AIRAN SCRUBY & CAROLINE RONDINELLA
News Editor & Staff Writer
Heidelbergers from the past three decades will meet at Moore Haus for the reunion of the century in May.
The annual reunion for Pepperdine students who made the journey to Germany will take place as usual, but with a special twist: 2006 is the 100-year anniversary of the Moore Haus building.
Heidelberg is hosting reunions for 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year alumni of the program.
“No other Heidelberg reunion classes will be able to take advantage of the opportunities available this year because of the anniversary,” Freund von Heidelberg Manager Dawn Petterson said
Former students will be reuniting and celebrating at Moore Haus in May, though many will not be in attendance because of the World Cup, Petterson said.
The idea of a convention for past students at their German home was first conceived in 1990, but real planning started in August. In September the “save the date” cards began to circulate to all eligible Heidelbergers to let them plan for the event, Peterson said.
The get togethers occur every year, but this year will have the added bonus of the birthday of Moore Haus.
Moore Haus, where Heidelbergers have lived while in Germany, was built in 1906, as a private home.
Another major event in Germany this summer may overshadow the special reunion, however.
“Reasons for not attending range from having children in school to having already made plans to attend the Soccer World Cup Championships this summer,” Petterson said.
The World Cup begins June 9, and many former Heidelbergers are unable to attend the reunion because they have scheduled their return to Germany to coincide with the soccer event.
The World Cup is the largest soccer tournament of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Played every four years, more than 60 teams from 32 nations will compete in a month-long tournament, held in 12 different cities across Germany, the host for this year.
In honor of the World Cup’s arrival in Germany, a reunion event has been scheduled during the May festivities, a special dinner and wine tasting with a World Cup theme.
The Heidelberg program has been one of Pepperdine’s International Programs since 1963. For the first two years of the program, students lived in hotel rooms and other living quarters in the area, until the university purchased Moore Haus, two years later.
The Endermann family built the manor in 1906, but after World War I the Schmitthelm family purchased it. During World War II, it was used as housing for refugees of the war and in the 1950s became an important location to the CIC (a precursor to the CIA) for interrogation and to monitor Russian activities during the Cold War.
The university bought the Haus from the German government in 1965 with the help of Pepperdine donor JC Moore, for whom the facility was named, in honor of his contributions.
At the reunion, former students can expect meals together, worship services and free time to rediscover Heidelberg and each other.
Pepperdine students who have been to Heidelberg remember their experience fondly.
“It was the best year of my life,” junior Elizabeth Martin said of her year abroad.
Junior Elizabeth Price also has fond memories of the slow pace of life and walks by a river near a local castle.
“Really, the people made it worth being there,” Price said.
Junior Stephanie Husband also enjoyed her experience, commenting on the changes it caused in her worldview.
“It’s changed the way I look at the world,” Husband said.
The cost of attending the reunion is $465, which covers all activities and events, but not air fare or most meals. The final payment to attend the reunion was due earlier this week.
04-06-2006