Alumni Society - Annual Meeting 2006

SCHOOL OF FAMILY STUDIES ALUMNI SOCIETY
June 1, 2006
Annual Meeting

Dean Super delivered a brief welcome address to the Alums and their family and friends and then took the opportunity of “having the floor” to take a moment to thank the School’s administrative support staff for all of their assistance during his decade as Dean of the School. He presented them with a beach blanket tote bag which was adorned with Emeritus faculty Professor Clyde A. Jones’ ever-popular image of the School. Dean Super’s message was in keeping with this year’s events, “if life’s a beach, make sure you have a beach blanket.”

After Dean Super’s welcome, SFSAS President Jennifer Fairbanks ’00, gave the Report of the year, and highlighted the major activities of the Society. Included in her list was a brief mention of the Conference that the Society co-sponsored: “Leading Change: Rethinking Juvenile Justice.” Jennifer also stressed that many individuals and organizations have helped to make this a successful, albeit quite demanding, year of transition for the Society. Noting that the School’s life as a “School” will end through the actions of the Provost and the vote of the Board of Trustees, meant the Society’s name needs to change. Our future as a Society within CLAS has been assured. She therefore initiated the process of formally changing the name of the Society from the School of Family Studies Alumni Society to simply Family Studies Alumni Society - a change that will be completed in the coming months. Part of her Report also pertained to the composition of the Society’s Board of the Directors. It will remain essentially the same in the coming year, but a few more openings will be filled in the near future. She encouraged active membership in the Society and welcomed more participation. Anyone interested in serving on the board or its committees is most welcome to contact her through Family Studies or the Alumni Association.

After Jennifer’s report of the “year that was,” Dean Super presented recent SFS graduate Luciana Perelli, ’06, with the 2006 Outstanding Student Award, after which the remaining award recipients were each presented to the Meeting.
This year there were a total of three Lorraine Wetherell SFS Alumni Society Distinguished Service Award recipients, who were nominated by former or present faculty members. These were Stephanie Wargo, ’74, William Cook, ’82, ’87, and Christian Andresen, ’89. It added a special note to the evening for ex- faculty members to be reunited with their former students: octogenarians Albert Dreyer and Louise Teich Johnson ’36 ’52, took great delight in seeing their former students again - Bill Cook, and Stephanie Wargo respectively. The Award recipients then recounted their very different experiences of studying at the School at distinct times in the School’s history. The Awards were presented by veteran SFSAS organizers, Shirley Randazzo, ’77 and Gaye Stewart Carroll, ’97.

Following the Awards, the Founding President of the Alumni Society, Lorraine M. Wetherell, ’58, spoke briefly and presented Dean Super with a symbol of the Society’s affection and respect for his very able leadership. It was during his decade of service that the Society began its life as a rather unique constituent society of the UConn Alumni Association. His support and encouragement made a significant difference in these early years of formation. She then presented him with the gift of a clock and the Society’s best wishes for his future.

It was with a somber mood that Dean Super addressed the Meeting with his final report as Dean of the School. Irene Q. Brown, Historian of Family Studies at UConn and Professor Emeritus, then accounted briefly for some of the graduates who had passed away since the last annual meeting. She called for a moment of silence to honor their memory. A bulletin board also displayed the eleven obituaries that the guests had viewed earlier in the evening, and the two notices from the UConn’s Advance that reported on the productive professional lives of two colleagues who had died in the past year: the late Professor of Gerontology, Howard Rosencranz who had retired some years ago and Dr. Charlotte Madison, the Director of the Child Development Laboratories who only retired in 2003. Readers can find those at www.advance.uconn.edu.

We look forward to continuing the work of Family Studies in the upcoming year and invite our alumni to participate. Please remember to save the dates for the Family Weekend and Watermelon Reception, the Homecoming Weekend and the 2007 Annual Meeting and Dinner.