The sum of its parts
Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2005
What makes a reunion a reunion? Hugs and handshakes. The usual and the special.
Classmates happily reunited and new friends made. Discovering connections and
recalling
shared
experiences.
Returning to familiar campus locales and exploring new ones.
Reunion Weekend at Lawrence is a well-conceived blend of public events and
private moments that almost literally includes something for everyone.
Alumni College offers classes taught by members of the Lawrence faculty on
subjects ranging from sustainable
agriculture to oenology to nanoscience
to business ethics
.
The 5K run/walk is an annual favorite with traditions of its own.
A Children’s Program provides alumni offspring from the youngest to high-school
age with a Lawrence experience of their own, allowing parents to enjoy a worry-free
weekend with classmates.
This year’s Football Reunion introduced alumni to Lawrence’s new
head coach, Chris Howard, and a crew reunion reintroduced alumni rowers to
the river.
Special offerings included a reunion event for members of Lambda Sigma from
the fifth-reunion era; a visit to Plato’s Republic with classics professor
Dan Taylor, ’63, mini “reunions within the reunion” for Eningen and London Centre alumni gathering in small groups in the Viking Room; and
a Freshman Studies-like discussion of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness led by emeritus professor William Chaney for the 40th-reunion class and other
interested alumni.
On Saturday morning, the alumni formed the customary Parade
of Classes, entering
Memorial Chapel to hear President Jill Beck report on the “Ten Steps
Forward” that Lawrence has taken in the first year of her presidency.
Also at the Reunion Convocation were presentations of class gifts to the
college and the conferring of Alumni
Association Awards to six individuals,
framed as always by the singing of an Alumni
Choir.
An event such as Reunion Weekend, if properly done, pays attention to and
honors three elements: Programs, Places, and People — and the greatest
of these is People.