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Keep in touch with fellow classmates with California Monthly's Class Notes. Become a member of the California Alumni Association now to receive your own copy of the magazine. We'd love to hear from you. Why not submit your own Class Notes now? Take Note: Class of ’49 Secretary Harriet Williams Fifty-two years after graduating, Harriet Williams lives less than a mile from campus. But it hasn’t always been that way. Soon after graduation, Williams moved to Long Beach, where she raised five children—all of whom have attended Cal—and was actively involved in numerous community organizations. Beginning in 1979, she served for 13 years on the Long Beach School Board, where she campaigned successfully for district elections and championed the inclusion of women authors in the curriculum. In 1982, Williams launched a festival of women authors, which continues to draw some 700 participants each year.
It wasn’t until returning to Berkeley in 1998 that she renewed her ties with Cal and with her Class. After four decades in Long Beach, “I’d been aching to get back,” she says, and so she joined the 50th Class reunion committee. As her contribution, Williams created a video documenting the Class’s time at Cal. “They were extraordinary years,” Williams recalls. “It was just after the war, and the men came pouring back. I wanted to show what a good time we had, and to show the contrast and the similarities between then and now.” The daughter of famed track star Bill Neufeld ’24, Williams worked her way through college, putting in 30 hours a week at the College of Letters and Science. “I wasn’t as involved in school activities as I would have liked to have been when I was a student—that’s why I’m enjoying this so much,” she says of her work as Class Secretary. “It’s been really fun to meet all the people whose faces I’ve seen in the Blue and Gold all these years. It’s fun making new friends. It’s a whole new world, and still an old world.” —Linda Schmidt Good sport The clock on Joan Parker’s shelf runs backwards, counting down the days until her retirement in September. After 36 years of service to the University as an athlete, coach, and administrator, Parker ’63 has seen it all in the world of Cal sports. From her days as a tennis and basketball player at Cal in the ’60s—when the players provided their own uniforms and transportation—
Parker notes that the passage of Title IX in 1972, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions receiving federal funds, brought much-needed financial support and helped make women’s sports respectable. “The University made an exceptionally wise decision to separate the men’s and women’s programs,” she observes of the founding of Cal’s women’s athletic department in 1976. “It gave us a chance to focus on the women and to promote the women’s program. The opportunities are incredible now, and the role models for women are wonderful.” Parker’s success is due in large part to her infectious and genuine enthusiasm for all aspects of her work. Sports are an important part of college life, she believes, and a good athlete is “willing to do the kinds of things it takes to succeed,” including putting in long hours of practice, learning to work as a member of a team, and often sacrificing other social pursuits—skills which help develop a mature and responsible personality. “Coaching isn’t just coaching the sport, it’s really working with the student as a person, and developing them individually,” she maintains. Although she misses direct contact with students, Parker has also achieved great satisfaction from her work with alumni. She left coaching in 1977 to become associate athletic director in the women’s athletic department, then switched to fundraising in 1983. “Bear Backers are enthusiastic and loyal,” she says. “They really care about Cal and the welfare of our student athletes— even though we haven’t been to the Rose Bowl in a long time!” Of all her Cal activities, she says: “It doesn’t feel like work, it’s been so fun and so rewarding to see the results.” Parker has some noteworthy plans for her retirement: “I’m going to do a lot of traveling—first I’m going to go through the Panama Canal—and then I’m going to clean my house.” Something else she’s looking forward to: without any official receptions or parties to host, she says, “It’ll be the first time I’ll be able to just sit in the stands and see a whole football game or a whole basketball game!” —Linda Schmidt  Return to Top |
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