The Lens and Lights Club, here providing PA support throughout the reunion.

I was one of the founding members of LnL something like 63 years ago. My activities in LnL and the support that WPI provided when we were first getting the club organized have played a significant part in my desire to provide financial support to WPI now and in my estate plans. I sometimes wonder if I would have survived the stress of four years at WPI without the enjoyment that my involvement in LnL was giving me. It was my main escape from the daily pressure of student life.

Whenever I visit WPI, I always look for current and former LnL members and enjoy seeing what they are up to. The club has grown to something I would not have expected in my wildest dreams. The very fact that it has survived all these years is a pleasant surprise. It is one of the few things I’ve been involved in during my lifetime which still exists. While high school "AV" clubs are still common, I wonder if anything like LnL exists in any other university, anywhere.

It would have been very easy for the 'powers that be' at WPI, back when we were freshmen and asked for permission to work on equipment in Alden Memorial, to have said 'No, we don't think that’s the place for students to be involved', but instead we received support, first in overhauling the projectors in Alden, and then in organizing our activities as a student club.

I am forever grateful to WPI for that support and the practical experience I gained from our efforts. I now look to return the favor.

Author

John Schmidt

Created on

Saturday 11 May 2024

File

2024-05 WPI Reunion 2024 - My 60th-006.jpg

Tags

60th Reunion, Class of '64, Lens and Lights Club, Worcester MA, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, WPI

Albums

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute / Worcester Polytechnic Institute Reunion 2024, my 60th

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