A Letter to the Class of 2025 from Elizabeth Heller Allen

Gold-level NU Loyal member and 50th Reunion celebrant Elizabeth (Buffy) Heller Allen ’75 wrote a poignant letter to the Northwestern University Class of 2025. She reflects on the power of education, the waves of social change that connect the two classes despite being 50 years apart, and the joy of lifelong learning.

Heller Allen is active in the alumni community and has served on Northwestern’s Medill Board of Advisors for over 20 years, including as chair from 2019–2022. She was inducted into the inaugural Medill Hall of Achievement in 1997 and is a member of Northwestern’s Council of 100. Over the course of her 40-year career, she has held executive leadership positions in corporate communications, marketing, investor relations, and government relations.