By Renée Gearhart Levy

You know the old saying: blood is thicker than water. That may be true, but even within families, various dynamics interplay to make some bonds stronger than others. Personality types, birth order, interests, and proximity all play a role in determining the ties that develop among various family members, young and old, near and far. And then there’s college. While any shared experience has the potential to bring people closer, sharing an alma mater seems to have its own special power, intertwining the histories of an institution and a family. While many colleges and universities have their share of “legacy” families, Hobart and William Smith may be unique in boasting legacy lineages that date back to the mid-19th century. We visited with several families for whom attending HWS has become something of a family tradition. While their stories are diverse, they all share something in common: not a single person selected Hobart or William Smith because he or she was pushed to do so by family. Each and every alumnus or alumna found his or her way to the Colleges because it seemed the best fit for them. Simply put, it felt like home.

The Rawlins Family

Visitors to the campus library might notice a plaque in the memory of Lestelle Rawlins, who passed away in 1981. The plaque and an accompanying gift were made by five of her children, all graduates of HWS.

Rawlins was born in Jamaica. She and her husband, Nathan, from the West Indian Islands, emigrated to the United States during World War II and settled in the South Bronx, where they began to raise their six children. Later, they moved to rural Bloomfield, Conn., where other family lived.

It was there that the Rawlins family became acquainted with family friend Paul Herzog who received an honorary degree in 1959 and is a former Colleges trustee. Herzog suggested to oldest son Philip Rawlins ’75 that he put Hobart on his list of college considerations. Most of the schools Philip was thinking about were larger, and he also had the opportunity to pursue a college football career. But as the first in his family to attend college, he really placed a priority on academics. It also helped that Hobart had an Episcopal connection, as the family was Episcopalian.

“I came up to Hobart on a bus in the middle of the winter, making three different transfers to get there,” Philip recalls. “The way I was welcomed by admissions director John Witte and his staff really made me feel that this was a place I’d be comfortable. I fell in love with the place almost immediately.”

The next year it was his sister Janice’s turn to select a college. She says she wasn’t swayed so much by her brother, as by D.L. Wormley ’70, who she’d met through her town’s recreation program and who attended William Smith (and is now trustee of the Colleges). “I was really impressed by her and looked up to her,” says Janice Rawlins-Ferguson ’76, now a human resources executive.

Nonetheless, the older siblings’ experiences had an influence on the younger. Janice was followed by Michael ’80, Marilyn Rawlins-Grundy ’86, and Norman ’88. A cousin, Laura Douglas, graduated from William Smith in 1979.

“None of us was pressured to go to Hobart and William Smith, it just happened as a natural transition because we were each so comfortable with the Colleges and the people,” says Janice. “It was simple exposure.”

“I was 13 the first time I was on campus and I just loved it—the lake, the whole atmosphere,” recalls Michael. “For me it was a foregone conclusion that I’d go to Hobart. I saw Philip do well and I wanted to do that too.”

“William Smith was a choice that felt very safe, but was also one that my family had endorsed,” says Marilyn.

Norman was just five years old at Philip’s graduation. His entire growing up years were spent seeing his older siblings go off to and graduate from the Colleges. “We’re not sure he actually had a choice,” jokes Janice. (Alas one sister chose to be independent, going to nearby Elmira College.)

“I did choose Hobart in large part because of the successes of my brothers and sisters,” says Norman, who says that by the time he enrolled, he knew many administrators, faculty, and staff at the Colleges. “Who wouldn’t want to have a similar good experience?”

Each of the Rawlins siblings made their mark in different ways. Philip played lacrosse and was active in student government, Janice was involved in theatre, Michael and Norman played soccer, and Marilyn played tenor saxophone in the jazz ensemble and clarinet in an HWS chamber ensemble.

“We each carved out our own existence at the Colleges but the fact that we were there consecutively for a decade and a half means we all have a lot of common friends and common experiences,” says Janice. “We had many of the same faculty members. We still share a lot of the same friends.”

The common bond endures. “We’re a close family and the Hobart and William Smith connection just adds to that,” says Philip. “The five of us who went there affectionately refer to our sister who didn’t as the black sheep of the family. She doesn’t take too well to that.”

“There aren’t very many African-American or Afro-Caribbean families who have such a legacy at any college or university in the country,” adds Marilyn, explaining the impetus for her siblings’ gift to the Colleges and the plaque in the library. “We wanted to honor our parents, who worked hard. For a long time, they had two and at one time three children in college. We felt like our family needed to have a continued presence at Hobart and William Smith.”

The Andrews Family

Laurence E. Andrews ’49 grew up hearing his parents’ tales of HWS. His father, Frank Andrews (now deceased) graduated from Hobart in 1918. His mother, Margaret Estey Andrews, now 105, graduated from William Smith in 1918, where she was president of the student body and had to discipline young women caught smoking.

Laurence entered Hobart in the early forties, left to serve in World War II, and then returned to finish his degree. It was there he met William Smith student Elizabeth Young ’51, whom he married after graduating in 1949.

Laurence and Elizabeth had five children, four of whom graduated from HWS. Oldest son Larry was first, graduating in 1972, followed by Richard ’73, Bob ’75 and Peggy ’79.

“When we were growing up, we were exposed to the Colleges through stories we heard from our parents and grandmother,” says Laurence Jr. ’72 “We heard all about what it was like when the men had to go fight the war, what it was like when they came back, and about how our parents met. When I actually went to visit the school as a prospective student, it looked like the quintessential college experience that I wanted to have.”

Little did he know the influence of that decision. “I think Richard ’73 chose Hobart primarily because Larry was there and they were very close,” says Elizabeth. “Robert had already committed himself to become a minister and felt that Hobart offered him the best in a liberal arts education to prepare him for the seminary. Peg didn’t really know where she wanted to go but ultimately felt most comfortable at a place where she had visited her brothers.”

Frank Andrews was Phi Phi Delta in his day. His son Laurence Andrews was president of Theta Delta Chi. “They gave the best parties and were very well behaved,” Elizabeth recalls. None of her sons pledged that or any other fraternity. “They were in school during the seventies, when protesting was big and fraternities were largely looked down upon. It was a very different time and they weren’t interested.”

Certainly, times had changed for William Smith women as well. “I think when my great-grandmother was in school there was actually a line on the hill and there were only certain times women could cross it,” says Kate Andrews Gulio ’96, Laurence Jr.’s daughter. “And when my grandmother was there, she had to wear skirts or dresses to class or in town. But despite the differences because of the time periods we were there, we all received a classic liberal arts education. I certainly had very similar experiences to my father, uncles, and aunt in terms of our professors, who were very challenging and taught us to be self-thinkers.”

That’s not the only commonality. “You live through a winter up there—having to go to class with the wind whipping in your face, and the absolute joy when the spring comes—we’ve all been through that,” Kate says of the family’s HWS connection. “We speak the same language—you say Hale or Bartlett and everyone knows what you’re talking about.”

 

The Kingsley Family

Arch Kingsley ’50 got out of the Navy in the fall of 1946. Because he was released earlier than anticipated, he had made no college plans. “My father suggested we go take a look at Hobart, which would be starting its fall term in two weeks,” he recalls.

Both Kingsley’s father, George P. Kingsley Jr. ’20, grandfather, George P. Kingsley 1886, uncle Donaldson Kingsley ’21 and aunt Susanna Kingsley ’15, had all attended the Colleges, although none completed their degree. Arch Kingsley was interviewed, accepted and promptly moved in to Medbery Hall. Like his father and grandfather before him, he joined Kappa Alpha, where he lived the following three years.

Kingsley taught flying at a private airport in Geneva throughout his college years and went on to have a career as a pilot with United Airlines. He has six children, two of whom have attended HWS.

Arch Kingsley Jr. ’94 looked at schools all over the country. Hobart emerged as the most welcoming. Despite his lineage, he claims to have had a limited knowledge of Hobart before attending. “Whatever my dad had told me, I hadn’t really paid attention to—it was just his crusty old stories,” he says. “I knew it as the place where dad and grandfather, and my great-grandfather had all gone, but that was about it.”

And despite plans to remain independent, Arch ultimately joined the family fraternity, Kappa Alpha. “They knew I was a legacy and they were all over that,” he recalls. “But I made some great friends there, joined, and never regretted it.”

Arch Jr. left Hobart after his sophomore year to take advantage of the free travel benefits afforded him as a result of his father’s job, which would end once he turned 21. He traveled around the world, and when he came back home turned a lifelong avocation into a career as a steeplechase jockey. His association with Hobart and Kappa Alpha has given him a stronger connection with his father. “I didn’t realize it when I was making those choices, but it definitely brought us closer. Even though I didn’t graduate, it’s nice to have that common thread. Neither my grandfather or great-grandfather graduated either, so I tell my dad he really messed up the legacy by earning his degree.”

Despite visiting numerous southern schools, Josephine (Joie) Kingsley is currently a sophomore at William Smith, a decision she’s only regretted during winter storms. After dropping her off at her dorm her freshman year, her father made a beeline for the Kappa Alpha house, asking the young men to look out for his daughter. “My mother called me and said: ‘You’re not going to believe what your father just did.’

“I guess if I can’t be a KA, he wants to at least make sure they know I’m here,” she says.

Because of the legacy of Hobart men in her family, Joie says that even she tends to connect herself more with the Hobart name rather than William Smith. “There are William Smith women,” she says, “but I really think of myself as a Hobart girl.”

The Adair Family

When Charles Adair ’44 entered Hobart College, he followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers, Robert, who graduated in 1940, and Donald, who graduated in 1942. The three brothers attended the college at the largesse of their uncle, Carl Hand, a successful businessman who had graduated from Hobart in 1913.

While at college, Charles became part of another legacy family when he proposed to Constance Dean ’45, daughter of Gladys Campbell Moyer Dean ’12, a member of the first graduating class at William Smith, and Ernest Dean, a chemistry instructor at the Colleges. Constance’s sister Margaret Dean also attended William Smith, graduating in 1943. All three women were Phi Beta Kappa.

Each of the three Adair brothers had a son who attended Hobart: Robert’s son Robert Jr. graduated in 1967, Donald’s son Brian graduated in 1971, as did Charles and Constance’s son Richard.

“Because my parents met at college and got married in St. John’s Chapel, I think they have an especially strong attachment to the place so we would visit there regularly when I was growing up,” says Richard. “My parents never pushed me toward HWS. It was one of several schools I picked out to apply to, and out of the schools I visited, I liked it best.”

Because he and his cousin Brian were at school at the same time, they have many common friends and experiences. Both have children who’ve considered HWS, but have chosen to go elsewhere.

Still, Hobart remains a common interest. “Brian and I and our wives try to make the reunions every five years,” says Richard.

Brian gets there more frequently. “Geneva happens to be on the way to our summer place in Quebec so we often drive through,” says Brian. “It always brings back memories.”

The Tallmadge/Oberfield Family

Zach Oberfield was 12 when he accompanied his parents, Bill Oberfield ’67 and Lynn Tallmadge Oberfield ’67 to their 25th reunion at HWS. His sister Jillian was 9. While the visit was intended to rekindle old friendships and memories for their parents, it resulted in a great deal more for the suburban Philadelphia siblings.

“I never forgot that visit,” says Zach, who graduated from Hobart with a degree in political science in 1998. “There were all these great events on the quad and the picture of campus always stayed in my head of what college should be like.”

Jillian ’01 is currently a senior at William Smith studying psychology. “It was never assumed that any of us would go there. My parents aren’t the type to push things on us—they really encourage us to be individuals,” says Jillian. “But it’s really cool that Zach went there and that I ended up liking it too, for my own reasons.” (Their oldest brother went to Muhlenberg College.)

But then, it shouldn’t be surprising they felt a connection to the place, considering their grandfather, Henry Hobart Tallmadge IV ’42 (now deceased), was the great-great-grandson of Hobart College founder John Henry Hobart. He was a member of the Class of 1942, leaving for World War II in his senior year after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. His wife, Carol Weatherly Tallmadge ’42, attended William Smith as the result of a scholarship from the Episcopal Church (her father, grandfather, uncle, and two brothers were all clergy). Of their five children, only daughter Lynn attended William Smith, transferring in as a sophomore and graduating in 1967.

“Since both my parents and grandparents met at college, we’d naturally heard a lot of stories that took place at HWS,” says Zach, “but they weren’t so much college stories to us as they were family lore.”

The Tallmadge/Oberfield family has enjoyed comparing college experiences. “My chief pleasure was sneaking into a boys dorm,” says Carol Tallmadge of the many rules and restrictions she faced at William Smith in her day. “Jillian has boys right in her dorm.”

Regardless of the differences in the times, Jillian says the shared HWS experience is a tie that connects her family members in a new way. “My grandfather died before we ever knew him. But I feel a neat connection with him, posthumously, at school. Every time I walk by Medbery Hall, where he lived, it makes me think about him and feel a little closer.”

The Odell/Herendeen Family

Despite the fact she was a faculty kid growing up in Geneva—or perhaps because of it—Edith Odell Rapalee ’45 never thought she’d end up at William Smith. Nonetheless, like her brother Theodore Odell, Jr. ’44 before her, and her sister, Alice Odell Ham ’56, Edith carved out further family history at HWS.

Their parents, Theodore T. Odell ’22 and Elizabeth Herendeen ’22 had both graduated from the Colleges. Theodore went on to head the biology department at Hobart and Elizabeth was alumnae secretary (which is now the position of Alumni Relations Director) for many years. Both parents had brothers and sisters who graduated from the Colleges.

Although all three Odell siblings had their father as a professor, they all had very different HWS experiences. Theodore Jr. interrupted his education to serve in the Air Force during World War II. Because it was war time during Edith’s tenure, most of the male students were gone. “We had a very small class and missed out on a lot,” says Edith. Eleven years later, her younger sister Alice had a New York State Regents Scholarship and William Smith was the best choice of the eligible colleges.

“I had literally grown up on campus, playing in the campus museum. There was a mummy and an Indian burial. We’d go down in the basement, turn out the lights, and see who would be the last one to run out,” recalls Alice. “I wouldn’t say I learned a lot of new things about HWS as a student, but actually being a student was certainly a different experience.”

The Odell siblings were followed by cousins Eleanor Clark Atwell ’58 (who married Wayne Atwell ’63), James Herendeen Jr. ’66, and Chari Herendeen Briggs-Krenis ’60 (who served as a HWS trustee from 1972 to 1987).

“I used to visit Geneva as a child with my parents and HWS was the only college with which I was acquainted,” says Briggs-Krenis. “I was really impressed that both of my father’s sisters had been Phi Beta Kappa from William Smith.”

Despite the broad family tree, Alice’s son Robert Ham ’85 is the only third-generation family member to graduate from the colleges.

“I never thought I would end up at Hobart, ever,” says Robert A. Ham ’85. Ham grew up largely in Geneva before attending the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut. He started college at Cooper Union in New York City intent on becoming an electrical engineer, and rather quickly realized that was a mistake.

Because Hobart was on trimesters, he was able to transfer in at the second trimester, planning on transferring out at the end of the year. He never left.

“I would not have wanted him to go to Hobart if he hadn’t already had the experience of going away,” says Alice. “But it ended up being wonderful for him.”

Ham agrees being part of the college connection is kind of nice.

“There have been college events that have really served as family gatherings for us to some extent,” he says. “At my 10-year reunion in 1995, most of the family came because my great-aunt, Alice Herendeen Clark ’25, was celebrating her 70th reunion. So the HWS reunion was just as much our own family reunion.”

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