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November 2008
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ALUMNI NEWS |
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Alumni Weekend Redux: Here’s What you Missed If you were one of the more than 500 alumni who returned to campus to celebrate Alumni Weekend ’08, then you probably have a story or two to tell about reconnecting with friends you hadn’t seen in years, surviving the “incident” on campus Saturday, and being moved near tears by the alumni award winners’ speeches at the Port & Politics cocktail reception. Alumni Weekend ’08 was undoubtedly a success, even with our less-than-optimal rainy weather. Held concurrently with Family Weekend Oct. 24-26, loyal Eagles turned out for class reunions, academic sessions, all alumni get-togethers, sporting events, volunteer board meetings, and special receptions. Campus was busy with overlapping activities nearly every hour of the day. Friday Featured Reunion Fun
“This is the first year we’ve had representation from each golden eagle reunion class,” notes event organizer Seth Speyer. Peggy Jean Lodeesen, SIS/BA’58, was one of 11 alumni to receive a medallion from President Kerwin for entering the Golden Eagles club, celebrating her 50th year since graduation from AU. Friday evening brought together the class of 1983 at the President’s Office Building for their 25th reunion; the class of 1988 on the stage of the Abramson Family Recital Hall at the Katzen Arts Center for their 20th reunion; and the class of 1998 at Capitol City Brewing Company next door to Union Station for their 10-year reunion. Not to be forgotten, the class of 2003 held court at Clyde’s of Chevy Chase with athletics alumni – and what a gathering it was! Double the number of expected attendees showed up for food, drinks, and live music. Saturday Saw Many Simultaneous Activities
Although far from planned, perhaps the most talked about event of the weekend occurred late Saturday afternoon when an unattended, suspicious package in the sports center parking garage forced university officials to close Bender Arena and Mary Graydon Center for a few hours. Unfortunately, the Athletics Dinner & Auction and the Kennedy Political Union lecture had to be cancelled. Luckily, however, more than 100 alumni and guests at the Port & Politics Cocktail Reception across the street in the AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Center were unaffected aside from a short delay in starting the program. This year’s alumni award winners Carmen K. Iezzi, SIS/BA ’00, SIS/MA ’01; Ronald Boots Nissenbaum, KSB/BS ’68; and Jim McGovern, CAS/BA ’81, SPA/MPA ’84, gave heartfelt acceptance speeches that detailed their memories of AU and their reasons for continually involving themselves in the community as active volunteers and advocates for AU programming. “In 1964, I got lucky by choosing AU as my personal search engine. I typed in my future and look what came up on the home page: Live in Washington, learn, grow up, and make lifelong friends," said 2008 Alumni Recognition Awardee Boots Nissenbaum during his acceptance speech. "But AU was not a well known site in the mid-1960s. When I told people at home I was going to American University, they’d say ‘American University, American University, where is that?’ Today, when you tell people you went to AU, they say ‘Great school’…and that’s how I think AU should always be known. The AU I knew in the 1960s has grown into a world-renowned university. Forty years ago there may have been some doubt about the quality of the old AU, but today there is a solid confidence about the school and its future,” he summed with pride - and to cheers of his longtime friends there to congratulate him. To see the full schedule and find out how you can help plan next year’s activities, visit http://alumni.american.edu/alumniweekend. Alumni Programs staff are already looking for class reunion cochairs and hosts for the classes of 1979, 1984, 1989, 1999, and 2004 for next year’s Alumni Weekend, October 23-25. Contact Heather Buckner for as many details as you want at 202-885-5902 or reunion@american.edu.
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