Decades Later

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Left to right, top to bottom, circa May 1962: Lloyd Nielsen, Jack Greenawalt, Jim Mauch, Paul Kirsch, Carl Dolce, Dave Ponitz; Al Benson, Tom Hasenflug, Fred Dippel, Rita Jennings, Daryl Pellitier, Ed Yaglou, Robert Binswanger "]

In the fall of 1960, 13 men traveled to Cambridge to pursue their doctoral degrees in what was then called the Administrative Career Program. They were required to study in residence at Harvard for two years before completing a final project in education administration that would serve as their dissertation. They came from around the country, many already married with families. They spent long hours in classes, at the library, and in the local school systems, trying to better understand the role of the education administrator. They went on to distinguished careers in schools, districts, community colleges, universities, and government agencies.

And they also became lifelong friends.

In the nearly 50 years since the 1960-62 cohort began their studies, they have celebrated each other's personal and professional achievements, including promotions, birthdays, and weddings. They have served as godparents and, more recently, attended the funerals of two of their classmates, Daryl Pelletier, Ed.D.'63, and Albert Benson, Ed.D.'64.

In an effort to keep in closer touch, the cohort has been formally organizing its own reunions since 1999. Every two years they choose a city to meet in. The most recent one was held this past October in Dearborn, Mich. Ten of the original 13 attended, along with five wives and one daughter, to celebrate nearly five decades of friendship.

"We were boot camp buddies," recalls Edward Yaglou, M.A.T.'57, Ed.D.'68, of his classmates. "Everyone worked hard, but rather than being competitive with one another, we tried to help each other out."

This spirit of camaraderie extended beyond the classroom and into their social lives. The families coordinated babysitting services so that they could help each other with work and study hours. There were carpools to campus and even organized social outings on the weekends to the Boston Pops and local art museums.

"There was an instant bonding," says Nancy Dolce, who was five months pregnant with her first child when she and her husband Carl Dolce, C.A.S.'61, Ed.D.'63, arrived in Cambridge from New Orleans. "It was such a small group, but we had so much in common. Even though the wives weren't taking the classes, we were involved in their program vicariously."

When the residency period concluded in 1962, the group went their separate ways to complete their dissertation projects, begin their administrative careers, and raise their families. Although they remained in touch as conferences and travel would allow, they did not formally reunite as a group until much later, in 1983, when their classmate Lloyd Nielsen, Ed.M.'55, Ed.D.'63, was elected president of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA).

To celebrate, the group decided to travel down to the AASA conference in Atlantic City and organize a dinner in his honor. It was the first time in a long time that the group reunited and, in a speech at the conference, Nielsen made it a point to recognize his classmates, recalls Robert Binswanger, Ed.M.'59, Ed.D.'64.

Although the conference offered the group the chance to see each other, it wasn't until the late 1990s, as many were retiring or reducing their workload, that the idea to hold more formal reunions came about.

At Binswanger's urging, Carl Dolce went online to look up each of the members and to propose a get-together. The idea was met with great enthusiasm and fellow classmate David Ponitz, Ed.D.'64, and his wife, Doris, stepped up to help him plan the first reunion, which was held in Williamsburg, Va.

This year, in addition to the social dinners and museum tours, there was the topic of whether the group should continue these reunions. The group voted overwhelmingly in favor of doing so. "When the topic came up," says Paul Kirsch, M.A.T.'52, Ed.D.'63, "the general response was, 'Why are we even asking the question? Of course we'll be meeting!'"

-- Tricia Hurley works in the Development and Alumni Relations Office.

-- Photo Courtesy of Paul Kirsch