PAW’s 2023 Guide to Major Reunion Class Events

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THE CLASS OF 1958

Headquartered at Forbes College, the former Princeton Inn, our 65th reunion is more than worth a journey back to campus. Special events include a showcase of the new book Tiger Cartoons, written and illustrated by our classmate William W. Fortenbaugh, who will deliver remarks on Friday, as well as a ceremony honoring the varsity wrestling team. This spring, senior wrestler Patrick Glory won Princeton’s first NCAA championship in 72 years — and Glory, his teammates, and his coach will all visit our tent to talk about their experience with the wrestling program. We’ll have a memorial service for deceased classmates on Friday afternoon. The taps are (almost) always open, so come on back to Old Nassau to celebrate ’58 in style!

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THE CLASS OF 1963

“It’s Twistin’ Time!”

It’s time to do the twist at our 60th! Our tent will feature a rolling display of our yearbook photos — keep an eye out for yours. (Those unable to make it to Reunions will be the honored subjects of a toast.)

Start your weekend on Thursday with a buffet dinner and delicious Slovenian wines provided by importer Sharon Semenza. On Friday, there will be two informative presentations under the tent led by classmates: one about archaeology of the Southwest and another on Woodstock. Wear your class jackets and ties for our class dinner at 6:30 p.m., and expect an appearance from University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83. DJ Fred Campbell will conclude the evening with renditions of our favorite tunes from back in the day.

On Saturday, we have our class picture on the Whig steps and a memorial service at the Chapel, followed by the one and only P-rade! We’ll be carrying signs and wearing our jackets and hats. As three-time winners of the “most enterprising” P-rade award, we’re excited for Ernie Dreher to lead us to a fourth victory. The night ends with ’60s covers by Don’t Fade Away.

We’ll have our final class brunch of the weekend in Mathey College Dining Hall on Sunday morning to allow classmates to say their goodbyes until our next reunion (which will be our last before joining the Old Guard). Please come join us — we want to see you.

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THE CLASS OF 1968

“It’s About Time”

The Year That Shaped a Generation has a lot in store for our 55th. Early birds, join the crew on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for dinner at the Nassau Club. On Thursday, expect a lively kickoff reception and dinner, followed by a performance from the rockin’ Billy D Light trio. Friday brings the weekend’s first Alumni-Faculty Forums, and our class memorial service will take place in Frist on Friday afternoon. Afterward, we’ll be treated to a visit from President Eisgruber, dine in the McCosh Courtyard, and return to our tent at 9 p.m. to party all night with The Fabulous Grease Band!

More Alumni-Faculty Forums will be held on Saturday morning, but make sure not to miss our class photo at 11:45 a.m. on the Whig-Clio steps. We’ll gather after lunch for the one-and-only P-rade — enough said! After dinner, make your way south for the 9 p.m. fireworks show. The night’s entertainment will be provided by DJ Howard.

We’ll finish the weekend with Sunday brunch and the 10 a.m. Reunions service in our beautiful Chapel.

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THE CLASS OF 1973

“Historic? Yes! History? Not Yet!”

The Class of 1973 is back for our “historic” 50th reunion! We’re far from relegated to the history books — come back to Old Nassau and keep making new memories this year.

On Thursday afternoon, we’ll screen a video memorializing our time at Princeton as part of the class history project (late arrivals, never fear: it’s playing through Saturday). After dinner, we’re hosting the senior slideshow of our grandchild class, 2023, along with a lively performing arts showcase. The night will end with entertainment from classmate Bill Webster’s band, Webster’s Unabridged, starting at 9 p.m.

Dive into some community service opportunities on Friday, when we’ll be teaming up with other classes to give back to the community, or explore the Alumni-Faculty Forums. Over lunch, enjoy our “Under the Tent” panel of classmates discussing “How to Live Your Best Life” as we enter retirement — or head over to Robertson for the “Princeton and C.S. Lewis” event, sponsored by four classmates. Our memorial service will be at Nassau Presbyterian Church at 5 p.m. Friday. Before dinner, there will be a variety show with magician (and classmate) Bob Baker, musician Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa ’14, comedian Catherine Cohen ’13, and the Katzenjammers. The night will end with the throwback hits of The Right On Band.

Saturday brings a special breakfast for the women of 1973, held at Prospect House. Don’t be late to our class picture at the Blair steps at 11:45 a.m., and bring your new 50th jacket! The PU Band will perform at our tent after lunch, just in time for us to head to the P-rade. After dinner, it’s nonstop music featuring Tawengwa, followed by eight-piece jazz group The Hot Sardines. End our historic weekend with the fireworks, and count down the days to our 55th!

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THE CLASS OF 1978

“Tune Every Set”

Continuing our pop culture tradition, ’78 will be tuning every voice (and every TV set) at our 45th reunion! Join us in Holder and Hamilton Courtyards, where you’ll be greeted by a massive — and we mean massive — ’78 balloon, to kick off a jam-packed, Nielsen-winning slate of programming all weekend long. Stop by the Rerun Rec Room in Hamilton to tour our ’78 reunion museum, chat with classmates, and grab a drink at our auxiliary bar. With streamers overhead in Rocky’s signature cloisters, you haven’t seen a Reunions site this decked out since the Flintstones walked the streets of Bedrock.

On Thursday, start your weekend with one of the collaborative Going Back, Giving Back community service projects in Hightstown and at the Princeton YMCA. Meet us in Holder for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m., followed by our world-famous talent show in Mathey Common Room. Finish the night with dessert, dancing, and conversation. Friday brings tours of Holder Tower, more community service, and our “Galileo and the Inquisition: Take 2023” event, where you’ll see the trial of Galileo recreated in high-definition, free for all interested alums. Enjoy cocktails and dinner at Palmer House before a top-45 countdown dance party and laser light show in Holder Courtyard!

Start your Saturday with the Class of 1978 Foundation breakfast, memorial service, class photo, and lunch. We’ve written new lyrics to your favorite classic TV theme songs, and we can’t wait to sing them together at the P-rade! At 5 p.m., we’ll gather in the Carl A. Fields Center for a commemoration of our historic Nassau Hall sit-in. Afterward it’s cocktails, dinner, and dancing the night away to Jump Street.

On Sunday, end your weekend with brunch in Rocky Commons. It’s always a bummer to say goodbye, but you can head home with a few personalized Reunions snacks made by our incredible classmate Dennis!

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THE CLASS OF 1983

“XLRRRR8(3)ING!”

Members of the Class of ’83 are acceler8ing into our 40th reunion, which will be held in Little-Edwards Courtyard! Our costumes will include collared shirts, T-shirts, hats, and other goodies featuring our tiger-piloted racecar logo.

We’re proud of the community service projects we have lined up, and we’re always looking for volunteers. On Thursday, meet at our tent at 9:30 a.m. for a 20-minute bus ride to the Rise Thrift Store, where we’ll take on some improvement projects. If that’s too early, meet at the 45th tent at 1 p.m. for a brief walk to the Princeton YMCA to support the Princeton Kindness Food Project. Finally, on Friday, we’ll join eight reunion classes at the Lewis Arts complex working on projects for multiple organizations. This event is drop-in, so make the trek before or after lunch to help out those in need.

In addition to our class photo and the several Alumni-Faculty Forums featuring classmates, we have outstanding entertainment lined up with the Alex Laurenzi Quintet on Friday evening and The Right On Band on Saturday night. Bring all your spirit to the P-rade on Saturday, and enjoy the fireworks. We can’t wait to see you again at our 40th — the anticipation is exhilarating!

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THE CLASS OF 1988

“Life’s Great on Route 88”

The Class of ’88 will be traveling from far and near to celebrate our 35th reunion this year. All roads lead to our headquarters in New South Courtyard, where our crew has planned a weekend of fun for hundreds of returning classmates, friends, and family.

Our first official activity is our class service project at Learning Ally in Princeton on Thursday afternoon. We’ll take cross-country culinary inspiration all weekend from Route 66 (most of us were born in ’66), and will begin Thursday, in Chicago, like the road, with a welcome dinner of pizza and Chicago brew. After dinner, our own DJ Keith Blanchard ’88 will be spinning tunes to take us back to our Princeton days and onto the dance floor.

Starting Friday morning, plan to join classmates presenting at several Alumni-Faculty Forums around campus, which continue Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Or just hang out with friends at our tent; we will have lawn games and the chill lounge, which is back by popular demand, for quieter catch-up conversations. For Friday lunch we’ll head to St. Louis for barbecue. Plan to spend Friday around campus at many Reunions programs and events, but don’t be late to return! Our Santa Fe margaritas happy hour begins promptly at 5 p.m., followed by our Southwest dinner. Friday evening will be the entertainment highlight of the weekend: Almost Queen, the world’s best Queen cover band, will be performing what promises to be a very memorable show. After the show, the ’88 Roadhouse will stay open to the wee hours.

On Saturday morning, there are many events around campus, and after an all-American lunch at the tent, don’t be late to grab your shades, don your Reunions camp shirt, and head up to our class photo at Blair Arch. It’s a short walk from there to line up on Cannon Green for our spot in the P-rade. Keep an eye out for the classic cars that will join us on the P-rade route. Afterward, Saturday’s happy hour and class dinner will reach the Pacific with California food and wine. President Eisgruber will visit, and after dessert, which will be accompanied by The Princeton Nassoons, we will have our Reunions class meeting. After the University’s fireworks and outdoor orchestra concert, DJ Mars will take the stage at headquarters to get us moving and shaking on our last night in town.

On Sunday morning, Rabbi Adrienne Rubin ’88 will lead our Reunions memorial service, with music by the Katzenjammers, and then it will be time for all of ’88 to head back out on the road, with a promise to return in ’28.

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THE CLASS OF 1993

“Legendary WTGR 93.0”

The Class of 1993 will stay LEGENDARY for our 30th reunion, hosted in the all-new Yeh College and New College West Courtyards. This year, sustainability is showcased in our choice of swag, with a zip-up jacket and BAGGU reusable shopping bag among the offerings.

We’ll kick off the weekend with a vegetarian Mediterranean dinner, followed by entertainment from DJ Duggz, who is sure to have the entire family dancing on our first night under the tent. Friday morning will bring the start of the multi-class Going Back, Giving Back community service projects, as well as our class memorial service and Alumni-Faculty Forums. In the evening, enjoy cocktails at our headquarters and class dinner at the boathouse! Our entertainment for Friday night will come from FoPo and DJ Chris Bachmann.

On Saturday, we’ll take our class photo, enjoy a jazz brunch, and walk in the P-rade to the tune of our collaborative class playlist. After a “strolling supper” on Poe Field featuring global cuisines, watch the fireworks and dance to Rubix Kube, who will grace us with LEGENDARY performances of our favorite ’80s and ’90s hits.

Before goodbyes, enjoy brunch in the dining hall with classmates, family, and friends! It’s sure to be a weekend that keeps us movin’ and groovin’ until the very end.

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THE CLASS OF 1998

“Eye of the Tiger”

The Great Class of 1998’s 25th reunion theme is “Eye of the Tiger”! Expect a fun weekend with live entertainment, tasty food and beverages, pickleball games, and children’s activities such as face painting and laser tag.

We hope to be the most sustainable reunion in recent history, with a reusable plastic cup pilot program created in partnership with the Greening Reunions Alumni Working Group. Every adult registrant will receive a tumbler that can be used as a “Fast Pass” to skip beverage lines at our tent!

We are featuring a panel of class speakers at our sports-themed Friday night class dinner, to be held in Jadwin Gymnasium. In celebration of 1998 being the 25th anniversary of the first class in which women graduated with a four-year Princeton education, we will honor the Trailblazing Twelve, the first Black female Princeton students, at our class dinner, and we have designed a commemorative silk scarf for our classmates that we will gift to members of the Twelve in attendance. In addition, several classmates are participating in Alumni-Faculty Forums throughout the weekend.

On the community service front, we’ve partnered with the nonprofit organization Our Kids Read, the brainchild of classmate Jahmal Lake. Forty fourth grade students from Trenton will visit campus on Thursday for a Literacy and Mentorship program and a campus tour. We also partnered with a Princeton-based nonprofit to host a Drag Queen Story Hour for reunion-goers on Friday.

We are thrilled to don our class jackets this May and serve as the parent class at this year’s Reunions. You won’t want to miss it!

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THE CLASS OF 2003

“Après ’03”

Pack your parka and dust off your ski poles — the Class of 2003 is marking our 20th reunion with an “Après-Ski” theme!

At our home base at Poe Field, we’ll be ready to hit the slopes in our sporty, Nordic-inspired tops and custom ski bib overalls (warm-weather friendly, of course). Everyone will also be supplied with super stylish goggle sunglasses and a lift ticket.

The skiing theme will continue with our epic après-ski brunch on Saturday, which will directly follow our class photo on the Blair steps. We won’t be lacking in entertainment as alumni band Pipe Dream is scheduled to perform on Friday night and other exciting acts will grace the stage on Thursday and Saturday nights.

We’ll have our class memorial on Friday afternoon at Rockefeller College, and a host of Alumni-Faculty Forums throughout the weekend (featuring our classmates Anna Hall, Brian Barrett, Sarah Harris Miller, and Pam Shisler!). For those hoping to do some good deeds amid the festivities, check out our Going Back, Giving Back partnership with fellow major classes and join us in supporting the Rise Thrift Store in Hightstown, the Princeton YMCA, and multiple charities by packing meals and hygiene kits during the drop-in event.

Aspen? Vail? Old news. We’ll surpass all the top-tier slopes when we return to Old Nassau.

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THE CLASS OF 2008

“Tropical ’08sis”

The Class of 2008 is celebrating its 15th reunion with an equatorial theme (reminiscent, we hear, of the gloriously restful time between handing in a senior thesis and walking out of FitzRandolph Gate). Thanks to dramatic changes to campus geography since we last visited the Orange Bubble, our class will be the first 15th reunion to gather in Butler College Courtyard — taking over from our friends in the 30th tent!

We will have classmates in several Alumni-Faculty Forums. This year also marks the first major reunion where we’ll be joined by plenty of kids, and in addition to child-sized costumes, we’ll have a variety of activities and events tailored to our young folks. There will also be a memorial service and reception to honor classmates we’ve lost. Join us for DJs and Lasers on Friday night and DJ Ariel Rogers ’08 on Saturday night. There will be several class meals for us to spend dining and bonding.

Finally, we cannot wait for the P-rade, when we’ll debut our stunning costumes. We’ll be sure to take Elm Drive by storm in our linen leisurewear, with custom ’08 detailing and Reunions-inspired graphics!

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THE CLASS OF 2013

“Blink-2013”

The Class of 2013 is ready to relive our emo days at our 10th reunion this year, headquartered in the Foulke-Henry Courtyard. Dressed in punk-rock-themed attire, we’ll wear our hair long and our eye makeup artfully smudged.

For entertainment, we’ll have the Hello Brooklyn band on Thursday night, followed by Take Your Shoes Off on Friday. Our very own Christina Clark ’13 will DJ on Saturday, followed by My Emo Romance, which will close out the night with all our favorite emo anthems.

For some tamer daytime events, check out the Alumni-Faculty Forums, where four of our classmates will be participating in panel discussions about the economy, the entertainment industry, the business of sports, and intergenerational social issues. We’re also excited to be partnering with six other major classes for the Going Back, Giving Back community service project. On Thursday, help us improve the Rise Thrift Store in Hightstown, or head to the Princeton YMCA to pack fresh produce donation bags. On Friday, take the short walk down to the Lewis Center for the Arts for a drop-in event where we will put together meal packages and hygiene kits for people in need. Snacks and drinks will be provided!

In addition to hearty lunches and brunches, join us for our class dinner, which will feature paella. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the P-rade at 2 p.m. on Saturday, when we’ll be wearing our punk-rock costumes! The weekend ends on Sunday, but we know you’ll be singing “All the Small Things” and “Sugar, We’re Going Down” until our 15th reunion.

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THE CLASS OF 2018

“OCEAN’S 18: The Best Damn Hei5t of All”

Class of 2018, it’s time for us to pull off the greatest heist of all time. Make your way back to the Orange Bubble for a weekend of intrigue, glitz, glam, and film-worthy mischief (we can’t let the other tents keep the beer to themselves, can we?). Kidding … maybe ….

Join us in the Pyne-1901 Courtyard for specialty canned cocktails, nights of top-tier entertainment, and fashion that could only be found at Princeton Reunions. We’ll be wearing tiger-striped blazers, sequined skirts or black shorts, and classy black T-shirts.

On deck for our musical acts are a mix of student and alumni DJs and cover bands. We’ll feature DJ Glo (Gloria Umotoni ’18), SDtheGod (Sam Davies ’18), MalPractice (Malachi Byrd ’19), and DJ Scags (Connor Scaglione ’23), along with bands Saved by the ’90s, Neighbours, and Faces for Radio. Folks, this is a lineup that even Vegas couldn’t assemble.

Classmate Natalie Tung will be featured in an Alumni-Faculty Forum, and you won’t want to miss representing the class for our first time as a major reunion at the P-rade on Saturday. The heist ends on Sunday morning, but we’re already looking forward to our sequels next year and beyond!

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APGA

“Roaring Reunions: There’s No Prohibition on Partying”

It takes a big tent to hold the APGA’s diverse community of architects, humanists, engineers, scientists, and social scientists, headquartered at Cuyler Courtyard. This year’s events will include a collection of fun evening gatherings: the second annual APGA Drag Show on Thursday night; La Gran Fiesta on Friday night, co-sponsored with the University’s Latino (ALPA), Black (ABPA), and Asian American (A4P) alumni groups; and a rocking party band, Silver Arrow Band, on Saturday night following the fireworks.

Graduate alumni can start out the weekend performing acts of service in the joint community service project with other Reunions classes on Thursday and Friday mornings. Graduate alumni will be well represented in the Alumni-Faculty Forums on myriad topics, including panels on the American city and national security. The APGA will also lead a tour featuring the beautiful architecture on campus, with a particular focus on the changing landscape and building construction.

Additional “can’t miss” engagement opportunities include a number of daytime #PrincetonStar forums, such as an improv event encouraging alumni to “Move Toward Communications Mastery,” a panel on “The Future of Everything,” and “Leading Without a Script,” an event that teaches you to adapt to fluid situations using improv techniques. Reconnect with us!