So on May 21, while 28 foursomes played golf in the Sho’men Club Tournament, George Washington and his Revolutionary Army (portrayed by actors and educators of the Philadelphia Colonial Corps) encamped on the lawn in front of William Smith Hall. After dark, while honored Reunion classes met for cocktails all around Chestertown, the 18th-century soldiers and their camp followers cooked rabbit over campfires.
The next morning, sounds of fife and drum and explosions of musket fire echoed over the Reunion Picnic at which 1,500 crab cakes were served. At one o’clock that warm, sunny Saturday afternoon, Maryland’s Air National Guard saluted Washington, his troops and his College with a flyover. Four fighter jets swooped to 1,500 feet above the statue of George Washington. Everyone on site saluted as Sue Dunning Matthews
After the picnic, nationally renowned historian Don Higginbotham lectured on the life and legacy of the College’s founding patron and the country’s first Commander in Chief before a standing-room-only audience in the newly renovated Norman James Theatre. That evening, more than 500 alumni gathered on the Martha Washington Plaza for a starlight dinner dance and to listen as John Toll addressed George Washington, Class of 1789.
“You must be proud,” President Toll said to President Washington, “to see so many of your fellow alumni gathered to celebrate the past, present and future of Washington College and to realize that for 217 years your College has stayed true to its liberal arts traditionand your vision—that our graduates have and will continue to go forth and contribute to the happiness of their communities, nations and the world.” To illustrate total alumni contributions since 1996 to the Campaign for Washington’s College,
(Continued on p. 28)
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LIFESTYLES Alumnae Speak Out on Women's Work |
How Many Choices Do Working Women Really Have?” asked Rosalind King (fourth from left), lecturer in the College’s department of sociology and anthropology. Alumnae responded with their experienced insights about juggling family and careers as undergraduate women paid close attention. Participants in this panel discussion were (left to right) Lucy Hughes Wagner ’84, a capital markets recruiting and training manager at Legg Mason Walker, Inc.; Linda Towne Cades ’67, director of the College’s Center for Career Development; Valarie Sheppard ’86, associate research scientist at Human Performance Systems; Professor King; Verna Wilkins Hensley ’79, Delaware communications director for U.S. Senator Bill Roth; and Susie Chase Wittich ’90, a homemaker and mother of two. Colleen Moran ’93, the first female member of the Delaware Bay Pilots’ Association, participated, but is not pictured. “You can have it all,” these parents, professionals and pioneers concurred in refuting the myth of their undergraduate days, “but you must make careful, informed decisions—because you cannot have it all at the same time.” |
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Washington College Magazine - Summer 99
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