fire up for homecoming early edition february 2020 our 50
TRANSCRIPT
Fire Up for Homecoming Early Edition February 2020
Our 50th
Homecoming – We want to see YOU there!
Something Like
Do you remember these classmates who got together at our 1985 Homecoming to
pose for an Illinois Wesleyan Magazine photograph? Were you there?
Please be sure to be at our 50th Homecoming this year on October 9, 10, & 11.
Everyone wants to see YOU!
Something Like February 2020 Page 2
New IWU President Is Newest Member of ‘70
IWU’s new President Georgia Nugent dons her Class of ’70
Reunion Team T-shirt, delivered by David and Barbara
Grace Wilson. The shirt once belonged to Sonny Freeman
who donated it, unworn, for Dr. Nugent’s “welcome” which
will be continued on a larger scale at our Reunion Dinner.
When Georgia S. Nugent was officially named IWU’s
20th president, the Class of ’70 Reunion Committee
knew we had to move fast to make her an honorary class
member!
A formal presentation of an official Class Reunion Team
T-shirt was in order. But finding one of the prized t-
shirts was a challenge. Some of us had worn ours until
they were ragged. Others had (ahem) “lost” theirs.
Fortunately, Sonny Freeman, despite having moved twice
since the last reunion, had kept his shirt, in pristine
condition. He shipped it, and David and Barbara Grace
Wilson were on hand for the first try-on. Her formal
induction will take place at our reunion dinner on 10-10-
2020 (perfect date for our 50th reunion, and our 20
th
president).
Georgia Nugent, Ph.D., president emerita of Kenyon
College, joined the University as interim president in
August of 2019 and was named president by the Board in
November. She is the first woman to serve as President
of Illinois Wesleyan.
“I originally arrived at Illinois Wesleyan as interim
president, planning only to be on the campus for one
year,” Georgia said. “But I quickly came to love the
institution, its mission, and its people — faculty,
students, staff and alumni. I felt that we could work
together to build a stronger Illinois Wesleyan University
for the future. When it became clear that the Trustees felt
the same way and asked me to stay on at the University, I
could not have been more pleased and honored. I’m very
excited about what we can accomplish together.”
A widely published scholar of the classics and of higher
education, Georgia earned a bachelor’s degree from
Princeton University and a doctorate from Cornell
University. Before beginning her decade-long presidency
at Kenyon, Nugent served at Princeton as assistant to the
president, associate provost, and dean of the Center for
Teaching and Learning, and as professor of classics at
Princeton and Brown universities. She also taught on the
classics faculties of Cornell as well as Swarthmore
College and Kenyon. Georgia later served as interim
president at The College of Wooster during the 2015-16
academic year and is currently senior fellow at the
Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).
Board Chair Timothy J. Szerlong ’74 said, “Georgia’s
influence on the Illinois Wesleyan community was
evident from the day (Story concludes on page 9.)
IWU’s Hall of Famer Salutes the Class of ‘70
Illinois Wesleyan grad Jack Sikma ’77, who was
inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
in September, was honored at IWU on Feb. 1 with a
celebration at Shirk Center. One of his top priorities
was to make sure he congratulated the Class of ’70
on our 50th
reunion. Thanks Jack – and thanks to
David Wilson who collected this prized autograph.
Something Like February 2020 Page 3
The team members of our class and the entire IWU basketball team were honored
From left, Barry Swanson ’70, Sheldon Thompson
’71, Tom Gramkow ’70
Left to Right: Sheldon Thompson '71, Mark Yontz '72, Coach Dennie Bridges '61, Barry Swanson '70, Tom Gramkow '70, Dean Gravlin '73, Steve Wiegand '74, John Pepmeyer '73 & John Dolan '70
Updates about our 50th Homecoming!
Friday Evening, October 9th
Fat Jacks
Hello Everyone!
My name is Karen Short Mills ‘70. I just wanted to give
you a quick glimpse of one of my favorite homecoming
activities: Once again we will meet Friday night at Fat
Jack’s on Main Street in Bloomington!
Even if you are no longer (or never were) a bar hopper,
this is a great way to see who is in town for the
weekend! Better yet, contact some classmates now and
ask them to meet you in the Blue Room at Fat Jack’s on
Friday October 9. We have it reserved from 5 pm until
11, with a cash bar, complimentary finger foods, and
background music from the 60’s.
Wouldn’t it be fun to connect with friends and trade
some old stories again? Please fit this into your Friday
activities! I will write again when we have settled our
menu.
I hope to see you there!
Karen
Remembering that Last IWU – ISU Game from 50 Years Ago
Read all about the game 50 years ago:
By Randy Kindred from the Pantagraph
https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/kindred-years-later-tom-gramkow-s-shot-and-iwu-s/article_0f2c759d-61f6-5f27-9b03-
28dd216c9259.html
Something Like February 2020 Page 4
Our Memorial Service Will Remember
Classmates Who Have Left Us
The Memorial Service is scheduled for Saturday October 10 at the Evelyn Chapel from 9:00 am-10:30 am. Seven classmates will be leading the service: Bill Devore, Reverend Brent A. Anderson, Rel.D., Steven Burrichter, Lana Weiss Brown, Lynn Walker Johnson, David Wilson, and Sonny Freeman. The Service will include a welcome, four hymns, readings of Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament), Litanies of Remembrance for both classmates and faculty mentors, blessings, community sharing, sending words, sharing Peace, and close with Alma Wesleyana, To date our class has lost 46 classmates, and 13 faculty mentors. Honored at the service will be:
Nancy L. (Schaeffer) Adams
Roland H. Bean
Leslie A. (Speight) Bell
Nancy L. (Benedict) Boggs
James B. Boisclair
David P. Brown
Ronald E. Brown
Robert A. Bruehl
Robert V. Burns Jr.
Joanne A. (Mayer) Collins
Marcia L. Dahl
Michael E. Davey
Kenneth R. Deck
Carl F. Dixon
Robert E. Dunham
Linda K. (Henderson) Fischer
Christine (Campbell) Floyd
Stephen M. Fox
Ruth (Hayden) Garvin
Philip E. Glotfelty
Harriet E. Hall
Gail M. (Fouts) Hanson
Rev. Kathleen J. (Anderson) Hendricks
Betty J. (Krause) Hickey
Michael S. Kennedy
Rev. John F. Kovalcik
Joanne K. Kozeluh
James P. McCormick
Henry L. Medley
D. Jo (Rudesill) Michaels
James P. Minnihan
Mary L. (Clevenstine) Mohaupt
Bruce D. Nimmo
Thomas C. Prescher
Jack B. Reeser
Tim E. Robert
Steven P. Rockwell
Irwin J. Samec
Howard P. Schultz
Charles M. Setchell
Philip D. Shank
Hollace A. (Walker) Shore
Darrell D. Skaggs
Janet R. (Patton) Subbert
Lane F. Trueblood
Anthony L. Zalucha
Faculty
Mr. James Ascareggi ‘58
Dr. Dwight Drexler
Dr. Robert S. Eckley
Dr. Forrest Frank
Dr. Robert W. Harrington
Dr. Wendall Hess
Dr. James McGowan
Mr. John McGrosso
Dr. Justus Pearson
Rev. Dr. Jerry Stone
Rev. Dr. G. L. Storey
Rev. Dr. William Luther White
Rev. Dr. James Whitehurst
Something Like February 2020 Page 5
Are YOU Joining the Crowd at Your Reunion?
If you have not already done so, could you please let us
know you are coming or planning/hoping to come? We
would appreciate it! It will help us plan a great
Homecoming for you!
Please let us know at this email address:
The following people are already coming or hoping to be
at our 50th Homecoming to see you!
Brent A. Anderson,
Barbara (Wagner) Attaway,
Lana (Weiss) Brown,
Tom and Maggie (Gregory) Burmeister,
Steve Burrichter,
Juan Antonio Buzio,
Chris (Diller) Cairns,
Sue (Culver) Chen,
Allen and Ann (Henningsen) Cooke,
Linda (Sheppelman) Crowley,
Carol Dallinger,
Bonnie (Earll) Davey,
Bill Devore,
Nancy Dibrell,
Earl Franz,
George Freeman,
Jody (Carlson) Glotfelty,
Tom and Jane (Jackson) Gramkow,
Kelly and Pat (Carpenter) Kane,
Joseph Lauher,
Kathy (Larey) Lewton,
Pat McEvoy,
Karen (Short) Mills,
David Morgan,
Bill Morrison,
Pam (Stratton) Muir,
Mike and Denise O'Brien,
Bob and Sara (Dobson) Pedersen
David A. Petreman,
Jack and Berta (Fitzhugh) Pitzer,
Susan (Hoffman) Rehrer
Spencer Sauter,
James and Martha (Petree) Schultz,
Mark Sheldon,
Bill Spaits
Barry and Gail (Zumwalt) Swanson,
Debbie (Moorehead) Thorpe,
Susan (Sumner) Tungate,
Suzanne Vertuno,
Bob Williams,
David and Barbara (Grace) Wilson,
and more each day!
Saturday Evening October 10th
The Class of ’70 Reunion Dinner
The capstone event of our weekend will be the Class
of ’70 Reunion Dinner on Saturday evening, October
10th
. You will not want to miss the opportunity to
celebrate our weekend by reminiscing with friends,
catching up with each other’s lives, and enjoying
cocktails and dinner.
This evening will also give you a chance to meet
Wesleyan’s new President, Dr. Georgia Nugent. As
we have done in prior years, we plan to invite
members of our faculty and faculty spouses. We will
hear University updates, take a commemorative class
photo, and will receive our Class of ’70 Reunion
Book as a keepsake from the weekend and more.
Our dinner will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in
Bloomington. By the way, IWU has arranged for a
block of rooms at the Doubletree, our official
reunion hotel. It is highly recommended that you
make your room reservations early. If you are
staying there, it will be very convenient to attend the
dinner.
IWU will cover the cost of dinner for alumni from
the Class of ’70. Once a menu is set, we will
communicate the cost for our guests and non-alumni.
Wesleyan promises to make our 50th
reunion dinner
a very special evening.
Barbara Grace Wilson ‘70
A Reminder
Did you remember to make your hotel
reservation for Homecoming? The DoubleTree is the official reunion hotel and
our dinner will be held there, too. The special
IWU block rate is $ 117 per night (which
includes a breakfast buffet.) You can get details
by calling the hotel front desk at 309-664-6446.
OR you can reserve online at
https://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/person
alized/B/BMIDTDT-IWH-20201008/index.jhtml
Something Like February 2020
Other Saturday Afternoon Events
TITAN TAILGATE LUNCH! Come on down to the
Shirk Center parking lot for lunch. It's an All-Titan event
so all classes will be there, BUT of course the Class of
'70 will stake out our own section of the tent with a big
banner!! Following lunch – the football game!
The Class of ’70 is Online! 50 years ago, computers used punched cards to operate.
Today our phone is much more powerful than that
computer.
Now we have our own reunion page on the IWU website:
1970 Page on IWU Website
We also, courtesy of Kaylee Kurtz, have our own
Facebook page:
Illinois Wesleyan University Class of 1970
Our Class of ’70 Web Pages By Spencer Sauter
With the large number of images being sent to me --with
great thanks, by the way!-- I've decided to put together a
mélange of visual memories featuring many/most of the
pictures forwarded by classmates. Since the pics are
being sent at random, I've decided to title the website,
"We Were - We Are - Always Will Be The Illinois
Wesleyan University Class of 1970!" This will allow us
to show who we've been for the last half-century.
I'm hoping for an interesting, perhaps exciting,
presentation of, well, us!
https://www.iwu.edu/reunion/1970-memory-lane.pdf
Class of ’70 SPIRIT AWARD is a reality! Going for $50,000 for our 50th
Five years ago we announced the Class of ’70 Spirit
Award as our Class Gift for our 50th reunion,
as a way to give back to IWU
AND as a way to honor those former faculty and staff
who, during our four years
touched OUR LIVES and helped us become the
proud alumni we are today.
This is an endowed award that will be given
annually to a current faculty or staff member at
IWU, to recognize exceptional support for,
engagement with and inspiration to students.
Students will be asked for nominations and the winner
will be selected by a committee including
representatives of faculty, staff, Student Senate. Karen
Short Mills will represent the Class of ’70.
The award will be presented in perpetuity to honor
those former faculty and staff who, during the
academic years 1966-67 through 1969-70, touched
OUR LIVES and helped us become the proud alumni
we are today. The award amount will be based on the
annual earnings of the endowed fund, and the
recipient will have complete autonomy over how she
or he chooses to use the award stipend.
What makes the award special is that each donor
can name one or more faculty or staff who made
a difference in his or her life. Those designated
faculty and staff will be honored in perpetuity.
We Achieved Our First Goal!
Our first goal was $25,000 – to fully endow the
award fund so that the first award honoree could
be announced at our 50th
Reunion Dinner.
Goal – ACHIEVED!!! The following class
members made gifts that got us to the $25,000 point:
(Donor List on page 7)
Page 6
Something Like February 2020 Page 7
Spirit Award Story (continued)
Brent A. Anderson
Brent D. Anderson
Patricia Armstrong
Stu Black Steve Burrichter
Allen and Ann Henningsen Cooke
Bill Devore
Charlotte Bennison Donat
Earl Franz
Sonny Freeman Don Garrison
John Hale
Roy Hankins Mary Wright Herring
Bill Knoderer Roberta Knoderer McDonald
Susan Krause Steve Laird Kathy Larey Lewton
Colby Martin Karen Short Mills
Susan Hoffman Rehrer Spen Sauter Mark Sheldon
Wenona Whitfield Dave and Barbara Grace Wilson
These donors asked that their gifts honor the following IWU faculty and staff: “All IWU faculty” “IWU Business Faculty” John Bergstrom Dr. Harvey Beutner Dennis Bridges Dr. Donald P. Brown R. W. Burda Dr. Paul Bushnell Dr. Larry Coulter Dr. Emily Dunn Dale Dr. Robert Eckley Dr. John Ficca Dr. Dorothea Franzen Jane Gordon Annabelle Hartfranft Dr. Wendell Hess Jack Horenberger Dr. Hal Hungerford Bob Keck
Dr. Rupert Kilgore Dr. Lucille Klauser Don Larsen Oliver Leurssen Neomia Lutz Dr. Doris Meyers Dr. Clifford Pfeltz Dr. Marie J. Robinson Jim Ruoti Lee Short Dr. Jerry Stone Dr. G. L. Story Dr. William White Dr. James Whitehurst
NOW – it’s on to $50,000!
DO YOU WANT TO HONOR A FACULTY OR STAFF MEMBER WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE FOR YOU? WHO HELPED YOU MAKE IT THROUGH IWU?
If you want to be part of the SPIRIT AWARD, your gift
or pledge has to be received by Dec. 31, 2020, and
pledges paid by Dec. 31, 2021.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that these gifts be designated
for the SPIRIT AWARD, and there are several ways to
make that happen. Start by contacting one of our two
class fund-raising chairs, Bill Devore
([email protected] ) or Dave Wilson
([email protected]). They will help you decide
how you want to make your gift and make sure it is
added to the Spirit Award Fund.
And you will be recognized in our newsletter and on
the Class of 70 section of Titan Pride website and
will build IWU' s alumni giving participation rate!
$50,000 for 50th
–
Join the Spirit Award Team!!!
Something to enjoy listening to: Click below and close your eyes and you may think you
are back at a Wesleyan game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&
v=cjlM4Cg6Xd0&feature=emb_logo
Something Like February 2020 Page 8
GIVING BACK TO IWU at this special time in our lives!
A Dialogue With
Dave Wilson and
Bill Devore
DAVE: Bill, for class members who may want to make
very special gifts to Wesleyan for our 50th reunion year,
are there different options? We gave to the Spirit Award
and will do so again, but what are the other ways that we
can support IWU and IWU students?
BILL: Dave, you are so right! The Spirit Award is our
designated Class Gift, of course, and those are one-time
gifts that stay in the fund forever, generating interest to
fund the award. There’s a story on the Spirit Award right
in this very issue of the newsletter on Pages 6 and 7.
But wait, there’s more!
DAVE: AND people can make “unrestricted” gifts to the
Wesleyan Fund, so the University can use the funds
wherever they are needed most. The Wesleyan Fund is a
powerful source of current-use, unrestricted funding that
helps bridge the gap between tuition and the actual
cost of an Illinois Wesleyan education. Unrestricted
gifts are used to support top University priorities and new
initiatives. These gifts are also vital to academic program
innovation and updates. Your gift to the Wesleyan Fund
has an immediate and meaningful impact on every aspect
of campus.
BILL: And Dave, you can make a one-time gift, or
schedule payments monthly, bi-monthly, every six
months or once a year
DAVE: We should talk about Giving Circles. Giving
Circles allow individuals to combine their gifts to
annually fund a scholarship at a level of $2,500 or more
for current Illinois Wesleyan students. Giving Circle
members are encouraged to pledge at least $100 per year
for three years and payments can be automated monthly,
quarterly, or annually.
BILL: Also there is the Titan Athletic Fund that gives
you the opportunity to continue supporting an athletic
tradition that spans more than 125 years. Whether you
make a gift to the general athletic fund or to a specific
sport, your support will help provide Titan student-
athletes with the opportunity to make the most of their
collegiate athletic experience.
DAVE: Bill, I should also mention that many of us "old
timers" are now required to take out funds from our
IRA's as "Required Minimum Distributions". Barbara
and I are designating a portion of those distributions to go
directly to our church on a quarterly basis. We avoid
income tax on those dollars so it's a "win-win" for
both. We are also planning to do that for our gifts to
Wesleyan beginning this year. Why pay tax on money
you are planning to donate to charitable organizations!
BILL: Great idea Dave! Also, however you give,
during the calendar year 2020 or pledge payments paid
through 2021, your gift will be counted toward our class
goal.
DAVE: Maybe we should announce our class goal, Bill.
ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!
BILL: Yes, that’s $1,000,000. And so far, we are
almost half way there. IWU counts gifts from four years
before the reunion year – so we have been counting since
January 1, 2016 and as of January 31, 2020,
THE ADVANCEMENT OFFICE REPORTS THAT CLASS MEMBERS HAVE ALREADY
GIVEN OR PROMISED
$420,845.89 SO please think about all of these options (gifts of all
sizes and types are welcome) – and if you need more info
or want to talk to one of our Advancement staff members,
just get in touch with Bill and/or Dave at:
Something Like February 2020 Page 9
Georgia Nugent story from page 2 continued
she arrived on campus. Her wealth of experience in
higher education, her engaging leadership style, and her
unwavering commitment to academic excellence gives
our Board of Trustees every confidence that she will have
a profound impact in shaping the future of IWU."
Presidential Search Committee Chair W. Thomas
Lawrence ’80 added, “Our search committee
unanimously recommended Dr. Nugent as the 20th
President of Illinois Wesleyan. She presented the
Committee a unique opportunity to recommend a
candidate whose work we have been able to analyze in
real-time. As our Interim President, Georgia has
exhibited strong leadership skills in an honest and
transparent manner that have won her the respect of the
University community."
As president of Kenyon from 2003 to 2013, Georgia
focused on strengthening the college’s core academic
values while also overseeing the launch of new programs.
During Georgia’s tenure, funding for faculty research was
increased, new endowed professorships were created, and
new hires increased the diversity of the faculty as a
whole. Under Georgia’s leadership, the “We Are
Kenyon” campaign, which raised more than $240
million, brought in $60 million in new endowment
dollars for financial aid, doubling endowment funds for
that purpose.
As a senior fellow at the Council of Independent Colleges
(CIC), Georgia helped design, develop and oversee a
public information campaign advocating for the value of
a liberal arts education. The national, multi-pronged
initiative directed attention to the compelling evidence
that smaller independent colleges produce graduates who
are among the best prepared for success in their personal,
career, and community lives. Georgia has also shared her
nationally respected higher education insight as
a contributing writer for Inside Higher Ed .
“I believe Illinois Wesleyan is in a tremendously strong
position to succeed, because of our outstanding
combination of a strong liberal arts education with the
opportunity for pre-professional development — whether
that be in nursing, business, music, or many other fields,”
Georgia said. “This is the ideal education for today and
for the future.
The intellectual breadth of liberal arts education is what
contributes to the problem-solving, innovative thinking,
and continuous learning that employers find so valuable
— and that contributes so powerfully not only to long-
term career success but to a fulfilling life. Here at IWU,
we have exactly the kind of education that students need
most to succeed and to flourish in tomorrow’s world.”
While serving as Illinois Wesleyan's president, Georgia
will continue to assist with some CIC projects, as an
advocate for the value of liberal arts education. As a
scholar, Nugent specializes in epic poetry and Greek
tragedy. She has numerous articles and presentations to
her credit, as well as a book on allegory.
Georgia is married to Tom Scherer, who practices
international law.
Memories of Wesleyan Steve Burrichter writes: As hard as it is for me to believe,
almost 50 years ago on May 17th, Student Senate passed a
resolution to begin the campus radio station WESN. Here
is part of what the Argus said about that event on May 22,
1970:
The radio station that through that funding “began”
during our senior year, WESN, is still broadcasting
today!
As an interesting side note to me, each of my sons who
went to IWU (one graduated in 2008 and one in 2015)
both had radio shows at the station. Our youngest son
also served as the Student Senate Media Commissioner
who oversaw the radio station.
We are really looking for your pictures for the
Class of ’70 web pages and the newsletter.
THINK BACK and SHARE SOME PICTURES: Our
CLASS WEBSITE is in progress. Got pictures to share?? PLEASE EMAIL in JPEG format to BOTH
(Web: Spencer Sauter) [email protected] and (Newsletter: Steve Burrichter)
Many thanks for your help!!
Something Like February 2020
Class Notes February 2020
John Hale writes:
A buddy describes the three phases of life for healthy
retirees as: “go-go,” “slow-go,” and “no-go.” John and
Carolyn Hale are a “go-go” couple.
2019 included a couple of winter months in NW Florida;
a spring car trip through south Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona and eastern Utah; a fall trip to Scotland and
Ireland; and, in between, lots of time with “grands“ in
Chicago, New York and Kansas City.
In 2020, the Hales are back in NW Florida and recently
spent two fun days exploring north central Florida and
South Georgia with Class of 1970 mates Alan Brown and
Anne Zeluff Brown. (Both the Hales and Browns
married in August 1970, and are approaching a combined
100 years of marriage!)
John Hale and Alan Brown in Greenville, Florida,
boyhood home of Ray Charles.
Page 10
Class Notes
Brent A. Anderson writes:
As of last summer, Rev. Dr. Brent A. Anderson and Julie
(nee Steele) have been married for 50 years. We
celebrated with family gatherings and a Danube River
cruise and excursions between Budapest and Prague. We
followed that with a few days in Amsterdam, especially
to see the art museums. Our lives are busy with family (2
sons and daughter-in-laws and 4 grandchildren) and
being active in our church, First UMC of Normal, IL. I
(Brent) volunteer in kindergarten and lead two men's
small groups at our church. In warmer months, I
vegetable garden. I also build and program do-it-yourself
home automation devices (including for the garden) and
(with the handle "papa") blog about it
at http://homeautomation.proboards.com/
I look forward to our IWU 50th Reunion and hope all of
our classmates will come. Among other things, I will
help with our memorial for deceased classmates.
Bill Devore writes:
I retired in 2013 from the College of Lake County (IL),
where I served for 17 years as the Executive Director of
the College of Lake County Foundation. Since retiring,
I’ve done some fund raising and board development
consulting work, served as Chair of the Waukegan and
Lake County Sports Hall of Fame Committees, was
elected Town Clerk in Benton Township (now retired),
chaired a capital campaign to build a new auditorium at
Immanuel Church in Gurnee (IL) and am currently a
member of the Board of Governors of the University
Center of Lake County.
My wife, Jan, and I serve on a not-for-profit board,
Loving InDeed, and we lead a weekly community group
(16 members) at Immanuel Church. Also, I’m currently
working with a talented and creative group of Class of
‘70 alums to plan the most fantastic and memorable 50th
Class Reunion that IWU has ever seen!
I’m counting on all those who read this newsletter to
make it a priority to do everything you can to make it
back to campus this coming October and help us
celebrate IWU’s Class of 1970! It’s going to be a blast!
Something Like
Mark Sheldon writes: Greetings from Hong Kong,
my beloved and deeply troubled city home. I'm still
enjoying a "bi-continental life," teaching at The
Chinese University of Hong Kong in Spring term and
based at IWU's Ames Library each Fall. Last summer,
I taught in Hong Kong too, a seminar on Chinese
Foreign Policy, with many "teachable moments" given
Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and social
movement. In the Fall, 2019, I spoke at many
universities, think tanks and alumni gatherings on the
East coast, West coast, and at ISU and IWU. In a
sentence, my presentations addressed "Hong Kong's
wide-spread civil society uprising, conducted in a
leaderless way, on encrypted devices via social media
platforms." And, I learned a lot about America and
American views toward US-China relations and Hong
Kong, too. I'll be here in Hong Kong through May, our
social and political protest movement and resistance
continuing, though now greatly overshadowed by the
public health crisis and new coronavirus emanating
from Wuhan, Central China. It is very serious and we
are greatly worried here in Hong Kong.
I want to thank all the classmates who donated to The
FUND for Human Rights, Sustainability, and Social
Justice at IWU. After this coming summer, over five
years, we will have supported directly 25 bright and
talented IWU students for summer internship
placements in these areas of endeavor: human rights,
environmental sustainability, and social justice. Half
the placements have been international, half
domestic. About 60% of the interns have been
domestic students, about 40% international. Dr. Roy
Hankins and I are greatly pleased with the quality of
the interns, placements and administration of the
FUND at IWU by Professor Irving Epstein and the
Fund committee.
Greatly looking forward to our reunion in October. I
hope to see you all then! All best from the Far Side.
Sonny Freeman writes: I have truly enjoyed working
on and supporting our Homecoming 50th Reunion
Planning Committee. Our meeting in May at the Home
of Dave and Barb Wilson in Bloomington was a lot of
fun and energized our team into action. Last July my
wife Susie and I moved yet again to a new Home for
the second time in 23 months. This time we moved
from Lexington in Henderson county West Tennessee
to Murfreesboro in Middle Tennessee. We are very
happy to be back in a university city and are very
comfortable here in the “Boro.” However, if I see a
cardboard box, I run the opposite direction…too many
in two years! I continue to travel a great deal for Sigma
Chi training new alumni Chapter Advisors all over the
country. I was commissioned to the Alumni
Engagement Committee for the third time in six years
and also am Faculty for our Fraternities Alumni
Education Continuum Committee. I was able to attend
and enjoy the 50th anniversary celebration at the Shirk
Center last month of Tom Gramkow’s “The Shot”
against ISU. Enjoyed the evening with Barry Swanson,
Pat McEvoy, Dave Wilson, and Shelly McMillan.
Closed the evening out at the Lucca Grill with
Swanson, McEvoy, Mark Yontz, Tom and Jane
Gramkow. We all lost track of time reminiscing,
laughing and telling stories. They turned the lights out
on us to end a great fun evening. The last time I had
the lights turned out on me at the Lucca Grill was
probably 45 years ago. So, looking forward to our
Homecoming reunion and reconnecting with many
classmates. See you at the 50th! Plan on it!!!
George “Sonny” Freeman
This is your e-mailed edition of
Something Like the Argus
We hope you have enjoyed this February edition of
Something Like the Argus. Our next edition is due in
May. My special thanks to Kathy Lewton, all the
writers and all the photographers who helped with this
issue, The Class of ’70 Homecoming Committee –
Kathy (Larey) Lewton, Bill Devore, Karen (Short)
Mills, Barbara (Grace) Wilson, Dave Wilson, Sonny
Freeman, Earl Franz, Steve Burrichter, Spencer Sauter!
Special thanks also to IWU’s Kaylee Kurtz, Morgan
Massey, and Brenda Milcik. Please send me your
memories, information, pictures, and other items to
share with your classmates. If you want the
information and connections, I need information from
each of you.
I wish you all a very wonderful winter and early
spring! And we all hope to see you this year at
Homecoming – October 9 – 11!
Steve for all of us
We need memories, stories from you, and pictures to
make this Something Like the Argus newsletter better.
If you are thinking about coming to Homecoming and
have not told us, please let us know so we can plan.
You can send it to me (your newsletter editor) at
MANY THANKS for your help!!!
February 2020 page 11