Return to the Midwest

I spent last weekend in Appleton, Wisconsin, at my 40th college reunion. Lawrence University is a small, liberal arts college that is really very creative and innovative. I had a wonderful group of friends there from 1965-69 and am still close to many of them, and quite a few were back for this milestone reunion. We had a wonderful time catching up, picking up easily from wherever we left off. The women all looked great, the men less so, and we were convinced that we didn't really look like we should be celebrating our 40th.

The campus has changed a lot since we were there, with many new buildings, including a big new campus center that will open in September and will really change things--centralized dining, all student mailboxes in one place, lots of space for meetings, concerts, events, etc. The best thing about all the new buildings on campus is that they take full advantage of the location next to the now cleaned up Fox River. When we were there the river was a smelly, messy liability, and it's now an important part of the town and the campus.

The heart of the college is still excellent liberal arts education. I attended "alumni college" on Friday and went to classes on energy conservation, dijeridu, literature of aging, and wine making, complete with tastings (taught by a professor from whom I took botany 38 years ago...)

I also sang with the Alumni Choir for our convocation, which was fun. I expected we'd sing a couple familiar numbers that most people would know, but the conductor instead gave us two unfamiliar pieces which we learned in an hour and a half. Challenging and rewarding.

But the best part was being with friends. Sitting around the dorm lounge talking. Spending Thursday evening with Jenny and Tony. Having meals together with friends and combining the best of reminiscing with the best of our current lives. Hearing about parents, children, and grandparents. Comparing travel adventures, careers, and volunteer experiences. Laughing about how naive we were 44 years ago when we arrived--and 40 years ago when we left. Marveling at some of the opportunities we had as young graduates. Remembering campus antics and shaking our heads over creaky knees. Being grateful for those who have come through things like breast cancer or addiction, and mourning the relatively large number of deaths of classmates. Missing my favorite professor and dear friend, Gerry Reed, who died in 2007, but enjoying catching up with his wife, Mary Kay. Meeting Jill Beck, the current President of Lawrence (she says we can't call her the new president any more since she's been there 6 years and the average tenure for presidents is 4.5 years!). Dancing to Gloria, Brown Sugar, and Hey, You, Get off of my Cloud, outside by the Art Center, with the class of '69 vying with the class of '84 for space on the dance floor.

As always, the reunion reinforced for me the value of a liberal arts education, and the incredible quality of some of these small midwestern colleges. They may not be well known in the east, but they do provide excellent educations and wonderful friendships. Makes me glad Lydia is going to Macalester, another excellent small, midwestern liberal arts college (whose President came from Lawrence!)