MINUTES – CLASS OF 1957 OFFICERS

CACO’S MID-WINTER MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009

Class President, Doris Goudsmit Albert, called the meeting to order at 9:45 AM.

PRESENT: President, Dori Albert; Regional Vice President, Barbara Schlerf; Cornell Annual Fund Representative, Roberta DeVries; 55^th Reunion Chairs, Elizabeth Starr King and Charles Parker; Class Advisory Board/Nominating Committee Members, Sue Henninger, Judy Levy, Ed Vant, and Bob Watts, Nominations Chair and Webmaster. Classmates, Christine Zeller Lippman and Adelaide Vant.

MINUTES: The Minutes from last year’s meeting on Feb. 9, 2008, were distributed and reviewed. A motion to approve the Minutes was passed unanimously. Dori thanked Judy Levy for having served as our Substitute Secretary for the 2008 Annual Officer’s Meeting.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Bob Watts distributed the detailed Treasurer’s Report prepared by Class Treasurer, Stu MacKay. Stu had a knee replacement and was unable to come to our meeting. Stu’s report includes separate financial info for the University Fiscal Year July 2007 – June 2008, a Six-month Report July 2008 – December 2008, and several comparison reports. His final comment: “ If the Class of 1957 has a financial challenge, it is probably nothing more than deciding how to most effectively utilize the funds we have accumulated. Considering the current business environment, this is a delightful challenge to have!”

Ed Vant commented on the Class postage and printing expenses; he expressed his concern re the number of incorrect mailing addresses Cornell is using. Ed asked that he be authorized to request Cornell to send him a current hard copy Flat List of the Class of 1957 and that, if necessary, the Class would pay any costs involved. His request was approved.

RED POCKET CALENDAR: Dori explained that the University may no longer be offering the Calendar, which we have purchased for many years and traditionally sent to all Class Dues Payers along with a note from the Class President. After again reviewing the Minutes of 2008 and discussing our various options and the cost thereof, a motion was approved to try a year without mailing the calendar. Dues Payers still need to be recognized/thanked; a year end bulk mailing of postcards with a note from the President and/or Treasurer might work. Sending a Reunion Reminder Magnet to all classmates at the end of 2010 is possibility.

CORNELL ANNUAL FUND: Bert DeVries reported the following Fund data:

Total Gifts Total Donors Tower Club Total Mailable

FY 2008: $ 3,708,619 495 58 1213

FY 2007: $12,951,988 609 102 1241

STATUS OF CLASS FUNDS AND PROJECTS: A full reporting for FY 2008, including pay-outs, was provided in the Agenda for the meeting. Class of 1957 Cornell Tradition Fellowship ($15,000- 3 Fellows); Class of 1957 45^th Reunion Scholarship ($6,719–1 Recipient);

Class of 1957 Glee Club Memorial Fund ($1,556); Class of 1957- Kinkeldey Maintenance Endowment ($7,336)----any excess $ after maintenance needs addressed, will go to the Uris Library as specified by the University Librarian; Class of 1957 Library Book Endowment ($13,747).

REGIONAL VP COMMENTS: There were no specific reports. Sue suggested that we have a chair for the Regional VP’s, whose job would be to keep in touch with each VP and possibly send out suggestions for improving our Class communications within their region. The suggestion of Nancy Krauthamer Goldberg for this position was enthusiastically supported; Dori will contact Nancy.

Judy Levy reminded us that the Cornell Ice Hockey Team will be returning to Madison Square Garden for a game with Boston U. on Saturday, November 28, 2009. She suggested the Class should advertise this event as a possibility for mini reunions. Maybe the appropriate Regional VP’s could make some contacts using postcards or email. This event was a sell out on November 23^rd, 2007.

1957 CLASS DINNER DURING CACO MEETING: Bert DeVries and her husband John ’56,

have graciously made the arrangements for our Class Dinners since we have been meeting in Philadelphia; this is not an easy event to plan. Should the Class continue to have this event? Should it be on Friday or Saturday evening? Is there a conflict with the Saturday evening event planned by the Cornell Club of Philadelphia? Our decision was to wait and see what the location of future CACO meetings might be. The CACO Evaluation Questionnaire provides a space to express a location preference for Boston, New York or Washington, D.C. Our Class Officers really want to return to NYC. The suggestion that the Class Treasury underwrite some of the expenses associated with attending CACO, other than the registration fee, received a mixed response.

REUNION 2012 ADVANCED PLANNING: Because of an experimental change in CACO scheduling, Class Meetings were held in the AM and Reunion Workshops in the PM; therefore, Betty and Charlie had no specific information to share. A comment was made that we need to be very aware of the special needs of classmates who might want to attend our 55^th Reunion, but are hesitant to do so unless they are assured that the necessary assistance is available.

AFFILIATION WITH THE CLASS OF 2007: Although the Class Officers had agreed in February, 2008, “to adopt the Class of ’07 and provide them with seed money in the amount of $10,000 to start their first reunion in 2012”, “no details were set in place.” A motion to support the Class of 2007 with a “Pay It Forward” stimulus package of $10,000 for Reunion Activities was passed unanimously with the expectation that the Class of 2007 would agree to support the Class of 2057 in a similar manner. Our Class would also agree to informally mentor the Class of 2007 as requested.

PROJECT TO HONOR STEVE WEISS ‘57: Bob Watts has initiated this effort, and has obtained approval from the Library to place a “portrait” of Stephen H. Weiss in The Class of 1957 – Kinkeldey Room in the Uris Library. Bob will contact Suzanne Weiss, who has already supported this honor for Steve, to see if she has a special photo of Steve and/or an actual portrait that would be appropriate. If all goes well, we would celebrate this installation during Homecoming Weekend. A motion to pursue this project to honor the late Steven H. Weiss, Class of ’57 and Chairman of the Board of Trustee of Cornell University from 1989 – 1997, and to authorize a maximum of $2000 for providing an appropriate image of Steve was approved.

Classmate and artist Bill Schmidt, whose paintings of “Our Fair Cornell” and “Far Above” are already hanging in the Kinkeldey Room, could be asked to assist in the finalization of this project.

UNIVERSITY BOOK PROJECT: Dori will research further; could be appropriate for our 55^th Reunion.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS/RECOGNITION FOR 1957 CLASSMATES:

Recipients of the Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awards for 2009 will include

Steven Laden, Suzanne D. Henninger and her husband, Joe D. Henninger ’56 MBA ’58. Presentation will occur at a celebratory dinner on Friday, October 16, 2009, during Homecoming Weekend. Previous ‘57 recipients include M. Arthur Gensler, Jr., Anthony B. Cashen , Vanne S. Cowie and her husband, Robert A. Cowie ’55, MBA ’57 and Stephen H. Weiss.

Robert W. Staley ’57, BME ’58, MBA ’59 received the Samuel C. Johnson Distinguished Service Award at a dinner in NYC on January 22, 2009.

In April of 2008, during the Spring Awards Ceremony for fraternities and sororities, a new mentoring program was funded with an anonymous million dollar matching gift and was named “The Anthony B. Cashen Greek Fellows Mentoring Program”.

CHECK PRESENTATION TO THE CLASS OF 2007: Quoting from Bob Watts’ Email: This check presentation was orchestrated by Dori as a complete surprise – by inviting the ‘07 class officers to join our class officers at the end of our meeting and just prior to lunch to discuss a joint event for our respective next reunions – our 55^th and their 5^th. After introductions of all present, and discussion of some options for a joint reunion event, Dori revealed the check, described its intent, and made the official presentation. For those not present, you should have seen the ’07 faces morph from total disbelief to deep appreciation as the import of our gift sank in. After their effusive thank you remarks, we encouraged them to do the same (Pay It Forward) for the class of 2057, adjusted for inflation! Bob has put a photo and comment on our Class Website (http://classof57.alumni.cornell.edu/); The event also was covered by Cornell photographer and should be covered by a future issue of Cornell Alumni Magazine.

Meeting was adjourned at noon. Suzanne D. Henninger, Acting Secretary

Guests at Class Dinner/CACO Luncheon: Ron Dunbar ’57- BEE ’58, Joe Henninger ’56, Bernie Lippman, Gill Parker, Gil Schlerf ’55, and Bill Wingate