Delta Upsilon - University of Kansas

Spring 2018 Newsletter

Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon at the University of Kansas

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M alcolm Gladwell's best-selling book Outliers: The Story of Success asked the question, "What makes high-achievers different?" His answers caught the curiosity of many and started a debate that continues today of not just nature vs. nurture, but the confluence of other factors such as being born at the right time and surrounded by the right people. One literary commentator summarized Gladwell's findings this way: "His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing." You probably have read Gladwell's book; I have. From time to time I see evidence of Gladwell's thesis that shows success coming as a product of right time, right place, right culture, and surrounding oneself with the right people. You could say that is true with the DU pledge class of 1953. I observed it in early February at a funeral. The deceased was a dear family friend, Dr. Jack Holt '57, and a member of that iconic class. Originally from Fowler, Kansas, near Liberal, Holt went to KU and joined DU because that's where his dad called home, as well as his two brothers. After graduation he married his high school sweetheart, Charlette, and went to medical school while she attended nursing school. Holt specialized in internal medicine and opened a practice in my hometown of Great Bend. For many years he was the only internal medicine physician in town. In that town, Holt earned another distinction—he was my dad's best friend. And so the gathering at the Lenexa funeral home was a mini-reunion of that class. Tom Rinehart '57 was there. Tom's benevolence to the Chapter explains why his portrait hangs in the house library. Tom is also from southwest Kansas, graduated in petroleum engineering and formed his own energy exploration company, Elkhorn Energy. Now he builds wind farms. Also present were classmates John Reese '57 and Dick Shaw '57, who, like Holt, went to medical school. That class had 22 other members. Of those, five were accepted into medical or dental school, two law school, three military officers at grade of lt. colonel or greater, three or more engineers and two or more exceptionally Spring 2018 The Sunflower A publicAtion of the KAnSAS chApter of DeltA upSilon Class of 1957, front row, from left: Martin Hanna, Tom Emery, Jim Hull, Jack Bertoglio, John Waddell, Bob Simpson, and John Guyant; second row: Bruce Tabor, John Kramer, Tom Rinehart, Jim Anderson, Larry Baker, and Roger Wood; third row: Gary Rohrer, Jack Holt, Arden Treaster, Vic McCall, Jay Swink, and Charles Belt; fourth row: John Reese, Monty Rowe, Bill Graves, Duane Estes, and Frank Mastin. Not pictured: Victor McCall and Dick Shaw. DU Pledge Class of 1953: A Class Like No other Submitted by Matt Keenan '81 Connect with Kansas DU Online - www.kansasdu.com f Alumni of Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon l @KansasDU i The Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon - www.kansasdu.com/ giving-back/ support-kansas-du (Continued on page 2)

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