et al.: University Place UNIVERSITY PlACE

Coming Back Together Again Through CBT, minority alumni are discovering their Syracuse legacy.

Alumni John '63 and Sylvia Mackey '63, shown with Chancellor Melv i11 A. Eggers, chaired SU's Coming Back Together Ill reunion. Among those in attendance (at left): '57.

im Brown will tell you that in 1957, The first was the NCAA's naming of when he graduated from SU and Brown as one of five outstanding student ath­ headed for the NFL, he wasn't very letes of the association's first 25 years. Brown Jsorry to leave. Although Brown was a knew that Syracuse had promoted him for hero on the playing field, attaining All­ the award and took it as a sign that the school America ranking in both football and was aware of past actions and interested in lacrosse, his status off the fi eld was somewhat moving forward. different. Then in 1986 Brown returned to campus As late as 1957 (and later), the atmosphere for the second Coming Back Together (CBT) for black students on predominantly white reunion for black and Hispanic alumni. He campuses could be chilly. Among "white" had heard good things about the first reunion, schools, Syracuse was actually liberal in its held three years earlier, and decided to see admission of black students, but that did not the modern-day Syracuse for himself. With ease Brown's pain. "When someone finally roughly 600 other minority alumni, he came spoke more than two words to me, it was to back to campus and spent the weekend tell me I couldn't be in a frat," he recalls in his working with current students and sharing recent autobiography, Out ofBounds. old memories. "Seeing all those black profes­ For many years, relations between Brown sionals .. . was one of the richest experiences and Syracuse were tepid at best. But then two of my life," he wrote in his book. things happened to close the schism. Brown was back on campus for the third

Published40 by SURFACE,• S YRACUSE 1989 UN IV ERS I T Y MA GAZ I NE 1 Magazine, Vol. 6, Iss. 2 [1989], Art. 8

..... CBT ACHIEVERS. Six alumni received the Chancellor's Citation for Distinguished Achievement at Coming Back Together (CBT) CBT in mid-September, and the old wounds to keep your goals focused and get an educa­ Ill on September 16. The recipients, all under now seem like ancient history. "The last gap tion," Poindexter-Wilson told the crowd. the age of 40, were recognized for outstand ing has been closed," he says. "Those of us who Accolades rather than advice were offered consider ourselves minorities feel we are parr at the CBT Dinner Dance, the culmination contributions to their career fields. They were: of the inner structure. For the first rime in the of the weekend's events. Chancellor's Cita­ • Lynn Bolles '71, associate professor history of the University, minority students tions for Distinguished Achievement were and director of women's studies at the Univer­ feel like a total pan of its operation. It's an awarded to Vanessa Williams '86, Lynn Bolles sity of Maryland Formerly director of the Afro­ honor ro walk on this campus and feel a parr '71, Raymond Colon '79, Lawrence Morgan American Studies Program at Bowdoin ofthis family." '76, and brothers Robert '78 and Locks ley '80 College, she currently specializes in black That, in essence, is the commonality that Spencer (see story at right). Chancellor women's stud ies. binds these alumni together, people who Eggers also awarded a surprise citation to • Raymond L. Colon '79, assistant com­ span 50 years of history at SU and may share Robert Hill, SU vice president for public rela­ missioner for equal employment opportunity little other common ground. Since 1983, they tions and creator ofCBT. for New York City's Department of Corrections. have reunited on campus every three years to "I read this Citation with deep feeling and remember the past, strive for the future, and, appreciation," Eggers told Hill. "We honor A lawyer, Colon has served as aforeign ser­ like a family, offer one another praise, recog­ you for bringing SU black and Hispanic vice officer for the U.S. Mission to the Un ited nition, criticism, and support. alumni into the life of the University." Nations and for the U.S. Embassy in Managua, The theme ofCBT III was "Charring our One of those returning to the fold was for­ Nicaragua. Future: Family, Career, Community, Eco­ mer All-American Jim Nance, attending his • Lawrence M. Morgan, owner and presi­ nomics, and Education." The reunion began first CBT. He likened the experience to dent of Creative Restoration Consultants of with two days of seminars assessing those "coming home for Christmas. That's the kind Maplewood, New Jersey. In both public ser­ issues. Topics ranged from "Minority Eco­ of warmth I feel from these people.... Many vice and private business, his work has con­ nomic Development in the 21st Century" of us didn't have a lor of access when we were centrated on providing new housing to and "Increasing the Graduate Student Pipe­ here. We did a lor of networking among our­ line," to "Athletes' Roundtable," open only selves. So even though we all weren't here in depressed areas of New Jersey. to current and former football and basketball school at the same rime, this is like a family." • Robert '78 and Locksley Spencer '80, players. At that latter event, former greats, Sylvia Mackey '63, who has attended two chief officers of Sunbeam Welders Inc. and including Brown, Vincent Cohen '57, G'60, of the minority reunions and co-chaired CBT Meta lion Paint Corp. Their companies special­ John Brown '62, and Floyd Little '67, shared III with husband John, concurred. "As much ize in product finishing for original equipment experiences with roday's Orange men, urging as I enjoyed SU as a student, I could never manufacturers. their successors to stay off drugs, complete have imagined being back 20 years later feel­ • Vanessa Williams '86, entertainer. The their educations, and be responsible in their ing this much love for the University." former Miss America recently recorded her social behavior. Helen Holt Williams '31 said she was debut album, The Right Stuff, which wen t gold "A lor of you aren't going to play pro ball," "dragged kicking and screaming" to CBT II and produced a number of hits, including the said Jim Brown. "Doesn't make any differ­ in 1986. "I hated Syracuse," says Williams, ence. The world isn't based on pro ball. It's who attended SU when blacks were nor title song and "Dreaming." based on this," he said, pointing to his head. allowed to live or ear on campus. Bur she In addition, a special citation was pre­ Many alumni participated in the Student came back this September ro CBT III. She, sented to Robert Hill, SU vice president fo r Networking Alumni Program (SNAP), roo, has made peace with Syracuse Univer­ public relations who, in his former post as through which students sought advice from sity. "I think it's important for us to come vice president for program development, cre­ alumni working in their fields of study. back and be involved with the University and ated SU's CBT reunions for minority alumni. Suzanne Huntley, a black senior from Mil­ these young students," she says. "It's impor­ waukee, felt the program was valuable tant for them to know what they came from." .....TOP HONORS. Gary M. Radke, formerly because it enabled minority students at the - RENEE GEARHART L EVY chairman of the fine arts department in the Col­ University to see what their predecessors had lege of Arts and Sciences, is the new director done with their lives. "I feel like they want to CAMPAIGN N EWS of the Honors Program at SU . help us through," she says. Radke expects to concentrate Sheila Payton '70, owner of her own sales Better Faster on increasing the number of stu­ and marketing communications firm in Mil­ dents who complete upper-divi­ waukee, volunteered for SNAP to tell stu­ Good, better, best, sion Honors Program courses. dents what to expect. "Students look at a Never let it rest successful person and see the result bur Until your good is better Of the 600 students enrolled in nor the means," she says. "I want them to Andyour br:tter, best the Honors Program, only 100 know that nothing comes easy." are upper-division students working on their For the first rime, CBT mentoring went o goes the childhood chant, fomented, Honors theses. beyond the boundaries of campus. A group of Sno doubt, by schoolmarms in one-room Radke succeeds Robert McClure, who was alumni- including Paula Poindexter-Wilson schoolhouses as their charges labored recently appointed associate dean at the Max­ G'80, an executive at the Los Angeles Times; over their slates and hornbooks. well School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Ross Love '68, vice president for advertising Slates have become computer monitors at Procter & Gamble; and pro-football leg­ today, and hornbooks, microfiches. School­ ends John Mackey '63 and Jim Nance '65- at SU, anyway--expands over acres of cam­ visired Syracuse's Fowler High School, pus. Bur the desire to move forward from addressing two assemblies. To two standing­ better to best remains a driving force. ovation crowds, they conveyed a simple mes­ So it is with the Campaign for Syracuse. In sage: you can succeed if you have a dream 1985, when the campaign began, raising $100 and work to make it happen. "It's important million in funds for academic excellence was

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Chair in Constitutional Law; and • Scholarship endowments for outstand­ ing students, particularly the Remembrance Scholarship Fund in honor of Syracuse stu­ dents who died on Pan Am Flight 103. "We are challenged to get better faster, " says Chancellor Eggers. "Indeed, we have no choice but to do so. The remaining campaign priorities are designed to continue toward making Syracuse University a still greater institution, one that is attractive to the best students and the finest faculty." If the track record of success is any indica­ tion, better is sure to become best. - KATHRYN L EE

STUDENT LIFE WorkltOut

am and Janet live on the same floor in P the residence hall. Pam borrows Janet's car and backs it into a light post. Janet tells her not to worry, her father's insurance Among remaining priorities for the Campaign for will cover it. But two days later, Janet tells Syracuse are the athletic­ Pam her father doesn't want to put in the complex expansion (plans shown above) and a and Pam has to pay the $400 for repairs. chair honoring Dr. Michael 0. Sawyer. claim Pam refuses. targets is common at universities," says Lan­ Bill and Jim have neighboring apart­ sing Baker, senior vice president for univer­ ments. Jim plays his stereo all the time, at sity relations. "It's the result of gifts made by what Bill considers to be a deafening level. donors whose specific interests are of great Jim likes to stay up late, but Bill has early benefit to the University but are not an exact classes and can't sleep when Jim's stereo is match for items on the campaign priority list. blaring. Bill keeps banging on the wall and Naturally, every gift is a welcome addition to every time he does, Jim cranks the stereo up the University as a whole." even louder. Items on the original "shopping list" for People have conflicts. That's an unalter­ the campaign that remain top priorities able fact oflife. But Syracuse is one of a grow­ include the Dorothea ligen Shaffer Art ing number of universities in the country Building; an additional facility for the Max­ trying to help resolve disputes quickly and well School; endowed faculty chairs, such as amicably. The Campus Mediation Center the Louis F. Bantle Chair in Business and will step in, help define the problem, and Government Policy and the D. Kenneth Sar­ help disputants mutually find a solution that gent Visiting Professorship in Architecture; they can live with. and support for special programs, including Academic interest in mediating disagree­ the Institute in Innovation Management. ments started in 1981 at the University of widely regarded as a real stretch for Syracuse. Another common phenomenon is the Massachusetts at Amherst. According to the It was the biggest single attempt to fund emergence of new needs as the campaign director of SU's mediation center, Neil Katz endowments for faculty chairs and scholar­ progresses. At an institution such as Syracuse, (also director of the Maxwell School's pro­ ships, support special programs, and provide growth and change are daily occurences, gram in nonviolent conflict and change), for new facilities and equipment. Yet the goal prompting new directions that require sup­ mediation sprang from techniques devel­ was achieved within four years--a full year port. Among new projects at Syracuse are: oped in labor and management negotiations ahead of schedule-thanks to an unprece­ • The Paul Greenberg House in Wash­ and civil rights mediation. It flourished after dented level of support from thousands of ington, D.C., the University's new base of the turbulent sixties, when confrontation was alumni and friends. operations at the comer of and the prevalent style but frequently had With that behind him, Chancellor Melvin Calvert in the capital (see story page 44 ); unpleasant results. "Talking together clearly A. Eggers has turned his sights on the future: • The South Campus Student Center, a became the next stage," says Katz. "Without $60 million in additional funds to be realized new facility, similar to the Schine Student it, there was continual destruction." by July 1, 1991. The new goal was made offi­ Center, to serve students who live in Skytop Syracuse's mediation center, one of about cial at a board of trustees meeting in August. housing; 30 in the country, is funded by several cam­ The additional $60 million will be added • The Colvin Park Athletic Center, an pus groups with special interest in the pro­ to the $100 million already raised to fund expanded practice and performance area for cess: Student Programs, Hendricks Chapel, both original priorities not fully met by the track and field and other sports near Manley the Graduate Student Organization, and the campaign and newly identified goals. Field House and Coyne Field (see story, Office of Residence Services. Working with "The paradox of reaching a monetary goal page43); Katz as the center's coordinator is Bill War­ while not completely funding all the original • The Michael 0. Sawyer Endowed ters, a doctoral candidate in social science.

42 • SYRA CU SE U N IV E RSITY MAGAZI N E Published by SURFACE, 1989 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 6, Iss. 2 [1989], Art. 8

• RAPE PREVENTION. Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers has created a University-wide task force to address rape policy, rape prevention "As mediators, we help sort out issues and But two-person mediations are not the programs, support services for victims, prose­ problems," Warters says. "We're not judges only ones the center handles. The center cution of suspects, and additional security and juries. We don't decide who's right or once worked with an entire floor in a fresh­ wrong; we facilitate a solution." man residence hall. "Things had polarized so measures. What typically happens is that a person much that two wings in one hall weren't The task fo rce consists of faculty and staff with a conflict telephones the center and speaking to each other. We brought in four members and students. It made initial recom­ explains the situation to the coordinator. mediators, met with the whole floor, and mendations as this issue went to press. Together they decide if the case is appropri­ worked out a living agreement." Creation of the task force came in ate for mediation. "We are a short-term, prob­ Mediators are drawn mainly from the SU response to sexual assaults against Syracuse lem-solving service," Warters says. "Some community. They vary in age and back­ students early this semester. "Education and cases are legal matters and some require ground and may be students, faculty mem­ prevention are the key dimensions needed to counseling." bers, or staff members. Some are already strengthen our community against rape," Then the other party is contacted, by the trained in mediation techniques, while new Eggers said. "Individually and collectively, we coordinator if the two disputants are not on mediators undergo an intensive training pro­ speaking terms. Mediation only happens gram. All are volunteers and the mediation must resolve to prevent rape on our campus." when both parties are willing to cooperate. service is free. ....ATHLETIC COMPLEX. The University "This is a voluntary process, which is one of Warters points out that resolving conflicts recently unveiled plans for significant its beauties," Warters points out. "People creatively is not the center's only goal. aren't being dragged in. When they come, "Mediation gives students an educational enhancements to the Manley Field House ath­ they're ready to work things out." experience. Once they've undergone the letic complex. Working with a pair of neutral mediators, process, they can use the techniques again The University plans to create a 400- each person gets a chance to talk. In some and again in their personal and professional meter, eight-lane running track; two football cases, this is the first time the issues are heard lives." ---CAROL NoRTH ScHMUCKLER practice fields; and a 12,000-square-foot addi­ clearly. The meeting focuses on how parties tion to the field house's team wing as part of will deal with each other in the future, rather S P ORTS HI STORY the project. New parking areas and demol ition than placing blame for past transgressions. of the 0-6 Fine Arts building (whose programs Disputants suggest ways to resolve the prob­ Glitter on the Gridiron would be relocated in an addition to the Com­ lems. All parties then sign a "contract," a res­ Art Building) are also proposed. olution they have unanimously agreed upon. yracuse is one place where the admoni­ The project has been adopted as a fund- After a few weeks, the mediators follow up to Stion "black tie" on an invitation can be see if the agreement is being upheld or if it stretched to include bright orange for raising priority of the recently extended Cam­ must be renegotiated. neck piece and cummerbund. Indeed, the paign for Syracuse "Because the agreements are worked out whole evening of September 15 was full of .... GRAD WORK. Robert Jensen, professor together, mediation holds up about 80 per­ such sartorial extravangance, as the Carrier cent of the time with no further action," Dome, scene of touchdowns and tackles, and chairman of the geography department, Warters says. "By contrast, decisions in small filled instead with 2,500 celebrants paying became interim dean of the Graduate School claims court hold up only 30 percent of the homage to 100 years of Syracuse University on July 1. A search for a perma­ time without further legal action. When peo­ football. nent dean is underway. ple sit down and work out solutions together, The Dome itselfwas dressed for the occa­ In the post, Jensen is they've got more investect" sion. Tables set with white linen, lit with can- responsible for graduate studies throughout the schools and col­ leges of SU . He succeeds Ruth Christy Funk, who had served as Graduate School director since 1982. Also, Benjamin R. Ware, Kenan Professor of Science, has been named interim vice presi­ dent for research. In that role, Ware will be charged with the facilitation and development of research , scho larship, and creativity, includ­ ing sponsored programs. He also serves as supervisor of the Northeast Parallel Architec­ tures Center, the CASE Center, and Syracuse Scholar.

Neil Katz (left) co-directs SU's volunteer mediation center.

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by a combination oflive commentary, choreo­ graphed by master of ceremonies Marty Glickman '39; and by videotaped highlights of Syracuse football history. Early footage showed young men hard at the game, looking vulnerable without the heavy padding and industrial-strength helmets associated with the sport today. They also looked a good deal smaller than today's specimens, proving the effects of good nutrition and weight training. Of course the glory years, with their national championship and string of bowl games, brought murmurs of recognition from the crowd. But it was also apparent that the present mattered, too. Taped moments from the eighties were cheered enthusiastically and Coach Dick MacPherson found a unani­ mous endorsement for his intent to go on to even greater heights. Jim Ridlon's six-by-20-foot assemblage of football memorabilia served as a counterpoint throughout the evening. Ridlon '57, former football player and now chairman of the foun­ Floyd Little at the Football Centennial: one hero of the hundred seasons. dation department in the School of Art, cre­ ated the piece especially for the centennial. It dies and each with silver football centerpiece, football, come back to celebrate 100 years of contains thousands of photos and artifacts of stretched from goal post to goal post. Lights gridiron glory, no matter that the seasons they the sport at SU and will have a permanent trained on the dome's fabric roof created an played in were deemed winning or losing. No home in the Room at the Dome. orange glow, framing the huge arena like a matter that now they were rounder, softer, The gala, however, had to end. With a perpetual sunset. Men of all ages dolled up in more lined. No matter that gaining the first parting good wish for another SU victory the formal attire, that relentlessly monotonous down has given way to making it in a world following day, Glickman bid the crowd good black on white that makes virtually every where football is just another spectator sport. night. Gathering in the comers was an army male look neater and self-possessed. Women A select number among them were easily of workers who would stay up all night to went to satins and silks, some beaded and identifiable, even for one not steeped in SU bring the Dome back to playing fettle. glittery, others flowing and graceful. football lore: Floyd Little '67, Jim Brown '57, Guests lingered in conversation, many to But this was a night to celebrate football. John Mackey '63, John Brown '59, and Coach continue at other parties in other rooms. In their formal clothing and footwear, they , leader of Syracuse's For some, though, it was bittersweet to came as fans. They approached the nearly 45- glory teams in the fifties and sixties. say good night to an evening in the spotlight degree climb to gate B, a feat daunting to There was even a spirit among the famous once again, an evening to remember, an eve­ some, and descended through bleachers to faces, that of Ernie Davis '61, Heisman tro­ ning when one could almost hear the roar of take their seats. The carpet beneath their feet phy winner and beloved team member and thousands in the stands .... LET'S GO was green with hash marks. For many, this classmate, who died of leukemia shortly after ORANGE!!! LET'S GO ORANGE!!! -KATHRYN L EE was a first opportunity to set foot on honest­ his recruitment to professional football. His to-goodness artificial turf in the Carrier teammate John Brown imagined what SU IN WASHINGTON Dome. More bouyant than indoor/outdoor Davis's thoughts might have been, had he carpeting, it is springy underfoot and some­ been able to attend the centennial occasion: Capital Address what precarious for one sporting spike heels "I want to thank that wonderful team . .. the and a floor-length formal gown. '59 team ... a bunch of guys who recognized long Connecticut Avenue in Washing­ For those whose attire ran to tuxedos or my ability and worked hard for me to fulfill Aton, D.C., hang a right at Calvert good suits, though, the turf was not a prob­ my dreams." Street, NW, and you're at Syracuse lem. Indeed, for some of the crowd of Orange Other personalities visited the gala by University. Well, not exactly, but you're as faithful, a walk across the 10-yard markers videotape: New York Governor Mario close to SU as you can be in the capital city. was a return to home territory even for those Cuomo, broadcasters Brent Musburger and You're at the Paul Greenberg House, the who never played in the dome. The newer Bob Costas, O.j. Simpson, , University's base of operations at 2301 Cal­ arena, inaugurated in 1980, sits on the site Tim Green '86, and '65, who vert Street, NW. Similar in function to the once claimed by Archbold Stadium. exhorted the current Orangemen to "beat New York City Lubin House (minus the These were the men who once mixed it Army and crush Penn State." sleeping rooms), the D.C. building was pur­ up on a field that was by turns dry and sun­ The pleasant nostalgia of the September chased last winter. baked or wet and cold with drizzle or snow. evening was supported by an opening parade For the University, the Greenberg House They were proud to wear the Syracuse uni­ of former football players who marched to opens the door to several new opportunities. form. They were obviously pleased to make their seats accompanied by the SU band. In According to Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers, this return trip, some from many away, his invocation Monsignor Charles Borgononi the building will serve as a location for four to renew old acquaintances, revisit their turf, commented that "It's great to be alive, and to primary purposes: expanded seminars and and, most of all, to remember how it was be an SU football buff." Guests "amened" internships for the Maxwell School of Citi­ once. with gusto. zenship and Public Affairs, alumni activities, These were the conquering heroes of SU The four-course dinner was punctuated student recruitment, and various University

44 • SYRACUSE UN IVERSITY MAGAZINE Published by SURFACE, 1989 5 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 6, Iss. 2 [1989], Art. 8

...... DIP AIN Moscow. John Hodgson, pro­ fessor of political science, will lead a tour of Soviet cities Moscow, Tbilisi, development functions. to become pan of the search. Bringing Syra­ and Tallinn next summer, begin­ A full-time staff, including a director and a cuse to Washington will serve a base of some ning June 23 , as part of a new clerical assistant, will be on duty throughout 5,000 alumni and will help recruit some very the year to serve alumni and University per­ talented young people in this area. I am two-week SU Travel & Study pro­ sonnel. Students and faculty members will proud to be parr of this project. " gram. This unique study opportu­ use the center primarily as a classroom away Greenberg is president of Greenberg nity is offered by the Division of from home. Alumni will find uses ranging Realty Company in Bethesda, Maryland, International Programs Abroad from the serious (colloquia and seminars on developers and builders of commercial prop­ (DIP A) and the Independent Study Degree current issues) to the sublime (SU sporrs on erties in the Washington and Middle Atlantic Program. television). areas. He recently joined the Syracuse Uni­ Before flying to Moscow, participants will The graceful 80-year-old building has versity Board ofTrustees. spend one week in London studying with been named with a gift from Paul Greenberg, The Paul Greenberg House has under­ Hodgson about the Soviet Union. Hodgson, a member of SU's Class of 1965. A political gone extensive renovation under the direc­ whose frequent visits to the U.S.S .R. date back science major during his SU years, Greenberg tion of architect Darrel D. Rippeteau '73. has long championed a Syracuse presence in Rippeteau describes the building as an to 1955 and include two trips on the Trans­ Washington. example of the Beaux Arts Classic style pop­ Siberian Railroad, plans a "ground-level" "About three years ago Chancellor Eggers ular when it was built in 1912. Work has con­ experience in the country-travel by bus, spoke to me about his strong desire for a per­ centrated on restoring many of the original metro system, and foot. manent location for the University in the cap­ architectural details and bringing the facility The study tour, which ends in Helsinki, ital," Greenberg says. "I agreed immediately up to today's technical standards. Finland, is limited to 12 participants Registra­ For example, the elegant two-story tion is administered by Daisy Fried at DIPA entrance portico has been completely rebuilt. (119 Euclid Avenue); her telephone number is Its leaded-glass windows, deteriorated (315) 443-9420. beyond repair, have been replaced with curved, etched-glass created by Washington­ ...... TALKING 8-QUARK . In September, Syra­ area anise jay Carter. cuse hosted an international "Workshop An art and antique shop when the Univer­ Towards Establishing a B-Factory," attended sity purchased it, the building has housed a by particle and accelerator physicists from the restaurant, a nightclub, and a nursing home, United Stated, Europe, and Asia. among other things. The first floor in the Greenberg House The b-factory is the name for an accelera­ will serve as a reception and waiting lounge tor complex that will produce particles contain­ area. The second floor, location of the ing the b-quark at a rate 100 times greater than facility's grand room, will house large groups now possible. for seminars, meeting, and dinners. The third Understanding the b-quark may help and fourth floors will provide office space and scientists understand the mechanism thro ugh computer support for University faculty and which our universe evolved into one domi­ staff members. -KATHRYN LEE nated by particles rather than anti-particles. The b, or "bottom," quark is one of the six types of quarks that comprise subnuclear particles ...... ANEW DAY. The University was expected to begin construction this semester on the newest phase of its residence hall expansion plan : aseven-story addition to Day Hall. The new structure, attached Day's west wing, will provide space for 112 beds. It is expected to open for the fall1990 semester. Each floor will contain two single rooms, seven split-double rooms, a bathroom , and a glass-fronted lounge/study area. Access to Day's Mount Olympus location will be improved next year by the addition of a new, covered stairway joining Fl int Hall ci rcle to the new Flanagan Gymnasium area (near Archbold Gymnasium). The stairs wi ll descend at a gentler angle than those of the existing walkway.

The name ofPau l Gremberg '65 (above) will adom SU's new outpost in Washington, D.C.

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to invite back. Anyone who makes it to the final party could potentially be a sister. As observers, we're struggling to comprehend the significance of one rushee's status as a cousin of one of the Beastie Boys. Preference night is the big thing. The sis­ ters get dressed up and sing to their rushees, staring the girls directly in the eyes, a test of nerves intended to (1) make the rushee real­ ize how much she just has to belong to your house, and (2) demonstrate that you, the sis­ ter, will just die if she goes somewhere else. But that all lies ahead. Right now, in round two, there's just potential. All these really great girls who could wind up being your little sister, or your best friend, or the competition down the street. Being here reminds us of best friends­ one in Indianapolis, one in Chicago, and one in Hawaii-and our fateful meeting through this seemingly superficial process. Calling each other "sister" may seem contrived, but it's not such a bad description after all. -RENEE GEARHART LEVY Some things never change: sorority rush enters the nineties. Hey, did you meet that girl in the checked mini­ skirt.? She was so awesome! GREEK LIFE There are four rounds of parties, which get successively more serious and progres­ SU PRESS Sisters for Life sively more selective. The first round is essentially a get-acquainted kind of thing. Time Travel They're called open houses and each house Did everyone meet my cousinP Isn't she awe­ has its own activities. Some put on skits or hades Champlin has created a time some! PShe lost a lot ofweight this summer andgot sing, others just talk and try to get to know the machine of sorts. It's not mechanical. a new haircut. Doesn't she look gread' C rushees better. And it only brings you back to one Did you see the girl I had with the pink shoesP After the first round and at each party place. But the ride is familiar and comfort­ She was so awesome, I want herfor my little sister. thereafter, there is a mutual selection process, able, and very worthwhile. With his newest by which each house decides who to invite book, Back There Where the Past Was, he carries Don't forget to smile when you're out front back and rushees rank sororities in order of readers through time, to Hammondsport, singing. And quit eating the candy. It's just for the preference. It's a large and complex under­ New York, in the first half of this century. roshees. taking, all carefully tabulated by the com­ Champlin's stories of small town life stir puter at Rush Central, otherwise known as up images of another place and time, both for nd so the conversation goes between the Panhellenic Office. Later, of course, the those who have lived it and for those who Arush parties in one of the great Walnut men will rush, with their own traditions. have dreamed it. The book is laden with boy­ Place sorority houses, during the sec­ Round Two means house tours. It begins hood tales of maiden aunts and Prohibition, ond round of sorority rush. It could be any with the strange ritual of greeting rushees secret decoder rings and radio, Saturday night house, really. The specifics may vary but the with song in front of the house. Fifteen times band concerts in the park and grape harvest­ process is essentially the same: weeding in one day, 121 "sisters" burst through their ing, Boy Scout camp and paper routes. It down 1,500 really enthusiastic, totally excited front door in perfect formation, chanting brings to life the little Finger Lakes commu­ potential members to 60 perfect pledges in peppy chants and singing perky songs­ nity in western New York that is so reminis­ just over a week's time. A difficult task, par­ while trying to drown out the competition cent of small towns everywhere. ticularly when everyone is just so awesome! next door-to eager rushees waiting on the "We are all from somewhere else: some this year. Having been down this path our­ front lawn. Their choruses waft across Walnut other time and, more than likely, in our tran­ selves, we're amazed by how little things Park. sient society, from some other place," writes have changed. After this display of incredible energy, Champlin in his introduction. "And I think It's been 10 years since then. The skirts rushees are ushered inside and matched up that we never quite lose that sense of being now are shorter. The hair is bigger. The with sisters, then introduced to more sisters. from, however much we may come to feel we descriptor of choice has changed from cool to It seems so casual, but in fact the selection belong to whatever place we've got to. awesome!, and everyone is psyched rather than process has begun. If the sisters like you, if "I haven't lived in Hammondsport since fired up. But rush is still the same: a funny way they remember your name, if they think 1942, but I have gone back as often as I could to go about choosing the people who really do you're awesome!, you might get invited back. over the years, because no other place has end up becoming lifelong friends. The third round brings theme parties. ever felt so completely like home to me. It's only second round, and things are That's where everybody does really cute Even now, 40-odd years later and against all pretty calm so far. There's been one bee skits and really tries to get to know the rush­ but the heart's logic, I think of myself as sting, a couple of lost voices, and only twice ees. Then the sisters stay up practically all being on a kind of temporary assignment have the women needed to ask the fraternity night in cut sessions-formally known as from Hammondsport to the larger world." next door to turn down their music. membership selection-trying to decide who Champlin, now 63, has worked as a writer

46 • SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE Published by SURFACE, 1989 7 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 6, Iss. 2 [1989], Art. 8

...... ENERGY CHAIR. Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. has established the Automation Systems and Electro/Gas Techno logy Energy Chair at for more than 40 years: for Time, Life, and, for After a while there was no way to tell how large SU, broadening the responsibi lities of the the past 25 years, the Los Angeles Times. His the originating grain of truth had been, bifore the Niagara Mohawk Energy Professorship. columns have appeared in hundreds of news­ story-tellers got hold ofit, but the stories were won­ papers around the world. The Ham­ derful. Did one of the town drunks really take a The chair is currently held by Walter mondsport pieces he has written for the swig ofe mbalming fluid, imagining it to be some­ Meyer, also the director of the Institute for Times, though, have drawn more response thing else, the night thefun eral parlor burned.? Did Energy Research at SU. It was expanded to than almost anything else he's done. The Mrs. Bauder really drop her diamond ring down meet the changing needs of energy research town, he says, evokes in people "their some­ the outhouse and did all the complications ensue as and technology re lative to industrial automa­ where else, their town in Indiana, or recited.? Were theg oings-on in the livery stable after tion . Niagara Mohawk cited SU's emergi ng pre­ Nebraska, Iowa, or Oregon." the band concert accurately reported.? Was the eminence in computer research as a key Like most small towns, Hammondsport model A really assembled on the schoolhouse roof reason for creation of the new post. in the twenties, thirties, and forties had its fill that Halloween.? I don't know. I only hope so. of interesting characters and local hangouts. The book, subtitled A Small-Town Boy­ ..... SOCIAL WORK. Will iam L Pollard , former Champlin devotes chapters to many of these, hood, is one of several Syracuse University dean of the School of Social Work at Gram­ including Sam Baker, his great-great-grandfa­ Press books published early this summer. It is bling State University, now ther; Victor, his bachelor uncle; the Atlantic one of only a few, however, to go immediately serves as dean of the School of gas station; the post office; and a place called into a second printing, says Charles Backus, Social Work at Syracuse. He "overtown." director of the SU Press. "We sold out in just assumed the post in August. A child ofth e city wouldpr obably have foundit six weeks. It's received very favorable A specialist in policy and preposterous that anybody could get excited about reviews and publicity across the country." planning, Pollard studies social walking overtown in the Hammondsport of the Backus says, "There is just something welfare history, with particular 1930s. "Ouertown, " as in "You wanna go over­ appealing about this book. It is simple and focus on black activities during the Progres­ town.?," was the business section of Ham­ easy to read, and it touches on experiences mondsport in the 1930s. It covered hardly more and adventures that are familiar to us all." sive Era (1880 to 1915). He is the author of than frue blocks altogether, circling three sides of the Though Back There Where the Past Was is A Study of Black Self-Help. village square and part of the fourth, with some full of nostalgia, Champlin is careful not to ..... CLASS OF '93. Roughly 3,800 new under­ short extensions into the side streets. succumb to it completely. "Someone has said graduate students entered Syracuse University But being allowed to walk overtown, un­ you can embrace the past so tightly that you escorted, was one of the earliest pleasures and the can't grasp the present, let alone the future this fall, hailing from 43 states and 25 foreign earliest adventures I can remember. It was, in the and it is a danger I try to avoid," he writes. countries. Among the new students were beginning, always an errand: to pick up a prescrip­ "But there is a difference between examin­ approximately 550 transfer students. tion atthe drug store, get the mail, a loafof br ead, a ing the past and retreating into it." New-student enrollment was nearly identi­ quart ofi ce cream. No matter; it was a chance to go - MARY EUENMENGUCC/ cal to the previous fall's entering class, with where Hammondsport bustled, insofar as it ever Ify ou'd like to order Back There Where the the exception of minority composition Th is bustled. Past Was, write Syracuse University Press, 1600 year, 467 minority students-a 22.4-percent At his favorite hangout, the Atlantic gas Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13244- increase over last year- made Syracuse their station, Champlin writes about the stories 5160; oreal/ (315) 443-2597. The book costs choice. Minority freshman enrollment this that were told and retold by generations of $18.95, plus $2f or shipping andha ndling and year is 14 percent. Hammondsport natives. $1.33 New York state sales tax. The freshman class has a slightly higher percentage of women than men: 51 to 49 per­ cent. Freshman enrollment increased signifi­ cantly in the School of Computer and Information Science, the College of Nursing, the School of Information Studies, the School of Architecture, and the School of Education .

..... PAPERTRAIL. This summer, SU embarked on a pilot program focusing on paper recycl­ ing. The program is underway at Skytop, the Hall of Languages, Huntington Beard Crouse Hall, and the Tol ley Administration Bu ilding. Employees at those sites are required to dis­ pose of paper in designated paper bins. Informatio n gathered from the pilot project will be used to implement a University-wide recycling program "Paper is the Un iversity's largest recyclable waste," said Alan Breese, co­ chairman of the Chancellor's Committee on Recycling . "SU's waste stream is more than 100 tons per week. We could better use our existing resou rces through recycling."

More than 40 years since he left, Charles Champlin writes movingly ofhis home in Hammondsport.

DECEMBE R 1989 • 47 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol6/iss2/8 8