5th Reunion Report

Thanks to COVID, we spent much of college apart. We evacuated campus in 2020, midway through spring break of junior year. When we returned in senior year, we still took most classes online.

But we created our own ways to stay close: Zoom calls, hangouts 6 feet apart, and "let's grab a meal" (plexiglass-barrier variant). When in-person Commencement depended on enough vaccinations, we rallied and hit the number in about a month.

We've kept up the energy. Our WhatsApp community and Instagram following are each around 750 strong, and our mailing list 1,350. Together, they reach almost all 1,400 of us. We certainly don't take community for granted.

Naturally, reunion registration launched with record-breaking momentum. Early-bird tickets usually take hours or days to sell out. Ours sold out in under 3 minutes!

Ultimately, over 750 classmates (and 30-plus guests) made it to New Haven — the biggest 5th reunion since the Class of 2014's.

Thursday brought a happy hour at Old Heidelberg. Friday brought faculty lectures, open houses, and a pizza party featuring Pepe's, Sally's, and Est Est Est. Nikhil Patel (MC) graciously surprised us with 200 bottles of champagne.

We missed out on Masquerade during Senior Week, so we threw an upgraded one: a "Starry Night" ball in Schwarzman Commons, with formal wear, masks, and music from our childhoods. As our Reunion Chairs wrote, we have scattered, but under the same stars. Some dancers closed out the night by pulling up Snackpass and grabbing a Gobbler from GHeav — a grand tradition. Others crowded into Rudy's.

Saturday turned cold, with the wind chill in the high 30s at midday, a sharp drop from Thursday's high 60s, but our classmates warmed our hearts. President McInnis stopped by our lunch cookout, and we met Handsome Dan XIX after the class photo. At "5 Years in 5 Minutes," classmates took the mic. Jyot Singh (SM) shared lessons from winning his Georgia State House primary the week prior to reunion. Huahao Zhou (DC), an international student now in San Francisco, recalled how he lawyered up when his landlord refused to turn on the heat, and then won a $5,000 settlement. The win left him fascinated by American culture, where, as he put it, "anything is possible with a lawyer."

After President McInnis's University Update and the Celebration of Yale Singing, we gorged ourselves on a steak buffet dinner under the tent. Grabbing the mic, our Treasurer Curtis Colvett (SY) ran a poll: what interesting things have people done? From a quick scan of the tent, I estimated that a few dozen were engaged, and half a dozen already married. Plenty more were in grad school or had purchased a first home. Time really flies!

Though our life paths have diverged, we keep coming back to Yale. In gratitude, we do our part to give back. Our 5th Reunion Gift campaign raised just over $1 million, the third-largest 5th-reunion gift any class has given. Props to Mei Chen (GH), Caroline Moore (TC), Ioann Popov (SM), Raphael Steiner (SY), and Jovan Tafoya (ES) for leading the effort.

After Saturday dinner, we walked over to Toad's for Soads. DJ Action spun, and we belted "Mr. Brightside" one more time while inhaling a seemingly endless supply of Yorkside pizza. The next morning's Bagel Brunch was emptier than usual, a testament to the previous night.

Reunion weekend wouldn't have come together without a year's tireless work by our Treasurer Curtis Colvett (SY) and Reunion Chairs Ornella Bayigamba (MY), Emma Mueller (MY), and Ileana Valdez (MY). All told, we thank 21 classmate volunteers and have awarded them framed certificates. We also appreciate our YAA liaison Jeannie Daniel, student clerks, and other staff for keeping things running behind the scenes.

Finally, I'm grateful to all of you, for the friendships and the community we keep showing up for. Let's keep finding each other between reunions, through meetups, group chats, and more. See you out there!