Joy filled the air as alumni returned to Sidwell Friends for a Reunion Weekend of hugs, laughter, reconnection, and spirited reminiscing. In honor of their reunions, the members of each class joined together to give a class gift to support financial aid, faculty professional development, and engaging student experiences. Each class aims for 50-percent participation.

Occasionally, a class will choose to create an endowed fund such as The Class of 1966 Scholarship Fund, The Class of 1971 Equity, Justice and Community Fund, The Kathy Ozer ’76 Memorial Fund, The Class of 1976 Dream Fund, and The Class of 1986 Endowed Fund. An anonymous donor from the Class of 1971 says that their class liked the idea of creating something permanent. “The Equity, Justice and Community program was fairly new at the time and corresponded to the ethos of our class.”

When asked what inspired his class to create an endowed scholarship fund, Carl Eifler ’66 says, “Funding education is leverage. It doesn’t just address one problem or one person. It informs the actions of many, many people to improve their lives and change the lives of others. Sidwell Friends does that in a very special way that harnesses community as a barometer of action. If you respect and are accountable to your community, it’s much harder to get things wrong.”

Eifler adds that no matter how different he and his classmates are, they have all grown up with an “an unwavering respect for the humanity in other people. It made a huge difference for each of us to come from the culture of Sidwell Friends. We didn’t want to just plant a tree or give a bench to celebrate our 50th reunion. We wanted to create a fund that would help kids who couldn’t otherwise afford Sidwell Friends have the same life-changing experience we had.”

One of the highlights of this year’s reunion was the class of 1976’s 50th Reunion and their celebration of The Kathy Ozer ’76 Memorial Fund. Established in 2017 by her classmates, the fund provides support for Sidwell Friends students who have demonstrated a keen interest in food justice or farming to have an experiential educational opportunity. The Fund honors the work to which Kathy dedicated her life.

“In her nearly 30-year professional career with the National Family Farm Coalition, Kathy devoted herself to advocating for farmers, farm workers, men and women who make a living in the fishing industry, and food justice,” says Cate Livingston Fernandez ’76, P '08, ’11. “She did so with great optimism, empathy, boundless energy, kindness, and a sense of humor.”

Fernandez says that when Kathy passed away in 2017, a group of her Sidwell Friends classmates immediately began discussing how best to honor Kathy in a way that she would approve of.

“For me, the highlight of our reunion was the knowledge that the fund we endowed in memory of Kathy was being used by the School in ways that Kathy would have loved and been so proud to see,” says Susan Hilton Labovich ’76. “She passed away after a valiant battle with cancer in 2017, the year after she helped organize our 40th reunion. It was just like Kathy, who was truly one of the most selfless people I have ever met. She embodied everything Sidwell Friends values when we talk about lives that speak.”

Fred Thys ’76 who helped establish the fund along with Fernandez and Labovich says, “For me, hearing about how students who received the first award from the Kathy Ozer ’76 Memorial Fund used their funding to grow food and to distribute it to people who needed it was the highlight of Reunion.”

To learn more about reunion giving or to learn more about establishing an endowed fund, contact Amanda Meter, senior director of individual giving, at metera@sidwell.edu.