On Saturday, October 4, 2025, 1stGenYale partnered with the Office of Educational Opportunity and the Office of Student Engagement to host the largest-ever 5th annual Alumni and Students Picnic in the Humanities Quadrangle.
The picnic welcomed all Yale students whose families cannot attend the annual Yale College Family Weekend, as well as all families able to participate!
Over 100 members of the Yale community — Yale College and graduate students of all years, their families, and alumni from the class of 1965 to 2025 — attended the picnic and enjoyed pizza, desserts, and conversations. In addition, representatives from Admissions, Yale Development, and YC3 (Yale College Community Care) also attended and gave words of encouragement to the students and families who participated.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for people with similar backgrounds to connect with one another, and meet pioneers and hear about opportunities in everyone’s fields,” Yiwen, a current Master’s student in Science, shared. “I’m feeling more confident about my time at Yale [from this event].”
Two alums at the picnic, Annie Lin '09 and Brendan Woo '08, also participated in our first FSY program in 2016, where Annie was one of four alumni panelists. Annie shared, "Great fun to see FGLI develop into a full shared interest group over the last 9 years. We even bumped into some old friends from an AYA x Yale-China 2011 service trip to Xiuning, China!"
Yvette Rivers '96 added, "This is one of my favorite volunteer events of the year. As someone who was 1stGen at Yale three decades ago, whose own parents were unable to visit Yale until graduation, it means so much to me to be able to be there for current students and to let them know they have another caring person they can call if they are ever in need.”
A big thanks goes to Annie Freedman ’78 MPH, who organized and hosted the picnic for 1stGenYale, reflected on this year’s gathering. “This weekend’s picnic once again proved the power of showing up for each other through storytelling and connecting. Students, parents, and alumni came together as one 1stGenYale community, united by purpose and friendship.”
You can see more photos from the event here.
We look forward to our 10th annual Alumni & Students Career Networking Mixer on Wednesday, November 19th at 6:00-8:30pm, you are invited to join us for dinner at the Afro American Cultural House. Register Here!
