Reunion Weekend 2009 Recap

More than 4,000 Northwestern alumni and their guests gathered on the Evanston campus and in surrounding communities for Reunion Weekend. Over three days, attendees enjoyed social gatherings, networking, educational events, and the Homecoming football game.

The weekend began gray and wet, but alumni were cozy inside at the Norris University Center for academic sessions that covered such topics as building effective professional networks. Friday's sessions even included a discussion with Morton Schapiro, the University’s new president, and a panel of distinguished alumni. Participants asked questions and engaged in conversations ranging from the challenges facing higher education in the 21st Century to what each alum would do differently if they returned to campus today. Young alumna Whitney Kroenke Burditt (C99) admitted she would have listened to her parents and taken more business classes.

Luncheons included the annual induction of new members into the Half Century Club. Around 80 members of the Class of 1959 were in attendance.

On Friday evening, more than 600 attendees who braved the last of the day’s rain were rewarded with a welcoming reception in a warm tent on historic Deering Meadow. “Arriving in the rain and cold was very reminiscent of many days of biking in the rain and falling on wet leaves,” joked one alumna.

Friday’s storms left the fields surrounding Ryan Stadium sloppy, but more than 1,000 tailgaters waded through the mud in high spirits, which were only bolstered by the Wildcats’ dramatic 29-28 victory over the Hoosiers of Indiana University in the final seconds of the game. Between the first and second quarters, the co-chairs from the classes of 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2004 presented President Schapiro with a check for over $32 million, the total made by alumni of the ten reunion classes for 2009.

Saturday night’s class parties were well-attended throughout the city. President Schapiro kept an ambitious schedule, dropping in on nearly all of the events, including the 50th Reunion Party at the Sunset Country Club in Northfield, the 20th Reunion Party at Gio in Evanston, and the 25th Reunion Party at Union Pizzeria in Evanston, where attendees were treated to a rock band featuring their former classmates.

One McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science alumna summed up the weekend, “We made some really good friends at Northwestern and such good memories with each other."

Click here to view photos from the reunion weekend.

Posted October 26, 2009.