HWS News
9 June 2025 Families Share Milestone Reunion
Shared campus experiences and a shared celebration link two generations.
This weekend, when Hobart and William Smith welcomed classes ending in 0 and 5 back to campus to celebrate milestone reunions, several families returned to campus with a special, additional, connection: both parents and their alumni children celebrated milestone Reunions, on campus together. Three families - Lynne Friedlander ’80, P'10 and Chris Jenco ’10; Thomas G. Shea, Jr. ’90, P'20, P'22 and Lilly T. Shea ’20; and William Tierney ’90, P'20 and Bennett Tierney ’20 - took time to reflect on their HWS experiences.
Lynne Friedlander '80, P'10 and Chris Jenco ’10
Friedlander, who grew up in Cincinnati, says the day she visited was that quintessential, sunny day that happens once every fall. “Everybody was out on the Quad, and there were dogs, and students were tossing balls and playing games, and everybody was happy and smiling and, of course, I thought that's the way it was every day. But now I know it was because it was that one perfect fall day,” she laughs.
But, Friedlander says, she couldn’t get over how friendly everyone was. She loved the trimester system in place at the time and, best of all, there was no math requirement. So, she applied Early Decision, interviewed with an alumnus in Cincinnati, and gladly received her acceptance letter.
Friedlander’s son, Chris Jenco, credits location and marketing with his choice to apply. Jenco grew up in a Chicago suburb, spent time in Colorado with family, and summers working on a ranch in Montana, so he felt like Western and Midwestern culture was familiar to him. The eastern U.S. was outside his experience, and therefore appealing.
So were the marketing materials HWS sent him that year, which, inspired by a passage from the ancient Greek poet Archilochus, asked "Are you a Hedgehog, or a Fox?" Jenco says that as a young man trying to figure himself out, HWS’ messaging that people are different and that there is a place for everyone, really helped connect him to a future of possibilities.
He has vivid memories of a visit to the HWS campus when he was in the first grade where he attended the dedication of the Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell statue. He was also impressed by the veracity of a Hobart vs. Notre Dame lacrosse game he saw in Chicago when he was 10. But nothing prepared him for how he would feel as a young adult touring campus.
“I responded to what you could only call a vibe. And I know we all remark about the lake, but seriously, I still fully believe there’s something magical about those waters,” he says.
Both Friedlander and Jenco took every possible class with Professor Eric Patterson, who retired from the English Department in 2013, and both selected him as their advisor. “Beyond being a phenomenal teacher, he gave me permission to reinvent myself, which is, I think one of the best outcomes one can hope for in a college education,” Jenco says.
As for attending Reunion at the same time? Both say they appreciated the opportunity to share the experience. Because of Covid, Jenco missed his 10-year reunion and Friedlander her 40-year reunion, so this year’s events carried an extra punch. “Catching up with people who were so integral to such a transformative part of your life is such a rare opportunity,” Jenco says.
Thomas G. Shea, Jr. ’90, P'20, P'22 and Lilly T. Shea ’20
“When we drove up to Hobart, it was a beautiful spring day. Tom Melly had called the admissions director and set up an interview and a personal tour for me, and I found, to my surprise, that HWS was right in my wheelhouse. Later, when I was making my decision on which college to attend, I visited again, and there was one of those big parties we had back in the day, and it just confirmed what I felt on that first visit. It was great. It was meant to be,” Shea remembers.
As it turns out, for Shea what was meant to be was more than just getting a great education and making lifelong friends: Shea also gained a family - he met his wife, Carrie Zacavish Shea ’88 on campus. His daughter, Lilly Shea is class of ’20 and his son, Gib Shea is class of ’22, now serves as Senior Assistant Director of Admissions.
For Lilly, touring campus also spurred her decision to attend. “People always assume that because my parents graduated from HWS that I was under a lot of pressure to apply. In fact, there was zero pressure. Of course I had heard stories about their college years together, but when it came time to start touring campuses, I was the one that kind of pushed to see HWS,” she says.
Lilly says that the quality of the students she met is what most attracted her to HWS.
“I came away with the most amazing impression of the place - everyone was open and friendly and seemed like genuine people. That feeling was emphasized when an admissions counselor came to my hometown in Connecticut to surprise me with my acceptance letter after I applied Early Decision. And that feeling lasted through all four years on campus. I ended up with the best group of friends - in fact most of us came back for the weekend,” she says.
Lilly says her favorite moment on campus was receiving her diploma from her brother, Gib, at graduation. “Gib was student trustee at the time, so he was up on the podium, but just when my name was about to be called, he got up from his seat. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I remember thinking ‘not now, Gib’ but they called my name and suddenly he was there handing me my diploma. He and my parents had all arranged it behind my back. It was just the best moment,” she says.
Shea says one of his favorite memories of HWS is of a class Professor of Religious Studies Michael Dobkowski taught on the Holocaust, not only because of what he learned in the class, but because his wife and his kids also took it. “It’s just a small and remarkable reflection on the longevity of traditions on campus,” he says.
Shea also says it’s great to see changes at HWS and in Geneva. “The new Gearan Center for the Performing Arts and the updates and additions to buildings are terrific. Plus, there’s so much more to do in the area - restaurants and vineyards, golf and boating, and shopping and so many more places for parents to stay. It’s amazing to see how HWS has grown and how the economy has grown right along with it,” he says.
William Tierney ’90, P'20 and Bennett Tierney ’20
But that was before the spring of 1986, when Tierney visited campus and saw Hobart lacrosse defeat the mighty, undefeated, two-time national champion Syracuse University. “Campus went bananas. It was it was a huge upset. The energy just got you, and at that moment I knew Hobart was absolutely the right place for me to be,” he says.
Just like her father, Bennett Tierney was not inclined to go to college where family members had blazed such a wide trail. In fact, her father says, she spent part of the six hours it took to drive to HWS during the spring of her sophomore year in high school telling him she would never go. But a funny thing seems to happen when people visit campus.
“Ironically, I first visited HWS with my dad for one of his previous Reunions. I absolutely loved the campus - it definitely helped that it was a beautiful June weekend,” Bennett says. “I wanted to pursue athletics in college and on that visit, I connected with Sally Scatton and Sophie Riskie from field hockey.”
Tierney remembers how energized Bennett was about meeting with the coaches. Later, after a day of Reunion activities, Tierney says they were standing on the Quad watching the fireworks, and Bennett turned to him and said, “I’m think I’m coming here.”
“My jaw dropped, but I just smiled and said nothing,” says Tierney.
Bennett says an overnight with the field hockey team during her senior year in high school sealed the deal.
“I absolutely loved the team and found it extremely beneficial to go through ‘a day in the life’ with them. I went to class, went to practice with the team, had dinner in SAGA, went to their team bonding event, stayed in Hale with a member of the team, went to team breakfast, and then watched the team’s game. I knew after my overnight that I was set on attending HWS.”
“I have never seen a bigger smile on her face than when she Facetimed me during her first year to tell me she had made the field hockey team,” he says.
As to coming back for Reunion, Tierney reflects that there’s not just one campus that people return to, but many different versions of the same place.
“I've seen HWS in a bunch of different lights now. There was the campus that was my older brother's school. And then it was my campus. And then as an alumnus you come back, and suddenly there's a new building and it shifts again. When we moved Bennett to campus we parked behind Superdorm – which is what we old folks call JPR – and I was walking across the tennis court and thinking about the lighting on the street and I realized, oh, good God, you know, I'm a parent now. I'm worried about safety,” he laughs.
Tierney says he’s most proud of the way HWS lives up to its values. “You don't have to be the next Jamie Dimon to be a successful person. I look at Bennett and her friends like Maya Weber '20 or Annaliese Schreder '20, and it's just the outcomes I see; they’re all incredibly strong and talented, and they very much resemble the women I knew and admired when attending HWS. So, we're still doing the job here of teaching our graduates to live lives of consequence,” he says.
Other families who shared milestone Reunions this year included: James Yovanoff ’70, P'05, P'10, Emma K. Yovanoff ’05 and Margaret A. Yovanoff ’10; Carmen J. Genovese ’70, P'01, P'03, P'05, P'08 and Tracy L. P. Genovese ’05; Stewart K. Diana ’70, P'05 and Matthew S. Diana ’05; James S. Grossman ’70, P'05 and Rebecca S. Grossman ’05; Penelope A. Miller ’75, P'10 and Nathan S. Davidof ’10; Bonnie Tourison Sweeney '80, P'10 and Stephen C. Sweeney ’10; Justus Bey ’90, P'20, P'21, P'23 and Tai-Ling M. Bey’ 20; and Richard S. Solomon ’75, P'10 and Victoria L. Solomon '10.
