Reunion + Commencement 2025
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Annual Family Swim
8–10 a.m.
Webster Family Natatorium
Please bring your own towels and goggles. -
50th Reunion Class of 1975 Continental Breakfast
8–10 a.m.
Smith Reading Room, Olin Memorial Library -
Post-50th Alumni Classes Lounge
8:30–10 a.m.
Boger Hall (formerly the Squash Court Building), Klingher Classroom (Room 113) -
55th Reunion Class Lounge
8:30-10 a.m.
Boger Hall Room 110
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60th Reunion Class Lounge
8:30-10 a.m.
Boger Hall Room 115 -
Morning Academic Open Houses
9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Academic departments and locations
Times and locations vary—please expand below.10 a.m.–12 p.m.
- SISP/FGSS/PHIL, Allbritton Hall, 311
- Classical Studies, Downey 200 (Lounge)
11 a.m.–12 p.m.
- Economics, Frank Center for Public Affairs, 301
11 a.m.–1 p.m. (gallery exhibit is open until 3 p.m.)
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College of East Asian Studies (CEAS), Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies
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40th Reunion Class Lounge
9-2 p.m.
Usdan University Center, Room 114, Ullian Meeting Room -
Xi Chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity Coffee Breakfast and Meeting
9:30–11 a.m.
242 High Street9:30 a.m. Welcome Brothers Old and Young! Return to the Xi and meet for coffee breakfast.
10:00 am to 11:00 am Chapter meeting. Find out about the undergraduate brother’s impressive accomplishments and exciting plans to improve the chapter house. -
Class of 1975 Pecha Kuca
9:30-11 a.m.
Location TBD -
Outdoor Yoga Session with Khayatollah '05
10-11 a.m.
Top of Foss Hill More on the Outdoor Yoga Session with Khayatollah '05This will be a 60 min open level vinyasa class held outdoors overlooking Foss Hill. Khay (class of ’05) invites folks to root down before they turn up. Khay has been practicing for 18 years and teaching for 13. Her love of yoga has taken her all over the map, from India to Bushwick. Her love for humans drawn her to babies (bigLITTLE yoga) to elders (chair yoga) and now back Wes! Khay will have a few mats available, but please bring your own if you can and some water. A beach towel can also be used as a substitution. If you have nothing but yourself, still come and we will work it out! Weather permitting. -
Annual Parade of Classes
11:15 a.m.: Assemble at your class sign, Huss Courtyard, Usdan University Center
More on the annual parade
11:30 a.m.: Parade begins, rain or shineReunion alumni, the Class of 2025, and families: join in this festive annual Wesleyan tradition, featuring a live parade band.
The parade begins promptly at 11:30 a.m., rain or shine, beginning at Huss Courtyard (behind Usdan University Center), down College Row, and into Memorial Chapel. The parade is followed by the Wesleyan Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association.
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Honoring the Legacy Graduation Celebration: A History of Access: Reception for First Generation Graduates
12:30-2 p..m
Beckham Hall More on this eventTo the class of 2025: We celebrate you and are proud of how much you have accomplished for yourselves, your families, and your communities. Join us at the 4th annual Honoring a History of Access: Reception for First Generation Graduates.
To everyone who have friends and connections to the FGLI students in the class of 2025, please help us celebrate them by submitting your best Wesleyan memories with the graduates and/or video recording a few words of congratulations, (link needs to be updated) be it pictures or videos. The videos and pictures will be compiled together to form a post collage and video montage that will be displayed throughout the event. The submission deadline is May 19th at 5 p.m.
The Socioeconomic Status and Disability interns in The Resource Center created this event to honor the graduating FGLI community at Wesleyan. During the event guests will receive a complimentary lunch, custom graduation swag, and well wishes from each other and the Wesleyan community. -
Exhibit: Namdoo Kim—Underland : A Unique Lens on the Hidden Realities
12-3 p.m.
College of East Asian Studies, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies More on Namdoo Kim—Underland : A Unique Lens on the Hidden RealitiesNamdoo Kim works within the tension of ceramics and glass to explore the dynamics of societal demands. While growing up in South Korea, the artist witnessed the consequential effects on families of an accelerated Western consumerism shaped by the country’s emerging economy. Kim explores these concerns about materialism’s impacts through his sculptures by melding together the radically different and yet complementary materials of ceramics and glass in his sculptures. Ceramics is a medium that cannot revert to its original state once fired. For the artist, it represents enduring values and societal permanence. Glass, which can transition into other forms once heated, symbolizes values that are transient, replaceable, and subject to change. Kim’s sculptures are evocative of small children or doll-like creatures. The objects suggest a sense of playfulness while simultaneously unveiling a critical eye towards the complexities of social pressures. -
Exhibit: Selections from the 2025 Senior Theses in Studio Art
12–5 p.m.
Main Gallery and South Gallery
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery More on the Selections from the 2025 Senior Theses in Studio ArtThe Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery showcases a selection of work from the Class of 2025’s thesis students in the Department of Art and Art History’s Art Studio Program. Works shown are in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and architecture. The exhibition is curated by students as part of a tutorial in curatorial practice.
A reception for Selections from the 2025 Senior Theses in Studio Art Exhibition will take place Saturday, May 24 from 2:30pm to 4pm; with remarks at 3pm in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery.
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Exhibits: Engraving after 1900: A Technique in Its Time and On the Road with Hiroshige
12:30- 4:30 p.m.
Pruzan Art Center, Goldrach Gallery (located between Olin Memorial Library and the Frank Center for Public Affairs) More on Engraving after 1900: A Technique in Its Time and On the Road with HiroshigeAssociated most typically with the European Renaissance, copperplate engraving proved a vital and expansive method of printmaking for numerous artists working after the dawn of the 20th century. Some artists found the deliberate, systematic process of engraving lines, one by one, into copper plates to be a useful method for recording the people and places of their modern world. Others believed that engraving could be a productive process in avant-garde movements like Surrealism. Engraving continues to be practiced today by artists who engage with the technique’s deep history while deriving ever new forms and meaning from it. The exhibition Engraving after 1900: A Technique in Its Time features artwork from the Davison Art Collection, including works by Stanley Anderson, Stanley William Hayter, Dorothy Dehner, Norma Morgan, Anton Würth, Andrew Raftery, Jean-Émile Laboureur, and many others.
On the Road with Hiroshige is a co-presented by the Davison Art Collection and ARHA 263A, taught by Talia Andrei. -
Lunch in Honor of the Post-50th Reunion Alumni
1-3 p.m.
More on the lunch
Daniel Family CommonsAll post 50th reunion alumni (classes of 1974 and earlier) and their guests are invited for this complimentary lunch immediately following the Alumni Assembly and Awards program. Michael Whalen, Frank V. Sica Director of Athletics and Chair, Physical Education will provide remarks. Please register within weekend registration by May 12.
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Out of this World: Unique Collections Open House
1-3 p.m.
Olin, Special Collections & Archives, Davison Rare Book Room More on Out of this World: Unique Collections Open HouseLeave Earth behind with Unique Collections this weekend. Our open house will be “out of this world,” exploring topics from outer space to Mt. Olympus including celestial bodies, cosmology, astrology, and the history of astronomy on campus. See how people from the ancient world to the modern have made art inspired by the stars and grappled with questions about the universe and its many facets.
This open house will let you interact with artifacts, objects, and recordings from the World Music Archives & Music Library, Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, East Asian Art & Archival Collections, and Special Collections & Archives.
You can also fold your own star chart! The Book Arts Lab will teach you the traditional Turkish map fold, using images reproduced from a nineteenth-century Atlas of Astronomy.
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Academic Open Houses (Afternoon)
1–5 p.m.
Academic departments and locations
Times and locations vary—expand below for details.1-2:30 p.m.
- Art History Department Open House, Gribbel Room, Olin Libary
1–3 p.m.
- COL Senior Reception and Reunion, Boger Hall 324 (COL Library)
- Religion and Jewish Studies, 171 Church Street, 101
- Psychology, Zelnick Pavilion
- Theater, Theater Patio and Room 114 (East Room)
1–3:30 p.m.
- Sociology, Russell House
1:30–3 p.m
- CSS Reception for Graduation Seniors, CSS Lounge (Frank Center for Public Affairs 304)
- QAC, Allbritton 103
- Russian Studies, Fisk 208
2–3 p.m.
- Writing Workshop and Multilingual Writings, Shapiro Center for Creative Writing & Criticism, 116 Mt. Vernon Street, Patio
2–4 p.m.
- College of Integrated Sciences, Exley Science Center (ESC) Patio (ESC Lobby rain location)
- Romance Languages, Highwaymen Common Room
- Anthropology, Anthropology 6
- English, Downey House 200 (Lounge)
- Alumni and Students of Color Reception and African American Studies Open House, Hogwarts tent (located in the Center for the Arts Green)
2:30–4 p.m.
- Art Studio, Zilkha Main Gallery
3–4 p.m.
- German Studies, Fisk Hall Patio
3–5 p.m.
- CSS Alumni Reception, CSS Lounge (Frank Center for Public Affairs 304)
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WESeminar: Kindness, Sadness, and Steadfastness
1:30-2:30 p.m.
More on Kindness, Sadness, and Steadfastness
World Music HallClassical guitarist David Leisner '75 and writer Elissa Ely '78 have been dear friends for over 50 years. Now they have collaborated on a performance of stories and musical interludes, weaving together three topics they find especially imperative in these times: Kindness, Sadness and Steadfastness. Hosted by the Class of 1975. -
Stone and Stone Comedy Performance
2-3 p.m.
More on the Stone and Stone Comedy Performance
Ring Family Performing Arts HallStone and Stone: Back on Campus
"Stone and Stone" is Adam Stone '05 and Todd Stone '05, the half-gay, half-straight, identical twin comedy duo who birthed their comedy show on the Wesleyan campus more than 20 years ago. They've been featured on NBC's "Last Comic Standing," roasted Dennis Rodman, appeared in John Wick: Chapter 2, and very possibly in your Instagram feed. Don't miss them for reunion weekend!
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WESeminar: Ukrainian People in Wartime: Stories Behind the Statistics
2-3 p.m.
Boger Hall, Room 114 More on Ukrainian People in Wartime: Stories Behind the StatisticsMariupol, Bucha, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut – these names are forever linked to war. The numbers are devastating: over 40,000 civilian casualties, 50,000 military losses, and countless wounded. Yet, for many people, these numbers remain just numbers.
Behind every statistic lies a human story – a story of survival, resilience, and fight for life. Looking beyond headlines and data helps to hear the voices of Ukrainians living through the war and better understand their strength and resilience. In summer 2024, Oleksandra Volakova '27, a sophomore from Kremenchuk, Ukraine, firsthand collected these stories across Ukraine (Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya) and in refugee centers in Poland. -
Jesse Brenner ’05 Memorial Film Screening of “Man With a Movie Camera”
3 p.m.
Jeanine Basinger Film Center More on the Jesse Brenner ’05 Memorial Film Screening of “Man With a Movie Camera”A 1929 soviet experimental film, “Man With A Movie Camera” is widely credited with pioneering numerous film techniques such as multiple exposures, split screens, and more. This version includes a wonderful modern score by The Cinematic Orchestra. Shown in loving memory of Jesse Brenner ’05, who we lost this year; all are welcome. -
Entrepreneurs & Investors: Cocktail Hour
4-5:30 p.m.
Mystical Seven Society Templum, 100 Lawn Avenue
Hosted by the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship More on the cocktail hourJoin us for a cocktail hour to celebrate Wesleyan alumni interested in entrepreneurship, investment, and social innovation. Connect with leaders from across sectors and explore potential opportunities for collaboration and partnership.
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WESeminar: How Members of the Class of 1975 Have Responded to Racism and Bigotry in America
4-5 p.m.
Frank Center for Public Affairs, Room 001 More on How Members of the Class of 1975 Have Responded to Racism and Bigotry in AmericaIn the 1970s, we at Wesleyan could be optimistic about our place in America. We were students at a university that ahead of many of its peers actively examined the need for diversity and justice. Alongside us, the civil rights movement promised the dismantlement of institutionalized racism, the push for the Equal Rights Amendment and Title 9 offered equality for women, and soon-to-be emerging constitutional and legal protections for LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities suggested that we were turning the corner on long-standing bigotries.
But the results were underwhelming. The ERA did not pass, the gap between rich and poor widened, antisemitism rebounded, children with mental health conditions were increasingly deprived of equal educational opportunities, greater achievement gaps between white students and students of color emerged in public education, and intended antiracist policies such as determinant sentencing often had the opposite effect.
And now our country is increasingly polarized and there appear to be even more clouds on the horizon. So, what do we do next – personally, professionally, and in places like Wesleyan?
In this seminar, five distinguished Wesleyan alumni— a judge, university educator, national mental health advocate, Jewish chaplain, and senior court manager—reflect on their personal and professional experiences and the challenges they have faced in moving “toward a more perfect union” in a world where not everyone looks like us, thinks like us, or shares our beliefs.
Panelists:
- Paul Gionfriddo ’75, former Mayor and Retired President and CEO of Mental Health America
- Clifton Grandy ’75, Esq., Senior Court Manager, DC Courts
- Susan Moldaw ’75, Author and Chaplain
- The Hon. John D. Moore, Esq., ’75, Retired Connecticut Superior Court Judge
- Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, ’75, Retired President of Spelman College
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WESeminar: How I Made Your Mother Live Podcast
4-5:30 p.m.
Goldsmith Family Cinema More on How We Made Your Mother Live PodcastJoin Josh Radnor (the “I” in How I Met Your Mother), Craig Thomas ’97 (HIMYM co-creator), and Alek Lev ’97 (podcast producer) at a live recording of their new podcast How We Made Your Mother, along with special guest, the co-creator of HIMYM, Carter Bays ’97. Together, they’ll explore the making of the groundbreaking sitcom (whose characters are Wes grads as well) that ran for 208 episodes on CBS from 2005-2014.
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Saturday Class Dinners
5:30–8 p.m.
More on class dinners
Locations varyClass dinner locations are subject to change based on registration numbers. Please check back for final locations.
$65 per person, inclusive of beer and wine reception and dinner. Advance registration and purchase required by May 12. If you are unable to purchase tickets in advance, a very limited number of class dinner tickets may be available, though not guaranteed, for purchase at the Welcome + Giving Center. Tickets will not be available at dinner.Wesleyan University Service Award recipients will be honored during each class dinner. THE WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY SERVICE AWARD (WUSA) is presented to volunteers who have given sustained service to Wesleyan University over time or who have given significant service in a specific area such as admission, career resources, fundraising, reunion planning, regional programs, or class notes.
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All-Campus Tent Party
9 p.m.-1 a.m.
More on the tent party
Andrus Field TentCelebrate with classmates, graduating seniors, and families - all are welcome! Hear the best pop, rock, and soul music from the ‘70s, '80s, and '90s with a ten-piece all-star band featuring members from both "The Future Heavies" and "The Usual Lebowskis.” The group is led by drummer Andrew Chatfield MALS '19 and includes lead vocalists Wendy Berry and Sarah LeMieux, saxophonist and guitarist Dustin Kreidler, bassist Derek Monahan, lead guitarist Aaron Read, keyboard player David Lovelace, percussionist Brendan LeMieux, and Chris Barrett on trumpet and percussion. The group will be joined by guest vocalist Randy Frisch '84 for a '60s R&B tune.
The performance will be followed by a DJ set by Mario Torres.A cash bar will be available (cash or Venmo). Bring a photo ID. No outside alcohol permitted.