Fall 2008 - Wheelock College

★ Congratulations to the Class of 1968 on winning
W H E E L O C K C O L L E G E A N N U A L R E P O R T O F G I V I N G • 2008
All Come Together
At Reunion 2008 —
Across the Generations, One Community
Wheelock alumni spend their educations well. Achievement,
service, and creativity characterize the individual stories
shared when alumni come back to campus for Reunion, no
matter what year they graduated. They phone classmates,
make flight plans, calculate gas mileage (ouch!), and head to Wheelock for fun,
to see what’s new, and to reconnect with the spirit of the place that helped them
grow into who they have become, so far.
Throughout the weekend, woven through the fun everyone is having,
there is the understanding that what is shared is more than memories and
more than place. Everyone knows that two graduates from classes decades apart can meet
anywhere and start up the Wheelock mission conversation without hesitation. Wheelock
alumni speak the same language, are on the same page, understand why children and
families should come first and not last in society’s view of what is important.
The winners of the 2008 Reunion “Making a Difference” Service Award are good
examples. Forty years separate the graduation years of Peggy Ann Benisch Anderson ’53
and Alicia Esparo ’93, but they both personify the Wheelock mission. Peggy has imprinted
her “Wheelock way” for decades on her community and family business as much as on the
elementary classrooms where she has taught. Alicia, who teaches in an integrated preschool
classroom, is a strong advocate who has helped build the Norfolk, VA, integrated preschool
program to exceptionally high standards.
Congratulations, Peggy and Alicia, and to all Wheelock alumni who are also out there
making the world not just different but better.
“Wheelock gave me what I needed as I made my way as a parent
and in my career. And so I go back to my roots and I give back.”
— Sally Clark Sloop ’68
Alumni Give Back in Many Ways
★ Diep Nguyen ’98/’02MS and Matthew
Eidukinas ’98, two young alumni who received the
Lucy Wheelock Award this year based on their
individual service to the College and to the Alumni
Association, demonstrate that Wheelock alumni give
back generously in many different ways.
the Dr. Frances Graves Prize for raising $320,770,
the largest class gift this year.
★ Ditto Class of 1958 on receiving the Gertrude
Abbihl Prize with 39 percent class attendance
at the Reunion luncheon AND the Beulah Angell
Wetherbee Prize with 81 percent of the class
donating to the Annual Fund this year.
60 th Reunion
★ A HUGE thank-you to all Reunion classes for
your total Annual Fund Gift of more than a
half million dollars — $504,859 to be precise!
40 Fall 2008