The Pulteney StreetSurvey
President Mark D. Gearan kicks off the Gala event surrounded by members of the Colleges’ Chorale, which, under the direction of Professor of Music Bob Cowles, sang the Hobart alma mater.
A Night to Remember
In October, more than 2,000 alums, students, faculty, staff and friends gathered in Bristol Field House for a Gala celebrating Hobart College’s Bicentennial. The evening included musical and dance performances, reflections on the institution's history, legacy and vision, and a recognition of the impact of HWS graduates, including the announcement of the Alger L. Adams ’32 Intercultural Center.
As President Gearan said in his address that night, “Very few institutions of higher education have been in existence for 200 years. In fact, our longevity makes Hobart College one of the 50 oldest colleges and universities in the nation. The initial idea of Bishop John Henry Hobart was to create a place of higher education, and Geneva, with its bustling community on the side of a spectacular lake, was the right place to do that. And for 200 years, this beautiful place has inspired students to achieve new heights of knowledge and to go on, as our mission statement reads, to lead lives of consequence.”
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Board Chair Craig Stine ’81, P’17 announces that the newly renovated and expanded Intercultural Center will bear the name of Rev. Dr. Alger Adams ’32, D.D. ’83, Hobart’s first Black alumnus. Adams’ daughter, Patricia, joins Stine on stage. The naming was made possible through a lead gift from Stine and his wife, Kathy Hay Stine P’17.
HWS Trustee Bill Whitaker ’73, L.H.D. ’97 introduced the film “The Course Ahead,” also narrated by him.
Bicentennial Weekend kicked off Friday night when political commentator and strategist James Carville LL.D. ’13, P’17 and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took the stage at the Smith Opera House for the Stern Family Forum, moderated by Emmy Award-winning 60 Minutes correspondent and HWS Trustee Bill Whitaker ’73, L.H.D. ’97. The forum was the latest in a series, funded by Honorary Trustee Herbert J. Stern ’58, P’03, LL.D. ’74 and Trustee Samuel A. Stern ’03, that invites notable guests to campus to bring nuance to difficult, sometimes controversial subjects. As Sam Stern said during the event’s introduction, “Disagreement and differences of ideas aren’t bad things when they’re done with civility. Indeed, they [fuel] the fire of the free mind….Some ideas rise, some ideas fall and even more importantly, new ideas are born.”
On Saturday, the HWS Veterans Alum Committee honored the military service of alums with the release of a book documenting the history of the Colleges through the experiences of those who served. Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ Legacy of Military Service was unveiled during a panel discussion with its authors, Col. C.R. “Dick” Anderegg ’67, Lt. Col. John Norvell ’66, P’99, P’02, Col. Katherine Platoni ’74 and Lt. Gen. Jack Woodward ’68. Jean S. Anderegg ’67, who was the inspiration behind the project, moderated the conversation. Read more about the book on p. 33.