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President's Column: Coming Home
9/8/2003

I came to a rather humbling realization the other day. While discussing plans for the UMAA Birthday Party of the Century (which, for the sake of calendar-marking, is scheduled for January 30), it occurred to me that my relationship with the University of Minnesota has spanned four of those 10 decades.

I was formally introduced to the University as a student. A tennis scholarship and big-school appeal lured me from my native Chicago in 1962. I graduated four and a half years later with a business degree and, more notably, a date to marry the fellow U of M graduate, Jane Veker (B.A. '66), who's been my wife for 36 years now. In 1973, I came back to the University as the head coach of the men's tennis team. It was a part-time post that I held, and cherished, until 1988, when I resigned to devote more time to my family and my career in the health and fitness industry (I did, however, stay connected as a member of the Baseline Club, the men's tennis booster group). Four years ago, I returned to the University as an alumni association volunteer. Like most UMAA members, I just wanted to give a little something back to the institution that literally launched my adult life.

I tell you this not only as a means of introducing myself as the UMAA national board president for the next year; I also want to illustrate how fortunate I've been to enjoy what I consider to be a very rich relationship with my alma mater. I suspect that for many people, their college campus is a place of the past—the setting of some of their fondest memories frozen in time. They turned in their house keys, as it were, when they collected their diplomas and made tracks for the "real world."

Let's consider my father-in-law, Stanley Veker (D.D.S. '43). He and about 50 others classmates from the School of Dentistry have held annual reunions (except during World War II, in which most of them served). Traveling from all parts of the country, they've converged on just about every imaginable Twin Cities-area venue: Fort Snelling, VFW halls, casinos, and country clubs. But never, oddly, had they returned to the campus where their years-long friendship began.

That all changed when Jane and I brought her parents to a UMAA annual meeting two years ago at the McNamara Alumni Center. Like countless other alumni, my father-in-law hadn't yet stepped foot inside our marvelous new "community center." That first visit made a profound—and immediate—impression. "We should have our next reunion here," he declared within minutes of passing through the front door. Indeed, earlier this year, the School of Dentistry class of '43 held its first on-campus reunion, its 60th, at the McNamara Alumni Center. For many of them, this was the first time they'd been on campus since graduation day. They were clearly elated about their belated homecoming. And they'll be back next year.

It's been an absolute pleasure to watch these distinguished alumni reacquaint themselves with their University. If you haven't been back for a while, I urge you to follow their lead. It's never too late to reconnect with the diverse and vibrant University community.

If it's an excuse you need, what better occasion for a homecoming than, well, homecoming? This year's celebration is set for November 1, when the football Gophers line up against Indiana. Before and during the homecoming parade, the UMAA will host its annual homecoming breakfast. An expert will be on hand to appraise Gopher memorabilia, and prizes will be awarded for the oldest and most unique items, as well as the item that draws the highest appraisal. So round up your old homecoming programs and Gopher pennants and share them with your University friends over breakfast. Create new memories while you recall old ones.

The preceding evening, silent and live auctions will raise funds for scholarships. Items up for bidding include a chocolate- and wine-tasting event for 15 at Chocolat Céleste and, of course, a teeth-whitening procedure at the practice of one of our dentistry grads.

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