Meeting with Grad Students

Norman Cliff *57, in his letter (Inbox, Nov. 13) about life at the graduate school in the mid-1950s, states that there was virtually no contact between graduate and undergraduate students. My own experience, as an undergraduate majoring in Arabic, was somewhat different.

Perhaps because the old Oriental Languages and Literatures Department was fairly small, I had almost daily contact with graduate students also using the OLL research room at Firestone Library. I recall being invited by one grad student to dinner at the G.C. (and yes, I was required to wear a badly stained gown for the occasion). As a senior I attended at least one drinks party at the G.C. Years later, I encountered some of my grad-school acquaintances in Lebanon and at conferences of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. One became my supervisor in 1968 while I was research analyst for Egypt in the Department of State.

In short, I benefited greatly from the opportunities to interact academically and socially with graduate students.