ALUMNI UPDATE
ALUMNI ARE WILD ABOUT W.C.


"It’s a jungle out there,” says Trams Hollingsworth, director of alumni. “As work weeks get longer, time with family and friends becomes more precious. The ‘Wild About WC Zoo Tour’ was conceived as a way to include families in alumni reunions around the country.”

The Zoo Tour, which started in September and runs through January 23rd, includes stops in Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Orlando.

From Luther Bergdall ’38 to Lauren Litsinger, the infant daughter of Bill Litsinger ’83 and granddaughter of Bill ’58 and Ellen Sterling Litsinger ’59, the College’s extended family is responding with enthusiasm.

Here’s how it works. On Sunday afternoons alumni bring their own picnics and meet at the zoo. Everyone, small or extra-large, wears an easy-to-identify, very yellow, “Wild About WC” tee shirt. Even Dr. and and Mrs. Toll. Nongraduates wandering the zoo who ask “Hey, how can I get one of those cool shirts?” get history lessons about George Washington’s legacy and geography lessons about Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

“Send us your application,” Jo Wrzesinski ’98, a former admissions recruiter for the College, said to shirt-seekers at the National Zoo.

Adjacent to the picnic site, Wild-shirted, tow-headed, young sons of Scott ’82 and Debby Flory Hansen ’82 and Tom Roof ’83 posed atop the sculpture of a scorpion. Tom Lacher ’67 rode the puma around and around on the carousel ride at the Atlanta Zoo while Gee Gee Buschman Voith’s ’47 grandson made friends with Scott Behm’s ’85 children.

The Baltimore crowd of 150 yellow shirts was the biggest gathering. Nancy McCloy M’74, David Quinn ’87, Susan Bennett ’81 M ’87, Diana Hastings ’81 M’86 and Paula Wordtt ’68 brought a busload of their students from the St. Benedictine’s School in Ridgley, MD. Numbers also grew thanks to Wendy Clarke Baldwin ’87 who brought her twins and Sandy Green DeVan ’78 who brought her triplets.
Charlotte Post Chase ’88 and her three young daughters found coordinating accessories and came to both the National and Baltimore Zoo picnics. In Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, graduate students Natalie Smith ’98 and Melissa Christine ’99 were astounded by the colony of naked mole rats. Charlie ’75 and Dale Eberlein Scarlett ’78 and their young sons listened patiently while the zookeeper explained the mating ritual of the solitary dwarf African crocodile.

Assistant alumni director and Zoo Tour guide Kristina Tatusko Henry ’88 reported, “Lying like a harmless log, the croc’s milky blue eyes were fixed on all of us in our bright butter-yellow shirts.” Gibbons were howling, lions were growling and alumni and gorilla families alike were lolling in the fall sunshine. Four warm, cloudless Sundays into the tour Hollingsworth beams, “The Zoo idea is easy and fun for families, too.”

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FOUR NOMINATED FOR ALUMNI ELECTION TO BOARD


In accordance with the charter of Washington College, 12 of 37 College trustees are elected by alumni. Nominations are submitted by alumni-at-large to the Alumni Council’s Nominating Committee and presented to the general Council which votes to determine the annual slate of candidates.

In accordance with Article VI, Section 3, of the Alumni Association By-laws, additional nominations may be made through December 31, 1999, by petition of 50 members of the Alumni Association. Petitions can be forwarded to the Nominating Committee in care of the Alumni Office.

An official election ballot will be mailed to all alumni in early 2000. Two candidates will be elected to serve six-year terms on the Board of Visitors and Governors. The Alumni Council’s candidates for the next election of alumni Board members are profiled below:

Douglas M. Hoffberger ’94 is President, CEO and Chief Compliance Officer of KRC Investment Advisers; President of Keystone Realty Company; and Treasurer of Hoffberger Foundation, Inc., a private charitable foundation in Towson, MD. He serves as co-chair of the College’s Baltimore Campaign Cabinet and as a member of the national Campaign Cabinet.

David Litrenta ’58 is the Pennsylvania Regional Medical Director for Concentra Medical Centers, the largest occupational and environmental health care provider in the United States. He has served the College as a member of the Premed Committee and the Visiting Committee, and with his wife, Shirley, provided for the renovations of the Litrenta Lecture Hall in the Dunning Decker Science Center.

Holt “Jay” Marchant ’63, recently retired principal at William M. Mercer, Inc., continues as an independent consultant to large corporations on the use of interactive communications technologies. Marchant, former chairman of the College Annual Fund and former member of the Visiting Committee, currently serves as an alumni representative on the Board.

Dr. Ralph Snyderman ’61 is Chancellor for Health Affairs, Dean of the School of Medicine and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical School in Chapel Hill, NC. He is the 1996 recipient of the Alumni Association’s Citation for outstanding career achievement. Snyderman is an outspoken advocate for the liberal arts, and has used his influence to help the College’s premedical students get into the graduate schools of their choice.

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FALL WEEKEND DRAWS 200 ALUMNI

Alumni kicked off a perfect fall weekend in October with the Alumni and Friends Golf Tournament. The weather was sunny and warm and the winning foursome, repeating last year’s feat, was Ed Athey ’67, Hurrt Deringer ’59, Barry Drew ’70 and Neil Brayton. Fifteen foursomes participated in the tourney.

On Saturday morning Patrick Jones ’84 and Jimmy Young ’99 each hit a home run in the annual Alumni vs. Sho’men baseball game. Alumni were ahead 4 to 2 when the game was called for lunch. The alumni lacrosse team had more than 30 players but lost 12-6 to the varsity.

The games culminated that evening as the athletes gathered to honor of the 1999 Hall of Fame inductees—Frederick Wallace ’17 (deceased). Howard Dobson ’30 (deceased), Charles Hoffman ’50, Robert Pritzlaff ’65 and Geoffrey Kurtzman ’77.

Hoffman was cited for his role in the resurrecting lacrosse on campus. The sport had been on hiatus for fourteen seasons when, in 1948, Charlie Hoffman, Cliff Case ’49 and Eddie Leonard ’51 appealed to the Athletic Council. The students got the green light to establish lacrosse as a club sport with Charlie Clark ’34, professor and dean of men, serving as coach. It was up to Hoffman and his fellow students, mostly freshmen and World War II veterans, to field a team and finance its operation.

Hoffman assisted in arranging a schedule of eight collegiate games and two games with the Annapolis Lacrosse Club, which was made up of former college stars. The team demonstrated their determination and skill that first season, winning every collegiate contest. In the second year the team lost a game to Annapolis and another to Loyola, before winning twelve consecutive contests. The Athletic Council acknowledged the team’s skill and determination by granting the sport varsity status in 1950. Pritzlaff was also honored for his contributions to lacrosse. “Statistics cannot show just how much this defenseman contributed,” teammate Bruce Jaeger ’66 explained, “or why Pritzlaff was chosen to defend against some of the most outstanding attackmen in the country. But those who know about lacrosse recognize him as a ‘coach’ on the field.”

During his four years, Washington College won three division championships and the 1964 team was ranked tenth in the United States among all institutions playing lacrosse. Pritzlaff was elected captain his junior year and was co-captain his senior year. As a junior he was selected to the All-Maryland Team and was a third-team All-American. During his last year of college competition he was chosen to the Strobhar All-Division first team and was a second-team All-American.

Kurtzman was recognized as one of the College’s most outstanding basketball players. Kurtzman was largely responsible for the Shoremen’s success in basketball from 1973 to 1977. Although he scored 1,296 points during those four years, his 941 rebounds, the second-highest mark in Washington College history, are what contributed so much. He averaged 14.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game over four years. His personal highest-scoring game of 36 points came against UMBC during the 1973-74 season.

Kurtzman was selected to the Middle Atlantic Southeast Division all-conference team in 1976. In 1977 he was named an All-American Jewish Athlete. Kurtzman played professionally in Israel for Elitzur Tel Aviv in 1977-78.

The 1948, 1949 and 1967 men’s lacrosse teams were also recognized for their outstanding seasons. Also honored was Mabel Mumford-Pautz, who recently retired after 39 years as athletics secretary.

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ALUMNI TEAM RAISES GOALS

Washington College is already recognized as a champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III. Now the Alumni Office wants to challenge peer institutions listed in U.S. News and World Report on another front.

One of the standards used in this magazine’s annual ranking of national liberal arts colleges is the percentage of their alumni who offer annual support. “It’s a hot issue in which our alumni, at 32 percent, appear lukewarm,” says Alumni Director P. Trams Hollingsworth.

Raising alumni participation levels to 50 percent is one goal of the $72 million Campaign for Washington’s College. Mike Stafford ’99 has joined the development team as assistant director of development for alumni annual giving to help the College reach that goal. “Our success will depend to a great degree on my fellow young alumni. It’s important to remember that gifts large and small make a difference.”

Stafford, a political science major and recipient of the Louis L. Goldstein ’35 Award, has teamed up with Washington College Fund Chair Ed Athey ’47, to raise this year’s alumni participation levels by eight percent. “We’re hoping to get 3,000 alumni donors off the bench and into the game before the season ends on June 30th.”

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ALUMNI TALENT IS SHOWCASED

Washington College has always had its share of literary types and performing artists, from James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, to Ghostbox, a student band with two compact discs to their credit.

Now the Alumni Office wants to compile all that talent into a library of books, screenplays, scripts, films, poetry, records and CDs written, recorded, published or produced by alumni.

Contributions of alumni publications and recordings sent to the Alumni Office will be greatly appreciated.

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Hall of Fame Inductees



PHOTOS:

#1 - Zoo Tour photo: The “Wild About WC” Zoo Tour is making stops in eight U.S. cities. Chicago-area alumni Beth Kahn Leaman ’73, Natalie Smith ’98, Richard Spinelli, Mary McNulty ’75, Charles Scarlett ’75, Dale Eberlein Scarlett ’78, and Will Scarlett (in mask) met at the Lincoln Park Zoo in October.

#2 - Hall of Fame photo: The 1967 lacrosse team was honored during Hall of Fame ceremonies. Pictured (from left) are Carl Ortman ('67), Kurt Keller ('86), George "Al" Reddish ('65), and Ricky Sowell ('86), who were all inducted into the Hall of Fame.

#3 - bottom right: Mike Stafford ’99 is learning some team tactics for alumni annual giving from Coach Ed Athey ’47, Chair of the Washington College Fund.