A one-of-a-kind Reunion on College Hill

• Harry Holt ’84, P’16 became the first person of color in the University’s history to serve as the chief marshal in the Class of 2020 Procession. On Saturday morning, Holt was surprised to be greeted by his Alpha Phi Alpha brothers, who served alongside him in the Procession.
• Another record-breaker: At Friday night’s Campus Dance, more than 16,000 members of the Brown community danced the night away across two quads and under hundreds of paper lanterns.
• Alumni from the Class of 2020, who missed their in-person Commencement due to the pandemic, arrived back on College Hill to experience both their full, traditional Commencement as well as their first Reunion. Two years after formally receiving their degrees in a virtual ceremony, more than 1,300 (!) members of the Class of 2020 marched through the Van Wickle Gates and celebrated with friends and family. During the Commencement ceremony, reggae superstar and honorary degree recipient Shaggy performed a medley of his hits and spoke about his journey from a small fishing village in Jamaica to chart-topping hitmaker.
• The newest members of the alumni community, the Class of 2022, marched through the Van Wickle Gates and took their place in Brown’s beloved Procession, where they were greeted with cheers by the alumni community before lining the streets of College Hill to applaud the returning alumni.
• Speaker and honorary degree recipient Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold the position of United States speaker of the House, advised the 2022 graduates at their Commencement: “Be yourself, be ready, know your power… and never be afraid to take the leap of faith, particularly when it is unexpected.”
• At the University’s second Lavender Graduation, the community gathered to celebrate the incredible contributions of graduating LGBTQIA+ students with performances and speakers, including Vice President for Alumni Relations Zack Langway ’09.
• The Brown Medical Alumni Association kicked off their Medical Reunion Weekend with an Opening Celebration event that highlighted “50 Years of Medicine at Brown” and recognized alumni from five different decades for their commitment to The Warren Alpert Medical School; diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; and their contributions to medicine as a whole.
• A 110-year-old family tradition continued when Finnian Duncan ’22 wore the same graduation gown her great grandfather – Daniel Donovan, Class of 1912 – wore at his Commencement. Duncan was the fourth generation of her family to walk through the Van Wickle Gates in the robes.
• Reunion@Home — With a multi-generational Trivia Night, class hangouts in an immersive virtual space, livestreams, a digital photo booth, and more, alumni took advantage of the myriad ways to join in the Reunion fun from near or far. 

As you might imagine, it takes an incredible community effort to host an event like Reunion Weekend. In addition to the outpouring of support on social media, this year’s celebration saw tremendous class volunteer efforts that resulted in impressive attendance at pre-Reunion events, including two New York City receptions for the Class of 1982 and three virtual events for the Class of 1992. Five classes (1972, 1997, 2012, 2017, and 2020) created virtual yearbooks and classes celebrating their 55th Reunion and beyond connected by sharing Brown/Pembroke couples stories, a memory book, countdown emails, and more. 

And the generosity from alumni didn’t stop there. This year, the Reunion classes ending in 2s and 7s gave more than $21.7 million to the Brown Annual Fund. Their comprehensive gift (representing gifts to all Brown priorities over the last five years since their last Reunion) totaled a whopping $292,446,408.

• If you’re not ready to let that Reunion feeling go just yet, dive into some of our virtual offerings, including Brown-inspired food and drink recipes, custom Zoom backgrounds, Spotify lists, and more.
• Get involved with your class! 
  Classes of the 2s and 7s: Help keep the Reunion class spirit going! Sign up to learn more about becoming a class leader and the class leader nominations process, which will begin in the winter of 2023.
  Classes of the 3s and 8s: Your Reunion is coming up in May 2023! Let us know if you’re interested in helping to plan your Reunion or engaging your classmates in the year ahead by completing this quick form.
• Help fund future Reunion Weekend events and other alumni programming by participating in one of our partner programs.