Letters: Winter 2016

Memories of Bob Cole. Plus, we want to know what traditions and customs were popular on campus when you were a student.

Words by TCNJ Editorial Staff

re: Fall 2015

REMEMBERING BOB COLE

I was very moved by Ray Hennessey’s piece on Bob Cole, founder of TCNJ’s journalism program. I too am using today many of the skills I learned from Bob over 40 years ago. In my primary career as a TV executive (Discovery Channel, Universal Studios, Aaron Spelling Entertainment), I’ve relied on the lessons I learned from Bob in accurately communicating audience research, press releases, and marketing materials. I’ve also applied his teachings in my secondary career as a songwriter, where the ability to craft a story, with a beginning, middle, and end, is essential. But what I’ve retained the most over these 40 years is the memory of a man who cared enough about his students and what he was teaching to go to some extraordinary lengths to get his points across. It was a privilege to have been one of Bob’s students.

Don Micallef ’74
TOGAS VS. KILTS, AND OTHER PARTICULARS

Congratulations to the staff. The graphics and layout in the fall 2015 issue were exciting and informative. I especially enjoyed the depiction of my former colleague, Michael Robertson, in a toga (an ur-kilt?).

Bob Mehlman,

Professor Emeritus

The fall 2015 issue is great—so many interesting articles! I laughed when I read Robert DeCastro’s story about the Miss Hillwood bus. I remember Harvey Brazier and Professor Lois Shoemaker well.

Marilyn Weinstein Fliegler ’57

CAMPUS TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

Welcome Week. Step singing. De-dinking ceremonies. Senior swims in the Science Complex fountain. Since the college’s earliest days, students have taken part in a host of campus traditions—some of which endure (Homecoming and Spirit Week, for example), some of which have faded (Hour Dances and water tower climbing, for example). We want to know what traditions and customs—be they college sanctioned or not—were popular on campus when you were a student. Send your story (no more than 200 words, please), along with any photos or artifacts you have, to magazine@tcnj.edu or write us at: The Editor, TCNJ Magazine, Office of Communications, Marketing, and Brand Management, PO Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718. All letters are subject to editing for clarity and length, and must include the name and address of the writer, as well as a phone number for confirmation.