At Terrace Club Reunions, It’s Tradition to Sleep Under the Stars

For more than a decade, a couple dozen alumni — all members of Terrace Club — have chosen an unusual approach to Reunions housing: setting up a campsite and pitching tents on the Terrace lawn.

“It mostly started as a matter of practicality,” says Jonathan Strassfeld ’09, who first camped out in 2010 to save money. Housing at Reunions is usually offered mainly to alumni who are members of the classes holding a major reunion, and “a hotel in the area is not in the price range of people a year out of graduating into the Great Recession,” he says. Strassfeld continued to appreciate the low cost of camping when he returned for Reunions as a grad student pursuing his Ph.D.

He and a handful of friends brought tents and set them up on Terrace’s front lawn, a camping experience they compare to a music festival.

“I love camping,” says Arielle Notterman Debira ’04, who was also there in 2010. She was working as a teacher right after graduation, so the affordability was a big draw. “Camping really enhanced my Reunions experience,” she says.

The campers especially like being able to sleep next to their club; camping on the Terrace lawn — dubbed Terrace Reunions Village — is limited to club members. 

“You’re pitching your tent right on the Terrace grounds, which is also where we Terrans typically finish our nights during Reunions, so you don’t have to travel way across campus to go to bed after a wild night of revelry,” says Akil Alleyne ’08. 

The inconveniences of camping — namely no bathroom — are among the drawbacks. Jon Feyer ’09, who camped for many years, enjoyed “the feeling of community when sharing space in close quarters,” but the negative aspects of the arrangement were “everything else.” 

“You’re pitching your tent right on the Terrace grounds, which is also where we Terrans typically finish our nights during Reunions, so you don’t have to travel way across campus to go to bed after a wild night
of revelry.”

Campers typically use the bathroom and shower at Terrace, or they rely on the kindness of friends staying in the dorms who offer the use of their facilities. 

Facing the elements can also pose challenges. “If there’s rain, there could be a hot mess with your tent, luggage, and other belongings; and if there’s a heavy rain or a storm, all your things could be drenched or even blown away,” Alleyne says.

The music into the early morning hours is another issue. For Strassfeld, that meant earplugs, “or just exhaustion.”

A few years ago, several Terrace campers decided to pitch in and upgrade to an RV, which they parked outside the club during Reunions. “The original RV idea came from a couple of ’94 Terrace alums, who had both married outside of the Orange Bubble and were looking for a way to introduce their wives more comfortably to the Reunions madness,” says Andrew Kinaci ’10, another veteran of Reunions camping. 

Plugging the RV into Terrace’s electricity meant they had air conditioning, bathrooms, and showers. “It was definitely more comfortable,” Debira says.

Debira is coming back for her 20th this year, but is undecided about her lodgings.

Even as alums age out of camping, they continue to reflect gratefully on the experience. “I have fond memories of standing on the Terrace balcony and gazing out on the tents in our backyard, basking in how they symbolize our club’s uniquely laid-back, welcoming culture,” says Alleyne. 

Strassfeld agrees: “It’s in the spirit of the club to do something fairly whimsical, on the bounds, perhaps, of propriety. I really like showers, and I much prefer a real bed and all of that, but Reunions trumps a bed any day.” 

Jennifer Altmann is a freelance writer and editor.