Charter Class 60th Reunion Dinner

September 28, 2023

PRESIDENT ORA HIRSCH PESCOVITZ’S REMARKS

Meadow Brook Hall

• And thank you to each of you for being here to celebrate the first graduating class at Oakland University.
  
  
• You presence honors us….and we’re so pleased that Oakland’s history is part of your personal history.
  
  
• Sixty years later, I hope you like what you see at Oakland….and I hope you realize that you played a central role….
  
  
• There were 125 students in the charter class…and there were more than 500 students on campus at the time.
  
  
• You should think of yourselves as paving the way…. That’s the way it is when you’re pioneers.
  
  
• I read in the Oakland Press story where Beverly Miller, who along with her husband, Ron, graduated in the charter class, said, “We really worked hard and you had to be prepared when you came to campus because the focus was on academics and nothing else.”
  
  
• Well, Oakland still focuses intensely on academics, but the college experience looks a bit different.
  
  
• When you were here, there were two buildings – North and South Foundation Hall.
  
  
• Campus along with enrollment has grown….and evolved to meet students’ needs…and Oakland has grown to become one of the pillar public universities in the state.
  
  
• Earlier today, several of you were at our annual “State of the University” address…. where we talked about the physical transformation of campus. I want you to know that throughout all of our development, we remain true to our mission… 
  
  
• We believe passionately that education makes a fundamental difference in person’s life, and is essential in the development of community.
  
  
• By being here tonight, you show your pride in Oakland, and we want you to know how proud we are of our association….
  
  
• Your journey back in the early 1960 must have felt like venturing into a new world.
  
  
• Mary Sloan, from the charter class, had an indelible experience.
  
  
• Back then, Oakland’s founder, Matilda Wilson would invite freshman to Meadow Brook Hall for tea.
  
  
• Mary told the Oakland Press: I was a small-ton girl from Troy and I walked into Meadow Brook Hall and thought I was Cinderella at the ball.”
  
  
• That’s the power of education… It introduces you to a new world.
  
  
• Thank you for sharing your world with us.
  
  
• And thank you for being such wonderful role models in the history of Oakland University.