Politics dominated the scene, as our last fall quarter wound down. The biggest event in many of our lives was the opportunity to vote in the presidential election for the first time. We took our ballots to a room in the basement of Baker Library, marked them, turned them in to an election officer, and waited to see the results. The Daily D had conducted a poll of students, which indicated a 72.8-percent victory for Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater. The actual results were a slightly smaller landslide victory for the Democrats. Bobby Kennedy defeated the incumbent Kenneth Keating for the New York Senate seat.


Unnoticed by most, two days before the election, Vietnamese insurgents attacked the American airbase at Bien Hoa with mortars, destroying five B-57 bombers and several other aircraft. The war was beginning to escalate. Names like Bien Hoa would become all too familiar over the next nine years.


On the eve of Houseparties Weekend, Bryce Harbaugh was elected to Palaeopitus as a member-at-large. The final big fall weekend of our college career was a special time for many of us. Coach Blackmun introduced the football team from the balcony of Hopkins Center and the team responded by beating Archie Manning’s Columbia squad handily. Steve Waterhouse sent me a photo and reminded me that Andy Gundlach was not the only Indian cheerleader we had on the sidelines that year. Capping outstanding college football careers, All-Ivy honors were accorded to Ed Keible, Bob Komives and Bruce Gottschall, with Ted Bracken and Jack McLean also received recognition.


Led by captain Ron Knapp, the soccer team tied for first place and received an invitation to play in the NCAA national soccer championship tournament that year. The rugby team, captained by John Raney and Dan Corbett, also had a strong year, finishing the season 8-3. The basketball team, led by captain Vic Mair and Dave Blain, started the season off with an early December victory over the University of Vermont.


Not all of the accomplishments took place on the athletic arenas. Five of our classmates received Marcus Heiman Awards for excellence in the creative arts: Mike Schiffman and Ron Tegtmeier for music, the late Larry Lowic for painting, Tri Devakul for sculpture and Willis Fugate for poetry.


Reading the issues of The Daily D from those days brings back great memories. The managing board, led by Charlie Strauss, the late David Konowitz, Edward Goodkind, Pete Bush, Bill Boukalik, Mark Nackman, the late Stu Lieber and Mark Laster, produced a great paper. We took it for granted as undergraduates. Today it’s easy to see the hard work that went into chronicling our lives in Hanover.


Steve Fowler (stephens.fowler@myfairpoint.net) and Mike Bettmann (bettmann@wfubmc.edu), are putting together a great weekend for our 50th. Put it on your calendar now. Contact your friends of 50 years ago and urge them to attend. The dates are June 12-15, 2015. We will also have a gathering on Thursday, June 11, at the Ravine Lodge for the official dedication of the new Class of 1965 Cabin. 


Please send me a note about what you have been doing.


—Tom Long, 1056 Leigh Mill Road, Great Falls, VA 22066; (703) 759-4255; tomlong@gwu.edu