- Students receive their UMass flip-flops.
Some alumni wore beanies around campus as freshmen. Others have touched the Mettawampee statue for good luck before exams. For many, the rope pull across the campus pond
tugs their memories.
The Alumni Association has sparked new campus traditions in recent years to augment the old favorites:
Flip, Flop, and Fly: During the flurry of new student orientation, Alumni Association staff meet and greet students at Memorial Hall, hand out information, and give away 5,000 pairs of UMass Amherst flip-flops.
Warm Welcome: The Student Alumni Association delivers “Welcome Bundles” filled with snacks, supplies, a class mug, and a note from home, purchased by families of incoming students.
Pancake Breakfast: In September, the annual breakfast lures students out of bed for a fun morning of flapjacks and cartoons.
Etiquette Dinner: Students learn the dos and don’ts of dining in a formal setting before heading off into the professional world.
Senior Shovel-n-Scoop: Members of the senior class gather to plant a class tree each spring, adding to the campus arboretum, and then enjoy an ice cream social as a reward for
their hard work.
Commencement Ball: In May a formal gala marks the start of graduation festivities.
Coming Back, Giving Back
Alumni Association Bateman Scholars return to campus
Hollywood writer Mark Wilding ’79 called his return to campus this past spring after 30 years “extraordinarily wild.” Wilding is executive producer and a lead writer for the medical drama television series Grey’s Anatomy. “To be successful in this industry, you have to be able to keep
reinventing yourself,” he told a large crowd at the Campus Center. Wilding studied economics (poorly, according to him). He always enjoyed writing, he said, “of any sort, and pursued my passion through the Daily Collegian,” for which he wrote a humor column. “I always knew I was going to write, whether or not it was for money,” he said about his time at UMass Amherst. He described in detail to students and faculty the creative process for Grey’s Anatomy including the writer’s room—a sacred space surrounded by white boards that map out each episode’s plot, characters, relationships, and dramas.
For renowned golf course designer Brian Silva ’73S, ’76, an extraordinary creative process also took root on campus. In April he gave a standing-room-only talk at Memorial Hall, recounting some career highlights. “Call me crazy, but it was my dream come true to come to UMass to learn about turf and soil,” said Silva.
Silva’s father worked in course construction and Silva often sat on his lap while he operated a bulldozer. Through his father, he met the prominent golf course architect, writer, and teacher Geoffrey Cornish ’50G, ’87Hon. who advised him to study here. After college, Silva taught agronomy in Florida and worked for the United States Golf Association before becoming Cornish’s design partner. His first 18-hole design, The Captains Golf Course in Brewster, was the Golf Digest pick as the country’s best new public course in 1985.
Since then, Silva has built a reputation for unique layouts designed to be in harmony with the existing environment and to be both fun and challenging to play. As one of golf’s leading interpreters of vintage design, Silva has executed celebrated renovations at revered courses across America. He credits “the cast of great, unforgettable characters” and “the unbelievable facilities” at UMass Amherst for much of his success.
