It’s Reunion time! Annual celebration to bring 800 alumni, friends to campus

Lawrence University will welcome alumni back to campus for Reunion 2023, beginning June 15 and continuing through June 18.

The weekend celebration will include multiple Alumni College presentations, an all-reunion cookout, a big band concert, a pickleball tournament, and the annual parade of classes, among many other activities.

Earlier this year, the Lawrence University Alumni Association (LUAA) launched the Forever a Lawrentian campaign, an ongoing effort to connect students with alumni and remind Lawrentians of the bonds that endure for a lifetime. That spirit will be alive and well during Reunion weekend.

“Reunion is a celebration of the people, places, and programs that make us uniquely Lawrence,” said Matt Baumler, associate vice president for Alumni and Constituency Engagement. “We’re expecting nearly 800 alumni and friends to return home this weekend to connect, share stories, and engage with Lawrence today. It’s that latter part that gets me most excited – 800 alumni and friends on campus, learning from faculty, connecting with students and administration, and embodying what it means to be Forever a Lawrentian.”

See the full lineup for Reunion 2023 here

Alumni Award recipients to be honored

LUAA will present 2023 Alumni Awards to six distinguished alums, as well as a special Presidential Award, at the June 17 Reunion Convocation.

• Shaun E. Donnelly ’68, a retired U.S. ambassador who spent 36 years with the U.S. Foreign Service, will be honored with the Presidential Award.
• Louis B. Butler ’73, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, will receive the Lucia Russell Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award.
• Louis S. Cornelius ’68, a longtime volunteer with Lawrence, will receive the Gertrude Breithaupt Jupp M-D'18 Outstanding Service Award.
• Regina Cornish Morales ’17, an alumna who is working in socioeconomic development with a climate and gender focus, will receive the Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.
• Nebal A. Maysaud ’17, an award-winning composer, will receive the Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.
• Gail Page Cordry M-D’58, a retired language arts teacher and active volunteer with Lawrence, will receive the Gertrude Breithaupt Jupp M-D'18 Outstanding Service Award.
• John M. Wiesman ’83, a national leader in the field of public health, will receive the George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award.

A jazz reunion

There will be music in Memorial Chapel celebrating the history of Lawrence’s great jazz program. The Class of 1973 will present a concert honoring the late Fred Sturm ’73, who launched Lawrence’s first jazz ensemble while a student and then helped build jazz studies into a nationally recognized music education program.

The Reunion concert, billed as a big band concert, is set for 1:30 p.m. June 17 in Memorial Chapel. Kurt Dietrich ’73, professor of music emeritus at Ripon College, is organizing the concert with other members of the Class of 1973. It will feature five Conservatory faculty and a bevy of alumni from various generations, all of whom were taught or influenced by Sturm.

Return of ‘Easter Mysteries’

John O’Boyle ’68 will share a film treat with fellow Lawrence alumni when he returns for his 55th reunion.

The former Broadway producer has a stellar resume, including winning two Tony Awards (he was nominated for a third). He got national exposure in 2016 when his Easter Mysteries, a musical version of the Easter story, was turned into a movie event and shown in theaters across the country. It would later get showings on national TV in 2017 and 2018.

O’Boyle is bringing the Easter Mysteries film to Warch Cinema at 8 p.m. June 17 for a showing and discussion as part of Reunion weekend.

“I look forward to sharing the movie and my experiences with my fellow alums,” O’Boyle said.

O’Boyle’s Tony-winning Broadway productions have included La Cage aux Folles in 2010 and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in 2013.

“Working as a Broadway producer was a wonderful chapter in my life, being nominated for three Tonys and winning two,” O’Boyle said. “But the three productions of Easter Mysteries, culminating with the last becoming this film, was the absolute highlight. There is something surreal about working with the best talent in the world and hearing your music being performed by them.”

O’Boyle, who studied theater at Lawrence and recently moved back to Appleton, previously showed the Easter Mysteries film at Lawrence in 2017 as part of an interfaith panel discussion. A trailer for the film can be seen here: https://youtu.be/URYoHnO9-aA.

Expertise at Alumni College

Fifteen Alumni College sessions, presented by a mix of faculty and alumni, will be offered during the day on Friday. The sessions are opportunities to share knowledge in areas of expertise and spark conversation.

Among the faculty presenting sessions will be Claudena Skran, Jesus Smith, Brian Pertl, Allison Fleshman, and Matthew Arau.

Alumni presenters include several of the Alumni Award winners—Donnelly (along with Robert Suettinger ’68), Wiesman, and Morales.

Indigenous alumni speak

The Class of 1973 will host a gathering Saturday morning to hear stories from some of Lawrence's Indigenous alumni. The class has created the Special Fund for Student Success to support Native American and other Indigenous students. All alumni are invited to the presentation at 9:45 a.m. June 17 in the Wriston Art Center Auditorium.

Stay fit, alums

Alumni will have opportunities to get in some exercise with their former classmates. Among the activities on the docket: The annual Coach Gene Davis Memorial Fun Run/Walk, a 55th Reunion bike ride, yoga hosted by the 30th Reunion, a 55th Reunion pickleball tournament, and a kickball game between the 10th and 25th Reunions.

A weekend of traditions

Traditions are a big part of Reunion. Among the annual attractions will be an all-Reunion international dinner on Friday evening in Warch Campus Center, an alumni recital Friday night in Memorial Chapel, a Parade of Classes Saturday morning, leading into the Reunion Convocation in Memorial Chapel, an all-Reunion cookout on Saturday afternoon on Main Hall Green, and class dinners on Saturday evening.

The Convocation will include everything from the conferring of Alumni Awards to the presenting of class gifts. It will be a highlight of an engaged, festive weekend as alumni are reminded of the joys of being Forever a Lawrentian.