January 30, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This letter is addressed to the nearly 3,000 Yale households in Westchester served by the Yale Westchester Alumni Association.  I am pleased to report that 2004 was an exciting and successful year for our association.  In this letter, I will briefly summarize the programs we offered in the past year, highlight some of the events we have planned for 2005, and ask for your continued support for the YWAA.

First, an overview of our 2004 activities:

YWAA Scholarship Banquet.  In November, we celebrated Yale Westchester’s 96^th anniversary at our annual scholarship banquet.  At the banquet, the YWAA presented Outstanding Service Awards to three Westchester alumni for their public service contributions to our community and to Yale.  The honorees were Reverend Franklyn Richardson, the senior pastor of the  Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon; Jonathan Rose, well known for his service to the people of Yonkers and for developing housing and medical services for disadvantaged families; and our very own Merrell Clark, my predecessor, who in the words of President Rick Levin, “has given remarkable organization leadership to Westchester social and cultural institutions over many years, including the YWAA”.  I enclose an article on some of Merrell’s achievements printed in The Scarsdale Inquirer.  Merrell has recently agreed to serve as the Chairman of the YWAA Board of Directors and my fellow directors and I want to thank him for his steadfast devotion to Yale and Yale Westchester.

YWAA Scholarship Committee.  In 2004, YWAA provided financial aid scholarship awards to 23 Yale undergraduate students from our county (six from the Class of 2005, three from ’06, eight from ’07 and five from ’08).  In addition, YWAA presented named scholarship awards to three students: the King Award to Yoo Sun Cheong of Rye, the Lee Award to Alexandra Lexis of Mt. Vernon, and the Pataki Award to Stephanie Kissel of Ardsley.  As indicated in the enclosed letter from President Levin, the YWAA is planning to extend our scholarship activities to include Yale’s graduate and professional schools.  The scholarship program is one of our most important priorities and I want to thank Merrell, our Scholarship Committee chair, and Rich Fabbro, our Vice President for Finance, for their leadership in this area.

Yale Glee Club Concert.  In the spring we hosted the 80 singer strong Yale Glee Club in a benefit performance held at Rye Country Day School. Over three hundred guests attended the concert.  A high point of the evening for me was seeing Marilyn Rivkin, one of our directors, enjoying her daughter Jessica’s solo rendition of Ride the Chariot.  Thanks go to Dan Leonard for his work heading our Music Committee (and for hosting an incredibly fun performance by the Yale Alley Cats in April).  I also want to thank several other members of the Music Committee for their many contributions in 2004: Arlene Portney Veach, B. Kathleen Munguia, Marilyn Rivkin, Denise Joselson and Roger Englander.

Alumni Schools Committee.  Chaired by Roger Blanc, ASC coordinates alumni interviews for applicants seeking early action and April admissions to Yale. As you are likely aware, applications to Yale reached an all-time high in 2004 and our dedicated volunteers ably interviewed several hundred Westchester high school students applying for admission to the Class of 2008.

Fall Musicale.  Under the direction of Bill Nightingale, YWAA sponsored a delightful Broadway revue titled “A Little Night Music?” featuring the music of Cole Porter and performances by Yalies Angela Cason and Stuart Bevan.  This year’s Musicale was held at the Rye Arts Center and drew an enthusiastic audience of over one hundred.  Yale Westchester welcomes the aforementioned Stuart Bevan as a new director and we are pleased to put his strategic planning talents to work on our behalf (in addition to his considerable singing talents). 

Yale Book Awards.  Mark Roth, our Yale Book Award Chairman , and Alan Hockstader  oversee a program which presents annual awards for excellence in literature at 48 high schools in our county.  Over 20 awards have been endowed through generous donations from YWAA members. 

Summer Community Service Fellowship.  Thanks to Betsy Litt and Barbara Guss for their work in arranging for the YWAA to sponsor (for the third consecutive year) a summer fellowship for Yale students interested in community service. 

Shakespeare at Boscobel.  We arranged for YWAA members to purchase discounted tickets for outstanding performances of Macbeth and Merry Wives of Windsor by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.

Caramoor.  Thanks to YWAA’s strong support over many seasons, Caramoor undertook a marketing program to reach all Yale alumni in Westchester, Mid Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut.  A record 96 Yale alumni took advantage of the generous Caramoor program.  Thanks go to Bruce Jennings and Merrell Clark for their work with Caramoor.

Yale-Harvard-Princeton Debate.  In November, Yale Westchester hosted a spirited debate on the topic of ‘when it is right for a country to pursue a preemptive war’ between the debating teams of Yale, Harvard and Princeton.  Thanks to the organizational skills of Bill Nightingale, our Association Secretary, Joan Faier and Janice Kaplan, we had an outstanding event and an audience of approximately two hundred.  The debate was broadcast on cable television and showcased the college debaters as well as six Westchester high school debaters performing in tandem with their college counterparts.

Yale Assembly.  Representing YWAA at the Fall Assembly (topic: A Decade of Extraordinary Progress) in New Haven were Merrell Clark and Joan Faier.  Bill Nightingale and Janice Kaplan also attended, representing other Yale organizations.

Looking ahead to 2005, we have planned a full slate of activities highlighted by the following:

-- Merrell’s Organ Concert and Sing Along on February 13 (please see enclosed flyer for details);

-- a musicale featuring outstanding flute, vocal and piano performances to be held at the lovely Scarsdale home of Marilyn and David Rivkin on April 2^nd;

-- lectures by two prominent Yale professors arranged by Janice Kaplan: Meg Urry, professor of physics and astrophysics and director of the new Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, who specializes on researching galaxies who are likely powered by black holes, will be giving a presentation on April 8^th at the Scarsdale Library (please see enclosed flyer for further details); Barry Nalebuff, the Milton Steinback Professor of Economics and Management and an expert on game theory, will give a lecture on May 5^th, also at the Scarsdale Library.  Professor Nalebuff’s topic will focus on new ways of thinking creatively and challenging the audience to do the same in their jobs, schools and communities;

-- a classical piano recital by YWAA’s own Arlene Portney Veach at Caramoor on June 22^nd;

-- our annual Scholarship Banquet celebrating YWAA’s 97^th anniversary to be held on November 11 featuring a key note speech by Roland Betts, Yale Corporation Trustee, head of the World Trade Center redevelopment effort and developer of Chelsea Piers in Manhattan.

We will distribute information on these and other programs during the coming months.

I would like to close this letter by asking for your financial support.  My fellow YWAA volunteers and I are proud of the many ways our association serves the Yale community.   In particular, we take pride in our longstanding commitment to fund financial aid for Yale students from Westchester and programs to bring some of the best assets that Yale has to offer into our backyard.  Please see the enclosed contribution form for ways you can make a tax- deductible contribution to our association.                                                            

I hope you will also consider joining the ranks of about 60 to 70 volunteers who devote significant time and energy to making YWAA one of the most successful alumni groups in our area.  We need your ideas and enthusiasm.  I am pleased to announce a new YWAA programs committee to promote the development of new projects to be sponsored by our association and I thank Bruce Jennings and Arlene Portney Veach for leading this important initiative.  With Bruce and Arlene leading the way, we hope to offer more opportunities for members to get involved with the YWAA.

If you have any questions regarding Yale Westchester, please do not hesitate to contact me by calling (914) 925-3465 or sending me a message at dhpking@aol.com. 

Sincerely,

David H. P. King

President