Spotlight

Building on the successful 50th anniversary celebration in 2017, the Mumford Class of 1967 Reunion Committee is putting final touches on plans for a 55th anniversary reunion. The activities will take place from Aug. 4-7, 2022.

Among the planning committee members are Elissa Kass Kline and Danny Kline, Michael Shewach, Doris Rubenstein, Sharon Moss Lebovic, and Marilyn Warren Bowerman. Other committee members are Rosalind Young Dunlap, Rita Rankin Willis, Sylvia White Elliott, Stevetta Johnson and Camille Cichy.

The Committee has opened the reunion to anyone from the classes of 1966-1968. In addition, those who started their secondary education at Mumford, but graduated from other high schools are encouraged to be part of the festivities. Anyone who graduated from a “feeder school” in 1963-65 are welcome, even if they never attended Mumford. Those feeder schools include MacDowell, Schulze, Bagley, Pasteur, Higgenbotham, Post, Hampton, etc.

“We know that many of those who graduated from other schools were often dragged away from Mumford kicking and screaming!” jokes Doris Rubenstein, who is tasked with locating such “lost classmates.”

Various indoor and outdoor activities are included in the official reunion calendar, including tickets to a Detroit Tigers baseball game and a dinner dance on an excursion boat on the Detroit River. Smaller groups from the various feeder schools are welcome to create their own events in between official activities.

Readers who know of other members of the Class of ’67 are encouraged to contact them and share registration information. Most registration materials will be sent via email. Mumford ’67 grads wishing to receive registration forms should contact Doris Rubenstein at theonlydoris@ hotmail.com Join Oakland University’s Center for Civic Engagement and Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement for a conversation with two former U.S. Ambassadors about prospects for peace in the Middle East. “The Abraham Accords: Will They Bring Peace to the Middle East?” will take place from 7-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, in Ballrooms A & B inside the Oakland Center. “The complex politics of the Middle East, especially those with Israel and its neighbors, are important to understand,” said Michael Pytlik, director of Jewish Studies at Oakland University. “We are fortunate to have two former ambassadors in our community who will help us understand the Abraham Accords.”

The Abraham Accords are a series of treaties normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, facilitated by the U.S. Administration between August and December 2020. In the span of five short months, these four Arab states joined Egypt and Jordan in making peace with Israel.

“The Accords have produced peace between Israel and some Gulf states, and this process has extended to improved relations and ties between Morocco and Sudan with Israel,” Pytlik said. “In areas of politics and economics and trade, the Accords have provided a roadmap toward further implementation.”

David T. Fischer, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, and John Rakolta Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, will visit Oakland University to discuss how the agreements came about, what they have meant for the peace process and what the future may hold in the region.

The discussion will be moderated by Carol Cain from WWJ-TV and the Detroit Free Press. In addition, all attendees will have an opportunity to submit a question for the ambassadors.

The event is free, but registration is required at https:// tinyurl.com/4c9yur4k.