Blog

Let the Reuniting Begin

Posted April 26, 2012

As we near our 170th birthday at Saint Mary’s, I find myself thinking about what Saint Mary’s was like in the early days and wishing I knew all our alumnae. Over our 170 years, we’ve graduated more than 10,000 women, and today, we keep up with close to 8,500 of them.

This weekend is Reunion Weekend and we look forward to welcoming back to campus alumnae who graduated with a year ending in 2 or 7. This means we will welcome the women from 1947HS (high school) and 1947C (college) up to our most recent graduates, the class of 2007, who will be celebrating their first reunion, having only graduated five years ago.

In June 1879, 50 alumnae gathered and at this first meeting, our alumnae association was formed. According to "The Heritage," these women had lofty aspirations for the alumnae program and I quote “Our objective is not to only maintain a friendly interest in each other’s welfare, and to preserve a cordial affection for our alma mater, but also to give tangible expression to those sentiments.” Since that time, alumnae have held annual meetings and those meetings over the recent history have transformed in to what we call today Reunion Weekend.

Reunion Weekend is a time for alumnae to reconnect with their classmates and to enjoy being back on campus. The weekend festivities include a Friday night event in Smedes Hall, a special breakfast for women who are celebrating their 50th or greater reunion, chapel, an awards luncheon, class photos and campus tours. The various classes gather independently off campus at local establishments or in a local alumna’s home as well.

When asked what she was most looking forward to this Reunion Weekend, Saint Mary's Registrar and alumna Weldon Jackson Byrtus '92C, who is celebrating her 20th reunion, said “Seeing old friends and laughing about all of the good times we had at Saint Mary’s.”

I celebrated my 30th reunion in 2011. Our class had a grand time reconnecting and it didn’t matter how long it had been since we’d last seen each other, our connections were immediate and it didn’t take us long to begin reminiscing about our days as Saint Mary’s students.

One thing that makes being an alumna so special is that once you graduate, class year does not matter. We all have an automatic bond of sisterhood and in time, we act as if we graduated the same year.

Margaret McGlohon '81C
Director of Alumnae Relations

« Back