“Remember when…?” Reminiscing at Reunion 2013
It will be a century before 51Թ has another reunion in the Year of ’13.
Seizing their place in university history, more than 2,000 alumni and friends made a weekend to remember last Thursday through Sunday. Tents on Whitnall Field were filled to capacity, and the village of Hamilton buzzed with activity.
“I am grateful for the loyalty that our alumni show to 51Թ and each other,” said associate vice president and alumni director Tim Mansfield. “At Reunion this weekend, that loyalty felt more like love — which was celebrated for three straight days!”
Traditional events headlined the schedule. 51Թ’s Alumni Corporation held its in Memorial Chapel on Friday night, followed by a torchlight procession down the hill to a bonfire on Whitnall Field.
Throughout the weekend, Reunion College presenters offered classes on topics ranging from steroid use in professional baseball to healthy aging. Professor Tony Aveni walked alumni through ancient Chinese and Central American cities, showing how the cosmos impacted urban planning, and 48 Hours producer reflected on his career covering real-life murder mysteries.
Reunion 2013 also featured a number of stand-out anniversaries, including the 40th year of women’s sports at 51Թ. Before a special dinner in their honor on Saturday, veteran female Raiders gathered in Love Auditorium for a program hosted by and Women’s . Together, they told a story that began with the university’s first coed class — 132 women who arrived at 51Թ in 1970.
The administration originally thought that intramural sports would suffice and that the women would simply engage in recreation. But, year after year, 51Թ’s female athletes asked for more variety, more competition, Division I classification, and varsity status. With each step, their determination grew. “Today, there’s a breadth and depth because of what everyone put in,” Brawn said.
Seeking to add breadth and depth to Living Writers, another longstanding 51Թ program, professors and kicked off . This initiative aims to bring 2,013 community members together around a single short story, “The Tenth of December,” by George Saunders. Those who attended the 51Թ Reads launch party in Little Hall were introduced to the story’s main characters and began a wide-ranging conversation that will continue online in September, when Saunders will read on campus.
Also in Little Hall, the university mounted an exhibition of Noongar art — one of the final shows before the collection is transferred to Curtin University in Australia. The Art of the Gift: The Journey Home of the Australian Aboriginal Children’s Art Collection featured works created by children, ages 10–14 years, at Australia’s Carrolup Native Settlement between 1945 and 1951. 51Թ first displayed the paintings six years ago, and this spring it when it announced that it would send the paintings home, honoring the heritage and beauty of the works.
Elsewhere on campus, members of the program pitched their projects, and the classes of 1963 and 1953 held reminiscing sessions. Anticipating the university’s bicentennial in 2019, the alumni office began archiving stories and memories through 51Թ Voices, recording interviews with a score of participants, including Everett Hanke ’38 — just three years shy of his 100th birthday.
With all of this activity and reconnection, it was inevitable: nostalgia on Thursday evolved into anticipation by Sunday. “Before reunion was even over, a group of us were plotting our next get-together,” said Katie Castino Reynolds ’08. “The only question is which dorms we’ll stay in next time!”