In the spring of 1967, first-year student Sharon Cooper, B.A. ‘70, Ph.D. ‘88, and her roommates organized the first Cherry Blossom Art Festival, a student-led initiative designed to connect the university community with Foggy Bottom residents. Decades later, she reflects on the friendships, initiative, and sense of purpose that defined her GW experience and continue to shape her life today.
Where did you grow up, and how has your background influenced you today? What made you decide to attend GW?
I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and attended high school in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Although I was accepted to several universities, I chose GW for a few meaningful reasons: I already had a friend attending, my maternal grandparents had lived there and I always enjoyed our visits, and GW offered tuition assistance, which made my decision possible.
I missed the friendships and atmosphere of growing up in Brooklyn. You can imagine my delight when I arrived at my dorm and discovered that my first roommate, Beth Cohen, B.A. ‘70, M.A. ‘71, was also from Brooklyn and even shared my last name. We soon connected with a third roommate from Connecticut, Sandy Goodman, B.A. ‘70, and became lifelong friends. Many people were from the Northeast and had similar cultural values. I was so lucky to regain the identity I had lost in New Jersey. Many of the connections made at GW felt like home.
What was the origin story that inspired you and your roommates to create the Cherry Blossom Art Festival? How did the idea first take shape?
I was lucky to be invited with a group of other students to a dinner with George Washington University President Lloyd Elliott. This meeting was to encourage freshmen to get involved in campus activities that would engage the local community. It was inspiring to think about making a difference and adding something to the city.
When I brought this idea back to my roommates, we brainstormed ways we could make a difference. Sandy was very artistic and suggested organizing a fair that would showcase student art and involve the surrounding community. The timing coincided perfectly with the blooming of the cherry blossoms, and so the Cherry Blossom Art Festival was born!
We learned by doing. We raised funds to purchase equipment for the display areas, advertised for artists, offered prizes, and hired food vendors. We also hired the Foggy Bottom Blues Band, who played for hours in the Monroe Courtyard. It was quite a “happening” over two beautiful warm spring days, with people viewing student art, picnicking, and dancing. An article and photo appeared in the Washington Post, and the Hatchet did a full layout covering the two-day festival. We repeated this all four years we were at GW!
At the end of the festival, we awarded prizes and returned any unsold artwork. One picture was never claimed, and I still have it hanging in my house today as a reminder of that extraordinary experience.
Coverage of the event featured in the Washington Post and The Hatchet
Looking back, what are you most proud of from that experience, and what memories stand out?
I am most proud of how the three of us created a functioning organization from the ground up. Figuring out how to put on a weekend of activities that highlighted the students of GW and included the local community in a day of culture and fun was no easy task. From procuring funds and equipment to soliciting contributions and advertising, we learned so much! We especially gave ourselves the power to impact and involve the local community, something essential for a city university.
How did the relationships you formed on GW’s campus influence both the creation of the festival and your own personal growth? How have those relationships endured today?
The creation of the festival taught us how to make plans, accomplish goals, delegate responsibilities, make connections, and establish a small working business. Completing it gave us an incredible sense of accomplishment. As young women in the 1960s, it instilled such a strong feeling of agency and confidence.
Over the decades, the special bonds we formed at GW have sustained us through life’s unexpected challenges. Sandy lost her husband to cancer in her thirties and raised her eight-year-old daughter as a single mother before eventually remarrying. Beth was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in her early forties and endured harsh chemotherapy before successfully overcoming the disease, and has been married to her husband, also a graduate of GW, for 55 years and counting! I divorced after 12 years of marriage, learning to live independently for five years before remarrying for 37 years, and recently became a widow.
These are trials we never could have imagined when we first met as seventeen-year-olds in 1966. Yet the support system we built at GW remained constant. Since the pandemic, we have a monthly Zoom meeting and continue to gather in person when time allows. We are so grateful to one another for the unwavering support and solid friendships we built at GW.
What advice would you give current students who want to give back to the community? Is there something you hope current students take away from your story?
The unique advantage of attending a city university like GW is that you are part of not only a campus but a local population, positioning students to contribute ideas and create meaningful partnerships that strengthen both communities. I hope current students feel empowered by our example to connect with and make a difference in the greater shared community, capitalizing on the resources provided by our beautiful and complex city and its national influences.