It was another record-breaking year for Yale College Reunions, with a number of classes setting new marks for attendance and more than 7,000 alumni, family, and guests coming to campus to celebrate.
The 2019 reunions were held over the two weekends following Commencement, May 23-26 and May 30-June 2. Those in attendance took in the full breadth of the reunion experience, including lectures, tours, class dinners, and much more.
“Reunions are always one of the most joyous times of year on campus and one of the most rewarding for us,” said Yale Alumni Association Executive Director Weili Cheng ’77. “As an association, we strive every day to connect alumni to each other and to the university, so to see so many friendly faces and happy people back on campus celebrating together is truly wonderful.”
In all, there were 7,474 attendees at this year’s reunion weekends – a number that included 4,744 alumni and 2,730 guests. That makes 2019 the second-highest-attended reunion weekend on record, trailing only last year’s total of 7,654.
The Classes of 1989 (30th reunion), 1994 (25th), and 2014 (5th) all broke total attendance records for their respective reunions in 2019, while the Class of 1979 (40th) broke an alumni attendance record. Moreover, the Class of 1994 topped 1,200 in attendance, which translated to this year being the first time a 25th reunion has had more than 50% of its class returning.
The 5th reunion led the way in percentage of alumni returning, with 58% of its class coming back to campus.
For more YAA coverage of the 2019 Yale College Reunions, check out our best-of photo series, our photos of the first and second weekends, and follow the hashtag #YaleReunion on Twitter and Instagram. And check out the Yale Alumni Association Facebook page to see the results of our first-ever photo contest.
