Alec Chiquoine
Within 45 minutes of his visit to Beloit College, high school senior Alec Chiquoine knew he had made a mistake. He had already submitted his housing application at the University of Minnesota and was enrolled in the honors program when he came to Beloit for Presidential Scholars Weekend.
| Photo by Bob Rashid |
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| Stephen’74 and Eleanor Wright Chiquoine’76 with their son Alec on the eve of Commencement. |
“He had it in his head right up to the very end that he was going to a big school,” says Alec’s father, Stephen Chiquoine’74.
Alec’s parents, Stephen’74 and Eleanor Wright Chiquoine’76, met as Beloit students taking a karate class downtown. Although they didn’t push Beloit specifically, they were eager to see their son apply to small liberal arts schools. Beloit seemed like a natural fit for Alec, says his mother.
“I watched him walking across the campus, and he had this bounce in his step and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, he loves it!’”
Someone else recognized that walk, too.
“When I was walking to get my ID picture taken, someone came up to me and said, ‘You’re Steve Chiquoine’s boy, aren’t you? I could recognize a Chiquoine walk anywhere!’” says Alec. That person was Jerry Gustafson, professor of economics and Stephen’s advisor in the ’70s. He kept a close eye on Alec.
“It was a hoot when I realized Gustafson was there and Alec had run into him,” says Stephen. “Jerry Gustafson was for me what Ann Davies (associate professor of political science) was for Alec—the academic foil.”
As Alec moved through school, his parents reconnected with Beloit. They found the student body and community more cohesive and unified than in the Beloit Plan years.
Alec forged his own path at Beloit. While his father raced down College Street on a motorcycle, Alec entered his own pursuit to instigate change and connect his practical experience with academics, including his study abroad project on paramilitary organizations in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Now, he is putting his political science background to work as a consultant with Chicago-based AKP&D, a firm working on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. He delivered the class address at Commencement.
His parents are happy Alec gave Beloit a chance.
“Man, I had the best Mother’s Day,” says Eleanor. “How much better can you feel than when your 22-year-old graduates and had a great experience?”
Alex Gordon
Zachary’73 and Wendy Nimer Gordon’76 received a congratulatory note from Beloit College when their son Alex was born. It read: “Welcome to the class of 2007!” This May—22 years later—Alex graduated from Beloit.
| Photo by Bob Rashid |
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| Zak Gordon’73 and Wendy Nimer Gordon’76 with sons Alex’07 and Lukas, a self-proclaimed member of the class of 2022. |
“It’s come back to this sort of nexus,” says Wendy. “It was just kind of funny … things circle back on themselves.”
Alex’s path to Beloit began when his parents met over failed flambé and banana bread in October of 1972, when Zachary’s roommate’s girlfriend asked the boys to cook dinner one night.
“We made spaghetti, and we were going to make bananas flambé, but we poured a bottle of brandy on the bananas without heating it,” says Zachary. “I said, ‘I wish someone would make banana bread.’”
Wendy brought Zachary banana bread two days later, and they have been together ever since.
Although they met at Beloit, Alex’s parents were surprised when he first expressed interest in the school. They hoped he would choose a college closer to home, in Oregon. But Alex’s interest in basketball led him to search for coaches and programs he wanted to play for.
“One day Alex just said, ‘I want to go to Beloit and check it out,’” says Zachary. “He hopped on a plane by himself and went. The basketball coach (Cecil Youngblood) promised he’d give Alex a fair look.”
Alex played on the basketball team all four years, earning three varsity letters.
Although his mother transferred from Beloit after her first year, and his father was more interested in theatre while at Beloit, Alex followed his father’s footsteps rather closely. Both majored in history with a minor in economics and took 20th Century American History with Professor Bob Hodge. For their final papers, father and son chose to research Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. Zachary had never said anything about the paper to his son. They even received the same grade.
When the Gordons visited Alex in campus housing, they also realized he lived on the same corner where Zachary once lived, albeit in a new building. “It was like some of our molecules were still lingering there,” says Wendy.
All three emphasize the friends and life-long connections they found at Beloit. Although no one’s made him banana bread yet, Alex knows his Beloit friends will be friends his entire life.
“I think the best part about Beloit is my friends,” says Alex.
Dan Hayes
Dan Hayes first toured Beloit’s campus as a toddler in a tiny wagon. At 6 or 7, he was rolling down Beloit’s Indian mounds, which seemed like mountains to him then.
| Photo by N. Marie Dries’92 |
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Dan Hayes’07 with, from left, his uncle, Pat Gathof’86, mom,
Margaret Gathof Beck’82, and dad, Nathan Hayes’82. |
Dan grew up in upstate New York but came to campus often while visiting his grandparents on nearby Park Avenue.
Beyond feeling at home on campus, Dan has Beloit in his blood.
His mom, Margaret Gathof Beck’82, and dad, Nathan Hayes’82, are both graduates. His grandfather, the late Frank Gathof, taught economics at Beloit for 17 years. His grandmother, Angela Fellows, directed the College’s health services in the 1970s and ’80s. Several uncles also went to Beloit.
Dan considered a few colleges, but only applied to Beloit. He says he liked the size of the College and the blend of the familiar and the new.
He made the most of his four years, studying abroad in Glasgow, Scotland, playing on the golf team, competing in track and field, and majoring in economics. He discovered that his grandfather’s colleague, Emil Kreider (professor emeritus of economics), was also one of his favorites.
Hayes says he “wasn’t the quickest learner in math,” but found success through the efforts of his dedicated teacher, Professor of Mathematics Dave Ellis. Cecil Youngblood, his golf coach, encouraged him to “swallow his pride” and seek the assistance of a tutor when he needed one. “Some of the best advice I ever received came in a five-minute talk with Coach Youngblood,” Dan says.
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| Dan shows an early Beloit affinity. |
This one-on-one guidance from faculty and staff was exactly what Dan’s mom had in mind when she reflected on their shared experiences at Beloit.
“And of course there is a Leinenkugel at the Coughy Haus. These are things that make Beloit!” she adds.
Graduate school is in Dan’s future plans, but before that, he’s moving to Austin, Texas, in search of something completely new. “I came from a small town, and Beloit opened my eyes to so many things,” he says. “There are a lot of smart people here, and to be among them has given me so much confidence.”
“Danny is not the young man who left New York four years ago,” his mom says. “He is so ready to experience life as an adult. He will go anywhere and do well.”
Alex Pratt
Alex Pratt couldn’t walk at his first party at Beloit College—in fact, he was barely there. At a baby shower held by the offices of the Registrar, Student Life, and Admissions, he was just a bump on his mother’s belly. But Alex was fully present as he graduated this year and walked across the stage—his parents, Mary Breiter’82 and Scott Pratt’81, looking on.
| Photo by Bob Rashid |
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| Alex Pratt’07 at Beloit with parents Scott Pratt’81 and Mary Breiter’82. |
“It feels surprisingly special,” says Mary. “I wasn’t expecting to have it mean this much to me.”
Scott and Mary met their second day at Beloit, at a reception for transfer students in the Tartan Pub, where Turtle Creek Bookstore currently stands. Both graduated from Beloit, then worked in Admissions before moving to St. Paul, Minn. The campus became a regular destination during Alex’s childhood.
“Beloit was always the place we visited when we traveled to Grandma’s house (in Rock Falls, Ill.),” Alex says.
The decision to attend Beloit felt natural to Alex, who wanted to return to the Midwest after his family moved to Oregon when he was 10.
“In Oregon, there are no seasons—there’s rain and there’s not rain,” Alex says. “I just missed the seasons.”
Coming back to campus when Alex applied, his parents noted big changes, especially that the Smith Building was no longer the student center and Pearsons Hall—their science center—had been renovated. Scott recalled the days when the computer center in the basement of Pearsons featured “a huge IBM computer that used tape with holes punched in it.”
“Pearsons was a dingy, unwelcoming place,” Scott says of his time at Beloit. “Not only dingy, but a ruin filled with abandoned furniture and pigeon nests. I think it is safe to say that the campus was substantially improved when we came back to visit in 2002.”
One experience that Mary, Scott, and Alex all had in common was the strong connection to their teachers. Mary and Alex, a history major, had classes with Professor Emeritus of History Bob Hodge, and all three took courses with Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Gary Cook. Having worked in Admissions, Mary and Scott were happy to hand Alex off to a place where they knew staff members.
“One of our great pleasures was introducing Alex to Barbara Spencer (assistant director of International Education) and Bill Flanagan (dean of students) on the day we left him at Beloit,” Mary says. “We knew he was in good hands.”
Nate Remley
When Nate Remley graduated in May, he continued a Beloit legacy that connects his entire nuclear family. Both of his parents, Tom’72 and Colly Cahill Remley’72, graduated from Beloit, and his only sibling, Virginia (Tawna), graduated in 2004.
| Photo by Bob Rashid |
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| Tom’72 and Colly Cahill Remley’72 with daughter, Tawna’04, and son, Nate’07. |
But it was really a lucky draw from a hat that sent Nate to Beloit. Although his family had a history, Nate felt many of the colleges he had applied to would fit him well. Making the final decision came down to a few pieces of paper.
“I think I actually chose it out of a hat,” says Nate. “My parents never said I should come here. They let me make my own choices.”
But judging by the pleased reaction from his parents, they may have rigged the hat.
“I was delighted because I knew he would experience a smorgasbord of opportunities—strong academics, a diverse student body, and numerous cultural and social events,” says Colly, adding that Nate’s first-year roommate from Romania became one of his closest friends.
With Tawna still in school, Nate got to do more than follow in his sister’s footsteps. He got to walk alongside and work with her.
Tom says he was surprised and also pleased that his daughter and son had the opportunity to work together at Beloit. “Nate and Tawna enjoyed each other’s company,” he says. “Beloit afforded the opportunity to ‘learn together.’ They were in the same chemistry class and microbiology course.”
Nate also found himself in the same room as another family member—his mother. Walking into his first room on campus, Colly experienced a déjà vu moment.
“I had 327A Whitney as a single,” she says. “He was sharing the room with a roommate.”
The friends and connections Nate, his sister, and his parents made at Beloit form the core of their common experiences at the College.
“The best part of Beloit is the friends I’ve made in terms of international students,” Nate says.
This summer, Nate will visit many of those friends when he travels in Europe. A biochemistry major, he takes the trip with an eye toward a future in economics and international relations, a passion that emerged at Beloit.
“It was just the kind of a place where everyone finds their crowd,” Nate says of Beloit. “Everyone fits in.”
