If you or someone you know is a member of the Brown Class of 1976, please contact brown2026democracy@brown.edu to get involved. 

Edited Excerpt: Susan Mazonson ’76 (November 2025)

Susan Mazonson ’76: “My cousin told me, you must apply to Ivy’s, and I said, no, that’s not for me. And then a couple of people I knew in my high school were here already. I went to visit, and it was love at first sight. And I saw the philosophy, the new curriculum by then, we still call it the new curriculum, it’s now called the open curriculum, was just really getting going. And it was just amazing. I’m feeling chills as I think about it. It was just such an exceptional opportunity. And I feel just incredibly fortunate. I’m sure my sentiments are echoed by many, many of my classmates and others that I know from Brown…”

Michael Zhu ’26: “What were the early years of the open curriculum like for you?”

Susan Mazonson ’76: “My gosh, I felt like you did, Michael… 50 years later, still the same feeling. Right? It’s really, I just wanted to take everything. I was a kid in a candy store. I was like, what do I do? The book, we had to go through a book, you know, a very thick book. And I just, I kind of went with my gut. I don’t remember researching that much about what courses to take the way I would do it now. I just knew I wanted a broad-based experience. I was really excited about the modes of thought courses, I don’t know they still call it that for freshmen, sophomores, that was part of the new curriculum. And I keep seeing now, it’s called the open curriculum now. But the modes of thought were interdisciplinary classes, well, interdisciplinary themes. And I felt that I was all about that then. And I am more so now.” 

Edited Excerpt: Professor Emeritus Gordon Wood (October 2025)

Professor Emeritus Gordon Wood: “Rhode Island’s state history is extraordinary. When you think about it, we were the first state to declare independence. We had a charter from the Crown, and we just crossed out every reference to the King. So, we were the first state to sort of declare independence in that sense. That’s in May [1776], it’s not until July we get the Declaration. And then we were the last state of the thirteen to sign the Constitution. 

I think you could have an interesting discussion with students and say, well, how come? How come we were the first and yet the last to sign the Constitution? I mean, we waited two years, until 1790. I mean, and we had to be really pressured into it. Providence threatened to leave the state. Join now, become independent, or join Massachusetts, or something, so they were upset at the rest of the state not willing to sign the Constitution and join up with the rest of the nation.

It’s an interesting state. I mean, the 17th century is just incredible. We know the whole colonial period had five capitals, five capitals we moved from, you know, so they could rotate because the localism was so strong. They were so jealous of each other. We had Newport, Providence, Bristol, Kingston, and one other somewhere in Narraganset. Of course, we had no religious establishment and had someone like Roger Williams, really anticipating, although not in the modern sense, the separation of church and state.”