1987 – Spring ’21 Class Letter
1987 – Spring 2021 Class Letter
Greetings, Class of 1987!
What a crazy year we’ve just had. Hopefully, we are all starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We hope that each and every one of you are healthy, happy, and able to find some joy during this time of upheaval. We can’t wait to see all of you in person at, or even before our next Reunion. Perhaps consider attending Alumni Weekend this summer?
Alumni Weekend 2021 will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen with two distinct summer weekends of Ripon alumni programming for us. No matter how you’d like to connect, virtually or in person, the Office of Constituent Engagement is developing a variety of activities to continue to follow CDC, Fond du Lac County and College guidelines in both June and August. Full schedules, lodging, and programming details will be posted soon to www.ripon.edu/alumni-weekend.
JUNE 2021
- In honor of our June Alumni Weekend traditions, virtual alumni programming will be held Tuesday, June 22 through Saturday, June 26, and will include: an alumni town hall, R Connections webinars, affinity socials, a summer book club, and special recognition of the 2020 and 2021 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees, including for our very own TODD CIESIELCZYK ’87, a 2020 inductee (posthumously).
- The only in-person event, the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble, will be held off-campus on Friday, June 25.
AUGUST 2021
A combination of virtual and in-person Alumni Weekend programming will be held the first week of August. We will continue to evaluate the state of COVID-19. If circumstances change at the local and national level and we need to cancel in-person programming, that decision will be made and communicated by July 1, 2021.
- Virtual programming will be held Tuesday, August 3 through Saturday, August 7 and will include: a reunion-focused alumni town hall that also previews the new academic year, additional R Connections webinars, the summer book club capstone, and the traditional “That Was Then” storytelling session.
- In-person, on-campus programming will be held Friday, August 6 through Sunday, August 8, and will focus on alumni awards recognition, 2020 and 2021 reunion celebrations, and other outdoor events such as Rally Run and prairie walk.
- Additionally, the Class of 2020 will officially be welcomed to our alumni community with a special commencement ceremony.
Some campus updates to share. A small school in a small town has some advantages during a pandemic:
- Ripon classes started virtually January 25 following a campus-wide testing event with a less than 1% positivity rate!
- Students and faculty have adapted to learning and teaching in person, online or in hybrid ways
Admission numbers for next fall are looking good:
- Enrollment is up 30%
- Student-athlete enrollment is up 40%
- Evenly split between male and female
- Approximately 35% first-generation students, a slight increase from previous cycles
We’re a little light on classmate news this update, so please be sure to share your news with us at any time throughout the year. We’d love to hear from you!
Class Notes:
RAY SCOLAVINO ’87 of East Troy, Wisconsin, was made Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nice work, Ray!
BETSY MEYERS KNIGHT ’87 of San Diego, California, has discovered that she really enjoys working from home.
DORRIE SMITH SCRANTON ’87 of Woodstock, Connecticut, is obsessed with seed gardening with a focus on growing cut flowers. Trays of seedling have taken over the dining room, along with a winter sowing experiment. Could a dedicated DIY YouTube channel be far behind?
CHRIS TEMPLETON ’87 of Chicago, Illinois, is putting all that Colorado snowfall to good use with a newfound love of Nordic skiing and snowshoeing.
Your Class Agents,
DORRIE SMITH SCRANTON ’87
(860) 455-6108 / [email protected]
CHRIS TEMPLETON ’87
(312) 402-6207 / [email protected]