SDSU Alum Gala Gets High Marks

The administration and alumni of San Diego State University came together Saturday to say nice things about one another, and, as it came to pass, they handled their duties with feeling.

SDSU’s Eleventh Annual Alumni Awards Gala proved to be a classy reunion, one that gave hope to former B-minus students by celebrating the achievements of 10 distinguished graduates of the university. The formal event drew nearly 500 participants to the ballroom of the Marriott hotel in the Golden Triangle; proceeds are earmarked for SDSU academic programs.

The honorees and university VIPs assembled early in a penthouse suite to share cocktails and cocktail-hour chatter. SDSU President Tom Day waited in the hallway with his wife, Anne, to greet arrivals; they were lucky in their choice of location since the size of the crowd made the relatively spacious suite a fearsome spot for budding claustrophobes.

Day, who will celebrate his 10th anniversary as president June 29, said he took a fair degree of pleasure in the Alumni Assn.’s list of 1988 honorees.

“These alumni typify the spread of disciplines and professions at SDSU,” said Day. “They also demonstrate the fact that our graduates are very successful both in society at large and in their professional pursuits.”

City Clerk Chuck Abdelnour, who chaired the gala, also stationed himself in the hallway, where, despite the bright lighting, a faint glow seemed to surround his face when he discussed his alma mater.

“I was really happy to see some Imperial County awardees on the list, because that’s where I grew up, and the SDSU campus there makes such a difference,” said Abdelnour. “The awards sponsored by the alumni associates have reached the same level of prominence and distinction--and I want to stress the word distinction-- as the university itself. They parallel the types of honors that older universities provide their deans and alumni.”

It was, of course, impossible to find an honoree who agreed that he deserved the notice, but all of them looked pleased enough by the occasion, as did their spouses. For example, Carol Dobson, wife of restaurateur Paul Dobson, who received the alumni award given by the College of Arts and Letters, freely admitted that her husband was worthy of the honor.

“My husband deserves this award,” she said. “He’s a fine product of this system, a shining product of SDSU.”

Since the evening did, to an extent, take the form of a reunion of former teachers, students and classmates, the guests seemed reluctant to take their seats in the ballroom. They did eventually settle in, though, for a program directed by master of ceremonies Jack White, who teased the crowd by pointing out the absence of several well-known SDSU graduates. Among those he singled out were Stars & Stirpes skipper Dennis Conner and Mayor Maureen O’Connor; White drew amused applause when he said, “Dennis Conner won’t be here tonight, because he’s taking swimming lessons from Maureen O’Connor.”

However, all the honorees were present, with the single exception of art professor John Baldessari, whose award was given in absentia. All made their acceptances in an unusual tandem format that began with videotaped remarks and continued with brief, live acceptances as each was called to the podium.

The awards ceremony took place following a dinner of roast beef and berry pudding; during the meal, outgoing Alumni Assn. President Craig Evanco took care of current alumni business, including the installation of new alumni chief Bernie Rhinerson. “Building relationships is the theme that has guided us through the years,” Evanco said as he explained the association’s primary mission.

Those enduring relationships became quite evident as the honorees stepped forward one by one. Their acceptance remarks were, without exception, brief but poignant, especially those made by Lorraine Pritchett, who with her husband and fellow Imperial Valley campus graduate, Howard Pritchett, teaches in the El Centro public school system. “Without the Imperial Valley campus,” she said quite simply, “I would not have received an education.”

Sue Earnest, emeritus professor of speech pathology and audiology and a 1928 alumna, earned a standing ovation when she waltzed to the stage to accept the award given by the College of Health and Human Services. “This award is the culmination of a 70-year love affair with San Diego State,” she said.

Other distinguished alumni awards went to banker Robert Beck, honored by the College of Business Administration; former state Sen. James Mills, an alumnus of the College of Education; Hewlett-Packard computer wizard Christian Nagel, who received the award granted by the College of Engineering; and UC San Diego superconductivity research physicist M. Brian Maple, honored by the College of Sciences.

The evening’s high point arrived with the presentation of the Alumnus of the Year award to Bob Payne, whose leadership of January’s Super Bowl XXII granted San Diego one of its most gratifying and memorable civic moments. Payne acknowledged being more or less pleased as punch by the recognition.

“It’s truly a delightful honor, one that’s hard to believe,” he said. “Let me just say that, for all of you B-minus students out there (Payne spoke from experience), there’s hope, and there’s light at the end of the rainbow.”

The formalities concluded with a brief auction led by Jack White, in which the chief offering was the baton that will be used to conduct the SDSU band when it plays the school fight song at the homecoming game this Oct. 15. A lively bidding battle finally brought the gavel down at an impressive $1,200. Afterward, the alumni retired to the dance floor, where they rocked and rolled as a reminder to current SDSU students that, despite their quest for academic excellence, they attend an institution that enjoys a fair reputation as a party school, too.

Among the guests were SDSU Academic Affairs Vice President Albert Johnson and his wife, Susan; Jack and Mary Goodall; Shannon and Rocky Rockcastle; Ron Kendrick; former CBS News President Sig Mickelson and his wife, Elena Mier y Teran; SDSU North County campus dean Richard Rush and his wife, Shirley; Daniel Walker; Lynn Stedd White; Hackley and Mary Woodford; Kay North (who will chair the America’s Cup Ball to be given at the San Diego Yacht Club on Aug. 27); and Tim and Sharon Considine.

There seemed to be a double entendre lurking in the name of the “MayFest” gala given Friday by the UCSD School of Medicine’s Institute for Research on Aging.

The event rather obviously tributed the month, but the second, subtler message undoubtedly was that youth springs eternal.

Given for 200 guests in the Fairbanks and Bel-Aire ballrooms of the Sheraton Grand hotel, MayFest featured an evening-long program of fun and games punctuated only by a mid-party buffet supper. The meal arrived after the guests had whetted appetites by dancing to the inimitable Yankee Air Pirates, and before the “auction of the year,” which offered everything from a three-session windsurfing course, to a year’s supply of cheesecakes aimed at the modest of girth.

Institute director Dr. Jay Seegmiller turned out both to cheer his patrons on and to explain his organization’s unique programs.

“Our main objective is the maintenance of vitality in the later years,” he said. “We’re convinced that old age need not be synonymous with age and disability; they’re separate processes.” Seegmiller added that the event was organized to provide seed money for more research programs, which, when in place, will assist the institute in obtaining support from national funding organizations.

The event’s serious side generally was superseded by the pleasures of the moment; or, as institute board president Pat Hyndman put it, “Parties keep us young.”

Chairmen Edward and Luann Beberman headed a committee that included Janice Amar, Myrtle Gordon, Nancy Stringer, David Miller, Maryann Herbenar, Dixie Unruh, John Cates, Suzanne Angelucci, Lee Cox, Betty Stevens, John Colonghi, Bettina Experton, Roberta Seegmiller and Lela Potomac.