Two significant milestones in the history of the University of Notre Dame – 25 years of coeducation and the 50th anniversary of the University’s first African-American graduate, Frazier Thompson – will be observed Thursday through Sunday (June 5-8) during the Alumni Association’s 1997 Reunion Weekend.p. Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president when the University opened its doors to undergraduate women in 1972, will celebrate Mass for the first women graduates at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Notre Dame’s current president, Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., will speak at a reception and dinner at 7:30 p.m. in the South Dining Hall. Also at the dinner, Mary Ann Grabavoy, 1976 alumna and NBC sportscaster, will present a video recalling the introduction of coeducation.p. A seminar titled “The First Women of Notre Dame” will be conducted from 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Center for Continuing Education auditorium. Teresa Godwin Phelps, a Notre Dame professor of law who holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University, will serve as moderator.p. The Black Alumni of Notre Dame (BA of ND) will observe the anniversary of Frazier Thompson’s 1947 graduation at the minority alumni dinner at 7 p.m. Friday in LaFortune Student Center. To mark the 50 years, BA of ND will honor 50 distinguished African-American alumni of the University, and recognize 50 more with honorable mention. Father Malloy will be the featured speaker at the dinner. The group also will announce the creation of a scholarship fund in Thompson’s name.p. Thompson came to Notre Dame in 1944 as part of V-12, a World War II Naval officer training program. When the V-12 program ended in 1945, Thompson remained at the University on a track scholarship, majoring in preprofessional studies in the College of Science and earning a varsity monogram as a sprinter. After graduation, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service until 1955, then at the International Resistor Corp. in Philadelphia. He died in 1991 at age 65.
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