Category Archives: Chapter House

Halsey G Knapp, Jr.

halsey1Current Home City: Atlanta, Georgia

Your College: Arts and Sciences

Email Address: hknapp@khlawfirm.com

Tell us what you’re doing with your life:
Charmed by the virtues of the New South, I settled in Atlanta, Ga. and married Lyn Rogers, Atlanta’s finest. Like our favorite magazine, Garden & Gun, we like to hike, bike, entertain, hunt, cook, watch lacrosse, workout and argue about politics, God and the meaning of life. Lyn’s kitchen (both in Atlanta and our lake house) produces meals of legend which are the perfect backdrop for such fun. Our two children, Hale and Eve, bring us great joy when they are back in town. During the week, I practice law, resolving disputes involving businesses and the duties and obligations that officers and managers owe their owners. I frequently write, speak and train young lawyers on the art of the practice of law. Tires down on the open road, I find peace on my road bike.

halsey3In what year did you last set foot on the Ithaca campus, and what was the purpose of your visit?
In recent years, I have been active with my fraternity, Chi Psi, helping recolonize the brotherhood and refurbishing the house. Reunion planning twice has brought me to Ithaca in 2016. Each time, I have walked the campus, amazed at how it has changed (flowers, yes flowers on campus) yet also remains the same: a beautiful, energized place.

List your favorite class(es) while at Cornell.
Walter LaFeber-American Foreign Policy
Vance Christian-Wine Tasting
Latin 300 Horace and Catullus (It’s a long story involving Sly & the Family Stone and missing a mid-term)

halsey4Which piece of information or advice did you pick up while a student at Cornell that has been useful in the past 40 years?
1) Trust your instincts;
2) Don’t underestimate the power of the the truth; and
3) Embrace every impulse to serve others.

Provide your favorite memory of your time at Cornell.
Chi Psi Brotherhood
On cover of Daily Sun running Phi Psi 500
Sly & Family Stone Concert
Sage Chapel Choir
Senior Spring With The Newc
Sitting on blue line all 4 years (men & women)
Being part of TV commercial
Watching Big Red lax
Found library once
Chapter House

Tell us about the most interesting things you’ve done since 1977.
Lacrosse has been a constant companion in our lives. Statkeeper for years for local high school men’s & women’s teams. I still watch the 1976 & 1977 finals on YouTube and both my son, Hale, and my daughter, Eve, (honorable mention high school All American) played the sport with great passion. Season ticket holder of the Atlanta Blaze and thus get to watch Max Siebald and Rob Pannell remind us of Big Red’s glory days, images of Eamon always dancing in the background.

Joseph Reina

carol-and-joeCurrent Home City: Bridgewater, NJ

Your College: Engineering

Email Address: jtreina@yahoo.com

Tell us what you’re doing with your life:
Worked with a few classmates on a computer start up, owned a business and then in IT at ADP. Earned an MBA at Rutgers and now working as a Project Manager with past assignments at Blue Cross, Madison Square Garden, AIG, J&J, Novartis and currently BMS. Married Carol last year and we have four children between us. They are in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Florida so I see lots of travelling in my future!

In what year did you last set foot on the Ithaca campus, and what was the purpose of your visit?
June 2012 for our 35th Reunion. I have been our Class President for the past 10 years and was Reunion Chair for our 10th, 15th and 25th Reunions. I really enjoy the Reunion experience, meeting old friends and making new friends. It has been wonderful to see the University evolve, especially the engineering quad, over the years. I will see you all for our 40th.

List your favorite class(es) while at Cornell.
Astronomy
Sociology
Wine tasting
EE Intro to Circuits

Which piece of information or advice did you pick up while a student at Cornell that has been useful in the past 40 years?
Keep asking questions. Don’t give up until you find the solution to the problem.

frisbee-team

Ultimate Frisbee Team

Provide your favorite memory of your time at Cornell.
There are many. The coffee houses- Zeus at Goldwyn Smith, Green Dragon at Sibley and Bound for Glory at Anabel Taylor. Chapter House beer, Dancing at the Nines, Frisbee in the dust bowl, Joni Mitchell concert, MBC and PMP from the hot truck, on line all night for hockey tickets, road trips with the Frisbee team and the list goes on.

Tell us about the most interesting things you’ve done since 1977.
Playing in an Ultimate Frisbee championship game. Scuba diving in the Caribbean. Performing in many NJ local theater musicals, dramas and comedies. Wine tasting in Sonoma county. Beer tasting in Europe. Kayaking in NJ lakes. Road racing in 5k and 10k races.

Share any random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians since you left.
Finding out that Drew Nieporant owns a concession at Madison Square Garden. Ultimate Frisbee Team Reunion in 2013 attended by members from past to present. Meeting the head of Princeton dining at a Cornell-Princeton football game.

What advice would you give to a member of the Class of 2019?
Life is a journey, so enjoy every moment

Do you have a favorite memory from a Class of 1977 reunion?
Showing campus to my daughter and son-in-law, niece and cousins. Frisbee toss with Bill Nye. My speech at the 35th reunion. Sunning at Flatrock. Seeing the stars at the Observatory.

What are you looking forward to at our 40th reunion in June, 2017?
Reconnecting with old friends and new. I heard that my freshman roommate, Rich Sheroff is going! Dancing in the arts quad tents, walking on campus, seeing the stars at the Observatory, chatting with Bill Nye, climbing a gorge.

Geoff Gailey

geoffCurrent Home City: Indianapolis, IN

Your College: Industrial and Labor Relations

Email Address: geoff.gailey@midwest-fertilizer.com

Tell us what you’re doing with your life:
I have been a lifelong HR professional in Chicago (twice), Phx., Buf., Indy (twice) and the UK. Happily married 38 years to Peggy, a nurse from Valpo – three kids (lawyer, realtor, standup comedian – google Megan Gailey and you can see her on Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central, etc.).  Her mother is very funny.   I have been active in food banking and United Way and am in a band called Nucklehead. See us on facebook and see a number of us play and sing at Reunion in June 2017.

In what year did you last set foot on the Ithaca campus, and what was the purpose of your visit?
On campus September 17 and 18, 2016 for Reunion Kickoff Workshops. We all laughed while learning the entire time. I have been to reunion every five years with my bride Peggy. We are really looking forward to June 2017 and are honored to help Cara, Donna, Karen and Halsey as C0-Chairs. C’mon down!

Nuckleheads (Geoff in white t-shirt)

Nuckleheads (Geoff in white t-shirt)down!

List your favorite class(es) while at Cornell.
Bronfenbrenner
Milton Konvitz (Western Civ.)
Gardner Clark (Labor History)

Which piece of information or advice did you pick up while a
student at Cornell that has been useful in the past 40 years?
Follow through on your commitments.

Provide your favorite memory of your time at Cornell.
Enduring friendships from back in the day and now meeting classmates through reunion planning I would not have taken time to get to know. Balling out on the intramural fields like a boss.Read More…→