A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Faculty and staff are encouraged to join in!
Friday, May 30 – Sunday, June 1
Faculty and staff, along with a guest, are also invited to attend the Reunion Picnic on Saturday, May 31.
You should email alumni@umw.edu to register if you’d like to attend the picnic.
Find all details on the weekend at: alumni.umw.edu/reunionweekend.
Edna Gooch Trudeau ’59 and Danielle DeSimone ’14 graduated 55 years apart. Yet, each returned to the University of Mary Washington’s Reunion Weekend for the same reason.
“I’ve kept in touch with friends I met here 69 years ago,” said Trudeau, tearing up as she recalled classmates she has lost over the years. But her face brightened as Ann Brooks Coutsoubinas ’59 arrived. Trudeau added, “I absolutely loved my time at Mary Washington.”
DeSimone expressed the same sentiment after reuniting with friends she met on her first night in college. “It’s so wild that it has been a decade since we graduated. We can’t wait to relive everything.”
Over 600 graduates and guests returned to the University of Mary Washington for 2024’s Reunion Weekend, May 30 through June 2. Photo by Karen Pearlman.
Over 600 graduates and guests gathered for 2024’s Reunion Weekend, held May 30 through June 2. Some came with canes and walkers, while others were there with strollers in tow. Yet, everyone was excited to reconnect with the campus and each other and rediscover all the things they loved about UMW.
Kate Barbuto Charette ’04 showed her daughter around Virginia Hall. Susan Willis Tomaiko ’84 remembered the fun times she had in the Lee Hall Underground. Lorenza Amico ’79 wanted to see old friends and make new ones. And Gloria Shelton Gibson and Lin Hawkins Brannon, both 1969 graduates, stayed in their former residence, Ball Hall, which housed dozens of alumni during the weekend.
The four-day celebration featured parties and picnics, faculty lectures, campus tours, family fun, class photos, arts and culture, trolleys to downtown Fredericksburg and Carl’s for ice cream, and more. Alumni visited the academic departments where they learned, the residence halls where they lived and the favorite haunts where they made meaningful memories at Mary Washington.
“It’s fun to come back to an environment where you began as kids and left as adults,” said Jennifer Henley ’04, whose class was the last before Mary Washington became a university. The name and the campus may have changed, she said, “but the vibe is still the same.”
Each year the Office of Alumni Relations hosts Reunion Weekend on the Mary Washington campus. Over 800 alumni and guests are expected to come back to campus and participate in dozens of intellectual, cultural, and social activities. While alumni from all classes are welcome at Reunion Weekend, classes ending in fours and nines from 1949 to 2009 are invited back to campus this year to celebrate their milestone reunions. This very special Reunion Weekend will be held May 30 – June 2, 2019.
We would like to extend the invitation for the entire campus community to participate in the various events throughout the weekend in order to connect with former students. The Reunion Weekend schedule is listed online at http://alumni.umw.edu/reunionweekend. Online pre-registration is closed, but you may register in person on campus! Walk-Up Registration will be located in the lobby of the University Center and will be open from 8am-5pm on Friday and again from 7:30am-3pm on Saturday. If you are interested in seeing who is currently signed up to attend, visit the registration page and click “Attendee List.” Click the column header labeled “Preferred Class Year” to sort the list by class year.
We hope to see you there!
Each year the Office of Alumni Relations hosts Reunion Weekend on the Fredericksburg campus. Nearly 800 alumni and guests are expected to come back to campus and participate in dozens of intellectual, cultural, and social activities. This year, the classes ending in fives and zeroes are invited back to campus May 29-31 to celebrate their reunions. Current faculty and staff are invited to participate in the various events throughout the weekend and have the opportunity to connect with UMW alumni.
The Reunion Weekend schedule is listed online at http://alumni.umw.edu/reunionweekend. Alumni Relations will waive the Saturday picnic lunch fee for current faculty and staff who wish to attend. Email alumni@umw.edu with your name and guests names by May 22 for nametag and catering purposes.
If you are interested in seeing who is currently signed up to attend, visit the registration page (http://alumni.umw.edu/reunionweekend2015) and click “Attendee List.” Click the column header labeled “Preferred Class Year” to sort the list by class year.
Are you interested in volunteering for Reunion Weekend? We are expecting over 700 alumni and guests to visit UMW the Friday, June 1 through Sunday, June 3, and we need your help to make everything run smoothly. If you have not done so already, please check out the Reunion Weekend website at www.umw.edu/reunionweekend to see the schedule and recent announcements.
In order for Reunion Weekend to be a success, we need dozens of volunteers to assist with a variety of tasks. There are over 150 different shifts available throughout the weekend, and duties range from riding the trolley to Carl’s to taking tickets at the picnic. This year we’re using VolunteerSpot, an online coordination tool, to help us organize the volunteer registration process. Please click the link below to view the various volunteer opportunities and to sign up. Once you enter your email address, select the day you are interested in volunteering and a menu of volunteer opportunities will be available. Choose whichever ones best fit your time schedule and talents.
http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/762345634252728038
You are welcome to sign up for as much or as little as your schedule will allow. Each volunteer will receive a free Reunion Weekend t-shirt. Volunteer shirts will be in red so alumni and guests know who is working the event. Mark Thaden, director of Alumni Relations, will send a follow up note the week before Reunion Weekend confirming your time and duties as well as any other specific information you may need for your shift. Please feel free to forward this to any alumni, friends, or colleagues who may be interested in volunteering.
If you would like additional information or if you have any questions, contact Mark Thaden at (540) 654-1011.