Sweet Briar College JYF in Paris Alumni Magazine - December 2018

REUNION NEWS
Sweet Briar College
JYF 1968-1969
Participants
Celebrate their
50-Year Reunion
in New York City
and Paris
Two years after first calling attention
to this approaching, momentous anniversary,
the Committees to Celebrate
Junior Year Abroad in Paris (members
listed at the end of this report) held
two celebrations in September and
October this year.
On Sept. 29, 2018, at the picturesque
Upper East Side bistro Orsay,
24 former classmates, accompanied by
spouses and friends, assembled. While
many of us had pictures associated
with our email addresses, others did
not and we had no idea how the years
had changed each of us. Name tags
were critical. As people climbed the
winding staircase to our private dining
room, we were mostly stumped as to
the identities of our guests, but exhilerated
as people announced themselves.
The evening began with a lot of
hugging and heartfelt welcomes. Dan
Gorrell created a stellar program including
pictures submitted by both
those who attended and those who
could not be there. The photos were
arranged by Dan to chronicle the
events and relationships among the
students from our voyage on the QE1
to the events closing the momentous
year. A cleverly-devised interactive,
multiple-choice game about highlights
of that year brought individuals
together in teams vying for points.
The evening ended with poignant accounts
of the impact of that year. Bonnie
Halpern, Diane Donaghey Jumet
and Dan led the evening’s celebration.
We agreed that the year was a turning
point for all of us, but in different
ways. Attendees reported feeling free
from a variety of constraints and stereotypes.
Tales of travels across Western
Europe and beyond on motorcycles,
trains, and by hitchhiking thrilled
us. Junior Year was also a time to get
to know the support and challenges
of living with families of all kinds. The
laughter and tearful reminiscences
carried us through to the next morning,
where we continued sharing our
memories over a sumptuous brunch in
the home of our gracious and hospitable
friends Kathryn Bush Kimball and
her spouse Andrew.
On Oct. 11, 2018 at Reid Hall a
group of 12 classmates accompanied
by their spouses, children and friends
held a reception for the current students
in the Sweet Briar program.
Locating ourselves in the green room,
a classroom, with an elegant spread of
fruit, cheese and delectable pastries,
Eric Allemano led the program while
we offered everyone a set of photos
of our 1968-69 year. Attendees shouted
out the names of our friends as
they were recognized and laughed
about our clothes and demeanor, as
1968-69 FIFTY YEARS AGO they watched the series of familiar
pictures and struggled to remember
others in photos when our memories
failed us. Our esteemed former assistant
director, Madame Guéron, spoke
clearly from her perspective about the
challenges she experienced in working
with some families and achieving
harmonious placements. We gained
new respect for her role as she described
situations of which most of
us were blissfully unaware. To further
engage our friends, dinner had been
arranged at La Petite Chaise, named
the oldest restaurant in Paris, on rue
de Grenelle. We walked and “ubered”
over just in time before the heavens
opened up. The pouring rain was a
lovely counterpoint to our French onion
soup and chocolate desserts.
On behalf of all those who participated
in planning, emailing, and
attending these events, I believe I
can say we learned several important
things.
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