Calling all Hope College anchor alumni
I received word yesterday that three alumni of the Hope College anchor, the student newspaper where I toiled happily from 1971-75, are organizing a reunion of all anchor (never capitalized) alumni for the weekend of June 20-22 in Holland, Michigan.
The three organizers are George E. Arwardy, publisher of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger, John M. Mulder, and Don Luidens, who is on the Hope sociology faculty. While I don't approve of the current rightward drift (in truth, it's a speedboat race) of Hope College, I do enjoy journeys through the liberal past and so will make every effort to be there. Please pass the word about the reunion to any anchor alumni you know.
In e-mails this morning to Tom O'Brien, Gary Gray, Joe Courter and Jim Harris, I've suggested food from Burger King be served. Also, there could be guest appearances by former campus security chief Glen Bareman and Richard Angstadt, the alumni who did weekly paste-up of the paper in the early 1970s at The Composing Room in Grand Rapids. Plus a contest to see which of us can still fit through the tiny window into the former anchor office in Graves Hall that we used to get inside when we didn't have a key. Arwady, I'm sure, will talk about the honor of being the publisher of the newspaper that Tony Soprano walked down to pick up at the end of his driveway in many an episode.
Tom O'Brien--evidence that this event is already getting out of hand--suggested a recreation of the anchor staff "streak" (ca. 1973) through the Pine Grove. Gary Gray offered to provide photographic evidence of the original event. Former ad manager Joe Courter begged off attending, saying it was a long way to travel from Florida. But he reminded us of one of his favorite memories, a news clip (written directly from a school press release, as I recall) hanging on the office bulletin board about the installation of a new organ at Dimnent Chapel. Some of the wording was a bit, well, odd. Jim Harris reminisced fondly about a parody op-ed piece he wrote for the ranchor, the annual humor issue (printed on yellow paper) "that made Gordon cry."
All in all, it should be fun. I tried to link a pdf of the nuts-and-bolts information, but couldn't figure out how to do it, so if you're interested, contact Don Luidens at luidens@hope.edu. You can register online at http://myhope.hope.edu. See you there. Despite the fact that the events will take place on the Hope College campus, and despite connections between college and the family of a certain well-known operator of a mercenary firm, no Blackwater personnel will be present. As far as I know.