Class of 1973 celebrates 50 years of achievement and experience

The 50th reunion is always a special time, but this year with the Class of 1973 it is being celebrated by an equally special class. Co-chairs Ann de Montluzin Farmer and Paula Perrone agree that their time at Newcomb College coincided with some of our nation’s most eventful years. 

“The first semester was very traditional. They had all the rules in place, it was very regimented. Then Kent State happened,” recalls Farmer. The resulting upheaval closed campus early that spring and the Newcomb they returned to in the fall was very different. 

“We were set free from a lot of the conventions that people graduating in earlier classes had,” says Perrone. “We had a lot more freedom …. It was just a real time of awakening for people, both politically and spiritually.” 

Held May 18-20, the 50th and Emeritus Reunion Weekend offers alumni from Newcomb and Tulane a wonderful opportunity to revisit the places that mean so much with the people who mean even more. The weekend kicks off with campus tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. where alums can see firsthand how uptown campus has kept its character while integrating an array of state-of-the-art buildings to meet present and future needs. 

Farmer has co-chaired each Class of 1973 reunion with her Newcomb classmate Danielle Dutrey Newlin. Fifty, she says, is a special one. “It’s a sense of achievement. … yet you just pick up right where you left off because at some point you all had a lot in common because you chose to go to school with Tulane.

“You have different life experiences, but basically the person is the same,” she adds.

Both co-chairs have deep and thriving connections with the university. Farmer is the daughter and mother of Newcomb alums as well as the spouse of a Tulane engineering alum and stepparent to Newcomb and Tulane alums. In addition to a thriving career as the real estate broker/owner of de Montluzin Investments Realtors in New Orleans, she found time to serve on the Newcomb Alumnae Association Board of Directors and as the National President (2000) of the Tulane Alumni Association Board of Directors. 

Perrone was initially (and reluctantly) headed to Texas Christian University when her godmother, whose daughter Gridley McKim was a Newcomb Class of 1965 alum, stepped in and raved about the school to Perrone’s parents. Upon visiting, Perrone says, “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” Though she is now back in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, where she is the CEO of Perrone Pharmacies Group, Newcomb and Tulane made their mark. After Newcomb, she graduated from Tulane Law School and practiced law in New Orleans for over 30 years. While residing in the city, Perrone encouraged her stepdaughter Eliza Thomasson to apply to Tulane University School of Medicine. Thomasson graduated from the School of Medicine in 1999. 

Farmer and Perrone both look forward to the Newcomb Alumnae Luncheon, which is set for 11:30 a.m. in the Diboll Gallery in the Malkin Sacks Commons. The Tulane Alumni Luncheon meets at 12 p.m. at the Bea Field Alumni House. The Under the Oaks Ceremony follows at 2 p.m. before the Newcomb and Tulane alums come together for the 50th Reunion & Emeritus Induction cocktail party and dinner at the Audubon Tea Room. 

Farmer is particularly excited for the diploma ceremony at Under the Oaks. She graduated a semester early in December 1972 and went to live in Europe. The ceremony offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to revisit her graduation ceremony. Her children and godmother will be on hand for the special event. 

This year’s event brings a new highlight. The New Orleans Museum of Art will host educational sessions on “Campus Then and Now” followed by the Class of 1973 Luncheon at Ralph’s on the Park. 
 

“That phenomenal educational experience [at Newcomb] shaped me in so many ways. In some way, every day, I continue to build upon the foundation of those years of higher learning.” — Paula Perrone, Class of 1973 co-chair

An educational event is a good fit for a class that never stopped learning. It’s part of what keeps Perrone connected. “I want to show my gratitude to the institution by giving what I can of my time and treasure. That phenomenal educational experience shaped me in so many ways. In some way, every day, I continue to build upon the foundation of those years of higher learning.” 

Alumni who have not yet done so can register here and catch up with friends by joining the Class of 1973 Facebook group Attendees who wish to contribute to the 50th Reunion Memory Book may do so online as well.