Still Cougs after all these years

Golden and Diamond grads back in Pullman

WSU may have transformed a lot since 1955, or even 1965, but the camaraderie of graduates from those years hadn’t changed a bit.

One of the largest groups of golden and diamond alumni in years gathered late last October at the Lewis Alumni Centre, where they joined their old friends from 50 or more years ago. Gerry Danquist ’65 thought it was great to see so many fellow pharmacy students.

“We have about half the class of 26 pharmacy graduates here,” says Danquist. He traveled from Indianapolis, where he retired after getting his MBA from Harvard Business School and working 34 years at Eli Lilly. “I saw several pharmacy students I hadn’t seen since graduation. We all spread out and went our own way.”

Danquist was joined by fellow 1965 pharmacy grads Jim Els, Jim Fulton, Bob Redmond, John Oftebro, and others. They toured the pharmacy school at WSU Spokane, one of their highlights before the Pullman events.

Graduates of all colleges kept a packed schedule for their three days on campus. In addition to the Friday night reception, they took a campus tour, attended a presentation by ROTC to honor veterans, listened to a concert by a WSU music student, received an update on the medical school, and met with Interim President Dan Bernardo for a state of the University address.

The alumni capped off the weekend with a tailgate party and a WSU football game on Saturday night.

For several of the events, including a tour of the new football building, the ’55 and ’65 grads mingled with younger alumni. The graduates at the reception were unanimous in their praise of the reunion.

“From the welcoming event, to the caravans to get us around, to the accommodations, everything has been first class—which is what you’d expect from WSU,” says Oftebro.

Each year the Alumni Association hosts reunions, not only for 50- and 60-year graduates, but for all alumni. To learn more about campus gatherings organized by the Alumni Association, visit alumni.wsu.edu or call 800-258-6978. You can also learn about joining the more than 30,000 other Cougs in the WSU Alumni Association.