In 1966, the University of Idaho community braved the cold and the snow to watch football games from outdoor bleachers.
David Huson | Argonaut
Class of 1966 graduates enjoy conversation with faculty at the Golden I Reunion in the Vandal Ballroom on Friday.
There were 39 pages devoted to men’s sports in the “Gem of the Mountains” Yearbook and only four pages devoted to women’s athletics, which had not yet reached the intercollegiate level. Female students were assigned 10 p.m. curfews and, if broken, their dates would apologize with flowers the next day. Finals for the fall semester were held after, rather than before, winter break. Many aspects of university life have changed over the past 50 years, Kathy Barnard said at the Golden I Reunion celebration lunch last Friday, but the spirit of the campus has stayed the same.
“A lot of things have changed on campus — and I know when you walk around campus you think, ‘Wow, things have changed so much,’ but the more things change, the more they stay the same,” Barnard said. “And the spirit and soul of the place is still here — the essence of this campus, the essence of being a Vandal, still exists 50 years later.”
The celebration lunch served as the closing event of the Golden I Reunion, a celebration for Vandal alumni who graduated 50 years ago or more. At the lunch, Barnard, the executive director of the Office of Alumni Relations, proceeded to gift each attendee with a Golden I pin and asked them to share stories about their lives after attending the university.
In addition to the closing celebration lunch, the reunion that ran from Sept. 1 to Sept. 2 included campus tours, alumni socials and yearbook viewing sessions.
Mick Morfitt, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1966 and a law degree in 1969, traveled from San Francisco to visit his alma mater. He said the best part of the reunion was getting to watch the Idaho football team win their first home game of the season.
Carl Leth graduated in 1965 and attended this year’s reunion with his wife, Gwendolyn Leth. He said he appreciated meeting many of the university administrators at the reunion socials.
“It’s really nice to have some of the deans and administrators connect with alumni,” Carl said. “It really helps make a connection. You feel like you know more about the university because you know more about the people.”
Marie Duncan, the assistant director of the Office of Alumni Relations, said the events recently added to the reunion included Coffee & Conversation, where professor Patricia Hart spoke about lifelong learning and digitalizing information, and Classroom Without Quizzes, where professor George Tanner presented projects and innovations that are new to the UI campus.
Duncan said one alumnus even took the information learned in Hart’s presentation and used it to find his graduate thesis in the UI digital archives.
After receiving their Golden I pins, the alumni who attended the reunion stood together to sing the UI alma mater, “Here We Have Idaho.”
During the song, Florence Barker stood and sang beside her husband Sam. Though she graduated in 1966 and went on to receive her graduate degree at the University of Wyoming, she said she still considers UI to be her home.
“Though we went on to grad school, for me personally, I set my roots here more,” Barker said. “You know, last night we were trying to remember the names of people who impressed us and influenced us, we spent hours trying to figure it out. Our lives would have been totally different if we hadn’t had those people impress us so much, so I loved singing ‘Here We Have Idaho.’”
Corrin Bond
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