What is Alumni Weekend?
Alumni Weekend is a great chance to see people you
haven't seen in a while—often you
don't know how much you miss them until you see them again back
on campus. Alumni Weekend is especially important for young
alumni, giving us a chance to network and keep our connections strong
with our classmates as we all branch out into our careers. -Jamie
Stevens, AB’04
The most memorable moment of Alumni Weekend for me
was on Saturday night when I was sitting visiting with several of
my closest friends from my College days. Even though we were at
the ChicaGO Party in the Ratner Center, which was only a gleam in
the administration's eye when we were in school, I
felt like I had been transported back 25 years to a dorm party.
I was 20 years old again without a care in the world surrounded
by good friends and good music once again an integral part of an
institution that has changed the world for the better. At the risk
of being trite, I was in a good place that night.
The next most memorable moment was watching Stuart Rice and Lorna
Strauss receive alumni awards. Professor Rice was my Physical Chemistry
professor who made the subject accessible and fascinating. Dean
Strauss was dean throughout my tenure in the College and shaped
a wonderful community for all undergraduates. It was extremely special
to be able to explain my experience on campus to my children through
the examples set by these extraordinary educators. –Marshall
Schmitt, SB’80
I remember returning to Alumni Weekend and being completely awe struck by how successful, accomplished, and responsible (respectable) our fellow classmates have become. We use to hang in the hallways drinking shots and debating about politics, religion, and sex—and now we are physicians, lawyers, bankers, and PARENTS! –Linda Lu, AB’91
Not only are old friendships renewed, but new ones are created at Alumni Weekend. At the class dinner of my 25th Reunion I sat beside a classmate I did not know well. We vaguely remembered each other, but enjoyed a rich conversation about mid-life career changes. I had recently cut back on my law practice and taken on a younger partner to handle much of the work. My classmate was thinking of leaving the large firm he was with. About a year later, I heard from him thanking me for my advice and encouragement. He had left the large firm to start a new and smaller firm. We've stayed in touch since then with at least an annual message. - Jeff Rasley, AB’75
Alumni Weekend is a reaffirmation
of who we are and how we got to be that way. Old friends
reunite, former students reconnect with their teachers, and everyone
is energized by the glow of memory merging with the wonder of changes
since their last visit. Through all this socializing and touring,
we still make it a point to attend classes and lectures, because
the common element of all these activities is our commitment to
learning.
We reiterate our values. Sometimes it is a devotion to a teacher,
a course, a dorm, or a sport. Sometimes it is to a principle, whether
the financial support of the University or the questioning of its
administration. Old radicals—right
and left—rediscover the pleasures of dialogue (argument?).
The underlying unity is a common appreciation that we think and
care as we do because of what we learned here, and we want to preserve
that opportunity for the next generations. –Al Levy, AB’63
For me, Alumni Weekend is all about memories and people. The memories are the old images of campus as I remember it (pleasantly updated with each visit to the new and improved campus). And the people are old friends and new ones. I am continually surprised and delighted at the new friends I have made with each Reunion. My classmates seem to have mellowed and improved with age. Stories of their adventures, travels, families, careers—absolutely the best! After working on several Reunion Committees, I find it easier and easier to recruit friends to help plan the next one. It's like we all want to re-connect, and the calls we make are more fun than work. Looking forward to the next one. –Antigoni Ladd, AB’65
A particularly rewarding dimension of Alumni Weekend is that you feel surprisingly close to classmates you may not have been at all close to while students on the Quads. At the time, pre-med students, football players, and Blackfriars often seemed to live in separate universes. But as you encounter classmates at your 10th, or 25th, or 50th Reunion, you realize that the highly distinctive education that you all had together at Chicago, as well as the experience of now being at roughly the same stage of your personal life and career development, simply overwhelm what seemed during campus days to be insuperable differences. Truly, you are reunited with classmates with whom you have far more in common than you ever imagined, in a manner that sustains each another in your lives and careers. And a particular delight is that, after Alumni Weekend, you take this feeling of enhanced closeness back with your fellow classmates in your home community. –Chuck Schilke, AB’81