As a train headed east from a cold Grinnell train station in December of 1962, it was carrying students headed home for holiday break — some of them heading for the Chicago area.
My mother’s parents allowed all four of their daughters to choose a college within a few hundred miles of Chicago. She was accepted at Grinnell long before it had achieved national notoriety in men’s basketball or swimming and after it had established itself as a top small liberal arts college.
Earlier this month, Grinnell’s graduating class of 1966 held its 50th reunion, and 84 members of the approximately 220 surviving members came back to the campus to share memories and learn about the present and future plans of the college. I was able to witness some of the reunion events firsthand and many more through Mom’s accounts, along with her opinions about how her alma mater should conduct business.
Mom was happy to go from York Community High School — a large, public school in Elmhurst, a suburb of Chicago — to a small, liberal arts college. The fact Grinnell College was out in the country was immaterial. Taking the Chicago “L” to the Rock Island line and into Iowa was a premium selling point for the school to Windy City families.
Mom knew life at Grinnell would mean a ton of studying, but she said she had no idea the school’s curriculum and courses would be so tough. It took nearly every waking moment of non-class time to stay up on each subject in that era, and she doesn’t remember leaving campus to go downtown for anything.
The world changed considerably while she was in the then-gender-segregated Grinnell dorms — the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy assassination, escalation of the Vietnam War, the Watts Riots and the release of the first James Bond films all happened during her years there. However, not much changed on campus in terms of the focused lifestyle there — Mom was either in her dorm studying, in class, with the other female students in the dining hall, or on the train or riding home with her parents back to Elmhurst.
The 50 years that’s gone by since she graduated in 1966 feels more like 20 years, she said. She said it was sad to be on campus again knowing some of her classmates had passed away.
A handful of her Grinnell classmates were killed in action in Vietnam — young, educated men who had graduated college and gone into the military in their early 20s, only to have their futures end on a battlefield about 9,000 miles from central Iowa. Mom said thinking of these classmates made her extremely sad, knowing how short their lives had been.
Of the 250 Grinnell graduates from the spring of 1966, about 30 have passed away, but 84 were able to make it to the 50th Reunion. Filled with successful people and representing all sorts of trades, industries and professions, the Class of 1966 presented the university with more than $4 million (so far) as its class gift.
Of course, folks who donate big to their alma mater want some say over the way things are done on campus. Grinnell alumni want to see the campus and total enrollment remain as small as possible, and are excited to see the growth of innovating programs and practices.
Grinnell’s Class of 1966 took many years to build up its legacy. It was great to see Mom smile as she took part in celebrating the tradition the 66ers have established.
Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121
ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com