After its 50th Reunion, the Class of ‘69, in the hopes of drawing in a wider assortment of its highly diverse members, created a new, larger class council. And one of the first ideas generated was to stage a series of talks by, and subsequent discussion with, some of our more ‘illustrious classmates.’ Titled ‘Class Colloquia’, these talks were quite popular. And most who attended both appreciated the civility and high mindedness of the Zoom gatherings, and also felt a renewed sense of commonality and community with their fellow classmates.
Then someone had the bright idea of extending this sense to the ‘Prime Boomer’ graduating years which surrounded us. After all, there is an entire generation of Yalies which came of age in the late Sixties and early Seventies, and thus share that uniquely intense experience. And this generation was quite different from both the ‘Brooks Brothers’ group which preceded us and the ‘merit-ocrats’ which came afterward. What’s more, many of us already have friends from adjoining classes.
So, organizing an organization such as YaleBoom seemed to make a certain intuitive sense.
To be clear: The goal here is not to replace or supersede the structure of leadership of any Class. Rather, the thought is that, what with a somewhat larger group of people who hold in common both Yale and ‘the Sixties,’ we won’t be tied to just the traditional Yale alumni activities of five-year reunions and Harvard football games; new ideas and new common interest groups can be generated.
Further, if and when Covid ever ends, this larger group will make the planning of ‘creative’ mini-reunions and group trips much easier.
In the meantime, while most of us are obediently in seclusion, this larger group will also plausibly facilitate the creation of (and attendance at) a wider assortment of talks and lectures, both from within our ranks and from the outside world.
Now we most certainly don’t want to cram this idea down anyone’s throat. And if you would like to Opt Out of the periodic mailings which will inform you of upcoming events, etc. (and currently they will only happen every month or so), you can do so right here:
But we hope that you will stick around. At least long enough to see how this begins to pan out.
And we also hope that you might be enthused enough by the concept that you will volunteer to contribute your ideas or energy. After all, the only way that this will take off is organically.
Thanks.