It was wonderful to see so many alums on campus over Alums Weekend 2023! There will be a recap of the weekend’s activities and reunions celebrating milestone years in the next issue of The Westonian. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos from the weekend!
Upper School history teacher Dan Burger-Lenehan, invited Andrew Richardson ’02 to a Zoom Q&A session with his 9/11 and U.S.-Middle East Relations classes. Burger-Lenehan shares, “Andrew is a counterterrorism analyst in the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau. The students in my course just wrapped up a unit on terrorism that covered both 9/11 and the more recent surge in far-right domestic terrorism, so Andrew’s work is very relevant to what they’ve been studying.” Students enjoyed the presentation and had many questions for Richardson.
This is just one example of how alums’ experiences can enrich learning for our students. We welcome and invite alums to engage with our students, and to share their professional experiences. If you are interested, please be in touch with Domi Waldron, Director of Alums Engagement.
Why does gender-inclusive language matter? Louisa Egan-Brad, Dean of Equity, Justice, and Belonging, shares her thoughts in this post on our blog.
On March 29 at 6:30 p.m., the Westtown Alumni Association Board held a Called Meeting for Business to discern changing the name of the Westtown Alumni Association to the Westtown Alums Association. This change was proposed to match Westtown’s style convention of using “alums” in place of “alumni/ae/x” to simplify communications and be explicitly gender inclusive.
We are pleased to announce that our proposal was accepted at this meeting, and our official name is now the Westtown Alums Association.
On behalf of all of our members, the WAA board would like to thank everyone who attended the Called Meeting. If you have any follow-up questions, please email alums@westtown.edu.
We look forward to welcoming you back to Westtown for Alums Weekend on May 19-21, 2023! This year we will celebrate reunions for classes ending in three and eight, including special 50th reunion gatherings for the Class of 1973. More information about the weekend can be found on our website and you can check out this page for details about how to register. See you back in ‘Town!
Want to share what’s new with you? Submit a class note! You can tell us if you have moved; or, maybe, you have a new job or are enjoying your retirement. Perhaps you’ve earned a new academic degree, taken up a new hobby, gotten married, or marked a new milestone in your life. Whatever your news, we want to hear about it! And, we know your classmates would love it, too. Class Notes help keep Westonians around the world connected. Submit your note today! We are currently collecting notes for the next issue of The Westonian magazine – please make your submissions by July 1, 2022.
Each day Alums Weekend draws closer, and we are more excited than ever! Our team has been working hard to ensure that this will be the biggest celebration of Westtown alums since the 1999 Bicentennial. Visit the Alums Weekend website for the most up-to-date information about the weekend, including registration information, a tentative agenda, hotel details, contact information, and more. We cannot wait to see you all back on campus soon!!
Each day, Alums Weekend draws closer, and we are more excited than ever! Our team has been working hard to ensure that this will be the biggest celebration of Westtown alums since the 1999 Bicentennial. While we are still working on all the details, we are eager to share our first-ever Alums Weekend Website with you:
Visit The Alums Weekend Website
Consider this website the Alums Weekend home base. Here you will find the most up-to-date information about the Weekend, including registration information, a tentative agenda, hotel details, contact information, and more. Although registration will not open until January 2022, we encourage you to save this link and check back often as we continue to finalize the weekend itinerary. We cannot wait to see you all back on campus next May!
Want to share what’s new with you? Submit a class note! You can tell us if you have moved; or, maybe, you have a new job or are enjoying your retirement. Perhaps you’ve earned a new academic degree, taken up a new hobby, gotten married, or marked a new milestone in your life. Whatever your news, we want to hear about it. And, we know your classmates would love it, too. Class Notes help keep Westonians around the world connected. Submit your note today!
Congratulations are in order for the Cope family, generations of whom are Westonians. Founded by James B. ’39 and Helen Cope in 1992, the Cope Environmental Center’s Environmental Education building has received Living Building certification from the International Living Future Institute. The Institute describes living buildings as “regenerative buildings that connect occupants to light, air, food, nature, and community; self-sufficient and remain within the resource limits of their site; and, create a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them.” Learn more about the criteria here. Located in Centerville, Indiana, the Cope Environmental Center building is just the 29th building in the world to be granted this special and rare certification. The Cope Environmental Center and it’s Living Building Certification are the legacy of a couple who devoted their lives to environmentalism. As daughter Marianne Cope ’67 says in this piece in Richmond, Indiana’s Palladium Item, “It just brings tears to my eyes, and my parents would be just astounded and pleased.”
All of Jim’s and Helen’s children were involved in this project from the beginning: June Cope Chidester ’65, Ed Cope ’66, Trish Cope ’73, Marianne Cope ’67, and Marie Cope Nicholson ’72. Marie shares, “We are so excited about the whole project and want to spread the news!” She adds that another Westtown alum is familiar with Living Buildings as well ― Peter Doo ’71, a LEED architect who won a Living Futures Hero Award in 2016. “We spoke with Peter Doo at the very beginning [of this project] when we first learned of Living Buildings.” Once again, we share our congratulations with the Cope family on this incredible and important achievement.
