New Haven Winter Wonderland

Philipp Arndt '16 took this photo recently on campus, capturing a moment before Yale's holiday break. The scene should remind Yale alumni of times when they, too, hurried through New Haven ice, snow and rain during reading period and finals, thinking more about papers they must write and grueling exams they must take, less about frigid temperatures and slush on the street.

YWAA Highlights, 2013

YWAA activities in 2013 included (clockwise, from top) the annual picnic and Shakespeare outing on the Hudson River in Garrison in August, a day of community service at the Scarsdale community garden (with Mark Chang '94 Ph.d.) in May, and a dinner tribute to Bill Nightingale '53 (with his wife Nancy in November) in Harrison in November. (YWAA photos)

Year end almost always is a time to look back. Often that means a reflective review of what happened and a chance to pick special moments that can be locked in memory forever. YWAA concludes a year of abundant activities, events, concerts, and time spent for community service or tributes to fellow Yale alumni.

Where to start? Early in the year, in a lecture arranged by YWAA treasurer Rich Fabbro '76 and others, Yale political science Professor Paul Bracken discussed his new book The Second Nuclear Age  in Scarsdale, urging about a hundred Yale alumni and area residents to "think about the unthinkable" and reminding citizens to resume studying the threat of nuclear weapons.

Last April, YWAA greeted Westchester applicants admitted to the Class of '17 at a reception in Bronxville, hosted also by the Yale  Westchester Alumni Schools Committee (Bill Primps '71, coordinator). Parents attended, as well as a dozen or more alumni interviewers, some delighted to see students they interviewed beat the stark odds of winning admission to Yale.

Current Yale students joined Westchester's point person in the admissions office at the time, Marcia Landesman, in an upbeat, informative panel discussion, giving Westchester admittees a myriad reasons for making the right choice--the Yale choice, of course. "And let us tell you in a hundred ways why," they offered.


Before they embarked on a summer tour of China, the Yale a capella group Spizzwinks(?) sauntered into Scarsdale for a Saturday afternoon of crisp harmony and amusing tunes. The group, hosted by YWAA, thrilled a neighborhood audience with impressive renditions of songs of old and hip songs of new.

Last spring, alumni throughout the county combed through Westchester to participate in a day of community service, Yale's Day of Service in May.  Yale alumni led many projects--including cleaning up a state park, sprucing up a community garden, caring for puppies and doing  administrative work at an animal shelter, and more. Some projects, including the Scarsdale garden and work at the Briarcliff shelter, continue throughout the year.

Actors and audience members before the Boscobel performance in August (clockwise from top L), Juliet Strauss '17 at the Briarcliff animal shelter during Day of Service (top, R)in May, Debate Night in Blind Brook in November, and Bruce Jennings '71 speaking at at the Nightingale tribute in November. (YWAA photos)

YWAA again sponsored the book awards, given annually to outstanding high-school students in Westchester County, selected for exceptional academic achievement by administrators at their high schools.  Forty students, from Sleepy Hollow to Somers and from Yonkers Riverside to Yorktown, were 2013 recipients.  

The book awards are part of continuing programs to support Westchester-area students (those in high schools here and those from Yale), which include YWAA-sponsored summer fellowships, the debate program and scholarships.

Caramoor in Katonah hosted an outdoors summer concert featuring Yale Professor Peter Oundjian, conductor for the evening, and a lecture by Yale Glee Club director Jeffery Douma for alumni and families before the performance.  The concert, organized by YWAA chair Merrell Clark '57 '70 MAR and featuring works of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky,  marked YWAA's 15th-year partnership with Caramoor.

How can there be a Westchester summer without Shakespeare on the scenic banks of the Hudson River at Boscobel? YWAA director Bruce Jennings '71 organized two Yale-alumni outings to see the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.  King Lear was the featured performance in June.

The second performance in August, All's Well That Ends Well, was directed by Russell Treyz '65 MFA.  It included a pre-performance lecture from Yale professor Murray Biggs for alumni and guests. The rain held up, the heat and humidity stayed away, and no one in the Yale throng knew that in the production's final moments cast members would sweep Biggs from his seat and thrust him on stage for a few seconds of an ad-lib performance.

Debate once again flourished at the Yale vs. Harvard vs. Brown competition in November at Blind Brook.  Student teams tackled a topic du jour and presented strong, convincing arguments to an audience of about a hundred. Brown was selected the winner, but judges acknowledged it was really a toss-up.  Somebody had to win.

A dinner tribute to Bill Nightingale '53 helped cap the year. YWAA saluted Nightingale's long-time commitment to wear many Yale caps.  Alumni and guests honored him for a half-century-plus of service to Yale and to YWAA in just about every capacity imaginable--from serving as class officer to serving on university committees, leading countless Yale Westchester fundraising activities and events, and launching the debate program (heading into its 16th year).  Proceeds from the dinner and other donations will support a debate fund to be named for Nightingale.

Year end also means turning the page, refreshing the browser or clicking a new, unforeseen link and expecting great wonders. Click. Happy 2014!

TW

The Spizzwinks(?) presented a concert in Scarsdale (clockwise from top), Prof. Murray Biggs lectured on Shakespeare at Boscobel, Jenn Kassoff '85 helps at the animal shelter in Briarcliff, and Prof. Paul Bracken talked about a second nuclear age in Scarsdale. (YWAA and Yale photos)

Current YWAA president Tim Mattison '73 with his wife (and YWAA board member) Eve Rice '73 (clockwise from top L), YWAA vice president BK Munguia '75 at the Scarsdale community garden in May, student debate teams from Yale, Brown and Harvard in November in Blind Brook, and AYA Executive Director Mark Dollhopf '77 paying tribute to Bill Nightingale '53 in November in Harrison. (YWAA photos)

Rye's Beshar Wins Rhodes

Rhodes Winner Beshar (Yale photo)

WESTCHESTER STUDENTS

Right before the Rhodes Trust made official announcements of the 2013 winners of the Rhodes Scholarship, Isabel Beshar '14 of Rye, a finalist, had already prepared not to see her name on the list. She had composed thank-you messages to those who had provided recommendations before she endured a grueling series of interviews. And she was just about ready to send.  "I had drafted e-mails to all my professors thanking them for their help," she told the Journal News of Westchester.

Beshar, however, received a pleasant Thanksgiving Week surprise when she learned she was one of three Yale winners and one of two winners from New York State.  Vinay Nayak '14 and Suzanna Fritzberg '14 were also Yale winners, selected as representatives from Illinois and Washington, respectively. (Paolo Singer from the Bronx and Harvard was the other New York winner.)

"It's been a shock," Beshar told the Yale Daily News. "I keep asking my family if I've been dreaming this. The past few days have been kind of crazy."

Beshar is pursuing double majors at Yale in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and in the history of science and medicine. She plans to attend medical school one day.  For now, she will take a Rhodes detour to Oxford, where she will spend the next two years studying medical anthropology. She has special interests in public health and diabetes in developing countries.

She told the Journal News, "Just to be included was an honor. I did not expect this. I truly did not."

Yale students, including Beshar, spent the summer in Ecuador (Yale photo)

Beshar is the president of the Yale Public Health Coalition and spent last summer in Ecuador with fellow Yale students as part of the Yale-Ecuador HIV Clinic Initiative. She is also a Yale Global Health Initiative fellow.

In Ecuador last summer, she and other Yale students ran an HIV testing clinic in Manglaralto, Ecuador.

In Westchester, Beshar graduated from Rye Country Day in 2010, where she played on the ice hockey and field hockey teams. An injury prevented her from playing varsity field hockey at Yale. 

At Yale, she has written occasional columns on public health and health care for the Yale Daily News, including one where she recounts her own treatment experiences and possible side effects after suffering an ear infection in Ecuador.

The three 2013 Rhodes Scholars from Yale follow a record nine Rhodes winners from Yale in 2012.


TW

An AYA Swarm in New Haven

AYA Assembly events included a gala dinner to award the Yale Medal, sessions where Yale officials spoke to alumni delegates, and The 130th Harvard-Yale Game (Yale Twitter photos)

An AYA dinner, reception and session

Yale alumni, by the hundreds and from around the world, convened in New Haven Nov. 21-23 for the annual AYA Assembly. They swept through the campus, attending meetings, conferences, and special luncheons. Alumni delegates represented classes, clubs, cities, countries, and special-interest groups.  The Assembly affords alumni a three-day, in-depth peek of many aspects of Yale--residential colleges, Woodbridge Hall, graduate and professional schools, academic disciplines, Science Hill, West Campus and even favorite after-hours haunts such as Mory's and Yorkside. When they weren't examining the current workings and activities of Yale, Assembly delegates tackled a detailed alumni agenda from strategic planning to regional organizing.

Yale alumni being Yale alumni, they all itch to deliver ample input, ideas and a collective voice from alumni in other regions. 

This year's Assembly, the 73rd, turned its attention on the first day to New Haven, celebrating its 375th birthday.  AYA organized sessions for alumni to learn about current challenges and progress of the city, now under the leadership of new mayor Toni Harp '78 ARC. Some took tours of New Haven neighborhoods and heard more about  the city's latest attractions and developments.

AYA leaders, Mark Dollhopf '77 (Executive Director) and Jimmy Lu '77 (Chair of the AYA board), presided over most sessions, panel discussions and dinners.  Westchester representatives at the assembly included YWAA officers and appointed board members.


On the second day, Alumni groups met to share best practices in leading Yale alumni nationally and internationally.   The Assembly, until recent years, often met twice a year, but now convenes in larger numbers each November.

Former president Richard Levin '74 Ph.d. and his wife Jane Levin '75 Ph.d. were among the six winners of the Yale Medal for Service, awarded by the AYA.

A Yale Holiday Season

(Yale photos)

The holiday season arrives during Thanksgiving week like a comforting snowfall. It extends several days into the New Year until there's nothing else to celebrate, no more reason to revel, reflect or get dressed up. 

Decisions, decisions.  There's much to do--people to see, events to attend, rituals to partake in, and parties at which to be seen.   It's a pleasant chore to decide which invitations to accept and which ones to reply to during a special time of the year. 

Yale alumni in Westchester and Yale students who retreat back to their hometowns after exams have choices, if they wish to support Yale events, support alumni endeavors, and hope by happenstance they run into classmates in the area. 

A sampler of Yale-oriented holiday events follows. Enjoy. Refer back to the listings for more events during the season.

Holiday Event	Place, Date, Time	Details
All-Ivy Dinner	White Plains, Metropolis Club, Thursday, Dec. 5, 6:30 pm	The Columbia Westchester Club hosts its annual holiday dinner for Ivy League alumni in Westchester.  Click ALL-IVY for more details.
Caramoor Holiday Season	Katonah, Saturday, Nov. 30 through Thursday, Dec. 19	Caramoor, home for many Yale and YWAA musical events through the years, announces its holiday concerts: Holiday Musicale and Holiday Tea Musicale, featuring concerts Nov. 30-Dec. 19.   Click CARAMOOR for calendar, artists, and details.
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: A Christmas Carol	Cold Spring, Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 7 pm	YWAA has annually hosted alumni and friends for Shakespeare evenings and lectures at HVSF. For the holidays, HVSF will present Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at St. Mary's in the Highlands in Cold Spring.    Click HVSF for details and tickets.
Jay Heritage Center:  Colonial Musicale	Rye, Sunday, Dec. 8, 6 pm	Grant Herreid, Artistic Director of the Yale Baroque Opera Projectat the Yale School of Music, will present a Colonial Musicale, featuring the music of Handel and Francis Hopkinson and American, French, English, and Spanish dance music from colonial times.  Suzanne Clary ’83 is president of the board of trustees at the Jay Heritage Center.    Click CONCERT for details and tickets. Click JAY to learn more about the Center.
Purchase College: Nutcracker	Purchase, Dec. 13, 14, 15	The Purchase College Dance Company will present Nutcracker, featuring internationally known choreographers and members of the Purchase Conservatory of Dance.  Click NUTCRACKER for details and tickets.
New Choral Society:  Messiah, Part I	Scarsdale, Friday, Dec. 6 (8 pm) and Sunday, Dec. 8 (3 pm)	John T. King ’85 MMus, the artistic director and conductor of the New Choral Society, will lead the group in a performance of Handel’s Messiah, Part I and selections from Parts II and III  at the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale.  The volunteer, all-auditioned chorus features 48 singers from Westchester and celebrates its 20th season. Click NEW CHORAL for details and tickets.
Katonah Museum of Art	Katonah, Dec. 8, 12-5 pm	The museum will feature a Family Portrait Day.  Family members can sign up for a portrait session from portrait artists, specializing in line drawings, tintypes, and acrylic paintings. Kids can get involved in sculpting, making collages and sketching. Guests can take a tour of the museum. Click KATONAH ART for details and reservations for portraits.

Their Game, This Year, But in 2014?

Yale will win in 2014--a promise.

"Harvard's team may fight to the end," so go the old fight-song lyrics, "but Yale will...."

Well, Yale will look with hope and optimism to emerge victorious in the 131st Game in Boston next year.  A promise.

Harvard won The Game, the 130th of the rivalry Nov. 23 in the Yale Bowl, in convincing fashion, 34-7, scoring touchdowns swiftly and adeptly in the first half. It even managed to swipe a share of the Ivy League title in the process.

For those who keep up (and for the countless who care), Yale lost The Game for the seventh consecutive time. But for that same population slice absorbed in numbers, stats and Game lore, Harvard's win Nov. 23 means it must win at least eight more times to tie Yale in the long series. Yale has won that many more times (although only once in the past 13 Games).

The winds whipped and swirled all afternoon. Game patrons, all wrapped up, huddled among themselves--all 50,900 of them.  Some fled the Bowl as soon as the bands performed their half-time scrambles. Many on the Yale side, with a sense of duty, remained in their cold, shadow-swamped seats, because there was a fleeting notion that Yale would catch up and toss the Hail Mary that would clip the Cantabs with no time left.  But it was just a random thought.

Harvard scored too fast, too often in the first half, taking a 28-0 lead

Stephen Shoemaker '15 of Bronxville, a reserve offensive lineman, wearing no. 69 for Yale, represented Westchester.

In the end, Harvard students rushed the field.  And so did some Yale students, because that's what Yale and Harvard students do. Harvard students cheered their football schoolmates. Yalies celebrated they don't have "school on Monday" and vowed to seize The Game in 2014.

Or perhaps they continued a celebration of Yale winning, not The Game, but a national championship in men's hockey.

TW

AYA hosted a big tent for Yale alumni. Yale players from the Class of '14, seniors, were introduced one by one before The Game. (YWAA photos)

Harvard students celebrated an Ivy championship, while Yale students could celebrate both a hockey national title and "no school on Monday"

Roundball Time

Chappaqua's Matt Townsend '15, no. 42 (left) and defending (far right), and his Yale teammates tested waters with big name UConn in the season's first week. (Hartfourd Courant photos)

WESTCHESTER ATHLETES

Don't blink. By the time Yale alumni and football followers scramble to find tickets to The Game, hosted by Yale Nov. 23 in its 130th chapter, fall sports will wind down. Winter sports wind up, and Payne Whitney and Ingalls Rink turn on their lights to start busy seasons.

Basketball at Yale is already a week into the new year. Tradition calls for the men's team to test waters with big names before settling into the basic business of the Ivy schedule.  The Yale men launched 2013-14 with contests against two big basketball names, Rutgers and UConn, the latter historically a bigger name (at least in basketball) than the former.

Yale, now 1-2, lost to both. But the bigger names had to fend off a hustling, pesky Yale in both games. The Bulldogs came within a basket in the final seconds of beating Rutgers. (The Scarlet Knights won, 72-71.) Chappaqua's Matt Townsend '15 is already showing his value as a rebounding sixth man (at forward) off the bench. In the 80-62 loss at UConn, he had 5 rebounds. Against Rutgers, he contributed 4.

Yale criss-crosses the country in November and December before starting its Ivy schedule against Brown, Jan. 18.

TW

Townsend, no. 42, watches teammate Justin Sears '16, no. 22, dunk against UConn. (YDN, James Badas photo)