Students & Alumni | 7.20.2010

Updated 8.29.2023

Congratulations to the Winner of Our Photo Sweepstakes!

Betty Breck ’60, whose fiftieth Harvard reunion was also her first, was randomly selected to win an iPod Touch.

Betty Breck, Radcliffe '60, purchased this fancy hat in honor of her fiftieth—and first—class reunion!

Betty Breck and marshal Don DeSollar flank the reunion banner, with members of the Class of 1960 in the background, prepared to march in the alumni/ae procession at the 2010 Commencement.

This HAA apology for inadvertently misplacing Betty Breck's 50th Reunion Creative Works submission was displayed with other exhibits at Reunion Headquarters in Eliot House. The misplaced exhibit can be viewed at www.bettybbook.com.

David Wizansky and Betty Breck model two outstanding examples of 50th Reunion head gear while waiting for the alumni/ae parade.

Unidentified young man attending 2010 Commencement has the world at his fingertips.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust welcomes Betty Breck to the 2010 Commencement proceedings. Breck is the fourth woman from South Dakota to attend Radcliffe. Her sister, Abbie Breck ’59, was the third. They attended the one-room Lone Tree Country School near Bison, S.D., where their mother was the teacher and three of the eight students were "Breck Girls." That means 25% of the school's students that year went to Radcliffe. Can any other elementary school match that?

Unidentified member of the "Happy Observance of Commencement Committee" (left) ensures that Betty Brec and unidentified usher enjoy the 2010 Commencement alumni/ae parade.

Unidentified undergraduate extols the virtues of a "Hahvahd" education to potential students during Commencement Week.

Former classmates Baltasar Cruz-Vidal and Betty Breck didn't know each other as undergraduates but became friends at their 50th Reunion.

Tanya Wright, Class of 2000 marshal, Commencement 2010

Unidentified marshal at 2010 Commencement.

Radcliffe Class of 1960 photo taken at 50th Reunion.

Betty Breck stands on Widener Library steps, with some of the 21,000 chairs set up in Tercentenary Theatre for the 2010 Commencement in the background. There were 15 times more chairs set up than residents in Breck's hometown of Groton, South Dakota.

Betty Breck was thrilled to spend an Evening at the Pops with her 50th Reunion classmates.

Unidentified professional school grads march bravely into the future

Commencement spectators in colorful ethnic garb, as the alumni/ae parade passes by

Memorial Hall - even more majestic after fifty years!

Unidentified 2010 graduate holds a symbolic sheaf of wheat.

Betty Breck eagerly awaits the arrival of other 1960 classmates at the 50th Reunion Headquarters in Eliot Hall.

Betty Breck's smile, reflected and multiplied, as she entered Logan Airport to fly home to South Dakota after a glorious 50th Class Reunion—her first and definitely not her last!

Congratulations to Betty Breck ’60, the winner of Harvard Magazine's 2010 Commencement & Reunion Photo Sweepstakes. Breck, of Groton, South Dakota, was randomly selected to receive the grand prize, an iPod Touch, after submitting several photos of her fiftieth reunion (the first class reunion she has ever attended). View her photographs in the gallery at right.

Breck was only the fourth woman from South Dakota ever to attend Radcliffe when she entered the College. Among many eclectic pursuits, she holds a master's degree in Persian language and literature and took up the violin at age 65. Visit Breck's website to see a collection of news stories and photographs she has assembled to document her life since graduation.

Thanks to all Harvard Magazine readers who submitted photographs. View all images submitted by readers in our Flickr set, or see Harvard Magazine's photo gallery. Visit the Commencement 2010 page for full coverage, including speech texts, photographs, audio, and video.