Homecoming 2004

By Cara Jepsen ’86

This year’s Homecoming & Family Weekend proved to be the College’s biggest in 85 years, with 1,277 alumni and parents flooding the campus for a weekend of events with the theme “You’re a Forester Forever.” 

“We came to see the new library and the new football field and to visit with old friends,” said Roger W. Siuda ’53, who organized his own class reunion last year. Siuda and his wife, Kathy, also reconnected with many friends from the class of ’54, which celebrated its 50th reunion this year. The classes of 1939, 1944, and 1949 were also on campus for their 65th, 60th, and 55th reunions, respectively.

The weekend’s highlights included Friday’s dedication of the Donnelley and Lee Library, where an $18 million renovation project brightened and expanded the building from 45,000 to 72,000 square feet (see story on page 4). Saturday’s football victory against Knox College took place in a new stadium, which now features artificial turf, new bleachers, and a new press box (see story on page 13).

“We played on that field,” recalled Siuda, who was a tackle on a Forester football team that included several World War II veterans. “In 1952 the Chicago Tribune picked us as the best college team in the state. We were number two in the nation on defense.”

Friday’s rain did nothing to dampen spirits at the library dedication, which began with a symposium featuring over 50 faculty members. Later in the day, the dedication’s keynote address, “Libraries Are to Liberal Education as Lakes are to Swimming,” was given by Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies professor Stanley N. Katz.

Many alumni who came to campus for Saturday’s events toured the bright, airy library building, which boasts a new entrance facing into middle campus. It includes a 24-hour cyber café as well as a wireless network that allows students to connect their laptops to the campus network. The renovation also includes comfortable new study areas, group study rooms, and “smart classrooms” for technological instruction (the building is also designed to accommodate future technological changes). Also featured are a Technology Research Center and expanded space for print collections.

“It’s incredible,” Henry Greene ’77 said of the library. “It made me feel like I was on the campus of a much larger institution. It seems like a pleasant place to be, whereas in the past it wasn’t a place you would consider going. It’s spacious, it’s airy, and there were a variety of areas where you could get comfortable. It’s going to be an extraordinary recruiting tool.”

At Saturday morning’s Alumni Convocation, “Remember, Honor, and Celebrate,” College President Stephen D. Schutt presented the Distinguished Service Award to Mark W. Shadle ’84, vice president and managing director of the Corporate Affairs unit of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Outstanding Alumni Leadership Awards were presented to Trustee Judith Simpson Corson ’64 (in absentia); James A. Kidney ’69, SEC assistant chief litigation counsel and architect of the Web resource www.depressedchild.com; and Nate Berkus ’94, a Chicago-based designer and a regular on the “Oprah Winfrey Show."  The Richard W. Hantke Alumni Teacher Award was given to Ralph J. Mills Jr. ’54 (in absentia), a renowned poet, scholar, and Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Edwin L. Gilroy Award was presented to Paula Ernst Dau ’58 and Michael E. Dau ’58, who worked tirelessly to convince 61 classmates to donate to the Farwell Field reconstruction. Jonathan O. Pratt ’78, John M. Handrahan ’79, Barry Jacobson ’81, Robert W. Martin ’82, Nancy Molter Kalil ’82, Susan Leonard Haney ’84, Robert E. Shaw Jr. ’84, and Erica Jensen ’89 were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. 

After the Alumni Convocation, director of Alumni Admission Programs Francis B. “Spike” Gummere acknowledged alumni who met and married their college sweethearts (758 couples in total), and encouraged them to produce future Foresters. He joked that while he enjoyed admitting the sons and daughters of Foresters he has recruited, he would have to draw the line at grandchildren. “If that happens, I’m outta here,” he said.

Saturday’s parade took place under a cloudless sky and featured Homecoming Queen Yinka Owolabi ’05 and King Tyrus Hudson ’05, as well as the Lake Forest College Percussion Band and groups ranging from Greek organizations and athletic teams to the Student Alumni Association, the United Black Association, and the Garrick Players. The Garrick Players handed out schedules for the upcoming season (which includes The Robber Bridegroom and Lysistrata). The winning float was Asian Interest Group’s stunning “Crouching Dragon, Hidden Forester,” which boasted a van decorated as a dragon. Despite the October chill, the men’s swim team wore nothing more than swimsuits and body paint as they tossed candy to the crowd. There were also vehicles featuring Foresters Married to Foresters and a royalty reunion with 1999 Homecoming Queen Tara E. Buckland ’01 and 2001 King Michael T. O’Connor ’00.

Forester hoodies, mugs, water bottles, and blankets flew off the shelves of the bookstore during the long weekend. “I always have to stop at the bookstore, probably because I spent a lot of money here when I was a student,” said Jill N. Meyer ’86, who lives in Lake in the Hills, Illinois, and works for Allstate Insurance. “If I can help spread the word about Lake Forest College by having something stuck to my car or wearing it on my chest, I’m happy to do it.”

Meyer also dropped off her class ring with a Jostens representative, who said he would repair its nearly rubbed-off “LFC.” She comes to most Homecoming & Family Weekends. “I like to see classmates I haven’t seen in years and to run into professors I haven’t seen in ages. I also like seeing the new updates to campus.”

For lunch alumni and parents had a choice between the South Campus tailgate party with its BBQ smoke and thumping bass beats amid a sea of red, black, and white T-shirts or the slightly less lively Sports Center, where the Taste of Chicago-themed luncheon included options from Maxwell Street Polish, Little Italy, and Greektown.

Despite heavy rain on Friday, the new Farwell Field was in perfect condition for the Foresters’ 43–2 victory over Knox College. It was no longer necessary for fans to stand on the sidelines, as there was plenty of space for students, alumni, and parents in the roomy and comfortable new stands; the visiting team’s supporters filled their own section.

Shirtless and boisterous members of the Foresters hockey team paraded by at regular interviews to cheer on the team, and hockey player Tyler J. Steen ’05 paused to shake the hand of Peter A. DuBois ’85, who sat in the stands with his wife, Ann, and their two children. Steen is one of DuBois’s interns at Morgan Stanley, where he works as a financial advisor. DuBois, a Deerfield resident, is also a member of the Alumni Association Board and attends nearly every Homecoming. “I enjoyed seeing the new library this year,” he said. “There’s so much going on around campus right now. I like seeing what’s new.” He added that he “absolutely” plans to attend his 20th reunion next year and that he looks forward to seeing his classmates after hours next year at the Lantern in downtown Lake Forest.

“The new field is phenomenal,” said Christopher M. Roberts ’83, an Evanston-based CPA and former Forester soccer player who brought his two children to the football game. He attended his own 20th reunion last year, and he recalled the class’s informal nighttime gathering at the Lantern. “Last year the Red Sox were in the playoffs and quite a few alumni were from the East Coast, so we were cheering them on. We were there so long that we were there before, during, and after the game. As I recall, the Red Sox didn’t fare so well—so the Lantern was the perfect place to be.”

Those who chose to go off the beaten path stopped at the Durand Art Institute to view the exhibit “Karen Lebergott: Recent Work from Berlin” at Sonnenschein Gallery. The assistant professor of art produced this work during a recent sabbatical in Eastern Europe. Her abstract paintings are saturated with greens, blues, and maroons in geometric patterns that are layered over one another. According to her artist’s statement, “Berlin’s constantly changing landscape, in effect the continual destruction and regeneration, describe the eradication and redefinition that have been my topic for several years.” Her photographs include images of a dilapidated amusement park, a mobile home, and a toppled dinosaur. “The photographs of 2003–2004 continue my interest in the human intervention in the landscape as it exits in the former eastern part of Berlin…. Massive new construction has passed over the former Communist state and left more as well as less in its wake.”

Other Homecoming events included women’s and men’s soccer games; architectural and campus tours; cluster reunions and homecoming dance; and family entertainment with comic hypnotist Daniel James.

Roger Siuda, who studied economics at the College, says he relished the opportunity to see the campus he loved so much as a student. “We liked the area so much we’d even sneak up here from Chicago in the summertime,” he reminisced. “The Chicago Cardinals Football Team had their summer camp here, and we’d get jobs in the dining room and eat their food, which was fantastic—steak and chicken and lobster. It was a very special time when I went here. We were born at the start of the Depression and lived through that. World War II was very much a part of our lives. We were just happy to be here.”

Siuda added that the campus retains the same charm that captivated him 50 years ago, but that it was not the only thing that made him come back. “It’s nice to see what the College is doing, but the important thing is seeing our friends.”

Cara Jepsen ’86 is a freelance writer based in Chicago. During her junior and senior years, she wrote a column called “The Poison Pen” for the Stentor. Her mother, Carol Ann Marticke, attended the College from 1947 to 1950.