Sun, fun, and substance in abundance as Yale College reunions set new records

“Incredible,” “amazing,” and “a blast,” were just a few of the few of the words alumni used to describe the most recent Yale College reunions as seen on Twitter.

Nearly 5,000 alumni, joined by over 2,000 family members, came back to campus to reconnect with classmates and with Yale at the most recent quinquennial reunions for the Yale College Classes of 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

The two weekends of reunions, May 21-24 and May 28-31, were marked by pleasant New Haven spring weather and featured longstanding traditions such as class dinners, a Friday welcome reception for all classes on the Cross Campus, an update from Yale President Peter Salovey ’86 Ph.D., and a celebration of song in Woolsey Hall. This year’s edition of reunions also included new traditions, including an open house at 43 Hillhouse Avenue, the president’s residence, hosted by Salovey and his wife, Marta Moret ’84 M.P.H.

A record-high total of 4,481 alumni attended the reunions — a figure that represents nearly 32% of all living alumni in this year’s reunion classes. The 2,621 spouses, family members, and friends joining the alumni also set a new record of guests attending. The reunions for the Class of 1985 (co-chaired by John Bader ’85 and Stuart Wilkie ’85) and the Class of 2010 (co-chaired by Sharyar Aziz ’10, Jean-Phillip Brignol ’10, Lesley Kiger ’10, and Cara Moran ’10) each set new attendance records for a 30^th- and 5^th-year reunion, respectively.

Reunions also serve as a rallying point for volunteer class leaders to mobilize support for Yale through reunion gifts. The strong participation in reunion activities has been matched by enthusiasm for giving to Yale. Volunteers are using the momentum from this cycle to continue fundraising in order to exceed class reunion giving goals by the close of the fiscal year on June 30.

More than 55% of the record-setting Class of 2010 returned: a total of 720 of the Yale College graduates from that year. This number reflects the trend of young alumni engagement in alumni association activities. While 20 years ago it was more typical for a quarter to a third of alumni to attend their 5^th-year reunions, in recent years it is more usual to see close to or more than half of the graduates return for their 5th reunions. Some of the vitality of the Class of 2010’s reunion can be seen on a social media recap on the Yale 2010 5^th Reunion Storify page here.

The reunion weekends were full, as always, of mixing and mingling, good cheer, and even some frivolity, as can be seen in some of the alumni photo booth pictures posted on the Yale Flickr site. Many alumni also shared favorite moments from reunion on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media, often using the hashtags #YaleAlumni and #YaleReunion. Margie Whiteleather ’87, a volunteer leader with the alumni association, has compiled digests of alumni’s social media posts on the Yale Alumni Storify page here for the first weekend and here for the second weekend.

At the same time, there was abundant attention on academics, events in the nation and the world, and other matters of substance for alumni, Yale, and society — past, present, and future. Individual classes held seminars on issues, such as a conversation about the impact of the civil rights movement over the last 50 years hosted by the Class of 1965. Numerous Yale faculty also joined the reunion weekend to give lectures and presentations and offer returning alumni an insider’s view of some of the best teaching in today’s Yale classrooms.

Tara Laskowski, who attended the first weekend of reunions with her husband, surely captured the sentiments of many when tweeting (@tlaskows) that she “was so impressed by the alumni staff & volunteers who put on an amazing show.”