Nearly 250 DP alumni, students and guests gathered in Philadelphia last month to celebrate the DP’s rich history, re-live fond memories, honor fellow alumni, and look forward to a strong future for the organization. Ten years after the first alumni reunion, this year’s event was, by all accounts, a resounding success. An informal Friday evening cocktail party opened the weekend, followed by a series of popular alumni panel discussions on Saturday. Mel Goldstein ’62 and Michael Brown ’62 began the day by regaling the crowd with stories about the University’s ill-fated shutdown of the DP in 1962.
The next session featured the five inaugural inductees into the new DP Alumni Hall of Fame — Bob Frost ’60, Michael Silver ’75, Lee Levine ’76, Eric Jacobs ’80 and Jean Chatzky ’86 — sharing their memories and discussing the DP’s impact on their lives.
A panel on the state of political journalism today featured an impressive roster of DP journalists: Peter Canellos ’84 (Politico), Matt Flegenheimer ’11 (New York Times), Rebecca Kaplan ’10 (CBS News), Catherine Lucey ’01 (The Wall Street Journal), Ashley Parker ’05 (Washington Post), and Dick Stevenson ’81 (New York Times).
The final panel featured a video on the history of the DP, Executive Editor Sarah Fortinsky ’20 and President Julia Schorr ’20 discussing student life at the DP today, General Manager Eric Jacobs ’80 discussing the changes in the DP’s business model and state of its finances, and DP Board Lead Alumni Director Chuck Cohen ’89 talking about the need for increased philanthropic giving to support the DP in the decades to come.
The closing dinner gala was emceed by outgoing DP Alumni Association President Marty Siegel ’77, who presented the first Young Alumni Award to Ashley Parker ’05 and then introduced each of the five Hall of Fame inductees. “The greatest thing I ever did in my career was work at the DP,” said Bob Frost ’60, a former New York Times reporter and investment manager. Philadelphia City Councilperson Helen Gym ’93 presented a resolution passed by City Council — and read aloud by student and alumni members of the DP Board of Directors — honoring the DP on its anniversary and Eric Jacobs ’80 on his impending retirement after 40 years of employment at the DP. (Read the full resolution here.)
If you joined us in Philadelphia, thank you for coming. If you weren’t able to come this time, we hope you’ll join us for the next such anniversary event. We don’t know how we’ll top this year’s event — but it’s only a question of “when,” not “if.”