By Kerri Linsenbigler
Features Assignment Editor
“There’s just a different connection between Bona alums and Bonaventure. Other schools don’t have that connection.”
Lucia Scotty, coordinator of electronic communications for alumni, has been organizing reunion weekends throughout her 15 years at Bonaventure. Reunion Weekend honors different class years, just like a high school reunion, Scotty said. While it is open to all alumni, this year any class ending in a 2 or a 7 will be specifically honored.
“We start with the five-year class, so it would be the class of 2007,” Scotty said. “So, 2007, 2002, then ‘97, ‘92 and all the way back to, I believe this year we have a couple alums that it will be their 60th anniversary.”
Reunion Weekend 2012, scheduled for June 1-3, features campus tours, talks and open hours of Bonaventure buildings. Alumni can even relive their academic glory days by participating in three “classes without quizzes” June 1. These presentations focus on what’s new at Bonaventure, social networking for all ages and the places visited by Thomas Merton during his time at the university. After brushing up on their Bona knowledge, socializing and, of course, eating, alumni can retire to either the Townhouses or Shay/Loughlen halls for the night.
“I think the most interesting (alumni) are those whose reunion is (for the class of) 1950-something,” said sophomore Meera Babu, a student worker at last year’s reunion. “Despite so many years after college, when they see their friends it’s an immediate reconnect. It just shows that in college you really do meet lifelong friends.”
Student workers help prepare for the gathering by stuffing folders and directing registration, Scotty said. Usually, 13 or 14 students are hired each year. Anyone interested in applying should contact Scotty.
“I would definitely recommend it for anyone that’s on campus or lives in the area,” Babu, a sophomore biology major, said. “It’s a pretty easy job, but you do get to see that aspect of alumni coming together.”
According to Scotty, between 900 and 1,000 people are expected to attend this year’s reunion — about 80 more than last year. While Alumni Weekend, held in February, caters to younger alums, Reunion Weekend gives older alumni the chance to reconnect with their former Bona buddies, she said.
“There’s one guy who’s been to every reunion since he graduated in 1954, except for two,” Scotty said. “(The reunion is) just trying to get alums to come back to campus, and the main thing that they come back for is to see each other.”
Scotty said communication between graduates and the university is extremely important, and Reunion Weekend strengthens the alumni bond. Alumni are impressed with the progress of the university, as well as nostalgic of their time spent in the Enchanted Mountains, she said.
“Once they get to campus, it’s almost like they’re here again.”
linsenka10@bonaventure.edu
