There has been a lot of change in the last couple of years, and with change come new ideas and tremendous opportunity for growth. The Office of Advancement at Acadia University is always interested in exploring novel ways to serve the Acadia alumni community and is happy to announce today a new and innovative approach to delivering class reunions.

The pandemic has informed how staff connect and engage with alumni and, in response to recent consultation with and feedback from constituents, has reimagined what reunion gatherings will look like. Additionally, there has been a change in behaviour specific to the demographic of Acadia graduates, and staff have reacted appropriately.

“We’ve learned that our alumni have an affinity to the University as a whole now rather than specifically with their class year, as it once was,” says Executive Director, Alumni Affairs Oonagh Proudfoot (’93, ’06). “Our alumni have several common denominators that connect them, and we’re thrilled to not only identify and acknowledge that fact, but move forward with an initiative that addresses this in a purposeful way.”

Instead of celebrating milestone reunions in the summer months, each year will see a different decade of alumni gathering in one place at one time to celebrate all things Acadia: the residence they lived in; the athletic team for which they played; the extracurricular clubs to which they belonged; the leadership positions they held. Starting in the summer of 2023, the campus will host a reunion for all graduates of the 1950s. The following year, 2024, will see the graduates from the 1960s, and so on. Here’s a snapshot of upcoming all-decade reunions at Acadia:

2023 – All ’50s

2024 – All ’60s

2025 – All ’70s

2026 – All ’80s

2027 – All ’50s

2028 – All ’60s

2029 – All ’70s

2030 – All ’80s

“It is an opportunity for us to catch the wave of change that we have experienced recently in order to engage alumni at a different and exciting level,” Proudfoot says. “Over the years, summer reunions have moved from ‘shoulder year reunions’ where three subsequent class years would be invited to the same reunion. For instance, we would have classes from 1960, 1961 and 1962 attend. We then switched to a five-year increment milestone reunion model (e.g., 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965 would attend, and so on). Graduating classes were smaller then and knowing your classmates was the norm. Now, however, classes are much larger with a broader spectrum of contemporaries who are engaged in such diverse areas of interest and endeavours like the S.M.I.L.E. program, residence life, student-athletes or the Business Society, all of which provide a common experience.”

This year, Acadia, through the Office of Advancement, will celebrate the classes of 1942 and 1947 by welcoming them to an esteemed group of graduates who have celebrated 75 or more years since their graduation.

The classes of 1952 and 1957 will celebrate next summer in the very first all-decades reunion for the 1950s.

The classes of 1962 and 1967 will celebrate in the summer of 2024 for the second all ’60s reunion, following their first all ’60s reunion in 2009.

The classes of 1972, 1977 and 1982 will reunite at Homecoming 2022. It has always been a special time for any graduate of any year to return to Acadia to celebrate the University and the unique experience they enjoyed during their time on campus. Each subsequent Homecoming will offer the opportunity for milestone years to be specifically and especially recognized.

For more information, please contact Oonagh Proudfoot (pictured above) at oonagh.proudfoot@acadiau.ca .