Relaxing

UCI Founding Faculty and Staff Event

On October 11, 2005 the UC Irvine Alumni Association held a 40th Anniversary Founders' Day Reception at the University Club. This was done in conjunction with the 40th year celebration for the campus, which opened in 1965 as the ninth campus of the University of California - the only UC in Orange County.

To my surprise, my twin sister Becky and I are considered founding alumni because we were students in the '60s - just barely. We started as freshmen in Fall of 1969 so we just made it into the "founding" category.

I am the red blob on the right and my sister is almost dead center above Jean Aldrich. If I had known almost everyone else was going to dress in black, gray or beige, I would have, too.

Some of the people in the picture are founding faculty.

I wasn't sure if I would know anyone besides Becky and Spence Olin (back row) but to my surprise Gordon Smith was there. He is in the top row, above and just to the left of Becky. I didn't know him as a student or in my many years as a staff member at UCI...he is my ex-brother-in-law. It had occurred to me, slightly, that I might have seen my husband's sister (Janice Smith-Hill) at the event but she lives in Idaho (though she is often in Southern California), but it never occurred to me that her ex-husband would be there or that I would recognize him. It has probably been 20 years since I saw him last.

The next week there was a luncheon for UCI alumni who are also staff. That was alot of fun. Evidently they have this lunch once a year but since I am not a member of the alumni association I wasn't aware of it. (It was quite clear that the main reason for the event was to recruit people to be paying Alumni Association members.  For that reason I did not attend any future meetings...I'm not much of a "joiner".