AUGUST 2001
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To all Alumni:
Greetings from Hudson and the entire WRA community. I hope and trust that your summer has been a pleasant one. In spite of the hot and dry weather that we have been experiencing here, there has been a great deal of activity on campus. (Photo: Skip and Britt Flanagan)
The Cleveland Institute of Music's school for strings, Encore, has been with us for yet another delightful year. The faculty and students of Encore bring the very finest level of training and performance for strings here to the Academy. The three concerts per week attract a regular and robust following, and we are pleased to have these guests as well.
We continue to upgrade the physical aspects of the campus to provide our students and faculty with the facilities and tools that they need and deserve. With the move of the John D. Ong Library to its own magnificent facility last year, the renovation of Wilson Hall is now well underway. When completed, we will have a first-rate setting for physics, chemistry, and biology. Work also has begun on Cartwright House, which you may recall is the former faculty residence located on College Street immediately north of Hobart House. It is being reconfigured to serve as a dormitory for 14 girls. This change will allow for some needed changes and improvements to Ellsworth Hall. Finally, the facelift of Wood House has been nothing short of miraculous.
Of course, the heart of our school is our outstanding faculty. You will read or hear more in the future about several new members for the 2001 - 2002 academic year.
There is much more that has been going on at Reserve, and some of it is chronicled for you in this Alumni Association on-line newsletter and in mailings to you. Of course, there is no substitute for a visit to Hudson and the WRA campus so that you can see for yourself the great progress your school and our students are making every day. I cordially invite you to visit at any time.
Finally, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks for your continued interest in Reserve and for your strong support. Without your ongoing involvement in so many aspects of life at Reserve, meeting our goals would be impossible. We are indeed fortunate to have such a large and loyal alumni population.
Very truly yours,
H. E. Flanagan, Jr.
Reunion Weekend Draws a Sizable Crowd
Our June reunion weekend drew a crowd of 425 alumni.
In addition to the normal gatherings and events, a memorial service was held for Rollie Waite on Saturday morning in the Chapel. Rollie retired in 1994 after a 35-year teaching career at Reserve.
The Chapel was also the scene of the Alumni Association's presentation of its annual award. This year's Alumni Association Award went to the WRA Class of 1950 - 2000 Club, Inc., in honor of its having raised more than $283,000 above and beyond its Annual Fund contributions. The money was presented to the school on the occasion of the Class's 50-year reunion in 2000.
This year's Waring Prize Award was presented to The Hon. James Robertson '55, U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia. Jim has an illustrious career both as a lawyer and as a judge. The Waring Prize was established in 1972 in recognition of J. Frederick Waring, master in English and history at Reserve from 1935 to 1967. (Photo: Reunion Weekend-Friday afternoon registration at Ellsworth Hall)
Over by the Hockey Pond, Headmaster Henry E. Flanagan dedicated a grove of 62 trees (one for each class member) as a special Class of 1951 50th Reunion gift . Oxy Golden funded the project to honor his Reserve classmates. The Class of 1951 also set an Annual Fund contribution record this year by donating more than $250,000.
Alumni Gatherings Keep Classmates in Touch With Each Other and Reserve
A variety of social events brought together Reserve alumni, both on- and off-campus this spring.
- In April, 140 parents of alumni (some of them alumni themselves) were treated to a buffet dinner at Pierce House, along with entertainment by the WRA Jazz Band.
- Reserve's 175 Birthday Party was held on April 26, and included a luncheon at Ellsworth Hall and a "Reserve Today" program. Eleven alumni from 40s and 50s returned to campus to experience Reserve as it is today. The program included comments from Skip Flanagan, Board of Trustees member Steve Cole '66, and other faculty and staff. Two days later, the Hudson Relay was revived. Students, faculty, and alumni from WRA ran various legs of a 26-mile route from the Reserve campus to University Circle in Cleveland, delivering a message from the Headmaster to the President of CWRU to kick off the University's Spring Carnival.
- A group of "alumni-in-waiting" from the Class of 2001 joined several members of the Alumni Association Board at a Pierce House picnic on May 10.
- At Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, 120 alumni and current members of the Reserve community mingled at a May 24 cocktail party.
New Officers, Members Lead Alumni Association Board
The WRA Alumni Association Board has new officers and seven new members for 2001 - 2002. The new board president is Anne Campbell Goodman '84 of Cleveland. She succeeds Charlie Tramel '79 of Zanesville, Ohio. Anne is director of the Cleveland Food Bank. New vice presidents are Jenny Campbell Peterson '84 of Columbus, Ohio, and Don Husat '64 of Hudson. Jenny is with Lane Bryant, Inc., and Don is principal of Employee Communication Solutions, a human resources consulting firm. Meredith Dorson '87 will serve as the AAB secretary. Meridith is a Cleveland resident and works with Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals. Anthony Boerio '79 is the Alumni Association treasurer. He is a maintenance manager with USAirways in Pittsburgh.
New members of the Alumni Association Board are:
- James McDowell '48 - Lakewood, OH
- Wendy Trotter '81 - San Francisco, CA
- Cheryl Wear '82 - Akron, OH
- Gail Roemer Montenegro '84 - Chicago, IL
- James Clessuraus ' 88 - San Francisco, CA
- Jyl McLaughlin '91 - Boston, MA
- Gilles Strucker '95 - Washington, D.C.
The mission of the WRA Alumni Association Board is to "foster the Reserve spirit through the lifetime of all alumni through activities that will build close relations between the alumni, the Academy, students, and faculty." Reserve alumni are encouraged to contact Board members with their ideas for activities and ways in which the Board can better serve alumni and the school. To e-mail a Board member in your area or region, select Contact Us from WRA website main menu and click on the Alumni Association option: http://www.wra.net/contact/association.html. For more information about the Association and its activities, choose Alumni from the website home page and then select Alumni Association.
Cleveland's Hopkins: Civic Visionary
By Thomas L. Vince
WRA Archivist and Historian
Of all the families who have sent multiple students to WRA, the Hopkins family may well claim to have set the standard for high achievement. In the late 19th century, five Hopkins brothers from the old Newburgh neighborhood in southeast Cleveland attended WRA and went on to distinguished careers in the ministry, business, politics, and theatre. These were Evan and Jeffrey, both of the Class of 1885, William R., 1892, Benjamin, 1898, and Arthur, 1900. (Photo: William Hopkins, WRA Class of 1892)
While all the Hopkins brothers pursued successful careers, William Rowland Hopkins attained an unusual level of recognition as a result of his high-profile political career. Born in 1869, Will Hopkins was the sixth of 10 children born to David and Mary Hopkins, both of Welsh descent, who moved to Cleveland with their growing family in 1874. Eight of the Hopkins brothers worked in the steel mills before seeking higher education. Will went to work at age 13 and spent nine years as a steel worker before entering WRA at age 21. He graduated with the Class of 1892, earned a B.A. at Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1896 and his law degree in 1899.
While he was still in law school, Will was elected to Cleveland City Council in 1897 and served a two-year term. He and his brother, Ben, WRA '98 were active in promoting and constructing the Cleveland Short Line Railway, which linked up industries in the Flats area. Will continued to be active in the political arena, and in 1924 he was named Cleveland City Manager at a time when Cleveland was one of the largest cities in the U.S.
Cleveland had adopted the city manager form of government in order to improve efficiency and eliminate corruption and Will proved to be the right man for the job. During his nearly seven years as Manager, Will saw the completion of the Terminal Tower complex in the heart of Cleveland and the building of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Early in his tenure, he persuaded the Council to approve his plan to buy 700 acres of land on Brookpark Road to create Cleveland Municipal Airport. This would replace a small, inadequate airstrip on Woodland Avenue and would guarantee Cleveland's intention to remain on the direct mail route between New York and Chicago. By the end of the 1920s, the airport had proven to be one of the city's most productive assets. Eventually, the city would rename it in honor of William R. Hopkins—the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
But that honor would come years after Hopkins had been removed as City Manager in 1930 when the Council decided that he had assumed too much power. Although no longer its chief administrator, Hopkins returned to City Council as an elected member in 1932. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees at WRA from 1925 until his death in 1961 at the age of 91.
Two descendants of William R. Hopkins's brother, Ben, are recent graduates of the school. These are John B. Hopkins '95, now with the National Park Service in Montana, and Timothy '98, a student at Ohio University.
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