 "Photo: Stacy Klever")
The university will be hosting its inaugural Forum and Reunion Weekend June 5 to 7 in order to improve relations with alumni.
The event, which will be held annually, will include a 5K run/walk, showcases by each of the colleges, musical performances, campus tours, family activities and chances for networking.
"We want to give people the opportunity to reconnect with each other and the university," Cindy Campanella, director of Alumni Relations, said.
Tickets to the event cost $20 for Friday and $35 for Saturday, but will be increased by $15 after the early registration ends Friday.
She said more than 800 participants have signed up to attend so far. More than half of the alumni are from the class of 2001 or later.
"This is not a fundraising event," Campanella said. "Sure, we want alumni to give back to the university, but this event is all about them falling in love with it all over again."
In order to accommodate attendees, the university is giving alumni the option to stay in Thomas McKean Hall suites for $66 per night with extra services like linens or $43 without them. Campanella said so far there are 123 reservations for the residence halls on Friday night and 68 on Saturday night.
"There's been an unbelievable response to the dorms," Stephen Mangat, communications coordinator for Alumni Relations, said. "The price and the nostalgia are great selling factors."
Lisa Campbell, a 1984 graduate, thought the university was trying to raise funds with the event when she received information about it.
"I think that this event will be popular with more recent graduates who are looking to connect with friends they haven't seen in a while," Campbell said.
She will not be attending because of family vacation plans she has for that weekend.
Ricky Komdat, a 2008 graduate, is considering attending, depending on whether his former classmates and friends will be there.
Komdat said he considered the cost to participate in activities like Mug Night and renting a residence hall room to be inexpensive.
Mangat said the original goal for the event was approximately 1,000 attendees, an arbitrary number since the event has no precedent. He still thinks that this number will still be reached since registration has picked up steadily since the beginning of May.
Although there will be special celebrations for the classes of 1959, 1984, 1999 and 2004 because of their milestone anniversaries, Campanella hopes current students will get in the habit of attending now.
Mangat said the next marketing push will be aimed at current students, particularly those in the senior class.
"Other than being fun and a great deal, it's a good way for seniors to get their name out there by networking with alumni if they don't have a job," he said. "From a professional aspect, it's a great opportunity."
Some current students are still not aware of the event, including sophomore Ben Strickland, who didn't like that it was the weekend after graduation.
"If they can get alumni to come back, that's cool, but I don't think I would want to come back to campus after just moving out the week before," Strickland said.
He did like that all of the proceeds from the 5K will be going to a general scholarship fund.
"We hope that everyone embraces this new tradition," Campanella said. "People may think that this is just an alumni event, but that's not the case. We want anyone who is a friend of the university to come back and celebrate."
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