Grinnell Welcomes Alumni to Reunion

More than 1,100 Grinnell College alumni, friends, and family will return to campus for the College’s 136th Alumni Reunion Weekend.

Alums from as far as Germany, Costa Rica, and Taiwan will return to Grinnell from May 27 to May 31.  

Reunion is one of the College’s biggest social events with parties, dances, dinners, and Wonderland Family Fun!

Other weekend highlights include:

• an all-Reunion picnic,
• a special Honor G reception highlighting Grinnell athletics,
• a 5K fun run,
• class dinners,
• tours of the campus and community,
• a special exhibition of lath art by the late John Pfitsch,
• and a special student performance of a series of vignettes on “The Grinnell Experience: Life in the ‘60s,” by Murry Nelson ’69.

Alums will look back at the impact they have had on the world, from the founding of the student organization Concerned Black Students in the late ‘60s, to the films alumni have made and the books they’ve written.

The 50th reunion class of 1965 has organized two series of “Grinnell Talks” featuring classmates who will discuss their life’s work including American involvements in Southeast Asia to the science of the aging brain.

Ten alumni will receive awards for service to their professions, the College, and community.

A number of special presentations are planned for the weekend including a College President’s Panel, which will discuss the future of higher education. The panel will feature:

• Grinnell’s President Raynard Kington,
• Mary Sue Coleman ’65 (University of Michigan),
• David Maxwell ’66 (Drake University),
• J. Fritz Schwaller ’69 (SUNY-Potsdam), and
• moderator George Drake ’56 (President Emeritus, Grinnell College).

The Alumni College will hold courses on the theme of preservation starting the 27th, and Gertrude B. Austin Professor of Economics William Ferguson ’75 will partner with David Calvert ’75 to offer the annual alumni lecture on “Community and Responsive Governance: Academic and Practical Perspectives.”