By Dominic Moross ’90
It is a beautiful spring day. The academic year is beginning to wind down. Seniors are breathing an air of relief, satisfaction and, perhaps, disbelief, having handed in their theses, completing one of the most challenging tasks of their lives to date. As I write, House Parties are about to begin, marking the end of a busy year, when our members can finally let their hair down and simply enjoy friendships which have been cemented over the past couple of years within the majestic surroundings of our 19th century house.
Our club remains enormously popular with a record 215 students bickering this spring, of which 71 were accepted. Our male/female ratio is evenly split with members hailing from nearly every Continent. We are proud to have Rachel Yee ’19 elected Undergraduate Student Government President this year and we continue to boast many high-level athletes in Crew, Track, Soccer, Rugby, Tennis, Fencing and Football. Additionally, the Ivy 1879 Foundation continued its tradition, providing scholarship grants to 18 students from the sections of 2018 and 2019.
Club activities have been abundant since our last Newsletter. In February the Leadership Committee hosted Robert Kraft, acclaimed song writer, film composer, record producer and former President of Fox Music. Bob’s engaging personality captured the attention of his audience, whom he regaled with stories of his successful career in an industry which is undergoing seismic changes. In addition, we hosted a wine tasting dinner with Bianca Bosker ’08, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste. It was a fun-filled evening, especially during the blind tasting!
We were very pleased to have Ben Pyne ’81 and Tom Murphy ’82 for small dinners to speak about their respective careers as head of Global Distribution at Walt Disney and co-founder of Crestview Partners. Both alums were well received. In April, the Alumni Relations Committee and Julia Wilson, Director of Member Services, organized our second annual Career Night, a casual evening for undergraduates to talk with graduate members about their career paths. Ten alumni attended, representing a variety of professions including the law, academia, politics, publishing, finance, real estate and technology. Of particular interest was Governor Anthony Taylor ’00’s keynote interview of Ro Gupta ’00, Founder and CEO of CARMERA, a start- up which creates real time 3D maps and navigation critical data for autonomous vehicles.
Our Annual Dinner at the University Club in New York on April 27th was a great success with members from sections of 1961 to 2019. The lion’s share of members who attended graduated within the last 30 years. I was pleased to see so many of our current students make it in from campus. Their perspectives always spark thoughtful discussion. The evening began with a viewing of our recently produced video, Ivy Today, featuring reflections on the late Jim Griffin’s life and his 33-year Presidency of our club. The video will soon be made available on our website. After a few speeches and the singing of the Ivy Song, Josh Rafner ’77 took the initiative to lead us in a rendition of Old Nassau. Thank you, Josh!
Our building continues to look spectacular, somewhat to the envy of our fellow clubs on the Street! Following the complete restoration of our pool table this spring, we hosted Tony Robles, a pool professional known as “The Silent Assassin.” Not your run-of-the-mill precept by any means!
I am pleased to welcome Kevin McGowan ’95 as a new Governor. Kevin brings a font of knowledge from his background in management consulting, financial services, and politics. Kevin is founder of McGowan Corporate Real Estate Advisors based in Haverford, PA.
Let me take this opportunity to welcome our new officers, led by Mimi Asom. I wish you all a very happy summer and hope that as many of you as possible will be able to visit the Club either for Reunions or whenever you are in town. If you would like to participate in any alumni functions to meet the undergraduate members or have suggestions or thoughts about how we might better engage our members, please do not hesitate to be in touch with Julia Wilson (julia.wilson@theivyclub.net).