The class of 1965 at their graduation at Hayward Field (left) and their 50th Reunion in 2015 (right).
Photo Credits: Graduation photo: Carol Yetter; 50th Reunion photo: UOAA
When UO alumni reflect on their lives, their time as a student at the University of Oregon often stands out as particularly memorable—marked by personal development, academic growth, and the start of lifelong friendships.
The UO Alumni Association’s reunions offer the chance to reconnect with people, places, and memories that shaped their UO experiences. Coming home to the UO’s Eugene campus offers opportunities to not just check out the old-stomping grounds, but to discover how the campus and community have evolved.
For the classes of 1974, 1975, and 1976 and the class of 1965, it’s time to flock back to Eugene for their 50th and 60th Reunions and revisit the place that helped launch the rest of their lives. Each alum’s unique journey has taken them far and wide over five or six decades, and now is the chance to reconnect with classmates and relive some favorite memories from their time at UO.
Reflecting on their time as students in the 50th Reunion and 60th Reunion online yearbooks, Michael East, BS ’65 (physical education), and Joseph Hook, BBA ’75 (finance), reminisce on their outdoor adventures.
East said he could be found skiing at Mt. Bachelor on weekends. What started as a hobby turned into a successful 30-year career in the ski industry, with time in both Colorado and Alaska. East is now retired and calls Sequim, Washington home. He’s looking forward to reconnecting with classmates at his 60th Reunion.
Michael East was an avid skier during his time as a UO student and worked in the ski industry for 30 years. Photo Credit: Michael East
Joseph Hook climbs the West Face Direct route on Monkey Face, a 350-foot spire at Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon. Photo credit: Joseph Hook
Hook has a similar adventurous spirit, enjoying a wide range of activities as a student, including rock climbing, mountaineering, skydiving, cycling, and skiing.
“I was desperate to get to Mt. Bachelor as often as I could, sometimes even hitchhiking and bivouacking in the woods near Uncle Sam's park & ride on Century Drive in Bend,” he said.
After graduation, Hook shared that he embarked on a “wingin it’ phase,” with stops in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Elfin Cove, Alaska and adventures in the Canadian Rockies, Tetons, and Washington Cascades. He eventually landed in Portland, before relocating to Seattle and then San Diego. Five decades after graduation, Hook is still adventuring, though admits his travels include more hotels and cruise ships than car camping, these days.
Members of Phi Beta Phi enjoy time outdoors together. Photo credit: Carol Yetter
The 50th and 60th Reunions are the perfect way to flock back to the nest and reconnect with that sense of exploration. The events also offer the chance to see how the Eugene campus and learning has changed. A tour of the renovated Hayward Field and special learning sessions on artificial intelligence and the neuroscience behind happiness are just a few of the activities reunion attendees can look forward to.
Greg Leo, BS ’74 (community service and public affairs), is looking forward to reconnecting with the campus he served as 1974 ASUO president. One of Leo’s final moves as president was to create the EMU Advisory Board—which still exists today. The EMU looks a bit different than it did in the 1960s and 1970s, when the second and third phases of its construction were being completed. Reunion attendees are encouraged to discover all it offers to students today.
Greg Leo was the ASUO President for the 1973–74 academic year. Photo Credit: Greg Leo
Army ROTC cadets Jim Snitker and Anthony Brown, fall 1974, in front of the Army ROTC building on Alder Street.
Photo Credit: Jim Snitker
Jim Snitker, BS ’75 (history), was in Army ROTC during his time at the UO. “Army ROTC in the late 1970s occupied a small gray house-looking building on the edge of campus near 18th and Alder. It was as much a clubhouse as a set of classrooms,” he shared. Now, the Army ROTC building is next to the Labor Education and Research Center on Agate Street.
Political activism was prevalent across campus and Eugene during the 1960s and 1970s.
Photo credit: 1965 Oregana yearbook
During the 1960s and 1970s, activism across campus was a large part of life for many students. They learned about the power of collective action, speaking out, and protest. Carol Yetter, BS ’65 (communication disorders and sciences) mentioned political activism as one of her favorite memories from her time at the UO. Cathy Holbrook, BA ’76 (psychology), said she remains passionate about political and environmental issues and continues to participate in protests. “Still up to the same things!” she said.
Cathy Holbrook, then and now. Photo credit: Cathy Holbrook
Today, student activists continue to speak their minds about what matters to them. For alumni like Yetter and Holbrook, returning for a reunion gives them the chance to see the impacts of their activism on campus and on students today.
The UO’s Eugene campus has changed and grown over the past 60 years—and so have the alumni who once called it home. No matter how much time has passed, the bonds between classmates and the memories made will always be here, and reunions are the perfect way to retrace every step, reflect on the past, and make new memories.
—By Sarah Bathke, BA ’25 (journalism), UOAA digital communications student associate