Class of 1960 Caps a Memorable 50th Reunion with a $1.1 Million Gift

Hundreds of Scots return to campus for Alumni Weekend 2010

View the Alumni Weeknd 2010 Photo Gallery

Wooster, Ohio, June 13 – The Class of 1960’s return to the College of Wooster’s campus was memorable in many ways, but in none more so than its generosity. The 50th reunion class presented President Grant H. Cornwell with a class gift of just over $1.1 million at Saturday’s 126th annual meeting of the college’s alumni association.

A portion of the gift will endow a fund, named in honor of former President Howard Lowry, whose income can be used at the president’s discretion on initiatives to strengthen the college’s core academic mission.

In accepting the gift, Cornwell, tongue planted firmly in cheek, declared, “it’s always good to give presidents discretion.” More seriously, he noted, “there is no shortage of ideas on how we can get better, and help the college more fully achieve its mission and vision” and an endowed discretionary fund can help turn those ideas into reality.

In other business during the annual meeting, the Class of 1985 announced a class gift of $85,000 and awards were presented to three alumni for their service to the college. Lillian Richeson Templeton and J. Charles Templeton, both members of the Class of 1965, received the John D. McKee Alumni Volunteer Award, while Matt Long, a 2005 graduate of the college, became the youngest recipient ever of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Following the annual meeting, the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented to Jane Morley Kotchen ’60, Dale M. Swift ’80, and Al Van Wie, Jr. ’52.

Kotchen, a professor of population health and director of the master’s degree program in epidemiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is an oft-cited researcher in the areas of women’s health and high blood pressure in African Americans.

Swift is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Tex., where he was part of the team that successfully separated conjoined twins from Egypt in 2003.

Van Wie, former head coach of the Fighting Scots men’s basketball team, professor of physical education and athletics, and athletic director, is a member of four athletic Halls of Fame, including the college’s.

Addressing the annual meeting, Susanne Johnston Leggett, outgoing president of the alumni association, summed up the weekend’s meaning this way: “You’re here to celebrate what Wooster meant to you and what you mean to each other. It’s our own gathering of the clans.”