Posted on: Aug 19, 2024 at 6:43 AM

John Lawrence will be one of three alumni recapping the Democratic National Convention on August 27. Some of us remember him as an Obie student performing in the "Department of Agriculture" jug band. He grew his hair longer and graduated in 1970 with a degree in history, then earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. Afterwards he lost most of that hair while serving for 38 years as a staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives, the last eight as Chief of Staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Two more recent alumni, Holly Fechner ’85 and Larry Jacobs ’81, will join John in a Zoom review of the Convention on Tuesday, August 27, from 6 to 7 p.m. Eastern time. It’s sponsored by the Oberlin Club of Washington, D.C. To register, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkc-uuqjgtGN06LINjud9YdqgzbQRkc8D3#/registration

This is the picture we have of Scott Hauser (as a sophomore).  The alumni office supplied a large collection of senior photos including the one we've shown for Jay, but none for Scott.  They do look similar.  Perhaps a misidentification was made in 1970?

Hi, Paul! No actual birthday gift here, but I did notice something: Tonight, on the eve of your big day, according to a tweet from last week, there’s going to be a special two-hour DJ show inspired by “Siberian Khatru.” Apparently that’s a lengthy Yes song from 1972. I can’t say I’m familiar with it.
Yes, our old radio station is still on the air and even broadcasting in the summertime. At https://www.wobc.org/ one can listen live. Whether or not you might be so inclined, happy birthday

Jenny and I became friends hanging out at WOBC and stayed in touch for several years afterward. We weren’t romantically involved, but we discussed that subject and many others. I saved our correspondence.

She went on to become a professor in Chicago. There she directed her university’s Master of Science in Information Systems program until passing away at the age of 53. “Jennifer was a generous and caring person,” one of her colleagues recalled, “always ready to share her wit, wisdom, humor, and opinions.”

As the Class of 1970 reunion approached, I revisited our old letters and looked up some details about her later career. Paring all this material down to scarcely more than 20,000 words, I posted the excerpts at www.t2buck.com/jennifer1.htm on my personal website, in case you’d like to take a look.

On the reunion website for the Class of 1971, Marty Oppenheimer has posted the following. He’s chairing the ’71 Class Reunion Committee.

“Even though we don't know what life will be like in May 2021, our 50th Reunion Planning Committee continues to plan for a spectacular on-campus reunion. Our Committee has invited the Class of 1970 to combine their reunion with ours next spring. Oberlin will leave it up to the two classes to decide, within space limitations, how much we want to do together and separately. Jan Weintraub Cobb [Class of 1971 President] and I have reached out to Tom Gold, '70 Reunion Planning Committee Chair, and Mark Christensen, '70 Class President, to start planning. As their Reunion Schedule was about 90% complete, we'll all have to be flexible and aware of each class's needs and desires as we move forward together. We'll keep you posted.” --Marty

Please see President Ambar's March 31 letter concerning the reunion on the Commencement Reunion website, https://www.oberlin.edu/commencement

The College has posted this message online: While we hope to celebrate the end of the academic year with Commencement and Reunion Weekend, we have decided to place a hold on registration. We continue to consult with public health officials regarding our ability to host large public gatherings. Please consult the college's information page regarding the coronavirus (https://www.oberlin.edu/news/corona-virus-faq) for regular updates. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time of uncertainty.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the best way is “social distancing,” and that’s difficult to achieve on a residential college campus. Therefore Oberlin has canceled in-person classes as of Friday, March 13, with students required to leave campus housing by March 16. They will probably not return to campus for academic coursework this semester.

Faculty are preparing to use Zoom technology, a web-based video conferencing tool, to provide instruction for the rest of the semester. That will begin on March 30, following Spring Recess.

There’s no word yet about Commencement/Reunion Weekend, currently scheduled for May 22-25.

Please check https://www.oberlin.edu/news/corona-virus-updates for the latest information.