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After taking two Gary Porton classes on Judaism, Lynn (Bogen) Sanders was a changed woman.
“What I loved most was that he raised questions that made us all think about ourselves and our values,” she says four decades later. “What does it mean to be Jewish? While I don’t recall all the words that were said, I remember feeling deeply moved and wanting to learn more.
“Actually, after graduating from college, I eventually decided to study for my adult B’nai Mitzvah, a group ceremony for those of us who never officially became a Bat/Bar Mitzvah. I believe Gary Porton motivated me to delve deeper into my spiritual background.”
Now the Chicago-based founder and president of Difference Makers Media, Sanders (BS ’76, music education) still has vivid memories of many of her favorite old haunts on and around campus.
To name a few:
— South Farms (back in its pee-ew days). “I actually loved jogging on the South Farms with a dear friend, Glen Strauss. Inhaling deeply of the pungent air, where cows stared back at us and the long, winding path stretched onward, fringed by grasses and flowers. It seemed as though we were floating on air. How uplifting.”
— Smith Music Hall, where she can still picture herself “playing piano for hours in a private room.”
— Illini Hillel — “doing Israeli folk-dancing with an enthusiastic group and meeting my future husband, Joel in a dance.”
— The Quad — “sitting against a tree, watching people walk by, students throwing frisbees, listening to the Medicare 7, 8, 9 playing on the front steps.”
