Alumna Cherishes UD Memories, Champions Growth
Date published: April 5, 2017
Even the late University Professor Louise Cowan once remarked upon the exceptional
closeness of the Class of 1970 (of which her own son, Bainard Cowan, was a member).
Ann (Lang) Ellis can corroborate this claim.
“We all get together once a year now,” she said. “We haven’t always done this — not
when many of us were busy with young families, for example — but we’ve always kept
up with each other even when we’re busy.”
Ellis herself came to the University of Dallas from Houston because of the generous
scholarship she received. The friendships and sense of community developed in her
years here, from her freshman year living in Madonna Hall through the subsequent three
years serving as an R.A. (what was then known as a “proctor”), have remained with
her ever since.
“You carry all of that with you to other communities you become a part of,” she said.
“It’s amazing how the University of Dallas just stays with you. It’s more than a school
you went to; it’s a part of you throughout your life.”
Her UD education served Ellis well in law school and throughout her career as a probate
attorney; in fact, she believes there could have been no better preparation than the
writing, reading and critical thinking skills acquired here.
Ellis and her husband, Billie, himself a sort of “adopted” UD alumnus, have contributed
to the Cardinal Farrell Hall campaign and hope that others will consider doing the
same.
“I know my classmates and I have always felt so fortunate to have been able to spend
four years (or longer) at UD,” Ellis said. “And I think it’s time for new buildings.
New buildings were being built when we were there, and that was a very long time ago.
It’s time.”
In the photo: Billie and Ann Ellis, far left, with other members of the Class of 1970 on a tour
of the campus in 2014.
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