Article archive / December 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 4. Source pages: 7.
Richard Maples and Dr. Courtland Chaney have been working on plans for a reunion of Louisiana State University Psychology Department graduate students, particularly of those who were graduate students in the mid- 1970s and early 1980s.
The idea initially was viewed as an informal gathering of those who started graduate school in 1975, but became so popular that it was expanded to accommodate the interests of a wider group of ex-graduate students and the department of psychology itself. “So many of us had connections with so many others we just decided to let our fellow graduate students decide if this event was for them. When we shared the idea with the psychology department, the plans really took off,” Chaney told the Times.
The reunion is now planned as a three-day event spanning the weekend of July 24-26, 2014. The “center piece” of the reunion weekend will be a brunch reception sponsored by the LSU psychology department on Saturday, July 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the LSU Faculty Club. “We are still exploring alternatives for activities on Friday, July 24, Saturday, July 25 after the reception, and Sunday, July 27,” said Chaney.
There are also plans to launch a reunion web page on the LSU Psychology Department website. The Psychology Department has been very supportive of the reunion, explained Chaney. Dr. Robert Mathews, the department chair, and Dr. Emily Elliot, the director of undergraduate studies, have met multiple times with Chaney and Maples to discuss reunion plans. And, a doctoral sociology student, Allison Bruchaus, is now working on the web site. “As soon as the psychology department website is ready, we will use it for communications between and among those interested in the reunion,” according to Richard Maples, who is also coordinating.
“We were also thinking of ways to facilitate our re-connecting with each other and came up with the idea of submitting short bios,” explained Chaney, “and possibly a current photo along with a photo from graduate school days to the psychology department as a fun way to reconnect,” he said. “When we shared this idea with the psychology department, they said they even liked the idea of receiving resumes or CVs so they could see what their graduates have been doing since graduate school.”
“So you can see how this informal gathering has taken a life of its own,” said Chaney.
Interested persons should contact Richard Maples at rampsm@att.net or Courtland Chaney at courtlandchaney@cox.net for more information and to be added to the mailing list.
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