50th Reunion

Memories from 1973

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  Bill Loveless

  The Good Five Cent Cigar: A Ticket to a Rewarding Career

  

  Bill Loveless

  The Good Five Cent Cigar: A Ticket to a Rewarding Career

  The Good Five Cent Cigar: A Ticket to a Rewarding Career

  Student life in the early 1970s was turbulent but exciting for a student like me who was interested in journalism and politics. While the classroom offered the foundation for our education, the laboratory was the outside world where fierce debates over politics, especially over the Vietnam war, provided us with insight into the real world beyond Kingston. There were student protests, including a student strike in my freshman year, at URI and campuses across the U.S. My ticket to observe these events firsthand and try my hand at reporting was The Good Five Cent Cigar, which was born out of this turmoil in 1971. There, I was a reporter and later a news editor and finally the executive editor, working with a close Cigar Band of colleagues, many of whom became lifelong friends. It was challenging but fun, and it led me to a long satisfying career in journalism.

  —Bill Loveless ’73

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  Kathleen McNulty Hendry

  Strong Connections Made at URI

  

  Kathleen McNulty Hendry

  Strong Connections Made at URI

  Strong Connections Made at URI

  Steve and I met early in our junior year. His roommate and a girl on my wing had worked together over the summer and had become friendly. Once back at URI, the guys on the third floor of Bressler and the girls on the second floor of Weldon started to socialize (i.e., party together) pretty often. It wasn’t too long before Steve and I became a couple and decided to get married after graduation. Because Steve’s family was from out-of-state, we decided to combine graduation and our wedding. We married on June 9, 1973 and walked at graduation the next day!

  Graduation didn’t end our association with URI, though. Steve started grad school that September and got his master’s in math. I worked for a year in the history department before starting work on my master’s in American history. On just about every trip we made to RI over the years, we stopped to visit the campus to see how things have changed. While Steve passed away several years ago, I still have very fond memories of our time at URI and have maintained close friendships with people I met there.

  —Ms. Kathleen C. McNulty Hendry ’73, M.A.’77

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  MaryEllen Hartigan MacDowell

  Friendships and Leadership Skills for Life

  

  MaryEllen Hartigan MacDowell

  Friendships and Leadership Skills for Life

  When I think back to my college days, several things stand out. First and foremost, I loved every minute of my time at URI. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go away to college. I grew up in Warwick and was the youngest of five siblings. Despite the fact that she would be an ‘empty nester,’ my mother encouraged me to attend URI and live on campus to have the full experience. I’m so grateful that I did. My experience being part of Sigma Kappa is at the top of my list of fond memories. I made friendships that have spanned more than 50 years. I was proud to have been awarded the Mabel Perrin scholarship in my senior year. It was a total surprise to me and it certainly helped pay down my student loan! After graduation, I moved to Boston with a couple of my sorority sisters and keep in touch with them and many others to this day. I was often called ‘bossy’ so the position of Sigma Kappa rush chair was perfect for me. I had great ideas to share and enjoyed stepping up to be a leader. I loved my classes and professors in the textile, merchandising and design (TMD) program and successfully balanced achieving good grades and having fun. In that regard, I was very much my father’s daughter (he was focused) and my mother’s daughter as well (she was the social butterfly). My double major in TMD and marketing served me well in my long and rewarding career in retail. After graduation, I joined the executive training program in the Boston Jordan Marsh department store. My career goals took me to Lord & Taylor, Lane Bryant, and Fashion Bug where I culminated my career as president of the company. I have so many great memories of URI and am glad to be serving on our reunion committee to plan our 50th Reunion!

  —MaryEllen Hartigan MacDowell ’73