“Best reunion ever!”
That’s how Les Weisbrod ’75 P’05 described CMC’s recent 2025 Alumni Weekend—and not just because he shared the celebration with his son, Eric ’05.
“Our 50th reunion class dinner was amazing!” said Les, a partner attorney with Dallas-based Miller Weisbrod Olesky. “Everyone passed the microphone around and told stories and shared remembrances that were both entertaining and educational. When it was my turn, I said, ‘You guys are like fine wine, you get better with age and there are several of you I like better now than when we were in college.’ Of course, it was also fantastic to be able to introduce my son to so many of my classmates.”
“It was fun to hear some of the old stories from the class of 1975,” said Eric, an accounting professor at the University of Kansas. “I decided my dad’s class might be the kings of playing pranks, but the class of 2005 throws the best parties.”
For Eric, whose mother Marcy Helfand attended Pomona College, returning to CMC for Alumni Weekend “felt full-circle, especially as I stayed in the dorm where I lived my freshman year at CMC.” While CMC has unveiled some new buildings and campus features since Eric was a student 20 years ago, he noted that “the culture is still the same. It felt like coming home.”
While they graduated 30 years apart, both father and son shared a mutual appreciation for CMC’s tight-knit community and the plethora of opportunities to pursue leadership roles preparing them for success post-graduation.
Who were your favorite professors? How did they impact you?
Eric: Professor Marc Massoud P'89 inspired me to major in Accounting and then to become an Accounting professor. At an Ath dinner focused on careers in academia, Professor Massoud and other professors discussed how rewarding it was. I think my whole career path was very CMC-inspired, because at first, I worked in litigation consulting at the intersection of law and economics. And then, after a couple of years in the corporate world, I decided to earn my Ph.D. and become a professor.
Les: My favorite was Professor Alfred Balitzer P'88 GP'21, who is a legend. His courses influenced a lot of us. But he was also the debate team advisor, and so that was a big deal, because I was on the debate team.
Favorite CMC experiences?
Eric: I was active in the student government here, and was the dorm activities chair and organized a lot of school-wide parties, and had a great time.
Les: One of the activities I got to do through CMC was an internship in 1973 in the Texas legislature for state representative Jim Mattox, who subsequently became a U.S. Congressman and Attorney General of the State of Texas. I graduated from CMC a semester early, so in January of 1975, as a result of the internship I did through CMC in 1973, I became the founding executive director of the House Study Group, in the Texas House of Representatives. I had a staff that included several CMC interns. I never would have been able to do that without CMC.
Most unique CMC memory?
Eric: In my senior year, we heard that in the 80s, there used to be the “Senior Triathlon.” We brought it back. It was a skiing trip to Mount Baldy in the morning, and then a beach trip in the afternoon, and Vegas at night!
Les: When I was living in Phillips Hall, my next-door neighbor in the dorm was David Dreier ’75. It was a very interesting time, because he was being groomed to be a Congressman, so he was unlike most of the other classmates, as he spent his nights going to fundraisers. Later, after we graduated, I’d go see him when he was the Chair of the Rules Committee in Congress, and we’d reminisce.