Correspondence

A Heart-Warming Lehigh Story

I loved [the editor’s] story [in the summer Bulletin] of arriving at Lehigh and what you have experienced since. ... My Lehigh Story is as follows:

My 39-year-old father died early in my sophomore year from his first and last heart attack. One evening, a few days before I was scheduled to return to campus, my mother called me downstairs. It was not until I saw four of my father’s best friends crowded on the couch in front of a bag of cash that I learned my mother did not have the money for my tuition, room and board. Somehow God gave me the wisdom to say, “No, I cannot take this,” and in tears I ran back to my bedroom.

Very early the next morning, I returned to the Sigma Phi House, where I was a pledge. At 8 a.m., our cook Mom Richards found me in the living room clutching my rosaries. Mom already knew about my father, and when she heard the rest of my story, she went into action. By 10 a.m., I was sitting in front of Ted Kropp, dean of student aid. (Little did I realize it at the time, but Ted was only a few years older and a Lehigh grad student. He now lives in Maine.)

Ted looked at my 1.5 freshman average and said, “I was a challenge.” However, he still gave me a loan for the full amount of the semester’s tuition, with this stipulation: If I got a 3.0 average for the semester, there would be no loan repayment and I would get another loan. For all my remaining Lehigh years, I never paid a penny for tuition!

But Ted was not finished. He also gave me half of the Lehigh jackets concession, starting in my junior year. This was by far the most lucrative of all student jobs and businesses. I was 50 percent partner, with my still good friend Bob Muffoletto. While Bob was at football practice, I sold the jackets, and he delivered them at night. But Lehigh was still giving, when on Lafayette weekend in my senior year at the Sigma Phi House, Bob Hinchman ’21 asked me if I knew anyone who wanted to work in Wall Street as his assistant!

I told this story last spring at the James Packard Tower Society Award breakfast. Tower Chair Mike Caruso gave me a big tearful hug and said he also was a “Kropp Scholar,” except he only needed a 2.8. I said that was because Lehigh knew he would be an All-American and four-time NCAA champion. Clearly, all those years ago, Lehigh was “wresting from nature’s storehouse and giving gladly to her dear sons.” Mike and I did not know it at the time, but [our] lives were made.

“No wonder we live to love Lehigh!”

Bob Downing ’62

Being Open to New Paths

Thanks for keeping us tied to Lehigh. I always appreciate the updates on the Path to Prominence Plan, and I believe you’ve made great strides in making the publication more relatable to non-academics. For this edition, I was particularly happy to see the interview with Beth Galetti. As a fellow HR professional, it was awesome to see another Lehigh alum who has achieved such success in this field, and especially interesting to see that most of her previous experience was completely outside the field. Hopefully it reminds us all to be open to new paths and that our skills and backgrounds can be leveraged for far more opportunities and in different ways than we may have originally believed!

Lauren Bloch ’10

Lacrosse Teams are National Champs, Too

The “They Stand Alone” article in the Fall/Winter 2017 Lehigh alumni Bulletin states that no other Lehigh team, in any sport, has ever replicated the great 1977 football team’s national championship. This is incorrect. Ten Lehigh lacrosse teams have been cited as national champions (the 1890, 1893, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1920, and 1921 teams).

Richard Kaplan ’65

A Reimagining of the University Center

Robert W. Grzywacz’s letter in the latest Lehigh Bulletin struck a chord with me. His analysis of the proposed changes to the UC determined those proposals were “horrendous.” I totally agree with his assessment. The response from your Mr. Stringfellow was very disappointing and had no logical reasons for spending money on such an unnecessary project. Leave the UC alone and fund more worthy projects with the money, like faculty salaries and student financial loans.

W.B. Brown ’65 ’70

After reading the summer Bulletin correspondence regarding this subject, I decided to check the architect’s website to see if there was any additional information. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), there was. I can only say that this is possibly the most atrocious design I have seen in more than 40 years as a professional planner. The modernistic design and extensive use of glass would certainly not “restore the grandeur of the original UC” as stated by Mr. Stringfellow. Just the opposite. I hope it is not too late for sounder minds to intervene; otherwise, you are going to alienate thousands of alumni. Please make sure that the President is involved in this. Thank you.

Charles Loehr ’73