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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
51
George Koplinka
75 Chelsea Rd.
White Plains, NY 10603
desiah@verizon.net
The resignation in August of Dean
Michele Moody-Adams, after her
relatively short tenure at the College,
surprised many in our class.
During last June’s campus activities,
the dean delivered a presentation
on “Morality and the Claims
of History.” She explored some of
the most serious moral obligations
that we have as members of our
communities and what arises out
of choices made not by ourselves
but by others. Her thought-provoking
conclusions will no doubt
further her successful career in
the field of education. We all wish
her well in her future endeavors
and thank her for her significant
contributions to Columbia.
Here are some concluding
comments and reflections on our
60th reunion. At the Friday cocktail
party at the Columbia University
Club, David Zinman staged a
reading of an original work, “Pigtails
in the Outfield.” The story described
a Little League coach who
gets a young girl on his team and
they go through a baseball season
that changes both their lives. The
cast included David as the coach,
Elliot Wales as a kibitzer in the
audience and Elliot’s wife, Fran, as
the “pigtailed” Little Leaguer. David’s
books include The Day Huey
Long Was Shot and Strom in Limbo,
a story about the late Sen. Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina.
On June 4, the ever-popular
Austin Quigley, a former dean of
the College and now a member of
the faculty, served as our afterlunch
speaker. His reputation for
keeping an audience spellbound is
world-renowned. Once again his
remarks about his tenure as dean,
campus life, the Core Curriculum
at Columbia and conclusions about
the future of education in America
were philosophical and thoughtprovoking.
When asked if he
ever thought about becoming the
president of a college or university,
Dean Quigley was quick to point
out that such a position would remove
him from close contact with
his students and deprive him of
what has really given him the most
satisfaction in his career.
During reunion festivities, classmates
and friends enjoyed a Saturday
afternoon panel discussion as
members of the class shared their
professional talents and led lively
discussions. Many thanks to panelists
Ralph Lowenstein, Myron
“Mickey” Winick, Andrew Sarris
and J. Mason Gentzler Jr. for
their leadership and participation.
Later in the evening, following the
class dinner, Columbia’s basket-
ball coach, Kyle Smith, presented
plaques honoring the members
of the Class of 1951 “Columbia
Hall of Fame” basketball team.
Recipients included John Azary
and Robert Sullivan, who are no
longer living, as well as Frank
Lewis, Tom Powers Sr. and Gerry
Evans, team manager. In his comments,
coach Smith discussed the
opportunities to lift the Lions to the
next level and move ahead of Penn
and Princeton as perennial Ivy
League champions. Hopefully, his
successful tenure at St. Mary’s on
the West Coast, along with some
20 years of coaching experience,
will continue to invigorate future
basketball activity in Levien Gym.
Here is a short story about Robert
Sullivan, who died on April 12.
“Sully” was an ardent Catholic and
supposedly this anecdote could be
called “Sin and Redemption.” During
the championship year, in the
final seconds in the game against
Princeton, when the Lions were
protecting a narrow lead, Bobby
mistakenly called for a timeout
when Columbia had none. The referee’s
penalty gave the Tigers the
opportunity to score the go-ahead
points to win the game. During
the ensuing in-bound pass, Sully
stole the ball, ran the length of the
court and scored the winning field
goal as time expired. Redemption
at last!
In a recent letter to CC ’51
alumni, Robert Snyder, class
president, reported that 106 class
members together contributed
more than $102,500 to the Columbia
College Fund, placing us
second among all previous 60th
anniversary classes in this regard.
Congratulations to the donors. In
addition, gifts to the class treasury
have covered incidental expenses
related to the reunion and left a
balance of $337 to use as a kitty for
our 65th reunion in 2016. Can we
increase the attendance at the next
reunion from the 123 classmates,
family and friends who attended
this year?
Dean’s Pins are given to members
of each class’ Reunion Committee
who have demonstrated
particular dedication and involvement
in their reunion. The members
who received Dean’s Pins this
reunion were Joseph Ambrose Jr.,
David Berman, Willard Block, Joseph
Buda, Robert Flynn, J. Mason
Gentzler Jr., Mark Kaplan, George
Koplinka, Harvey Krueger, Robert
Osnos, George Prozan, Stanley
Schachter, Robert Snyder, Leonard
Stoehr, Elliot Wales, Myron Winick
and David Zinman.
Jim Lowe has worked diligently
since the Vietnam War for the
return of the NROTC program to
the Columbia campus. On May
26, Columbia President Lee C.
Bollinger and U.S. Navy Secretary
Ray Mabus signed an agreement
of their intention to reinstate the
NROTC at Columbia for the first
time in more than 40 years. It’s a
start. Midshipmen would begin
training at SUNY Maritime College
and hopefully the NROTC
program would return to the
Morningside campus some day.
Jim, from those of us who understand
that the rift between American
citizens and the military is neither
preferable nor permanent, thank you
for your perseverance.
Columbia College Today is now
published quarterly, with the
seasons. You are reminded that
you now have more time to submit
information to your Class Notes
correspondent. If you would like
to have a photograph of the 60th
reunion attendees, please send me
an email, or download and print it
from here: college.columbia.edu/
cct/fall11/reunion#classphotos. A
few 60th Reunion Directories are still
available, too.
Please support Columbia College
Today. Send a check, made payable
to Columbia College Today, in care of
Karen Iorio, Columbia College Today,
Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W.
113th St., MC 4530, 1st Fl, New
York, NY 10025, or give online:
college.columbia.edu/cct/giving.
It would be helpful in covering the
expenses for this great publication.
Every little bit helps!
Meanwhile, holiday greetings
and best wishes for the New Year!
REUNION MAY 31–JUNE 3
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Nick Mider
nm2613@columbia.edu
212-851-7846
DEVELOPMENT Allen Rosso
ar3152@columbia.edu
212-851-7947
52
WINTER 2011–12
58
Sidney Prager
20 Como Ct.
Manchester, NJ 08759
sidmax9@aol.com
December 22, and the winter solstice
arrives. The Northern Hemisphere
ushers in winter. The cold winds
blow, the snowflakes fly. Hats, coats
and gloves we must apply. The
days are short, the nights are long.
It seems more difficult for people to
get along.
We spend much more time
indoors and we turn up the heat.
However, reading a good book,
in a warm easy chair, is hard to
beat. Many of us love to ski, and
ice skating is really a lot of fun. My
wife and I have decided to run, to
Florida.
Everybody “keep cool” and stay
warm.
Geoffry Brown: Retired after 35
years teaching theater at Marlboro
College in Vermont, he is writing
and performing one-man shows on
various quintessential Americans
including Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Theodore Roosevelt, Jackson Pollock
and Dr. Benjamin Spock.
Here’s a guy we haven’t heard
from in a long, long time: Don
Roemermann, who for the first
two years at Columbia did the
commute to 116th Street in his 1930
Model A Ford! While Don majored
in geology and went on to graduate
from Indiana with an M.B.A. in
petroleum geology, he ended up
in the NYC suburbs as a v.p., commercial
lending, with The Bank of
New York. He retired in the late
’80s and has kept himself busy
playing lots of bridge and doing
some volunteer work. For many
years, Don was an instructor in
AARP’s safe driving class. Feeling
lucky to have continued to live in
the beautiful Hudson Valley region
near West Point, Don, with his wife
of 56 years, Betty, spends much
time with their two daughters and
sons-in-law, who also live in the
Northeast. Of four grandchildren,
one is married and another will
take the vows next year. Betty and
Don are looking forward to being
great-grandparents. Let’s hope it
happens soon!
John Krajcir writes, “In 2002 I
received a surprise gift in the mail
from Chicago. It was a beautiful
album, titled Columbia Fencing: The
Golden Years 1951–1955. Teammate
Ted Reuter ’54 painstakingly put
together copies of all the articles
on fencing published in Spectator
from 1951–55. I was honored to be
part of those golden years in ’51
and ’52 as well as in ’48, when I
was awarded a full scholarship to
Columbia. In 1951, we won both
the Eastern Intercollegiate and the
NCAA in Champaign, Ill., with
Bob Nielsen ’51 (foil), Dan Chafetz
(epee), yours truly (saber) and our
great coach, Joe Velarde, who recently
was named to the US Fencing
Coaches Hall of Fame. It was a
great trip down memory lane. But
the best was yet to come!
“Ted informed me that coach
Velarde was living in Northern California,
just 70 miles away. I called
him, and my wife, Nora, and I got
together for lunch with the coach
and his lovely wife, Carol. This was
our first meeting in 50 years, since
we both left Columbia in 1952.
“We spent three wonderful hours
catching up and reliving some of
those great memories Ted put
together. We plan to meet again and
continue the journey.
“Thanks to Ted for bringing us
together.
“I am retired after a 38-year career
with DuPont as a West Coast
marketing manager in the Polymer
Products Department. Nora and I