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reunion 2022
DURING THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 10 – 12, 2022, MORE THAN 1,200 ALUMNI AND GUESTS RETURNED TO CAMPUS FOR THE FIRST FULL REUNION WEEKEND SINCE 2019.
Alumni in classes ending in 2 or 7 were thrilled to come home to Fairfield and spent the weekend reconnecting with each other and celebrating the 5th through 45th milestone anniversaries of their graduation.
Festivities kicked off on Friday night with welcome receptions on campus and, for the 25th Reunion Class of 1997, at the Fairfield-favorite Seagrape Café on Reef Road. The Class of 1987 committee organized a special kick-off party for their class at Park City Music Hall in Bridgeport, where Split Decision, a band comprised of alumni from the 1980s, entertained the crowd all evening long.
Saturday morning brought the traditional Fun Run around campus, as well as preview tours of the new Arena construction site, and a “Meet the Faces of Fairfield” open house, which gave alumni the opportunity to mingle with University faculty and staff. That afternoon, the Taste of Fairfield, featuring nine local food vendors, music from alumni band St. Hubbins, and face painting and a balloon artist for future Stags, took place in the Rafferty Stadium parking lot. Alumni then gathered for a special Reunion Mass, pausing to remember classmates who have gone before them. The weekend culminated with a dinner on Bellarmine Lawn, where attendees posed for photos, enjoyed a gourmet buffet dinner, and danced the night away.
Lucas and his alumni friends show their Stag Pride.
Members of the Class of ’97 at their 25th Reunion Toast: (l-r) Erin (Codey) Rumsey, Nicole (Barrett) Stratemeier, Sarah (Brozek) Sandora, Jennifer (Panaro) Anderson, Allison (Fountain) Garrigan, Jody (Kertyzak) Sommers, and Jennifer (Stretton) Doyle.
John Sheerin ’82, Mike Archbold ’82, and Mike Dunn ’82 in the Bellarmine Courtyard.
Members of the Class of 2012 and their guests take a group photo at the Dinner Dance.
Janine Devine ’92, Lisa (Nutley) Van Brunt ’92 and Kim (Kelly) Heft ’92 are all smiles at the Taste of Fairfield. Newly inducted Class of ’72 Golden Stags pose for a group photo.
above from left: Joan (Barber) and Mitchel Syp ’72 reminisce with Elaine Halas Scott ’72 and Thomas McKinney ’72; Jim Kelly ’72, P’00; Mary Cecilia Kelly P’00; Gail Berardino; Joe Berardino ’72; John Reid ’72; and Deborah Curley-Reid celebrate a half-century of friendship.
50th Reunion for the Class of 1972
In May, the Class of 1972 and their guests returned home to Fairfield to celebrate their 50th Reunion. This “Reunion of a Lifetime,” a yearly tradition since 2001, provides alumni who graduated 50 years ago the chance to reunite, reminisce, and reconnect with their classmates and their alma mater as we mark this special milestone in their Fairfield journey.
This year, 67 members of the class, as well as two spouses of deceased members of the Class of 1972, returned home to Fairfield for a weekend of festivities that kicked off on Friday with exclusive hard hat preview tours of the Arena construction site and a welcome back dinner to reconnect with classmates. The highlight of the weekend was the annual Golden Stags induction ceremony & luncheon where University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, formally inducted the Class of 1972 into this prestigious group of alumni with the assistance of Alumni Association President Hugh Morgan ’69, P’94. After joining in the traditional Baccalaureate Mass celebration that afternoon, the class enjoyed a formal dinner which featured several classmates leading their peers down memory lane through an interactive sharing of memories and anecdotes, and hours of dancing and singing along to favorite songs from their time on campus. The weekend concluded on Sunday with several representatives of the class proudly processing with the graduates of the Class of 2022 in the undergraduate Commencement ceremony.
The Class of 1972’s 50th Reunion also marked two special milestones in Fairfield’s history: the return to campus of our first 50th Reunion StagMates from the same class (Joanie (Barber) Syp and Mitch Syp ’72), and our first female graduates (Elaine Halas Scott ’72 and Joanie Syp) to celebrate their 50th Reunion.
Congratulations to our newest class of Golden Stags!”
