Reunion dinners 2012: a focus on community and commitment

By Kelsey Dallas ’14 M.A.R.

For members of the honored classes at the Convocation 2012 reunion dinner, the event was as much about the location in the Old Refectory as it was about seeing old friends and sharing memories over a delicious meal.

“This is where the ghosts are,” quipped Diane Kennedy ’76 M.Div. and member of the 35th reunion cluster group as she motioned to the surrounding walls.  “I often came for breakfast and stayed until lunch,” she added, describing how the room was a symbol of the community life she enjoyed at YDS.

PresentationIndeed, this sense of community was palpable at Wednesday’s dinner, as alumni reunited with familiar faces and situated their own experiences in the story of the school as a whole. Attendees were treated to a video that highlighted some of the unique moments in each of the celebrated graduation years but also emphasized the passion that characterizes YDS students no matter the decade.

V. Bruce Rigdon ‘62 B.D. ‘63 M.A. ‘68 Ph.D., who celebrated his fiftieth reunion this year, noted that, for him, returning to campus was about more than just hearing a few great lectures. “It really renews one’s energy and vision,” he said, adding that, “In some ways it is really like coming home.”

Rigdon and Kennedy both commented on how simply sitting down and sharing stories with past and present students is an important source of inspiration for them in their everyday lives.

Ronald Evans ’70 B.D., a member of the YDS Advisory Board, observed that reunion attendance both inspires and gives alumni “an opportunity to renew their excitement about the school.”

“In a place this dynamic where there is constant change and development, it is important to stay involved,” Evans said.

In a dramatic underscoring of the idea of commitment, Director of Alumni Relations Gail Briggs thanked the Class of 1962 for its reunion gift to YDS, a collaborative donation of $100,208 to establish a 50th reunion scholarship fund.  The donation was formally announced at the class’s reunion luncheon earlier in the day.

Briggs thanked the reunion and cluster classes for the work they did in generating enthusiasm for Convocation and Reunions 2012, particularly Bert Marshall ’97 M.Div., who served as chair of the Alumni Board’s Convocation and Reunions Committee.

She noted that alums came from not only all around the country but from as far away as Germany and Japan.  And Briggs called out some of the interesting aspects of the class histories, such as the Class of 1962 hearing John F. Kennedy deliver their Commencement address and the tumultuous times experienced by the 1990s cluster group, who were on campus during the period when the very existence of Sterling Divinity Quadrangle was being put in question.

November 5, 2012
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