Class of 1973
Your 50th Reunion Planning Committee
Thank you to the many volunteer committee members for their collaboration, dedication, and resources. We welcome more classmates to join our planning and gift committees. Please contact us at hamiltoncollege1973@gmail.com.
Hamilton Class of 1973 Reunion Planning Committee (updated October 2022):
- James S. Vick Class President/Reunion Chair
- Stuart J. Hamilton — Gift Planning Chair
- Dennis Oakes — Gift Chair
- Rick Eckman —Communications Chair/Class Correspondent
- Roy H. Schecter — Half Century Annalist
- Tommy Thompson — Alumni College Chair
- Eric Allen — Gift Committee
- Robert Brewer — Gift Committee
- Ken Givens — Gift Committee
- Stephen Small — Gift Committee
- Doug Jones
- Robert Kazanjian
- Michael Murphy
- Mark Rice
- Andy Sopchak
- Henry Watkins III
What to Expect
Below is a general overview of what to expect for your milestone reunion.
- Your milestone celebration begins on Wednesday, June 7, with a kick-off day in Cooperstown, N.Y. The day includes visits to local museums and a reception and dinner at the Otesaga Resort Hotel overlooking beautiful Otsego Lake. There is also an optional golf outing at the Leatherstocking Golf Course. Cooperstown is 50 minutes by car from Clinton, N.Y. For more information on Cooperstown and for a list of accommodations, please visit www.thisiscooperstown.com.
- Please plan to arrive on the Hill on Thursday, June 8. There is a special 50th reunion welcome and information desk. On-campus events begin in the afternoon, and we are hosting our first 50th reception and dinner with classmates and guests. The dinner program includes the presentation of the 50th reunion medallions, which we encourage you to wear during the weekend.
- Throughout the weekend there will be time to explore the campus, including The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center for Theater and Studio Arts, the Root Glen, the college bookstore, as well as the many new and old buildings and facilities around campus. There are a number of 50th reunion specific scheduled events, including Hamilton and Kirkland 50th alumni colleges, a golf cart campus tour followed by lunch, the all-alumni parade, the presentation of the half-century annalist letters for Hamilton and Kirkland, and social gatherings. Saturday night is a very special 50th class dinner with music and toasts. The reunion concludes on Sunday morning with the Service of Remembrance and a farewell brunch.
- The Reunion Planning Committee will be organizing virtual alumni colleges in winter/spring and two or three alumni colleges during reunion weekend, featuring panel discussion and discussions from members of your class across many areas of interest.
- The annual meeting of the Alumni Association is held on Saturday in the Chapel. The program includes the introduction of the class, presentation of the Hamilton and Kirkland half-century annalist letters, and the presentation of your 50th reunion class gift to President Wippman. The Bell Ringer Award is presented at the assembly to a member of the alumni community.
50th Reunion Gift Program
Outright gifts toward class gift purposes and/or the Hamilton Fund can be pledged and made over periods of up to five years with the full amount of the pledge crediting the 50th Reunion class total.
The 50th reunion gift form can be viewed and signed electronically. For any questions, please contact Victoria Kidd ’94 at vkidd@hamilton.edu or 315-859-3338. Contributions made by check can be mailed to: Hamilton College, Advancement Office, attention Katie Seamon, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323.
More Ways to Give
As with all gifts, you should consult your own tax advisors to confirm that it is advantageous for you to contribute appreciated securities.
If your broker (or bank) holds your shares, you may request that they be transferred directly to Hamilton via DTC (Depository Trust Company):
- Provide your broker with Hamilton’s DTC information below and ask them to include your name in the wiring instructions:
Merrill Lynch Account
DTC: 8862
Account Number: #814-04355
Account Name: The Trustees of Hamilton College
Broker: Claudine Zigmund (860-728-3984) - In order for Hamilton to promptly process and credit the gift to you, let Todd Clark know the name of the stock, and the number of shares or approximate dollar amount you will be transferring (315-859-4209 or tclark@hamilton.edu).
- The effective date of your gift will be the date the security is transferred into Hamilton’s account, and the value of your gift will be the average of the high and low quotations for that day.
If you hold your shares in certificate form:
- Send the unendorsed certificate(s) by first-class mail to:
Todd Clark
Communications and Development
Hamilton College
198 College Hill Road
Clinton, NY 13323 - By separate first-class mail, send Todd Clark a stock power form signed exactly as your name appears on the security but left otherwise completely blank. Include a letter of instruction designating your gift to Hamilton.
- The valuation date will be the postmark date on the certificate and the stock power form (whichever is postmarked last), and the value of your gift will be the average of the high and low quotations for that day.
- If your gift is to be less than the total number of shares listed on the certificate, include your social security number so a new certificate for the remaining shares can be issued.
Please call 866-729-0316 for instructions.
For those who care deeply about Hamilton, their story — their legacy — includes planning for the College’s future. Everyone who makes a planned gift believes that the future of Hamilton matters and tells an everlasting story of who they are and what they value.
How can a planned gift — for a purpose of your choice — tell your story? You have many ways to plan a gift, each with benefits such as immediate income tax deductions, transfer tax savings, lifetime income — and some with all three. Hamilton can work with you and your trusted advisors to help you plan a gift that accomplishes your personal, financial, and philanthropic goals.
To learn more about your planned giving options, or to let us know that you have already included Hamilton in your estate plans, please visit our website, or contact Director of Gift Planning Julie Ross '84 at jross3@hamilton.edu.
Hundreds of Hamilton alumni, parents, and friends have generously endowed funds that support our students, honor our faculty, establish new programs, and enhance the beauty of our campus. In so doing, they have established legacies that enrich Hamilton and honor their affection for the College.
Hamilton’s endowment consists of different types of funds. Each requires a minimum investment to ensure appropriate spending is available for the donor’s intended purpose.
When creating a new fund, Hamilton’s development staff members work closely with donors to ensure that both the donor’s intent and the College’s long-term needs are met. The capital necessary to establish an endowed fund at Hamilton may be provided through:
- outright contributions of cash,
- appreciated securities,
- real property,
- closely held stock,
- personal property, such as important works of art, rare books, manuscripts, or antiques.
Gifts to attain a specified fund minimum may be completed immediately or over time (up to five years), as well as through an estate plan.
For more information, please visit our website, or contact Katie Boyer '93, director of individual giving, at kboyer@hamilton.edu
You may direct contributions to Hamilton from your Donor Advised Fund. Please contact Katie Boyer '93, director of individual giving, at kboyer@hamilton.edu.
Half-Century Annalist Letters
“We soon discovered that the insistence on effective written and oral expression extended well beyond the English Department; it was a campus-wide conspiracy. Other professors who had no business worrying about sentence structure and semicolons got into the act of correcting our mistakes. Eventually, however, we understood that writing was not our fundamental challenge; it was thinking. Because to write or speak clearly, you had to think clearly. And that is what our teachers taught us to do.”
Class of 1973 Annalist Letter (written by Roy Schecter ’73)
“Our personalized education was indeed ‘a sign of the times,’ those turbulent, disturbing, but ultimately inspiring and reinforcing times. We arrived at Kirkland as optimistic, curious, and idealistic students. We left as more mature and courageous risk-takers, determined to make a positive difference in the world.”
Kirkland Half-Century Annalist Letter
