Forty years ago, five students made a pact to meet every five years at the William Thompson statue in front of the William Oxley Thompson Library every five years on May 31 at noon.
Eight reunions, numerous “sick” days from work, thousands of travel miles and one induced labor later, the five friends continue to meet each May and have no plans to discontinue the tradition.
“It’s so easy to see someone and go up to them and say, ‘Oh it’s so nice to see you. We’ll have to do this again sometime,’ and walk away, never to see them again,” Judy Hennen said. “But if you have a specific date, a specific time, and you all write it down … and if you make the commitment, people are more likely to remember it and live up to it.”
Hennen, Loretta McCollum, Mark Lott, Terry Morrison and Jim Arter are five friends that met at Ohio State in the 70s and wanted to keep their friendship alive once everyone went their separate ways after graduation. When the oldest, Morrison, was gearing up to graduate, the five got together toward the end of Spring Quarter in 1970 to plan a reunion.
Arter, a movie buff, decided to make a pact because that’s how they “do things in the movies.” The group picked a date (May 31), a time (noon) and a popular place on campus (in front of Thompson Library at the statue). They decided five years was a reasonable interval to meet, and everyone was ready to sign the pact — except Lott.
“I knew I was going to move far away and that it would be difficult to get back,” said Lott, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 35 years.
Then Arter jumped in. “Yeah, Mark told us, ‘Well I’m going to move away and make something of myself and not be dumb-dumbs like you who are going to stay in Columbus and can just take the COTA bus on over’ (to these reunions).”
Lott didn’t sign the pact, so when it came time for the first reunion, the group was surprised when Lott showed up but Morrison did not. Morrison said he forgot and planned the reunion for a different date. But Morrison didn’t forget the rest of the meetings, nor did the rest of the group. Lott had to miss one reunion because of a new job that his boss wouldn’t let him out of, but besides that, they have all attended each reunion since.
The group met after Hennen left Otterbein College to enroll at OSU and moved into an apartment off-campus in September 1969. She then met Lott, who lived nearby and introduced her to his friends, Arter and Morrison. McCollum was Hennen’s friend from Cleveland who later enrolled at OSU and moved in with Hennen.
The five spent their time together going to the movies, playing cards, drinking and hanging out at each other’s houses. The group went through money troubles together. They recalled eating lots of canned food and 69 cent Whoppers from Burger King.
The group said there are many reasons for the strength of their bond, such as their open minds, laid-back attitudes and differences in gender. But Arter and McCollum agreed that their bond stays strong mainly because of everyone’s great sense of humor. McCollum called Arter “one of the funniest people she’s ever met,” and Morrison boasted of Hennen’s wit.
They’ve also all participated in practical jokes with each other. The boys once pretended to set McCollum up with a stranger through a pretend dating service, and the girls pretended to plan to crash the guys’ vacation to the Virgin Islands with fake plane tickets.
The group sounds like any five typical college students. But while some college friendships fall through, their bond stays strong after 40 years. They even keep in touch without the reunion.
Members have visited one another’s homes, attended one another’s weddings and supported one another’s accomplishments. When Arter won an award for his work as an artist for the Greater Columbus Arts Council, McCollum and Hennen came to Columbus to see him accept it.
Arter said that even without the extended contact between reunions, he thinks the group would still be able to keep its bond going.
“I believe the connection with us doesn’t require writing letters or calling monthly or anything else,” Arter said. “It is just some kind of special chemistry with our friendship so that we can go a year or longer (without seeing each other), and then we click when we get together, like years haven’t passed. It’s just special.”
For the first time this year, spouses were allowed to come to the reunion at the statue. McCollum’s husband, John, and Morrison’s wife, Nancy, attended but took photos from afar to let the original group have its meeting
.
At the rest of the reunions, only the five were allowed to meet at the statue at noon, with the exception of the time Hennen brought her 13-day-old son after inducing labor to make sure she made it to the reunion.
For students who wish to stay together like these five friends, Morrison encourages them to make a pact, as well. But there are some regulations.
“You can’t have noon,” he laughed. “But you can have 12:15.”
