This month’s newsletter is available for download in PDF format.
Table of Contents
Events Calendar
- December 6 – Ivy Singles Holiday Party
- December 15 – Wreathes Across America
- January 10-11 – Stanford Men’s Volleyball at George Mason University
- January 12 – Washington DC Book Club Discussion
- January 13 – Baltimore Book Club Discussion
Upcoming Events
Ivy Singles Holiday Party
Friday, December 6, 6-9 pm
DACOR Bacon House, 1801 F Street NW, Washington, DC
The venue is once again the elegant and historic DACOR-Bacon House (built 1824-25). Each floor will be festively decorated for the holiday season. We will feast on hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and enjoy a selection of fine wines, bubbly, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks from the cash bar.
The advanced registration price is $42 at this link: https://ycwd.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_264802. The price at the door is $47. You can pay by check made out to WDCSA, cash, or credit.
Contact Charlotte Perry CharMPerry@gmail.com or text/cell 202-341-8799 for more information.
The venue is located 4 blocks from the Farragut-West Metro station (Orange and Blue lines). Street parking is available after 6:30 pm. A paid parking lot is next door to the DACOR house on 18th St. Parking garages close before midnight.
Wreathes Across America
Saturday, December 15, 8:30am-12 pm
Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Drive, Fort Myer, Va
Join WDSCA as we honor veterans at Arlington National Cemetery by laying wreaths at their grave sites, part of a nationwide effort.
We encourage traveling by Metro (the system will open at 7:00) to meet us at the Pentagon Metro Station (Yellow Line) parking area at 8:30. Upon exiting the station, look for a Stanford banner as you approach the lot. If you drive, general public parking will be available at the Pentagon South Parking Lot (Lanes 1-18). At 8:45 we will walk for about 15 minutes to the bag check and entrance, and join the wreath laying.
Remember to wear your Cardinal-colored gear and comfortable footwear, and bring water (in refillable bottles) in a small backpack to keep your arms free to hold and place wreaths. You’ll be part of a tremendous gesture of thanks to those who serve our nation with skill, dedication, and patriotism.
RSVP by emailing your name, email and cell number to Risa Shimoda at risa@theshimodagroup.com, and we’ll send an update mid-week with a confirmation and/or update. You can also receive general update notices at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/volunteer-atarlington/.
Stanford Men’s Volleyball @ George Mason University
Friday and Saturday, January 10-11
George Mason University, Fairfax, Va
Join the local alumni community as we cheer on the Stanford Cardinal men’s volleyball team for these DMV away games. Stay tuned for information about tickets.
Stanford In the News
- Stanford undergraduates Cyrus Reza, ’20 and Anat Peled, ’20, were named as recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship. The award is one of the oldest and most revered fellowships in the world and provides all expenses for two or three years of graduate study in a field of his or her choice at the University of Oxford in England.
Get Involved
Stanford OVAL
Thank You from the OVAL team:
As the OVAL team completes another Restricted Early Action admissions cycle, we would like to thank our current volunteers who took time out of their schedules to interview students interested in attending Stanford, attend college fairs, and otherwise represent the Farm in the DC Metropolitan Area!
For those who are signed up to interview during regular decision, be on the look out for emails after the holidays! Thanks again!
DeLise Bernard, ’98, MA 99 at delise.bernard@stanfordalumni.org
Cecil “Chip”Talbott, ’91, at cecil.talbott@stanfordalumni.org
OVAL Co-Chairs, DC Metro Area
CAN Basketball
The CAN coed alumni basketball season starts the week of January 6th. Join us as we compete against alums from UCLA, Cal, Arizona, and others. Transportation can be provided. If you have a partner or non-alumni friend that may be interested in playing, please contact Gregory Billings ’88, at billings.g@gmail.com, for more information.
Scholarship Opportunity
ACS Scholars – Scholarships for Underrepresented Minorities. The application is open until March 1st. Click here for more information: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/scholarships/acsscholars.html.
WDCSA Member Spotlight: Greg Billings
Greg (BA Economics ’88) grew up on the East Coast in Camden, New Jersey.
He won a scholarship to attend a private Quaker high school. He then decided to apply to Stanford at the insistence of one of his high school classmates.
At Stanford, James spent his first year in Rains Houses before moving off campus. His best memory at Stanford was his thesis defense. His parents and many of his friends attended, and witnessed “the culmination of a lot of work and struggle.”
Early on, he was interested in majoring in engineering. While at Stanford, Greg served as President of the Black Pre-Law and Public Service Society and was an active member of AIESEC (pronounced eye-sek), a global program that facilitates cross-cultural exchanges and supports youth leadership opportunities.
Greg remembers getting a good housing draw number that allowed him to live in Governor’s Corner in the Suites during his sophomore year and Lambda Nu (now Jerry) during his junior year. Some of his fondest memories are sleeping on the Quad to protest Stanford’s investments in South Africa (then an apartheid country) and working security at the Stanford men’s basketball game where Stanford beat the then #1 ranked team in the country: University of Arizona.
Post Stanford, Greg has worked as a regulatory analyst for the California Public Utilities Commission, and then in corporate finance roles after graduating from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
When asked to share some words of advice, Greg offered up the following: “Make connections with professors and classmates. Then use your Stanford connections to open doors for you post-Stanford. Always keep learning.”
If you have suggestions for other alumni in the DMV area to profile in upcoming newsletters, please send them to Jasmaine McClain (jasmaine.mcclain@gmail.com) or Stephanie Tan (stephanie.tan@stanfordalumni.org).
WDCSA Book Club Corner
Washington DC Book Club Discussion
Sunday, January 12, 5-7:45 pm
Bethesda, Md
The book group will discuss Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibbens.
For more information, contact Suzanne Harris at szharris56@gmail.com.
Baltimore Book Club Discussion
Monday, January 13, 7:30 pm
The Hull Street Blues Cafe, 1122 Hull St, Baltimore, MD
Our January selection is What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon, rated 4.7 out of 5 stars by over four thousand Amazon readers. This is a time travel love story set during the Irish War of Independence from Britain, 1919-1921, where a woman unwittingly traveled back in time to embody and extend the life of one of her ancestors.
The March selection is Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving by Mo Rocca.
Questions/RSVP: Helene Myers, Ph.D., P’14, at cedarhouse@comcast.net.