{"id":29282,"date":"2021-03-16T20:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/?p=29282"},"modified":"2021-07-12T18:31:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T18:31:49","slug":"trixie-meteyer-67-experiencing-rochester-again-and-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2021\/03\/16\/trixie-meteyer-67-experiencing-rochester-again-and-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Trixie Meteyer \u201967: Experiencing Rochester again and again"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image=”29302″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1615912121013{padding-top: 15px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: rgba(24,41,87,0.8) !important;*background-color: rgb(24,41,87) !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Trixie Meteyer \u201967: Experiencing Rochester again and again<\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_color=”#7eb1dc” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic hit, this alumna has attended dozens of virtual events presented by the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]Back in 1964, when Trixie (Sanborn) Meteyer \u201967 was a freshman, she went to a lecture presented by Dexter Perkins, a prominent American historian and Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ professor. Listening to him reminded her of something her father would tell her: \u201cExperts in their field should be able to distill their knowledge in a way that any intelligent person can listen to it, get something out of it, and enjoy it.\u201d For Meteyer, Professor Perkins did that years ago, and many other experts have done that since.<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic hit, Meteyer has attended dozens of virtual events hosted by the University and presented by faculty, alumni, and guest scholars. \u201cBefore the pandemic, I played a lot of bridge and went to a lot of talks, lectures, and Eastman concerts,\u201d she says. \u201cNow I look forward to these virtual events\u2014I know I\u2019ll always learn something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLifelong learning is such a part of the culture of the URochester,” says Karen Chance Mercurius, associate vice president for Alumni and Constituent Relations. “The pandemic has allowed us to expand our academic offerings into a virtual space. This has given people\u2013no matter where they live\u2013access to so many educational growth and personal enrichment programs. We are thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response from our alumni and friends like Trixie and want everyone to know that we will continue virtual lifelong learning opportunities far beyond the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting online<\/h3>\n
\"Trixie

Trixie Meteyer \u201967<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year, Meteyer didn\u2019t even own a computer. If she needed to check email, she would just go to the library down the street. Then in the spring of 2020, one of her daughters sent her an iPad and her other daughter encouraged her to get high speed Internet access. Her world has changed a lot since then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at every email from the University, and I sign up for everything that intrigues me,\u201d she says. \u201cI put the events on my calendar and often structure my days around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of Meteyer\u2019s favorite Experience Rochester virtual events<\/a> are about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Recently, she participated in the \u201cSlavery, Race, and the Black Lives Matter Movement<\/a>\u201d lecture that featured Steven Hahn \u201973, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and history professor at New York University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched it live and then watched the recorded version of it\u2014it was that compelling,\u201d she adds. \u201cI told my 84-year-old cousin about it, too. Her church was doing a Black studies program and I knew she\u2019d be interested in seeing it, which she was.\u201d After that event, Meteyer even went out and bought one of Hahn\u2019s books, something she often does after attending these events.<\/p>\n

Meteyer also watched \u201cWill American Democracy Survive COVID-19<\/a>,\u201d which aired live in April 2020, for a second time. \u201cIt was so interesting to watch Professor Primo\u2019s lecture again now, a few months after the election,\u201d she says. \u201cA year ago, he predicted that one possible outcome of the 2020 elections would be that the results were contested. He really hit the nail on the head with that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Michael Scharf\u2019s webinar on \u201cOur Youth\u2019s Mental Health in Challenging Times<\/a>,\u201d Meteyer sat in her car, in a parking lot, on her way home from a trip to New Hampshire. \u201cIt was only afterward that I discovered that my daughter, Lisa, from the Class of 1995, had listened to it, too,\u201d says Meteyer. \u201cShe lives in California with her husband and 10- and 12-year-old children and was happy for all the advice she could get. We had fun comparing notes about the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The webinar \u201cGeorge Eastman & Rush Rhees: Choosing Music to Build the Community<\/a>,\u201d with Vincent Lenti \u201860E, \u201862E (MA), an Eastman piano professor and the school\u2019s historian, resonated with Meteyer, too. She spent the early years of her career as a librarian but for the last 50 years she\u2019s been a professional church organist. Many years ago, David Craighead, then a professor of organ at Eastman and since deceased, gave her Lenti\u2019s book, For the Enrichment of Community Life: George Eastman and the Founding of the Eastman School of Music<\/em>. Listening to Lenti\u2019s talk reminded her of her undergraduate years. She was a music major on the River Campus who took music lessons and theory classes at Eastman.<\/p>\n

Watching \u201cA Conversation with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum<\/a>\u201d\u2014part of the University\u2019s REAL Conversations<\/a> lecture series\u2014also struck a chord with Meteyer. \u201cI became aware of Beverly Tatum in May 2019 when Keuka College awarded her an honorary doctorate and she gave a lecture that I attended,\u201d she says. \u201c I got to sit and chat with her, and\u00a0she autographed a copy of her book for my daughter, Karen, who is also a clinical psychologist.\u201d Tatum is president emerita of Spelman College and author of the best-selling book, Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Before the pandemic<\/h3>\n

Meteyer has always been very engaged with the University. Prior to the pandemic, she regularly attended University lectures. She particularly enjoyed the annual day-long Rochester Forum events at the Memorial Art Gallery that included faculty lectures and a sit-down lunch.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Meteyer participated in the University\u2019s Day of Service, which involved gardening at 540WMain<\/a> near the Susan B. Anthony House downtown. \u201cPresident Mangelsdorf was volunteering at the same event,\u201d says Meteyer. \u201cIt was an honor to meet her. She\u2019s a clinical psychologist just like my daughter, Karen, which made it especially interesting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meteyer adds that she laughed when she saw the list of alumni who\u2019d be there\u2014the next oldest person was from the class of 2002. \u201cThat didn\u2019t matter to me, though,\u201d she says. \u201cI enjoyed getting to work with other alumni and I loved meeting current students\u2014they are so engaged and impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most wonderful trip ever<\/h3>\n

Meteyer hopes that once it is safe to do so, the University will return to doing its day trips to Niagara on the Lake for the Shaw Festival in Canada. \u201cI so loved those trips,\u201d she says. \u201cA friend and I would ride the bus together, have lunch with the group, and then see a wonderful play. Those were always great outings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI also took the most wonderful trip ever to Europe with the University\u2019s Travel Club,\u201d she adds. \u201cDavid Eisenhower was our guide at the beaches of Normandy and Professor Russell Peck was the Celtic authority who shared his knowledge in Dublin, Wales, and through the Scottish Hebrides, Orkney Islands, and Edinburgh. I will never forget that trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now though, Meteyer says she\u2019ll continue to sign up for the University\u2019s virtual programs. \u201cI learn something from every virtual event I go to.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” background_color=”#e9e5d7″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1615928155544{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Meteyer\u2019s other favorite Experience Rochester talks<\/strong><\/h3>\n