Results of Class of 1972 45th Reunion Survey
December 7, 2017 in Notes
Those of you who attended the 45th reunion last June may have attended a panel in which the findings from our Class of 1972 45th Reunion Survey were presented. The survey received 399 responses, or 38% of 1053 classmates, a very impressive response rate. The presenter was Natalie Alexander. The data was collected by Julie Luo ’19 and Daniel Kipnis ’19. Here are some highlights. (Please note that in some cases precise numbers weren’t provided for this summary).
DEMOGRAPHICS: 18.62% of the respondents were female. 5.36% identified as gay, lesbian, or fluid. (1.53% responded “none of your damn business.”) 62% went to public high school. The vast majority of the respondents grew up in a religious tradition—Protestant, Jewish, or Catholic, in that order. Well over 60% were Democrats, followed by Independents slightly outpacing Republicans (approximately 15%).
PRIORITIES: The top priority of classmates in 1972 was far and away “Achievement” (work, business, or academic) followed by “Happiness” and “Personal Growth.” Fast forward 45 years and the top priority was far and away “Family” followed by “Achievement,” “Happiness,” and “Health.” The areas which increased in importance the most included “Health” (up 363%), “Family” (up 250%), “Peace of Mind” (up 225%), and “Wisdom” (up 128%). As a former philosophy professor, I’m struck by the contrast between the rising importance of “Wisdom” (up 128%) and the declining importance of “Knowledge” (down 24%)—unless this simply indicates that we’re increasingly happy to let Google take care of the latter in order to free up brain capacity for the former. The areas which decreased in importance the most included “Fame” (down 92%), “Fortune” (down 88%), “Sex” (down 86%), “Success” (down 76%), and “Survival” (down 74%).
CAREER: 17% said they would absolutely pursue the same general career path if they could start again, while 11% said they could have chosen better. The largest areas of graduate study were JD/Law (33%), MA (30%), PhD (21%), and MD/Medicine (16%). The average number of careers was 2.19. One respondent had 10. About half picked a career and stuck with it. More than half have started their own business. The most highly represented careers were “Education/Training” (34%), “Law/Legal/Judiciary” (29%), “Business/Finance/Sales” (25%), and “Healthcare” (21%).
LIFE AT YALE: 56% agreed that Yale’s newly instituted admissions policies back in our day affected their admission in particular, while 22% disagreed. 68% believed that their major at Yale contributed directly to their career life while 31% did not.
RETIREMENT: 56% had positive feelings about retirement. Only 16% had negative feelings.
FEELINGS: 72% of respondents reported regularly feeling “Happy/Joyful.” Other high-scoring feelings include “Fulfilled/Optimistic” (65%) and “Peaceful/Serene” (44%). On a less happy note, 38% reported regularly feeling “Worried/Anxious,” 14% “Sad/Dejected”, and 8% “Hurt/Disillusioned.”
FAMILIES: The average number of marriages reported was two. 2.7% of respondents have lost a spouse. 4% have lost a child. 38% have grandchildren.
OTHER FINDINGS: 86 of the 399 respondents have written a book. 96% believe in evolution. 46% are firstborns or only children. And perhaps most interestingly: those who voted for Hillary Clinton reported having a better sex life than those who voted for Trump.
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