Development & Alumni Office
North American Friends of St. Clare's Reunion - 25/27 April 2003
We celebrated the second of the St. Clare's Jubilee weekends: this time at the University of San Diego (USD). The Reunion began with a Welcome Reception and Buffet on the Friday evening. Saturday morning we held a drop-in Open House session for alumni and their parents, and for others interested in coming to St. Clare's for the Liberal Arts programme in the next few years.
Lunch on Saturday was addressed by the President of USD, Dr Alice B Hayes, who talked about the close association between St. Clare's and her institution. Our main speaker, former Senator Gary Hart arrived - a little late - but with a thought-provoking message about Restoration of the Republic. His warning: we must radically change the way in which we go about our daily lives if we want to make progress towards global citizenship. For more information read his latest book. This session, and the panel discussion that followed, were ably chaired by Dr Patrick Drinan, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at USD. The panel consisted of Gary Hart, Peter Oppenheimer - our Chairman of Governors; Dr Thomas Wenzel, Vice Provost of Student Affairs at Marquette University; and Dr Joyce Neu, Director of the Joan B Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, which was where the afternoon events were held. Boyd then presented Senator Hart with a lovely framed line drawing of the domes of Oxford, drawn by our very own Paul Saville.
The evening began with a Reception in the Garden of the Sea, which overlooks Mission Bay, and was perfect until the sun disappeared along with the temperature. Then we moved to the beautiful Faculty Dining Room for dinner, at which Boyd spoke about St. Clare's and our plans for the future. The food was excellent, as was the after dinner speech from Dr Frank Lazarus, Vice-President and Provost at USD on International Education. Dr Cynthia Caywood then made a moving presentation to Paul Saville, recognising his thirty years of involvement with USD.
This was followed by a short violin recital by Carolyn Dentler, a St. Clare's alumna, accompanied by Erin Cayabyab, a student at USD. Closing remarks were given by Peter Oppenheimer. Overall the event was a great success, and we left with a feeling of tremendous goodwill from our alumni, their families, friends and all of the staff of USD. It was a wonderful weekend and left us in no doubt of the loyalty and affection felt for St. Clare's.
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Restoration of the Republic by Gary Hart |