Reunion in the Time of Covid

On October 7 YAA conducted a Zoom for reunion chairs and class officers about the outlook for reunions.  YAA is in the unenviable position of having to plan for events (virtual, in-person, hybrid) in conditions of enormous uncertainty. The good news, in the words of YAA, is “Reunions will happen.”  The bad news is that we don’t know when or in what form.

To be fair, decision making on the reunions is only partially in the hands of the University. Covid infection rates, the availability of effective vaccines and treatments, and the State of Connecticut’s strict quarantine requirements largely control prospects for an in-person reunion. Even if these external conditions were to break in the most favorable direction, we must ask ourselves how many of us would be willing to take off our masks, get on planes, trains and automobiles and “party hearty” with each other.

YAA is still waiting for a decision by the University on whether there can be three reunion weekends and whether the reunions can have access to additional colleges, both of which would be necessary to accommodate all classes that would have had reunions last Spring as well as those, like ours, whose reunion would be in the Spring of 2021.Unless this happens there will be no in-person reunion for the Class of 1971 until the 55^th because postponement another year would pose insurmountable logistical challenges (three years of reunions happening in the same year). Likewise, holding reunions later in the summer has been rejected as an option because of the absence of air conditioning in many of the traditional venues.

The two biggest components of our reunion are the Class Book, which is well in hand and promises to be a terrific encapsulation of our time together at Yale and our Class Program. Class Program Chair Kurt Schmoke and the reunion leadership have designed a program that includes panels on four broad issues we feel will be of interest to all of us. Sixteen classmates or faculty members have agreed to be part of the session. YAA has asked us to plan as if the program could take place virtually, in-person or in some hybrid form. Many details remain to be worked out. Stay tuned for updates.

Hoping you are well,

Lupi Robinson and Bob Bruner

50th Reunion Co-Chairs