Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

D Y S O N Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 2 8 S ince graduating from Pace University, the lives of Jim '73, Brian '75, and Denis McCauley '79, all Dyson alumni, have diverged in many ways—the brothers are sprinkled across time zones and engaged in vastly different professions. But—along with their fraternal ties, of course—their love for history, discourse, and honoring the memories of their former Pace professors remains a constant thread connecting them in a special way. The three brothers are among the cha er members of the History Summit, an annual gathering of a small group of history-loving Pace alumni who dive into a ce ain theme or period. The Summit was inspired by former Pace history professor James Holmes, PhD, who began hosting invitation-only extracurricular seminars for undergraduate history students on the Westchester campus in the 1970s. The group would read an assigned book on a pa icular topic and then gather to discuss it, o en by the fireplace in Holmes's living room to the tune of his children running through the house. "Meeting outside of school and the lack of rigidity of Dr. Holmes's teaching method really helped us," said Jim McCauley of the seminar. "It was so much more comfo able, and I had so much more enthusiasm for it." Denis added: "Dr. Holmes taught us how to read critically and analyze things. He would play devil's advocate to the nth degree, so you had to state your view and be able to defend it, and that, to me, was the most incredibly interesting way to learn." All those involved in the seminar enjoyed it so much they decided graduation wouldn't deter them from continuing to meet. With Holmes's blessing, the History Summit was born in 1980. Viewing the first Summit as a great success, the group continued to meet through the 1980s but took a hiatus for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. They decided to revive the Summit in 2010 a er Holmes fell seriously ill. "He was so impo ant to us. The rationale for going back that first year was to honor him," said Brian, who had returned to New York in 2008 to work at the US Mission to the United Nations. When Holmes was not well enough to travel to campus, the Summit would go to him, convening once again by his fireplace. Sadly, Holmes passed away in 2011, but the Summit has continued. "We weren't ce ain we were going to continue a er that," said Brian, "but it had worked so well and we enjoyed it so much that we said yes, we're going to do this again next year." Since then, the Summit has covered topics from the Cold War to Reconstruction and has spanned locales from the Westchester campus to Berlin and, for the past two years, the Google Meet grid. In the HISTORY SUMMIT Feels Like Family for Pace Alumni Jim '73, Brian '75, and Denis McCauley '79 have maintained their bonds with each other, with other history-loving alumni, and with Dyson College through the long-standing History Summit. In February 2011, the History Summit met in Professor James Holmes's home in Pleasantville, his last Summit before he passed away on May 16, 2011. The original history seminar for students was held in this room, Holmes's living room, or—during summer sessions—on his screened-in porch. C O N N E C T I N G T H R E A D S

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