Class Delegate Report October 4-7, 2001 Association of Yale Alumni Assembly LIX and Yale Tercentennial Wrap-up Randy Helm ‘70 Dear Classmates, It’s my pleasure to report to you on the Fall 2001 AYA Assembly and Yale’s final celebration of the University’s Tercentennial. The weekend of October 4-7 occurred only three weeks after the terrorist attacks, which were much on the minds of all of us who participated in the weekend’s activities. The AYA shortened its usual program to make time for the concluding Tercentennial convocation, a fascinating lecture series, an amazing celebration at the Bowl, and a stirring concluding speech by former President Bill Clinton. All in all, the weekend was a delight for the eyes, ears, and intellect – a terrific example of Yale’s extraordinary educational and social vitality at this time in the history of our republic and our world. Thursday afternoon was devoted to the abbreviated AYA session, which began with remarks addressed to a plenary session of the Association by AYA Chair Maureen Doran ‘71 MSN, secretary of the University Linda Lorimer, and AYA Executive Director Jeff Brenzel ’75. Their common theme was the evolving role of alumni in the life of the University, and the challenges facing Yale in its efforts to engage alumni interests successfully and effectively. These challenges include: -- demographic changes in the alumni population (as "Inky’s kids" we members of the class of ’70 are well aware of this shift and how classes entering from the fall of 1966 forward differ from the Old Blues of earlier generations); -- Increasing competition for alumni time, attention, volunteer service, and loyalty; -- Higher expectations among alumni for on-line services, communications, and customer service from a University which, traditionally, has not evaluated itself in terms of customer-service; -- Changes in the sort of connections that motivate alumni to stay involved with Yale; whereas nostalgia and sports may have been primary motives in earlier years, not alumni are more interested in substantial opportunities for intellectual and professional engagement with the University’s mission. After the plenary session delegates could choose from a number of topical breakout sessions. I chose a discussion of the AYA’s support for alumni "special interest groups." These are not, as you might assume, well-heeled political lobbyists pushing some sort of Yale agenda down the throats of the electorate, but groups like "Yale Sailing Alumni" etc. Not surprisingly, the proliferation of such groups is potentially limitless, and support from the Alumni Office is limited to providing members with mailing lists, encouragement, and moral support. Thursday evening, AYA delegates heard from Herbert Allison, Jr. ’65, CEO of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning – the on-line education consortium which is a joint venture of Yale, Oxford, Princeton, and Stanford. The Alliance does not plan to offer degree programs, but rather courses in a variety of disciplines featuring the finest faculty from the four partnering universities. Such courses will be available only to alumni, alumni families, and friends of the four universities – at least at first. For more information, check the website: http://www.alianceforlifelonglearning.org/. Friday morning featured "Democratic Vistas, Global Perspectives"– a Yale Tercentennial Symposium featuring some of Yale’s brightest faculty lights, speaking on compelling topics related to our country and the world. I attended Professor Stephen Carter’s talk, "Can Religion Tolerate Democracy (and vice versa)?" Answer: yes, but the tension between the two has never been comfortable and probably never will be. Gaddis Smith ’54 delivered a witty and thoughtful meditation on "Yale, America, and the World 2001" – commenting on fundamental changes in American society, Yale admissions, changes in higher education financing, and Yale’s changing relationship with the city of New Haven. After lunch, I attended the formal Tercentennial Convocation on the cross-campus. The weather was spectacular, the YSO provided a brilliant fanfare, the greetings by the presidents of Harvard and Princeton were witty and appropriately humble, and Rick Levin’s remarks apt and inspirational. I was particularly cheered to see vast numbers of undergraduates (in blue academic gowns) attending the convocation, and lustily cheering for Dean of Yale College Richard Brodhead as well as President Levin. This kind of unforced and enthusiastic school spirit said more to me than everything else I heard over the weekend about Yale’s success in providing first-rate undergraduate education in the context of a great research university. Friday evening featured a phenomenal celebration at the Yale Bowl. This has been adequately covered in the most recent issue of YAM, but from a personal perspective I can report that it was deeply moving to sing the national anthem and America the Beautiful , along with 30,000 others in attendance, and great fun to see Yale luminaries from Tom Wolfe to Sam Waterston, to Bill Buckley on stage, to hear the wonderful music of Yale singers and musicians, and a brief performance by honorary degree recipient Paul Simon ("Graceland," "Bridge Over Troubled Water"), to see the immense inflatable bulldog rise from the shadows, and to witness the most spectacular fireworks display up to that time (perhaps now eclipsed by the fireworks in the Tora Bora mountains). Perhaps some universities would have called the weekend good, but Yale had still more to offer. On Saturday morning, as a continuation of the Global Perspectives series, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo delivered a lecture in Woolsey Hall (of which, I must confess, I understood rather little due to the poor acoustics, Mr. Zedillo’s heavy accent, and my own limited ability to comprehend lectures on international economics). The Tercentennial ended after lunch with a brilliant address by former President Bill Clinton, who spoke on the meaning of terrorism, the challenges of the 21st Century, and the crucial importance of intellectual freedom (and institutions like Yale), if we are to confront those challenges successfully. I had never heard Clinton in person before, and he is unbelievable. The crowd, especially Yale students, gave him a prolonged standing ovation. In subsequent conversations with other Tercentennial attendees I discovered that even some of our crustier and more conservative Clinton-bashing Old Blues thought it was a great speech. My family and I didn’t stay for the Dartmouth game (played on Sunday), but satisfied ourselves with a nourishing breakfast at the Yankee Doodle before saddling up the old SUV and heading back to Maine. As we crossed the bridge from New Hampshire back into God’s Country, we heard the word on NPR that our country had commenced its bombing of Afghanistan. I wish all my fellow members of the Class of 1970 good fortune and good health in 2002. Sincerely, Randy Helm ‘70