Friday, December 23, 2005

A Cornell Acacian's Holiday Wish List

In the spirit of the Holiday Season, I thought I would compile my wish list for 2005/2006. The items below are ordered in importance to the history project.

1. Travelers, 1951 - 1971. Brother Stein has saved copies of the Travelers since 1972, and the chapter house has copies of newsletters from 1912 to 1934 and 1946 to 1950. I know there were no newsletters produced between 1941 and 1945 on account of the war, and I think it is unlikely to find any of the lost newsletters from 1935 to 1941. If any brother knows of any copies of any of the Travelers from 1951 to 1971, please contact me!

2. Photographs from 1907 to 1947 and from 1968 to 1995 of brothers, Acacia, and Cornell. If you have a scanner, why not send some of your photos from Acacia to me via email (tjb36@cornell.edu). If you don't have a scanner, send them to Acacia via mail, and I will return them in a week's time.

3. Survey questions. Though the research team and I plan to contact every alumni with a known, working telphone number, the more alumni who volunteer answers to the survey questions mailed in the Fall 2005 Traveler, the easy our jobs will be.

4. Volunteers for Acacia! Help is needed contacting alumni to conduct phone and in-person interviews. Broadly, we are hoping one alumni will volunteer per graduating class year to contact their classmates, build interest in the 2007 Centennial, and generally be a leader among their brothers once again. Also, advise on printing the book in 2007 is desired from alumni with experience in publishing or printing.

5. Donations. Though listed last in importance to the actual research and writing of the book, alumni dues and specific donations earmarked for the history project are needed. As of year-end 2005, we have received $700+ in alumni dues earmarked for the history project. Any alumnus who donates $100 or more to the history project will be recognized in the book in the appendix.

For those interested, there will be a meeting at 4 pm Saturday, January 7, 2006 in Ramsey, NJ (my hometown) to discuss the business of the book, including funding, goals, and progress. If you cannot attend in person, I will be setting up a toll-free conference bridge which you can dial into for the call. The conference bridge can handle up to 50 separate callers, so feel free to join us!

Happy Holidays to all, and here's to seeing a Cornell Acacian's wishes come true in 2006!

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