OUR 50TH

Our 50th, for the Williams College Class of 1975, celebrates and reflects on the 50th reunion of the first four year class including women that also included the largest group of black first year students.

The poetry collection was created during National Poetry Month April 2025. 80 plus senryu were pared down for this book of 52 senryu; yet the journey of remembrance continues.

Some sharp memory shards shake loose remembrance of a pioneering pain, piercing a half century later. Being among the first and few among a many, is a heroic undertaking, a challenge for the tender teenagers who were in many ways “cannon fodder” as a younger sibling observed. This small book presents what remains, some of what sustained, and glimpses into that searing experience, a half century later.

"A golden anniversary becomes a gathering of spirits—past, present, and future—in Our 50th. These senryu dance with memory and rise in celebration, honoring the young pioneers who opened doors and the generations who walk through them. Small poems, big echoes. A legacy held gently, joyfully, in each line."

In Our 50th, each senryu is a flash of memory—poignant, tender, unflinching. This collection honors the courage of being first: the first women, the few Black students, navigating a world not yet ready. A half-century later, the poems still pulse with resistance, resilience, and the ache of becoming.