Alumni Reunion

Alumni have always been an important constituency of the Notre Dame family.  They often return home to their Alma Mater independently and as part of organized groups.  The first weekend in June has been designated as Alumni Reunion weekend, where Notre Dame welcomes back all her students, particularly those who celebrate their anniversaries on the fives and tens.

Alumni group (including many faculty members), c1880s. Includes Rev. Edward Sorin, Arthur Stace, William Ivers, Borzon (?), James (Jimmy) Edwards, Joseph Lyons, Thomas E. Walsh, Peter Cooney, Patrick Colovin, O’Connell, Kelly, Timothy Howard

The Society of the Associated Alumni first organized in 1868 and held many Reunions into the 1870s, but it faded near the turn of the century.  In 1908, University President Rev. John W. Cavanaugh, CSC, sent invitations to all Alumni to return to their Alma Mater for Commencement, and thus reinstating the tradition of the annual Alumni Reunion.

Scholastic Alumni Issue, vol. 42, page 19: Alumni Reunion group posed on Main Building front steps, June 17, 1908. Scholastic lists all the returnees on a following page.


Alumni ribbon featuring an engraving on the new Main Building, 06/20/1888


Notre Dame Alumnus Class of 1910 Ribbon


Activities for this year’s Reunion will be similar to those in the past — meeting up with old friends and professors and their families, attending Masses and Class banquets, and ambling about an ever-changing campus.

Alumni Reunion – A group of alumni at a refreshment station outside of Howard Hall, c1960s-1970s


Class of 1917 Scenes from Alumni Reunion, 1947

Alumni walking around campus near the Hesburgh Library, which is under construction and does not have the Word of Life mural, June 1963


Alumni Reunion – “Still Crazy after All These Years,” including Suzzie and Jack McCabe and Paul Fox, 1989


Sources:
Scholastic
CLYS 4/05
OATH 28/
GMLS 7/01
GNDL 19/03
GNDL 34/33
GNDL 34/49
GPUB 11/59

3 thoughts on “Alumni Reunion”

  1. Pingback: Universal Notre Dame Night | Notre Dame Archives News & Notes

  2. “Alumni’ is the plural term of “alumnus,” which is a graduate of a school, college, or university. It can be expanded to include former members of various institutions or organizations.

    The Notre Dame Alumni Association defines a Notre Dame alumnus as “Any person who holds an undergraduate or graduate degree from Notre Dame, and any person who has matriculated at the University and is approved for membership by the Alumni Board of Directors, shall be a regular member of the Alumni Association.”

    Alumni is Latin, which is a gender-based language, so the terms change depending on gender and number:

    alumnus = male singular (one male graduate)
    alumna = female singular (one female graduate)
    alumni = male plural or mixed plural (more than one male graduate or a mix of male and female graduates)
    alumnae = female plural (more than one female graduate)

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