '55C.
To honor the legacy of McGreevy, who died at age sixty-two on December 11, 1995, the Estée Lauder Companies have established the Rebecca Cheney McGreevy Fund for Curriculum Development and Research in Public Relations. The gift of $100,000, to be awarded to the Goizueta Business School over a four-year period, will support curriculum development in public relations. Simultaneously, McGreevy's husband, Charles P. McGreevy, established the Rebecca Cheney McGreevy Endowed Chair in Public Relations. When the endowment is fully funded, the business school will appoint a distinguished professor in public relations.
An Atlanta native, McGreevy was a member of the Founding Board of Governors of the Association of Emory Alumni from 1988 to 1990 and received the Emory Medal in 1991. She was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 1992.
"We are very grateful to the Estée Lauder Companies," said Ronald Frank, dean of the Goizueta Business School. "These funds will be used to train young people in the tools of enhancing the public relations function in the corporate arena."
Sports Hall of Fame Class of '97
During Alumni Weekend this fall, the Emory Sports Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 1997. The eleven new inductees include William C. Cromwell '56C, who lettered in and co-captained both the wrestling and track teams and won the Herbert Levine Memorial Award for Outstanding Sportsmanship in 1956; Emory varsity swimmer John Payson Kennedy '54C-'59G, co-founder of the Nantahala Outdoor Center and a multiple national open canoe champion; John M. Morgan '42C-'45M, who was All-Emory in football from 1939 to 1942 and was ranked in the top ten in seniors tennis in Florida from 1976 to 1993; three-time tennis All-American Gavin Patrick O'Connell '91C, who went on to play professional tennis for the Atlanta Thunder; six-time All-American and three-time national champion diver Christopher Jon Radpour '90B; Thomas A. Rowles '74C, a soccer standout at Emory who captained the team his senior year and went on to complete various marathons and play in the national over-thirty soccer championships for the elite Atlanta-based Datagraphic club; and Marion Elizabeth (Bethe) Segars '90C, Emory's first women's soccer All-American and the assistant women's soccer coach in 1995. Four members will be inducted posthumously: Vaughn Nixon 1900C, a champion sprinter and an outstanding athlete in basketball, football, and baseball; Emmett K. Perryman '13C, who was on the All-Emory baseball team and went on to pitch for one year with St. Louis of the American League; Henry Lumpkin Bowden '32C-'34L-'59H, who was selected to the All-Emory basketball team three times, was a sportswriter for the Wheel, and was an advocate for Emory athletics during his twenty-six years as chairman of the Board of Trustees; and David Grier Martin '33G, who earned varsity letters in basketball and track, was Southeastern AAU hurdles champion, and was later president of Davidson College from 1958 to 1968. Reservations are required for the Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet, which will be held September 25. For more information, call 404-727-6479.
Alumni Weekend September 25-28
This year, Alumni Weekend takes place September 25-28. Activities will include the Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, the dedication of the new Goizueta Business School building, the Alumni 5K Fun Run, and the all-alumni luncheon on the Quadrangle. Also, at a ceremony in Glenn Memorial Church, eight distinguished alumni will be honored with the Emory Medal: H. Jackson Brown Jr. '63C, Anne Elizabeth Hendrick Gaston '55M, J. Harper Gaston '52C-'55M, Glenda A. Hatchett '77L, Edith Folsom Honeycutt '39N, Ben F. Johnson Jr. '36C-'40L, Nancy Rankin Tarbutton '57C, and Ben J. Tarbutton Jr. '49Ox-'51C. ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts (pictured) will be the featured speaker at the Emory Medal ceremony.
Johnnny Maloney '63D
Oxford College mourns friend, benefactor
Johnny Maloney '63D, a founding member of the Oxford College Board of Counselors, died on March 7, 1997. Maloney also was a member of the Emory alumni blue ribbon committee that evaluated and made sweeping recommendations for the University's alumni programs in the mid-1980s.
A Covington dentist, Maloney took an active interest in the nearby Oxford campus, donating funds and materials to benefit the college's libraries, science hall, and housing fund. Likewise, he served his community and profession. He was 1992 president of the Thomas P. Hinman Society, an honorary volunteer organization that orchestrates the Georgia dental profession's most prestigious continuing education meeting, and was a member of the Covington Chamber of Commerce and the First United Methodist Church.
photo by Ann Borden
Taiwan connections
A spring dinner in Taipei brought together Emory alumni now living and working in Taiwan's capital city. In attendance were (front row, left to right) Shiow-duan Hawang '86PhD; Sue-Huei Chen '95PhD; Mindy Chen, wife of Jim Wong; Shang-Hung "Ryan" Shen '84MBA; Pchung "Paul" Tsung '89MBA; ChungJen "Kevin" Chang '96MBA; (middle row, left to right) Shuhgi Chern, husband of Shiow-duan Hawang; Jen-Zen "Jim" Wong '86B; Chia Hwei "Catherine" Leu Shen '84MBA; (back row, left to right) Min-Ching "Eugene" Wang '87MBA; Glenn Kellum '91G, associate vice president of foundation and international relations; and University President William M. Chace.
Return to Summer 1997 contents page.
