Letters to the editor

CLASS NOTES: ONLY YOU CAN WRITE ’EM
After each issue, we send a quick, anonymous survey to a small number of readers to help us understand what’s working and what’s not. Here’s one of the most compelling responses we received on the most recent survey, compelling because he says what others have also told us anecdotally. We reached out to the writer, who left his name with his comment, for permission to reprint (and lightly edit and condense) his response:

The biggest disappointment in the magazine is the lack of information in the Class Notes section. This is, of course, not the fault of the magazine but is the result of those of us who do not send in information. I am as guilty as anyone.

I do not want to appear ego-driven if I send information that seems self-congratulatory. I recently retired as the men’s tennis coach at the University of Notre Dame. I was inducted into college tennis’s Hall of Fame. On other previous occasions I was twice named as the national coach of the year, coached the U.S. team to a gold medal in the 1991 World University Games in England, and won other national, prestigious awards.

I never notified the University of any of this because I did not want it to appear that I was being a show-off and seeking attention. Perhaps many of my classmates and fraternity brothers would have wanted to know of my successes. I certainly can’t expect the U of R to keep close tabs on me and my career. The solution would be for me, and many others like me, to send our updates to the University. Whether others share my feelings and opinion is something I do not know.
—Bobby Bayliss, R’66
Granger, Ind.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION
I received the latest edition of the UR magazine yesterday and am enjoying the articles and features.

I only have one suggestion. It appears that the obituaries are now being placed at the end of each class year in the Notes section beginning on Page 40. This is somewhat inconvenient to those of us who know alumni from many other classes. I am a twice graduate of the University, so I look at those years. Both of my parents were UR alumni, as were two of my brothers and my daughter. I tend to also look at their years. By locating the obits behind each class year, a reader must peruse each year to see the memorial notices. It is very easy to miss one. I would suggest that it would be much less tedious on the reader if there were a memorial column or page where all the obituaries can be placed together. It certainly would help with ease of reading.

Just a suggestion. I sincerely enjoy your most interesting publication.
—Aubrey Rosser Jr., R’74 and L’77
Altavista, Va.

WHO ARE THOSE GUYS? Some of the Class of 1969 folks are wondering when the photograph on Page 45 of the current issue of the magazine was taken since most of the people in the photo are our class. It was also used on the Westhampton College 100-year timeline and dated as 1960s.

Do we know any more about the exact date of the photo or the circumstances? We are also curious about the two guys in the photo. Most of the time guys would have been sitting by a woman who invited them.
—Susan Agee Riggs, W’69
Williamsburg, Va.

[Editor’s note: If Susan recognizes some of the faces in the photo, she knows more than we do. All we have to go on is a print with a few notes written in pencil on the back. Darlene Slater Herod, W’85, of the Virginia Baptist Society, which holds much of the University’s archives, says a cropped version of the photo appeared in the 1969–70 Westhampton student handbook. If you know anything that will shed light on the photo, drop us a note at magazine@richmond.edu.]

WHERE ARE YOU READING? We read University of Richmond Magazine in Therwil, Switzerland. We realized we are both Spiders while chatting after softball practice for the Therwil Flyers, for whom we both play. The Therwil Flyers Slowpitch Softball Team was the 2013 Swiss National Champion in 2013 in the co-ed national league.
—Ina Nicosia-Schelker, ’94, and Joan Drueding Valeriano, ’98

VIA SOCIAL MEDIA So exciting seeing me and @ashmbrock in the @urichmondmag! My first time!! #lookinggood #famous #URspouse #gospiders #SPORTS
—@brockter via Twitter

El gran jaguar #tikal #guatemala #wanderlusting #travelgram #spidersabroad
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