RU Ready for Reunion Weekend?
More than 1,000 Rider University alumni are expected to converge upon the Lawrenceville campus for Reunion Weekend On Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, to reconnect with friends and fellow alums, honor distinguished graduates, and enjoy dozens of fun events, great music and delicious food. The two-day event promises amusement and entertainment for Rider family members of all ages.
Reunion Weekend kicks off on Friday with a full schedule of events. Following registration, which begins at 11 a.m. on the Student Recreation Center (SRC) lawn, alumni can head off to any number of activities.
Noon brings the pageantry and tradition of the Olde Guarde Luncheon, inside the Bart Luedeke Center Cavalla Room, where members of the Class of 1958 will be officially inducted into the Olde Guarde Society while surrounded by graduates from 1957 and earlier.
Golfers can play a round at the verdant Mercer Oaks East and West Courses in Princeton Junction. Tee times begin at noon, and space is limited, so please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 609-896-5340 to reserve your spot on the links. This cannot be done at the SRC lawn check-in site.
The President’s and Legacy Society Reception, a by-invitation event honoring those who have made significant contributions to Rider University, will be also be held on Friday in the SRC Atrium at 5 p.m. Also at 5 will be the Alpha Psi Omega softball game at the Intramural Field.
The Alumni Luau will begin at 6 p.m. Celebrate Rider Hawaiian-style on the Campus Mall, with delicious food, frozen drinks, leis and a DJ spinning all your favorite tunes. Running concurrently with the Alumni Luau on the Campus Mall will be the Alpha Epsilon Pi Reception and the Phil Sigma Kappa/Epsilon Reception, both at their respective tents.
Alumni can gather with friends over drinks and piano music from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Alumni Lounge, in the SRC Atrium Hall of Fame Wing. Also at 8 p.m., the SRC Courts will be transformed into Club Rider. Come and hang out with your friends into the night and party with the music of Loudmouth until midnight.
Reunion Weekend resumes on Saturday with a continental breakfast at 8 a.m., at the Reunion Headquarters Tent on the Campus Mall, before “Research and Reminisce: a Tribute to Dr. John Sheats,” a chemistry symposium in honor of the retiring Rider professor, inside the Science Building.
At 10:30, the 5K Walk/Run in support of Rider’s 10 NCAA Division I women’s varsity athletics programs, will begin on the Campus Mall. See the accompanying story inside this edition of News@RIDER for more details. Click here for a registration form for the 5K Walk/Run.
The All-Alumni Picnic will begin at 11 a.m. on the Campus Mall, a festive event where all Rider graduates and their families can enjoy all their grilled favorites while taking in live music. Radio Disney will be there from 11:30 to 1:30 to broadcast, with games and contests for children, as well as great Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers prizes.
There will also be plenty of fun for kids of all ages with, the SpongeBob® Playhouse, the Adrenaline Rush Obstacle Course, an inflatable rock-climbing wall, and a Coney Island-style photo booth.
The afternoon will also feature Greek reunions, such as the Sigma Pi Epsilon Softball Game, and joyful reunion tents for Zeta Mu Epsilon/Delta Zeta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Delta Sigma Pi.
Over the course of the day, there will also be affinity-group reunions for such organizations as theater and Alpha Psi Omega alumni, The Rider News, Communications and Journalism majors, Alumni of Color, Science majors, admissions and others. The DAARSTOC Reunion to honor the retiring Dr. Mark Sandberg, and the Dr. John Sheats Retirement Luncheon will also highlight the day’s schedule. Sandberg and Sheats are both leaving Rider after 38 years of dedicated service to their students and departments. Also retiring from the University is Cassie Iacovelli, assistant dean for Campus Life, who will be honored with a retirement dinner at 6 p.m. that evening marking her 27 years of service to Rider.
Rider alumnus Christopher Knight ’94 will be on hand to sign copies of his book Son of Scarface: A Memoir by the Grandson of Al Capone. Knight realized as an adult that he is, in fact, the descendant of the notorious Chicago-based gangster. Rider professor of Communication Myra Gutin, recognized as the nation’s foremost authority on First Ladies, will also autograph copies of Barbara Bush: First Lady of Literacy, which details Bush’s battle to combat childhood illiteracy.
Honors will be conferred to alumni at the inaugural College of Continuing Studies Hall of Fame induction ceremony, as well as at the reinvented and reinvigorated Alumni Awards in the Fireside Lounge. William Hartnett ’76 will be presented the Distinguished Alumni Award, while Ralph Anderson ’81 will receive the Gordon E. Pritchard ’63 Award and Joan Mazzotti ’72 will be given the Harold L. Conover Award for Leadership.
Comedy troupe Water in a Cup will perform in the Bart Luedeke Center Theater at 5 p.m. before the night yields way to The After Party, beginning at 8 p.m. Show off your inner American Idol at karaoke from 8 to 9 p.m. before Stuck in a Decade plays all your favorites from the ’80s until 11 p.m., at the Student Recreation Center courts.
