Syracuse University Magazine Fall/Winter 2016

http://sumagazine.syr.edu/2016fall-winter/alumnijournal/suaacolumn.html

Celebrating Orange Friendships

September’s Orange Central weekend was an incredible celebration, and I want to say thank you to the thousands of alumni and friends who returned home for our annual homecoming and reunion events. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to meet all of you and to share our passion for all things Orange.

We welcomed so many amazing alumni to campus, including graduates who I believe truly capture what it means to be “Forever Orange.” I hope these short stories spark a desire in all of you to visit your alma mater—whether during Orange Central, or perhaps for a basketball game, or maybe, just maybe, for a simple walk down memory lane during the winter months.

Lawrence Nusbaum Jr. ’51 and David Koplowitz ’51 started a lifelong friendship at Syracuse University. They were Syracuse students at a time when gasoline cost $0.19 per gallon, I Love Lucy debuted on television sets across the country, and Harry Truman occupied the White House as the 33rd president of the United States.

The day they earned their diplomas was also the last time the duo stood on campus. That is, until Orange Central. Sixty-five years later, while gazing out at the Hall of Languages, both remarked that they wished they had visited sooner. Four years at Syracuse, they said, were the best of their lives.

Barry Gipstein ’56 has a different story. His visits to campus have become a longstanding tradition. Without fail, he and his friends Dr. Milt Friedlander ’56, Ted Krawitz ’56, and Dr. Herb Portnoff ’56 make it back to campus with their wives for homecoming/reunion weekend every five years.

And then there’s Bernadette and Sam Penceal, both members of the Class of 1966. Orange Central marked two special milestones: their 50th class reunion and the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. The couple is choosing to spend the year ahead celebrating their wedding anniversary; they decided to start the celebrations at Orange Central—at the University where their love story started.

As president of the Syracuse University Alumni Association, I thoroughly enjoy these fantastic alumni stories. We are Forever Orange, no matter the date that’s stamped on our diplomas. Our Orange story started here.

Forever Orange,

Mark Verone ’95

President, Syracuse University Alumni Association