2003 – Spring ’21 Class Letter
Greetings, Class of 2003!
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Additionally, the Class of 2020 will officially be welcomed to our alumni community with a special commencement ceremony.
Campus Updates
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COVID-19 Updates
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Classes officially started on January 25 with a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid (part online and part in-person) formats. The weekend before classes started, the entire campus community (all students, faculty, and staff) were required to take a COVID-19 test, which was administered on campus in Great Hall resulting in a less than one percent positivity rate.
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Beginning on February 1, the College began random weekly surveillance testing where approximately a quarter of the College community will be tested.
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Those who are interested in following the plans and procedures this semester, as well as tracking our COVID-19 positivity rate, can visit www.ripon.edu/coronavirus-information/ for more information.
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For additional Campus news, you can visit www.ripon.edu/news/.
#OneDayRally and Ripon Fund Updates
Ripon’s annual giving day, known as #OneDayRally, will be held on Wednesday, April 28! Remember to save-the-date for this exciting day of supporting the Ripon Fund and sharing their Ripon spirit! This event has grown to be one of the most active days of virtual engagement for our entire Ripon College family, which means prospective students are taking note of this day, too. All alumni are encouraged to sport their Ripon College attire and post it on their social media platforms!
Would you like to become a Social Media Advocate for our #OneDayRally to help us spread the word and reach our goal? All those who are interested should email [email protected] to receive a toolkit with resources in the days leading up to #OneDayRally!
Thank you to all who have supported the College this past year, especially those who supported the Ripon Fund, as well as #OneDayRally!
Class of 2003 Updates!
APRIL MARLEWSKI-HUDZISKI ’03 of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, says “Now that we’re all ‘grown-ups,’ it’s important that we take responsibility for the grown-up things.” At least April thought so. She’s navigated her share of grown-up scenarios the past few years: starting businesses, having babies, loss of life, partnerships, and doing a whole lot of growth and personal development. Recently she realized people close to her, similar to our age, didn’t have an estate plan. Being someone who witnessed first hand the tragedy of unexpected loss and the impacts it could have when there’s no plan in place, especially when a parent of young kids dies (explosion of 2018), she decided to take action and offer a friendly and gentle nudge to anyone who hasn’t created an estate plan. She collaborated with an estate plan attorney, insurance expert, and financial advisor to create an online course to take the fear, overwhelm, and confusion out of estate planning and offer guidance from the comfort of your home. If you haven’t created your estate plan, now’s the time! In other news, April and her husband built a real estate team serving Wisconsin and multiple other states. She became an accredited investor, has a podcast, three kids, two beehives, and a yellow lab, and likes to dabble in the CBD/weed industry from the lens of investing in biotech & teaching about genetics.
ROB LENNOX ’03 writes “Big year last year! In January 2020, we welcomed Archer Lennox. In July, 2020 we purchased a house on ten acres of woods in Indianapolis. Also in July, I started a new job with enVista as the Manager of Operations. At the end of October, my wife and I moved down to Indianapolis (with the kid, obviously) from Chicago. We are currently in the process of renovating and adding on to the house we purchased.”
ELAYNE MONNENS NORWEB ’03 of Coral Gables, Florida, welcomed her third child – a baby boy, Holden, in September of 2020. His big sisters love having a real-life baby doll to play with!
Thank you again to everyone who continues to send updates.
LIZ MATELSKI ’03
(920) 475-7415
ELAYNE MONNENS NORWEB ’03
(917) 509-4826
Your 2003 Class Agents