Even with a stately Howard Van Doren Shaw structure on the University of Chicago campus, the Quadrangle Club isn’t stodgy. We discovered that at the annual Preservation Ball to raise funds for the club’s restoration effort. “Anyone can join, not just university types,” said ball chair Ruth O’Brien. The crowd came from every walk of life, talk was heady and dancing was spirited. Gorgeous young things Alicia Beyer and Canel Trouillot chatted us up about going off to Harvard and Columbia Universities in September. Investigative sportswriter Lester Munson and Morehouse College President Walter Massey reminisced about their wedding receptions at the club in 1965 and 1969 respectively. Deborah and Jason Selch wondered what their uncle’s Van Gogh would fetch at auction three days later (a whopping $40.3 million). But it wasn’t until McCormick scion Robert, cousin to ball-founder Andy Austin Cohen, boogeyed in his tux and a cowboy style do-rag that we realized we want to join too.
