ALUMNI WEEKEND 2003

The Three Rs: Return, Remember, Reconnect

Graduates, old and new, celebrated timeless friendships—and the vibrant school that brought them together.

[Originally published in Stanford Lawyer #68]

1) Jackie Brown '75 makes new friends at the Reception for Alumni and Students of Color, while 2) members of the Class of '93 share a laugh over a yearbook: from left, Craig Martin, David Middler, Andy Komaroff, and Torrey Olins. 3) Alums enjoy good food and better company; 4) Sydney Shirriff, daughter of Ken Shirriff and Kathryn Barnard '88 (BA '84), shows off her balloon hat; 5) Vivien Lin and Michael Kross '83 savor the moment as 6) Mercedes Salomon '98 visits with other alums. 7) Professors Richard Ford (BA '88) and Joe Grundfest '78 present Dean Kathleen M. Sullivan with flowers. Photo Credits: 1, 4, 6, 7 Steve Gladfelter; 2, 3, 5 Steve Castillo

Alumni Weekend 2003, with its talks by Justice Anthony Kennedy (BA '58) and Riley Bechtel, JD/MBA '79, was another high-powered gathering of the generations. Nearly a thousand graduates of the Law School came from all corners of the globe, partaking in their alma mater's vibrant scrutiny of current crises while celebrating past times and future ventures.

What made the Oct. 16-19 reunion so remarkable was the personal gestures and intimate conversations that are a Stanford hallmark. Hank Barry '83, for instance, opened his Palo Alto home to classmates for a Sunday brunch. Barbara Babcock, Judge John Crown Professor of Law, swapped stories about juries with a dozen alumni in one of the afternoon sessions of Classes Without Quizzes. Justice Kennedy and Bechtel remained after their respective presentations (see pp. 29 and 30) to catch up with old friends.

And where else but at Stanford would a discussion about North Korea (see p. 31) prompt a comment about the nation's nuclear capabilities from an audience member who was none other than former Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey (BA '63). He was on campus to mark his undergraduate reunion.

It was the fifth and final Alumni Weekend over which Kathleen M. Sullivan would preside as Dean. A day before the reunion began, she had announced that, at the close of her five-year term as Dean in fall 2004, she would return to the faculty to establish a new constitutional law center at Stanford. Sadness over her leaving office was overcome not only by the celebration of all she had accomplished in her term, but also by the excitement over her new endeavor.

Still, the Dean's announcement led to an outpouring of affection. At the opening event, the Dean's Circle Dinner on Thursday night, her remarks were interrupted when Professors Richard Ford (BA '88) and Joseph Grundfest '78 surprised her with a bouquet of flowers, sparking a standing ovation. The next day, among nearly 200 people at the Law School's largest-ever reception for alumni and students of color, Sandra Herrera '05 told Sullivan that she would miss having her as Dean, but Sullivan offered only good news: "I'll always be at your parties."

Walking into the reunion dinners on Saturday evening, guests felt as if they had entered one of Jay Gatsby's celebrations. The white pavilions shimmered under a starlit sky; Japanese lanterns glowed warmly over a red-carpeted boardwalk. And the voices of Fleet Street, a Stanford a capella group, wafted through the gathering. "The alumni were especially spirited this year," remarked Michael Bernstein, a Fleet Street member. "We had more requests for 'Dirty Golden Bear' than the aggregate sum of many years past."