School Prepares for Reunion Weekend; 600 Alumni Expected to Return
News Staff Reporter
The biggest annual event for alumni, Reunion Weekend invites twelve classes back to Choate to reunite with their high school classmates, teachers, and friends. Every 5th year of graduates from both Choate and Rosemary Hall are represented at each reunion; this year, Choate Rosemary Hall will host the graduating classes of years ending in 1’s and 6’s during this weekend.
The Reunion is a special opportunity for alumni to reconnect with the school community. “[Coming back and spending time] with their peers, with whom they graduated, definitely helps them feel closer to the school,” says Director of Alumni Relations Hilary Burrall. Although there are eight to ten regional events for alumni during the year, Reunion Weekend is the largest event and the only one held on Choate campus. “Most people are excited [for it],” says Burrall. “We get a lot of ‘I’m coming back; I haven’t been back to campus since I graduated fifty years ago!’”
Choate alumni are quite active after graduation -- about 15% of invited alumni attend Reunion Weekend, a figure roughly on par with Choate’s peer schools. The turnout varies from year to year, says Burrall, depending on weather conditions among other issues. As Reunion Weekend is a time for family as well classmates and friends, alumni are encouraged to bring spouses and children, and Choate arranges childcare. In order to ensure the availability of accommodations for guests, Choate reserves room blocks at hotels in the Wallingford and New Haven areas. According to Burrall, 716 people attended Reunion Weekend last year, with a total of 525 alumni. This year over 400 guests have registered to come to the event, and 550 to 600 guests are expected to show up.
The tradition of Reunion Weekend dates back nearly a century. The event has been organized at least since 1908, when George St. John became the headmaster of Choate. “He just knew the value, the importance [of having such an event],” says School Archivist Judy Donald class of Rosemary Hall ‘66, who will attend her 40th Reunion this year. She told The News, “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Highlights of the weekend include an annual Kick-off Dinner on Friday night, this year with a Blue and Gold theme for school spirit. Later in the weekend, the Alumni Memorial Service is held to remember classmates who have passed away. This year’s Reunion will also include a service in honor of the late Reverend Seymour St. John ‘31, former Choate headmaster at 11 AM on Saturday. Alumni also re-experience pieces of student life at Choate Rosemary Hall, as events ranging from traditional chapel services to “Mug Nights” are held. In addition, alumni often attend current students’ classes, athletic competitions, and music performances.
During Reunion Weekend, events for individual classes are organized. Each reunion class is encouraged to “come up with their own program, something the class can rally around,” says Burrall. This year, the class of 1986 has planned a panel discussion with four classmates who became entrepreneurs. The class of Rosemary Hall class of 1966 is sponsoring a tour of the archives to look at the presence of Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, as the Rosemary campus was in Greenwich prior to the school’s merge with Choate in 1971. Some other alumni classes will be holding their own memorial services or dinners.
Perhaps more than anything, the Reunion is an opportunity to recall moments of high school with classmates and friends. Burrall says that some of things Choate men remember the most include sit-down meals, which were instituted many years ago as well, and daily chapel services. But, “if you ask anyone, a lot of the times it’s just the memories that were created, whether it be sitting in the dorms, or playing athletics on the fields...and the connections made with people.”
On what she was most looking forward to on Reunion Weekend, Judy Donald ‘66 commented, “Particularly for Rosemarians, [since we don’t connect physically with this campus] the attraction is seeing each other again...It’s the friendships that bring us back.”
