Roses reunited

The COVID-19 pandemic had kept several classes of Golden Roses from celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation from Saint Rose at Reunion Weekend. But it was worth the wait in June, when the classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 were able to enjoy the milestone together.

Saint Joseph Hall Auditorium was filled with laughter and the clinking of dinnerware during the traditional Golden Roses Luncheon.

Margaret “Peggy” Lynch-Brennan ’72, who studied social studies secondary education at Saint Rose and later earned a master’s degree and doctorate in American history at University at Albany, was among them.

“We were laughing last night and saying, ‘Golden Roses, those are the old ladies who used to come with the white gloves and the fur things on their shoulders.’ And we got all like, ‘Oh, well, here we are.’ Time does go by,” said Lynch-Brennan, who worked for the New York State Department of Education before becoming a public scholar for Humanities New York and publishing her book “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America.” “That was a lot of fun to see people from the two other classes ahead of us because I didn’t know a lot of people.”

About 125 Golden Roses attended Reunion Weekend, and the group participated in the Golden Roses Reunion Giving Challenge. The Class of 1970 initiated the fundraiser, pledging to hit $10,000 and challenging the other two classes to match them. The Golden Roses surpassed the $20,000 target, with 85 donors pledging $32,288 to support Saint Rose students.

“It’s been nice to be with the classes of ’71 and ’72. We lived with the Class of ’71 in these houses. When we first came, we didn’t live in the dorm, we lived in the Victorian houses with the freshmen and sophomores. So, some of these women who are with the Class of ’71 were our roommates or in the house with us and then the Class of ’72 were our freshman sisters – we had juniorfreshman sisters when we came,” said Rita Bailey Crotty ’70, the former executive director of the Women’s Forum of New York, who still serves as a College trustee and was the giving challenge co-chair this year. “We were really growing and changing and becoming women and becoming more confident. So, to go back to the silly stories of sneaking out of the houses and then sneaking back into the houses was really great.”

Carol Appleton Teaken ’71 and her longtime friend and fellow Saint Rose alum, Jackie Haugk Walsh ’71, opted to stay on campus in Centennial Hall during Reunion Weekend. She and Walsh have remained close since they graduated, having both married Siena College graduates who have since passed away.

They’ve visited campus before, Teaken said, but it’s always nice to see the buildings are still well-cared for and think about how things have changed. What is now a parking lot was once green space where the classes of 1970 and 1971 would hold pick-up softball games. And it was fun to reminisce about former professors, like retired English Professor Sister Katherine “Kitty” Hanley, who still serves on the College’s board of trustees and inspired Teaken into a 35-year career as a teacher.

“I did really like the faculty. They were so intelligent,” Teaken said. “(Sister Hanley) was so good and, you know, she was just so natural and such a great teacher and very easygoing.”

Many of the reunion participants also remembered how their time at Saint Rose was defined by advocacy – for women’s rights and racial justice, as well as peace rallies during the Vietnam War.

“Well, you know, everybody did not protest, but I think those of us that did – I was one of them – we became activists in lots of ways,” said Kathleen Sullivan Ricker ’70, co-chair of the giving challenge and a Saint Rose trustee. “I’m very active in politics and raising money for candidates and also active in going against things like guns and in challenging the laws, etc. For me, it was a really formative period.”

The advocacy was not limited to life outside of campus, Crotty explained. When she came to Saint Rose, the women weren’t allowed to wear pants and were expected to wear dresses and skirts. Students had two-hour dinners they had to dress up for, a library that closed at 10 p.m., and lights-out curfews at 11. But her class was willing to push back, and the dress codes and formal dinners went away.

“We really were instrumental in changing a lot of the rules for the students on campus, which we’re quite proud of,” Crotty said. “I think living in the little houses, in the Victorian houses, was a real unifying experience. (Times were) just changing all over, but we were really leaders.”

And the friendships they built in those times continue today. The Class of 1970 is known for informal reunions where wine is enjoyed over Zoom. Friends from all three classes also organize informal get-togethers out of bonds that have persisted half a century.

“The women I went to school with were such a hoot. We were having so much fun last night talking about all the crazy things that people used to do, and they’re all the same,” Lynch-Brennan said. “I mean, it’s 50 years later, but they’re still funny. They’re so vibrant. They all have had careers, and it’s really a lot of fun.”

By Jennifer Gish