U.Va. Reunions Celebrates 100 Years

The University of Virginia’s graduating classes of 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008 will celebrate Reunions Weekend beginning Thursday.

U.Va. Reunions is celebrating 100 years of alumni reunions this year and is preparing another year of record-breaking attendance. More than 5,000 alumni and guests are expected to attend Reunions Weekend – more than 25 percent above the last time these classes returned five years ago and 70 percent higher than 10 years ago.

The weekend will be filled with various academic, dining and social experiences, from casual to formal.

The weekend kicks off on Thursday evening with a screening of “The Goonies” on the Lawn (this event is free). Friday’s activities include a wine festival featuring 13 local vineyards, an open house at Carr’s Hill, hypnotist Tom DeLuca, and Speidel, Goodrich, and Goggin playing on the South Lawn. Saturday is full of seminars, receptions and class events, and will feature Right On, The Skip Castro Band and The Breakfast Club at band parties that evening. The weekend concludes Sunday morning with a brunch featuring U.Va. politics professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Alumni will enjoy fine dining throughout Grounds, prepared by several local caterers, as they celebrate their respective reunions. 

There will also be lectures, tours and workshops open to Reunions attendees, including: “Yoga on the Lawn”; “Serving Our Country: A Decade in Review” (a panel of veteran alumni discussing their service to our country); “A Reporter’s Journey Through Washington” (featuring former White House correspondent Sheryl Stolberg, a 1983 alumna of the College of Arts & Sciences); and an open house at The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia.

The entire weekend schedule is available online.

Children are welcome to attend the weekend. Special activities – such as child care, movie screenings and art classes – are planned just for them. Additionally, an admission liaison program is being offered for rising 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade children of alumni.

U.Va. Conference Services will provide on-Grounds lodging in dorm rooms, including Lawn and Range rooms, for those interested. Several local hotels are offering special rates for Reunions attendees; find a list here.

Alumni and guests of any graduating year are welcome to attend any and all events. Online registration closed May 31, but walk-in registration is available at Alumni Hall on Thursday from 2 to 10 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.